Storybook season continues as Freehold Boro basketball punches first ticket to state final

MONROE – The most compelling story in New Jersey high school basketball officially entered uncharted waters Wednesday. Because four days after Freehold Borough made history with its first NJSIAA sectional title in 51 years, the Colonials, one of the Shore Conference’s original members, will play for its first-ever state championship.

The latest chapter in a storybook season was written Wednesday night at Monroe High School, as the Colonials dominated South Jersey champ Mainland for much of the game, before holding on for a 73-68 victory in a Group 3 semifinal, punching their ticket to Sunday’s Group 3 title game at RWJBarnabas Health Arena Sunday (6:30 p.m.), against defending champion Ramapo, a 49-31 winner over Colonia in the other semifinal.

The team that was 0-21 just two years ago has now won four straight games as underdogs, and seven straight overall, improving to 24-7 behind another huge effort by junior Brian Tassey, who finished with 22 points, while junior Aidan Hamlin-Woolfolk had 19 points, after hitting for 21 against Red Bank in the Central Group 3 final. Senior guard Christian DiGiso scored 17 points, hitting all six of his free throws in the fourth quarter.

“I’m just really proud of our guys,” said coach Ben DiBiasi. . “I’m just happy we get to play on the last night of the season.”

“Nobody believed we could do this,” added Hamlin-Woolfolk.

Mainland (26-7) was led by senior Cohen Cook, the program’s all-time leading scorer and a New Hampshire football recruit, who scored 32 points and led a comeback that saw the Mustangs trim a 20-point second-half deficit down to four at 64-60 with just over three minutes to play.

That’s when DiGiso hit a pair of free throws before scoring on a drive with 2:38 to play, giving the Colonials some breathing room.

Fast start

It was the way the Colonials started that gave a glimpse of just how confidently the team is playing right now. They stormed out to a 23-7, closing the quarter with a 13-2 run.

“I really thing that comes from how we practice. We practice well. We love to practice well and I think our confidence in games comes from that,” DiBiasi said

“At this point of the season I really feel like you have to stay true to yourself. You look to see what they can do. Obviously, they have a really good scorer we had problems with today. They had one shooter that I thought we did a good job on and then we just needed to stay true to ourselves. I really have a lot of confidence in my guys when a team starts to press us, as you can see today.”

The Colonials lead was 20 points at 53-33 on a dunk by Qua’Mir Everett on a fast break, before Mainland made its big run, with Cook leading the comeback before the Colonials put the game away late.

“We feel like we can play with anyone right now,” Hamlin-Woolfolk said.

PREGAME

Can Freehold Boro basketball continue historic run? Preview, pick vs Mainland in NJ semifinal

The Group 3 showdown between Freehold Borough and Mainland is one of the most interesting, and on paper one of the most competitive, of the NJSIAA boys basketball state semifinal games playing out across New Jersey early this week, with tipoff set for 5 p.m. Wednesday at Monroe High School.

Having won its only state championship in 1981, taking the Group 3 title, Mainland’s best has been pretty good this season, earning top-seed in its section on the strength of wins over Cinnaminson, Hammonton, Timber Creek, Lenape and Atlantic City, as well as a 30-point win over CBA.

But Freehold Borough, looking for its first-ever state championship after winning its first section title in 51 years, is red hot, having won Central Group 3 as the seventh seed by pulling off three straight road upsets, including a 67-58 win over top-seeded Red Bank in the final.

The winner advances to face the winner of the semifinal between defending champion Ramapo and Colonia, which tips off at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. The Group 2 final will be played Sunday (6:30 p.m.) at RWJ Barnabas Health Arena in Toms River.

Here’s a look at both teams in this Group 3 semifinal:

Mainland (26-6)

The Mustangs survived a triple overtime thriller in the South Group 3 final, beating an Ocean City. They lost the Cape-Atlantic League final to Middle Township, which lost to Camden in the South Group 2 final.

Senior Cohen Cook is a three-sport star who will play football at New Hampshire in the fall and led Mainland to a 14-0 state championship in 2023. The 6-1 guard has had a great season on the hardwood, averaging 20.9 ppg., with a double-double (24 points, 10 rebounds) against Ocean City, in addition to seven assists. He became the program’s all-time leading scorer last week, entering the game with 1,777 career points. He’s part of a dynamic backcourt alongside Tim Travagline, a 5-10 senior averaging 15.2 ppg, who had 25 points and 13 rebounds against Ocean City.  The Mustangs have an experienced rotation that includes 6-1 senior Jamie Tyson, averaging 10.6 ppg.

The Mustangs are not a big 3-point shooting team, having hit 107 on the season, compared to Freehold’s 165 triples. But Travagline has caught fire from the outside in the postseason, connecting on eight 3-pointers over the past three games, including four against Ocean City.

Freehold (23-7)

While the Mustangs have experience, they don’t have a lot of height, which means the Colonials’ frontcourt should have an advantage inside. Aidan Hamlin-Woolfolk (6-5), (6-4) and Qua’Mir Everett (6-4) took the game over in the second half against Red Bank, combining to score 34 of the Colonials’ 40 second-half points, with Hamlin-Woolfolk scoring 17 of his team-high 21 points over the final two quarters. And all three of them hit from beyond the 3-point arc in the first half, setting the stage for their second half dominance.

Senior guard Christian DiGiso had 11 points against Red Bank, including a third-quarter 3-pointer that ignited the winning rally, while backcourt mate Sam Cranwell hit a first-half triple. The Colonials are not deep, with guard Will Hon scoring the only point outside the starting five, so staying out of early foul trouble will be critical.

What the Colonials have more than anything right now is a ton of confidence. The win over Red Bank was their best of the season, and they pulled away for a relatively comfortable win in the second half.

Prediction

Freehold 68, Mainland 64

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Freehold Borough basketball advances to first NJSIAA Tournament state final