TOMS RIVER – Freehold Township shrugged off a four-point first quarter against a top-five team in the Shore Conference on Sunday night because the way they were playing defense, it was only a matter of team before the Patriots roared right back into it.
Third-seeded Freehold Township limited second-seeded Jackson to 11 points combined in the second and third quarters on its way to an impressive 60-36 win in the semifinals of the Jim Ruhnke bracket of the Kevin Williams Christmas Class at RWJBarnabas Health Arena. The Patriots (4-1), ranked No. 7 in the Shore Sports Insider Top 10, handed the No. 3 Jaguars (5-1) their first loss of the season by holding them to their lowest point total of the year.
“It’s still very early, but they have good wins, and they’re a very talented team,” Patriots head coach Todd Smith said about Jackson. “Our whole thing was we want to play for 32 minutes with maximum effort, and we did that. We struggled early, but we dug ourselves out of that offensive hole after the first quarter, and I thought we just kept getting better and better as the game went on, on that end. The way we defended, the way we rebounded, how tough we were, those are the things I wanted to see this time of year, so we can keep building on that.”
Junior Jake Schultzel scored a game-high 17 points to go with 10 rebounds, junior guard Cole Gerigk finished with 10 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, and junior guard Dakota Lasater held Jackson star George Boley to two points on 1-for-13 shooting from the field. Senior guard Yaseer Johnson was the only Jaguar in double figures with 13 points.
Freehold Township will now take on fourth-seeded Wall in the championship game of the Ruhnke bracket at 7 p.m. on Tuesday back at RWJBarnabas Health Arena.
Jackson led 12-4 after the first quarter after forcing five turnovers and contesting everything, particularly in the paint.
“It was just definitely getting in our flow. Our defense was pushing to our offense, so we knew we had the chances, we just needed to capitalize off them, and that’s what we started to do in the second quarter,” Schultzel said. “Our defensive emphasis was definitely to put the pressure on them. We knew that they couldn’t handle it.”
“Jackson was kind of dictating the pace, and we were kind of playing their game,” Gerigk said. “In the second quarter, third quarter, we were getting rebounds, and we were pushing, and we were getting fast breaks. That’s our team identity: just pushing it down the floor, making sure they don’t get back.”
Freehold Township outscored Jackson 15-3 in the second quarter as Schultzel scored nine of his 17 points in the period, including an emphatic two-hand dunk in the waning seconds of the half for a 19-15 lead at the break.
The Patriots forced 17 Jackson turnovers in the game, fueling their offense with easy buckets and transition opportunities. Boley’s only field goal of the game came on a floater with 1:05 left in the first half.
“Our depth was a big part of it,” Smith said. “We had a lot of different defenders run in waves to get out there and keep some fresh legs. We have certain guys that are just tenacious. Dakota Lasater is one of them among many others. He works from end to end, and he guards the best guy on the other team.”
Freehold Township put the game away in the third quarter by outscoring the Jaguars 23-8, including a 13-0 burst that ballooned the lead to 36-20 with 2:02 left in the period. Gerigk dropped in eight of his 10 points and dished out a pair of assists in the quarter to give the Patriots a 42-23 lead heading into the fourth quarter as they cruised to the win.
Jackson had been averaging 57.6 points per game before the Patriots became the first team to hold them under 48 points this season.
“I think this is definitely the best game we’ve played so far, but we’re just stacking games up right now and trying to get better,” Schultzel said.
Next up is a Wall team that picked up what is believed to be its first win over rival Manasquan since the 1990s in the other semifinal with a stifling defensive performance of its own in a 40-20 win. The Crimson Knights are ranked No. 9 in the SSI Top 10.
“It’s a big challenge,” Smith said. “They’re an outstanding team. Really good players, really good coaches – it should be fun. We’re looking forward to the opportunity.”
Scott Stump is the football editor and a reporter for Shore Sports Insider. He first started covering Shore Conference sports in 1999 and also contributes to the basketball coverage.
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