Colts Neck's Steve Spinella goes above the rim in the Senior All-Star game.
Freehold's Brandon Carter bars the door to the lane on Class B North rival Gary Foster of Neptune in the Senior All-Star Game.
By Scott Stump - Senior Editor
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FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP - While plenty of players looked like they were having fun in the annual Shore Basketball Coaches' Association Senior All-Star game at Freehold Township on Thursday night, that exuberance is just another day at the office for Manchester senior Marvin Brodie.
With an infectious smile and a wise-cracking sense of humor, Brodie had himself a ball like he did throughout his senior season and helped the South edge the North, 114-110 by dropping in 17 points to end his career in style. A scorer who went over the 1,000-point mark during his career with the Hawks, Brodie showed his lightning quickness off the dribble and his ability to shoot from deep to get the packed crowd into it at Freehold Township.
"It was so fun,'' Brodie said afterward before smiling. "I just appreciate getting picked for this all-star game, and I'm just glad to play with all of these all-stars.''
Brodie also had a spirited battle with Red Bank's Will Sanborn of the North squad, as the two were guarding one another and taking turns trying to take the other to the rack or drop a long-range bomb.
"We're cool,'' he said about his relationship with Sanborn. "It's all fun.''
Brodie said he plans on continuing his career at Richard Stockton College, whose coach, Shore Conference Tournament director Gerry Matthews, was in the house on Thursday night.
Asbury Park's Darryl Jefferson capped a career in which he helped turn things around in a big way for the Blue Bishops, as they reached two straight Central Jersey Group I finals and also captured the Class B Central title this season. Also a 1,000-point scorer, Jefferson led the South with a game-high 21 points.
Neptune's Gary Foster, a first-team DigitalSports All-Star selection, led the North with 20 points by attacking the offensive glass like usual, and the Shore Conference's leading scorer, Colts Neck's Steve Spinella, finished with 19. Jackson's Justin Hodges added 15 points for the South for a good finish to his career as well.
Foster is considering several Division III schools, while Spinella plans on attending prep school for a year, possibly at Monmouth Academy or The Hun School.
For St. John Vianney guard Tony Ganter, the night was the culmination of a season in which he helped the Lancers keep up their winning ways after the graduation of some top players the last two seasons.
"There was pressure on us, but we came together as a team and kept the momentum going,'' he said.
The Lancers came back from the dead in mid-season to qualify for the Shore Conference Tournament, and then Ganter hit a buzzer-beater in overtime to stun Point Boro in a first-round SCT game.
"That was something I'll always remember,'' he said. "Then we went and gave Neptune a game (in the Round of 16), so it was a good end for us.''
Unfortunately, Ganter didn't get the chance to be coached one last time by Lancers head man Dave Emery, who was one of the coaches on the North side, but was not at the game because he was with his ailing father.
Another team that built some momentum this season was Freehold, which went from a five-win squad to one of the top 10 teams in the Shore, reaching the SCT quarterfinals in the process and contending all season in Class B North with a team filled with sophomores and juniors. The lone senior who saw significant time for the Colonials this season, forward Brandon Carter, was a participant in Thursday night's game.
"It was a great season,'' said Carter, who was also one of the Shore's top linemen on the football field. "(The younger players) helped me accomplish a lot of things, and I really appreciate that. (The all-star game) was fun to hang around the buddies again, and just joking around. I'll miss the locker room moments, going and scouting teams, and game day is the best thing ever.''
Neptune's Terry Hicks, yet another 1,000-point scorer, finished his career by winning the inaugural 3-point shootout at halftime to add another plaque to the accolades that he and the Scarlet Fliers accrued in his lone season at Neptune after transferring from Monmouth Academy.
E-mail: stump@digitalsports.com