8th Grade Flier’s Boys Aiming for Perfection
Neptune Starts Season Off Right with 50-24 Win Over Long Branch
By ANDREW CANGIANO
Neptune Middle Schools 8th grade basketball team got its season off to solid start with a 50-24 victory over Long Branch in the teams first regular season meeting at home last Thursday.
The Scarlet Fliers used a balanced scoring attack, which included 11 different players getting on the board. Tyshon Williams led the team with 10 points, and Eugene Harris and Quintin Davis each chipped in with seven.
Fliers Head Coach Keith Coleman said all of his players can score, but that they are also unselfish with the basketball.
All of the guys, and we have approximately 16 guys on the team, and all of them really can score, he said. However, they play very unselfish and they will pass the ball, which is a plus.
The Fliers pressured the Green Wave on defense throughout the game, something Coleman said he believes has helped the team achieve their high level of success.
We had a very successful year last year, he said. We went 19-1 and we pressured the ball, and we also pushed the ball up the court, which is very beneficial.
In the game against Long Branch, Coleman said he didnt start a number of his players as a result of disciplinary problems.
However, Neptune led the game from the start, jumping out to a 4-0 lead and held an 11-6 advantage after the first quarter when Quintin Davis converted a lay-in just before the buzzer.
Throughout the game, the Fliers used defensive pressure to force turnovers and create scoring opportunities on the fast break.
However, Neptunes inability to convert on a number of close range shots allowed Long Branch to close the gap to 11-10 and make the halftime score a respectable 17-13 in favor of the Fliers.
In the third period, Neptune began to pull away behind Tyshon Williams, who scored three straight hoops for the Fliers and had 10 points in the quarter.
Neptunes 21 points in the quarter stretched their lead to 38-22 heading into the final stanza.
The Fliers would put the game out of reach in the fourth, outscoring Long Branch 12-2 in the period and making the final margin a whopping 26 points.
Despite the fact that his team won handily, Coleman did see a number of areas for improvement on his squad, including rebounding and taking better care of the basketball.
I think we need to work on more controlling the game and also rebounding, Coleman said. We played pretty much without any of our big men today because of discipline problems.
We turned the ball over a little bit too much today, he added.
The Fliers will have some time to work out any chinks in their armor, as they do not play another game until after the new year.
The eighth grade boys will face off against Matawan Middle School in a road game on January 3 and will travel to play Bayshore Middle School (Middletown) on the road on January 5.
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