Jackson boys are rolling along in WOBM Classic

DOVER TOWNSHIP — The Jack-son High School boys’ basketball team used a 20-0 tear that bridged the second and third quarters last Friday night en route to a 57-39 victory over Central Regional High School, Bayville, in the quarterfinal round of the WOBM Christmas Tournament at Ocean County College, Toms River.

With the score knotted at 16-all, the Jaguars pulled away by scoring 20 unanswered points to build a 36-16 lead early in the third quarter.

Central played catch-up from that point on, but was unable to get any closer than 12.

"We had a big second quarter," Jackson coach Mike Antenucci said. "That’s where we really took it to them. We started a bit slow but progressively played better once we settled in."

Antenucci blamed the sluggish start on a poor week of practice.

"To be honest, we haven’t had great practices during the break," Antenucci said.

"With the holidays here and our practice schedule changed, we weren’t as intense as I would like to see us."

Jackson, who improved to 3-0, squared off against Raritan High School, Hazlet, in the semifinals Sunday night.

"Raritan is always a tough program," he said.

"Our intensity level will need to be there for us to get by them. They’re a blue collar kind of program that is going to work hard on defense and make you earn what you get."

Senior forward Justin Fields paced the Jaguars with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Many of Fields’ points came off second chance shots and offensive rebounds. Fields seems to take advantage of the double team offered by teammate Kenny Simms.

"He (Fields) has a nose for the basket," Antenucci said. "When other teams double or triple Kenny, Justin is there to collect the rebound and put it back. He is deceptively quick around the basket."

Simms had another big effort, scoring 15 points and collecting eight rebounds. Jeff Warner and Ryan Mogila chipped in with 11 and seven points, respectively.

The Jags had an easy go of it in the second round as they jumped out to a commanding 32-point halftime lead en route to a 70-37 victory over Pinelands.

Fields led Jackson with 18 points, while Mogila chipped in with 13. Simms contributed 12 points in the victory. The Jags drained 22 of 33 free throws.

"We had a good tournament so far," Antenucci said. "If we can keep the mistakes to a minimum and continue to get solid contributions from everybody, we have a good shot at reaching the finals."