Manasquan Girls Win WOBM Title; Toms River North Boys Fall to Jackson

Manasquan didn't get off to the best of starts.

As the Warriors had the previous game, they trailed at halftime of the WOBM Christmas Classic girls championship game on Friday at Pine Belt Arena. In the second half against Jackson Memorial, however, Manasquan got back to playing its game and beat the Jaguars, 60-50, to take the title.

In the boys championship game, the Toms River North Mariners fell to Jackson Memorial in a defensive battle, 31-28.

For Manasquan Marina Mabrey scored 9 of her game-high 24 points in the third quarter as the Warriors outscored the Jaguars 19-10 in the third quarter and rallied from a 26-23 deficit to take a commanding double-digit lead.

Michaela Mabrey, who was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, added 11 points for Manasquan. Katelynn Flaherty added 21 points for Manasquan.

According to coach Felix Romero, all Manasquan had to do was take smarter shots.

"We were settling for 35-foot shots, and while our team can make those, you know the old saying, 'Live by the three, die by the three.' We were dying by the three," Romero said.

In the second half Manasquan started using its size to win battles in the paint.

"We had to get to the basket. We knew if we could move the ball around and find an open shot, we would take it. We wanted to get to the basket and that's what we did in the second half," Romero said.

Marina Mabrey was named to the all-tournament second team and Flaherty was named for the all-tournament first team.

Against Jackson in the boys' final, Toms River North erased a pair of five-point deficits in the first half to take a late lead, only to see the Jaguars rally behind five 3-pointers from Brandon Holup, who scored six of his game-high 15 points in the fourth quarter.

The Mariners were led by guard Alex Levchenko, who was named to the all-tournament first team. He finished with 10 points, and had a big third quarter, to help Toms River North take two separate three-point leads.

"We knew it was going to be a defensive game," Toms River North coach Rory Caswell said. "It was going to come down to who was going to make some big shots and they hit one more shot than we did."

Levchenko scored seven of the first eight points of the third quarter for the Mariners, giving Toms River North its first lead of the game.

Solly Stansbury, who was named to the all-tournament second team, finished with 8 points for Toms River North, and opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back layups inside the paint. Karl Blum Jr. added six points for the Mariners.

"They worked as hard as possible," Caswell said of his Mariners. "I can't give them enough credit, they never give up until the last second."

In the girls consolation game, Rumson-Fair Haven had four girls in double figures, to slide past Point Pleasant Boro, 62-50, and take third place. Jess Harvey led the way for the Bulldogs with 14 points, Claire Stefanelli scored 11 and Emma Miller and Sam Sabino each put up 10 points.

Toms River South took third place on the boys side when the Indians topped St. Rose, 51-45 in the boys' consolation. Zach Liguori scored 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter as the Indians rallied against the defending-champion Purple Roses. St. Rose was led by guard Mark Kukoda, who was named to the all-tournament first team.