Freehold Boro basketball Cinderella run ends, falling to Ramapo in NJ Group 3 final
TOMS RIVER – It didn’t end with the first state championship in school history. But even a loss to Ramapo in Sunday’s NJSIAA Group 3 championship game can’t dimmish the historic significance of Freehold Borough's run through the state tournament.
The most unlikely state finalist of all beat the odds for two weeks, stunning higher seeds and inspiring a growing legion of fans by knocking down big shots and scratching and clawing on defense.
The team that didn’t win a game two years ago won the school’s first sectional title in 51 years, with a resurgent lineup propelling the program to its first-ever state final.
It all ended at RWJ Barnabas Health Arena, as Ramapo, with the defending champion making a fourth straight trip to the final, flexed its muscles by closing the first half on a 35-9 run, cruising to a 94-47 victory.
"It hurts in the short term. In the long term they will realize they accomplished something that nobody else did in our school’s history, so we told them we’ll try and focus on that now," said Freehold Borough head coach Ben DiBiasi.
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In the end, Freehold Borough had no answers for Princeton commit Petyon Seals, who scored 35 points, or senior Chris Cervino, who scored 34 points and went over the 1,000-point mark for his career in the fourth quarter.
Junior Aidan Hamlin-Woolfolk paced the Colonials with 18 points, while junior Qua’Mir Everett finished with 10 points and senior Christian DiGiso chipped in with nine.
A huge turnout of fans and students packed one side and one end zone of the arena, with the crowds having built during a postseason that has included wins over Central Group 3 top-seed Red Bank and South top-seed Mainland in the semifinals.
“I think this town has been looking for something root for," said junior Brian Tassey. "The town has always supported us, but they never had a reason to come out like they had today, and it was great to give them moments like that this season. We’re thankful for every single person that shows up at our games, and I think they’re thankful for us."
Added DiBiasi: ‘I always knew Freehold was an extremely special place, but to see the support and just the outcry, clinging on to this team, it was great."
Game-changing run
The Colonials got off to a fast start as Everett and Hamlin-Wolfolk hit 3-pointers in the opening minutes, followed by a pair of scores on drives by Brian Tassey to take a 10-2 lead. The Colonials had their biggest lead of the game at 19-9.
Then Cervino then hit it four high-arching 3-pointers in a span of 2:26, taking Ramapo from trailing 19-11, to pulling within 24-23 early in the second quarter. Seals then took over, scoring nine straight points. By the time the dust settled, Ramapo had closed the first half on a 35-7 run, taking a 46-28 lead into the locker room.
Not much changed as the second half got underway, with Ramapo outscoring Freehold Borough 28-8 in the third quarter. They kept pressing the attack in the fourth quarter as Cervino’s 3-pointer with 4:05 left giving him 1,000 points for his career, while pushing the lead to 86-42.
"I think it was us dialing it in a little after that first quarter and them cooling off a little," Seals said.
Bright future
While it's difficult to project from one year to the next, the Colonials have a number of top players expected to return next season for a team that finishes the season with a 24-8 record. Hamlin-Wolfolk, Tassey and Everett are all juniors.
“Some guys are hanging their heads today, but then there's the reality of what we can do next year," said Tassey. "Wanting to be back in this same spot. So it’s just about building over the summer and trying to get back here and win it."
In the end, it was an unexpected run by a team with a high ceiling given the way it ended this season, after going into the Shore Conference Tournament as a No. 16 seed, while getting seeded seventh in the Central Group 3 bracket.
‘It has felt amazing," DiBiasi said. "It is very gratifying to see hard work pay off for kids that did it the right way. And I really do think these kids did it the right way and they became very close and they won games that maybe they weren’t as talented, but because they trusted one another. And that there alone is something."
PREGAME
Can Freehold Boro basketball finish Cinderella run? Preview, pick vs Ramapo in state final
TOMS RIVER – Allow me to put all this in perspective.
