Big Fourth Quarter Propels Point Beach Past Bound Brook, 54-37

Point Pleasant Beach advanced to the third round of the NJSIAA Tournament on Thursday night, knocking off top-seeded Bound Brook 54-37 in front of a raucous Bound Brook home crowd.

Engulfed by a sea of red "Beat Beach" T-shirts, Point Beach silenced the home fans from the start with a 10-0 run over the first two minutes of play. That was capped by a Michael Rotando three-pointer.

"We stressed a big start," said Point Beach head coach Nick Catania. "Their crowd was amped up, but it had us focused from the get-go." 

However, unlike the Gulls ho-hum victory against East Brunswick Tech on Tuesday, Bound Brook did not go down quietly. 

Point Beach's commanding first quarter lead slowly began to evaporate and Bound Brook cut the deficit to 38-37, with a little over four minutes in the third quarter.

It was a lead that Point Beach would never relinquish, mainly because of a change of defensive strategy. With all of the momentum going against him, Catania went with a 2-3 zone that tightened the Gull's defense.

The zone sparked a defense that held Bound Brook without a field goal for more than 10 minutes.

"The zone was the difference in the game," said Catania.

Point Beach received a balanced offensive attack, led by star forward Jarelle Reischel, who scored a team high 16 points.

The Gulls also received terrific play inside from forwards Riley Calzonetti and Jordan Kaufman, who each chipped in 12 points.

Kaufman's three-pointer from the left wing, with under six minutes left to play, all but sealed the fate of Bound Brook. 

"Those guys (Calzonetti & Kaufman) were terrific today," said Catania. "If teams want to game plan just for Jarelle, we know we have other guys here who can step up and make plays." 

Up next for Point Beach is Asbury Park. The Bishops beat Florence 79-58. Point Beach and Asbury Park will square off at Asbury Park High School at 1 p.m. Saturday.