Ocean Township girls basketball who has a record of 21-5 this season were facing off against 7-17 Brick Township who was having an up and down season. This matchup is for the NJSIAA Tournament, first round, Central Jersey group 3. It was a huge game for both teams but even bigger for Brick Township to get their confidence back and start winning games. Head Coach Michael Lazur for Ocean Township had his team focused, determined and working as a collective group throughout this season. Key players to watch in this matchup were Riley Nausedas, Madalynn Dougherty for Brick, Eli Clark, Jineen Ayyash, Kayden Clark and Gamila Betton for Ocean.
Ocean got off to a fast start but had trouble stopping junior Riley Nausedas as she was hitting all of her shots for Brick Township. While Nausedas was unstoppable from the beginning, Ocean's defense still did a great job in first quarter of setting the tone for their offense and switching on each assignment perfectly. Ocean Township had early contributions from multiple players early including senior Gamila Betton who was dominant down low scoring the basket, blocking a shot and rebounding. Junior Kayden Clark and senior Eli Clark also got into the action on offense for Ocean Township early. They had a 20-7 lead going into halftime against Brick Township.
Brick Township started to make a little run in second quarter with Riley Nausedas still getting the shots that she wanted against Ocean's defense. Ocean Township still outscored them 15-12 but Brick did a better job of shot selection and good defense. Sophomore Jayanna Candelaria started to make some contributions for Brick as she got to the free throw line. Nausedas scoring kept them in this game during the first half with them still needing to make adjustments. Ocean has a 35-19 lead heading into the break.
Ocean Township took off in the second half as they outscored Brick Memorial 29-16 in third and fourth quarters. Madalynn Dougherty was heating up drink the three point line for Brick but Ocean's offense had better flow. They had four players in double figures, putting this game out of reach. Ocean had 8-0 run to start the third quarter as Brick was all out of sorts at that point. Ocean extended their lead to 58-27 heading into the fourth and got a 64-35 victory over Brick. With this win, they improve to 22-5 underneath head coach Michael Lazur.
Ocean Townships next game is against Brick Memorial on Tuesday February 27th in the NJSIAA Tournament, Quarterfinal Round, Central Jersey Group 3 with time still to be decided.
Leading scorers for Ocean Township
Kayden Clark 17 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals
Gamila Betton 16 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block, 3 steals
Eli Clark 15 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists
Jineen Ayyash 10 points
Leading scorers for Brick Township
Riley Nausedas 15 points
Madalynn Dougherty 12 points
Jayanna Candelaria 5 points
Photo Credit 📹 Mike Franco
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