Freehold Borough was the 16th seed in this year’s Shore Conference Tournament. They were the seventh seed in the NJSIAA Central Group 3 bracket. They finished third in the Shore Conference A Coastal Division.
And today at 6:30 p.m. in RWJ Barnabas Health Arena, the program that’s never been to a state final before will play for the Group 3 championship.
It’s an underdog story for the ages for a team that was 0-21 two seasons ago. A reminder of why they play tournaments like this and what’s possible come March, at a moment when powerhouse teams are annihilating foes in every other group in the state.
More: St. Rose stakes claim as best team in NJ with state final rout to close historic season
Because with an impressive takedown of a Mainland team that was the South top-seed in the semifinals, after ousting Central top-seed Red Bank, why not the upstart Colonials, founding members of the Shore Conference in 1936?
The final chapter in this storybook tale will be the toughest of all to write. Standing between Freehold and Cinderella’s glass slipper is Ramapo, the defending Group 3 champs, whose only loss in the last 15 games was against Non-Public A champion Don Bosco Prep in the finals of the Bergen County Jamboree.
So with that as the backdrop, Freehold Borough’s young lineup, poised for what could be an extended run of success, tries to make more history, having already secured the first sectional championship in 51 years.
Here’s a look at both teams in today’s Group 3 final:
Freehold (24-7)
If there’s been a more difficult matchup anywhere in the state tournament than junior Aidan Hamlin-Woolfolk, you’d be hard-pressed to find it. The 6-5 wing drained five 3-pointers to bury Mainland, finishing with 19 points, after pounding Red Bank inside for 21 points, including 17 in the decisive second half. But devote resources to him, and 6-4 junior Brian Tassey, whose ability in the open court has been on display, along with his shooting touch from the perimeter, will torch you, scoring 22 points against Mainland. Or 6-4 junior Qua’Mir Everett, averaging 13 points over the last three games, can dominate, rounding out an active frontcourt that’s been tough to deal with.
Senior guard Christian DiGiso is the one that holds it all together, scoring 17 points against Mainland and sealing the victory by hitting all six of his fourth quarter free throws. And senior guard Sam Cranwell seems to hit at least one really big shot every game. But containing Ramapo’s talented backcourt defensively has to be the top priority.
What the Colonials have more than anything right now is confidence. They won three straight as road underdogs in Central Group 3 play, and were up 20 on Mainland in the first half. They keep finding ways to win, with their last four games all decided by single digits. It’s worth wondering how far the Colonials could have gone in the Shore Conference Tournament had they just gotten even a slightly better seed, not having to face St. Rose in the Round-of-16.
Ramapo (24-8)
The Green Raiders are the favorites here. They’ve played some very good teams, including an 18-point loss to St. Rose, with few having been that close to the Non-Public B champs, considered the top team in New Jersey. Two of their losses were to Don Bosco, the Non-Public A champs, and they lost to Montclair Immaculate, a Non-Public B finalist, College Achieve Asbury Park, a Group 1 finalist, and Blair, an independent prep power. And they have wins over Bergen Catholic and Newark Tech, a Group 2 finalist. They haven’t ducked anyone, and have a host of key players returning from the team that won it all a year ago.
Chief among that group is senior guard Peyton Seals, a 6-4 Princeton commit averaging 14.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists. He had a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds) in last year’s title game against Nottingham. Wyatt Eglinton Manner, a 6-3 senior guard, is averaging 12.4 ppg., 5.4 rpg. and 3.7 assists. And 6-0 senior Chris Cervino (12.7 ppg., 4.0 rpg.) rounds out an experienced backcourt that’s the driving force behind this team. What the Green Raiders don’t have is a lot of height. Charlie Wingfield, a 6-5 junior forward, is a defensive presence, but this is where the Colonials have an advantage.
Prediction
Freehold 61, Ramapo 60
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Freehold Boro basketball Cinderella run ends, falling in state final
