Point Beach Boys Basketball Team Ousted by Asbury Park

Asbury Park boys basketball team defeated Point Pleasant Beach, 68-63, on Saturday at Asbury High School.

It was the third time this season that Asbury Park defeated Point Beach and the loss eliminated the Garnet Gulls from the NJSIAA Tournament.

Asbury Park, the two-time defending Central Jersey 1 champion, remained undefeated on its home court but not without a challenge.

After building a 23-19 lead at the half, Point Beach was outscored 22-11 in the third quarter and what was a four-point lead became a seven-point deficit.

Point Beach, which did a brilliant job in the first half of beating Asbury's Park's full court press, became victim to careless passes and easy fast-break points by the Blue Bishops.

"I give Asbury Park a ton of credit, they came out in that third quarter and played a very aggressive man-to-man defense that gave our guys fits," Point Beach head coach Nick Catania said. "Their athleticism gave us a lot of trouble."  

Asbury Park's big third quarter forced Point Beach to leave its 3-2 zone defense, which it executed so well in its last game  against Bound Brook and in the first half against the Beacons. 

 "They definitely wanted no part of our zone, but once we fell behind by 8-10 points, we had no choice but to get out of it," Catania said.  "We couldn't allow them (Asbury Park) to just sit on the ball." 

Asbury Park stretched its lead to 61-49 with under four minutes to play. From that point, Point Beach went on an improbable 12-2 run and cut the deficit to 63-61 with less than a minute to play. The Gulls were sparked by seniors Jarelle Reischel and Michael Rotando, who scored 10 of the 12 points.

For Point Beach, that was the closest it would get.

 "I give our seniors a ton of credit for leading that run," Catania said. "Even when we were down 12, I just knew we had a run in us because that's what those guys have done all year."

Asbury Park tightened up its defense and did enough at the free throw line to finish off the visitors.  Point Beach's all time leading scorer, Reischel, did all he could to lead the Garnet Gulls in what was his final high school game. The Rice University-bound Reischel scored 10 straight points for Point Beach in the fourth  quarter and finished with a game-high 28 points.   

"I can't say enough about the career Jarelle has had here," Catania said. "He's done a lot to add for the visibility of the program and he will be missed." 

Point Beach finished the season at 17-8.

  "We had a real good year," Catania said. "We had some great wins and had the opportunity to play in some big- time environments, and although we're losing a lot of terrific players, I fully expect to be right back here next year."