What you need to know for Monday's South Jersey high school boys basketball championships

South Jersey Group 3 final

(10) Ocean City (15-12) at (4) Moorestown (22-7)

When: Monday, 6 p.m.

Coaches: Ocean City – John Bruno; Moorestown – Shawn Anstey

Last sectional title: Ocean City – 1999; Moorestown - 2019

Last meeting: Moorestown 61, Ocean City 45, South Jersey Group 3 quarterfinals, March 3, 2022. The Quakers jumped out to a 16-7 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. David Gheysens and Leo Hinshillwood combined for nine 3-pointers on the day. Gheysens had 19 points and Hinshillwood tallied 15. Kori Segich led the Red Raiders with 14 points.

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How they got here: Moorestown – First round: 65-31 over (13) Lacey; Quarterfinals: 52-40 over (5) Hammonton; Semifinals: 32-29 over (1) Mainland

Ocean City – First round: 68-63 over (7) Timber Creek; Quarterfinals: 73-50 over (15) Clearview; Semifinals: 56-39 over (11) Absegami

The matchup: Don’t let the records or seeds fool you, this should be a very competitive championship matchup.

The Quakers are certainly the favorites. They’ve been one of Group 3’s power programs the past six years. This is their third sectional final appearance in the past five postseasons.

They boast a balanced offense, but senior David Gheysens is the one to watch. He averages a team-best 12.6 points a game and has made more than 40 3-pointers on the campaign.

Moorestown has plenty of other options though as Lamar Davis, Josh Byrd, CJ Hayes, Ryan Lynch and Leo Hinshillwood have all tallied more than 150 points this winter. It was Byrd who sent the program to the final after hitting a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to top Mainland in the semifinals.

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The Quakers will routinely rotate eight players, if not more.

Defensively, Davis and Byrd are aggressive on the ball while Lynch is an anchor on the interior.

Ocean City climbed above .500 for the first time since December with its opening round win against Timber Creek, but the team has been on the upswing for weeks.

The Red Raiders are 10-3 over their last 13 games, their lone losses coming to Cape-Atlantic League powers Egg Harbor Township, St. Augustine and Mainland.

One only needs to look at their effort against the Hermits on Jan. 11 to see their grit. That was the day St. Augustine head coach Paul Rodio earned his 1,000th career win, yet it wasn’t until the final minutes that the Prep was able to celebrate, and Ocean City was missing key parts that evening.

Like Moorestown, the Red Raiders have multiple options on the offensive end. Kori Segich averages a team-high 15.3 points, Omero Chevere is at 13.8 and Dylan Schlatter, Sean Sakers and Patrick Grimley each more than 190 points this winter.

Prediction: Moorestown over Ocean City

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South Jersey Group 1 final

(4) Burlington City (19-9) vs (2) Woodbury (21-6)

When: Monday, 4 p.m.

Where: Deptford High School

Coaches: Burlington City – Bryan Warrick; Woodbury – Lynell Payne

Last sectional title: Burlington City – 2022; Woodbury - 2018

How they got here: Woodbury – First round: 77-26 over (15) Pennsville; Quarterfinals: 61-57 over (10) Penns Grove; Semifinals: 48-44 over (6) Pitman

Burlington City – First round: 97-53 over (13) Riverside; Quarterfinals: 65-57 over (5) Salem; Semifinals: 49-46 over (1) Wildwood

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The matchup: To say this is familiar territory for Burlington City would be an understatement.

The Blue Devils have won sectional titles four of the previous five postseasons. The only one they didn’t was in 2018, when they fell in the title game.

However, all those trophies came in the Central Jersey bracket.

Can they continue their dominance in the South Jersey field? They’ve been cooking lately, winning nine of their past 10 games.

They’re led by a dynamic multi-sport athlete in Aaron Young, who’s averaged 13.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.1 steals. Burlington City also features one of the top shooters in South Jersey in senior Lovion Bell, who’s knocked down 82 triples this year and averages a team-best 13.3 points a night.

Everett Barnes and Gilly Cherry are both double-double threats while Nazir King and Giovanny Paul provide valuable minutes too.

Woodbury has a championship pedigree as well, but it stems from the gridiron as most of the team was part of a squad that won consecutive sectional championships and the first-ever Group 1 state title this past winter.

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The Thundering Herd have slowly built up on the hardwood, going from 4 wins to 8 to 9 the previous three years before exploding to 21 this season.

They enter the contest winners of 12 of their past 14 games, their only losses coming by one point to South 4 semifinalists Eastern and Cherry Hill East.

Senior JaBron Solomon is the focal point. A superb athlete and New Haven football commit, he’s electric with the ball in his hands and a threat to score whenever he has the ball. He’s netted more than 550 points this season and has better than 1,450 for his career.

His younger brother JaSuan Solomon is a handful inside. He doesn’t have prototypical big-man size (6-foot-1), but he’s strong and quick and is a demon on the glass.

Bryan Johnson, Julian Shorts, CJ Miller, Dorian Dunbar and Jayden Johnson round out the rotation.

Woodbury hounds the ball on the defensive end and does a great job forcing turnovers. That has to be the game plan to stop Burlington City.

Prediction: Woodbury over Burlington City

Josh Friedman has produced award-winning South Jersey sports coverage for the Courier Post, The Daily Journal and the Burlington County Times for more than a decade. If you have or know of an interesting story to tell, reach out on Twitter at @JFriedman57 or via email at jfriedman2@gannettnj.com. You can also contact him at 856-486-2431. Help support local journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Preview of South Jersey Group 1, Group 3 boys basketball finals