'Magnificent': Frauenheim's 20 leads Manasquan basketball to section title over South River

SOUTH RIVER – Manasquan’s Ryan Frauenheim was in his element, the frenzied environment inside South River’s gym heating up as the Rams made a run late in the first half. Then, as the chaotic cauldron at the NJSIAA Central Group 2 final was about to boil over, the junior point guard calmy drained a pair of 3-pointers to give his team a 31-26 halftime lead.

And when top-seeded South River was trying to save its season in the final minutes, Fraueheim’s floater in the lane capped a championship performance, his 20-point effort pushing Manasquan to its fourth straight sectional title with a 60-52 victory.

“The moment is never too big for him. He’s tough as a $2 steak. He was just magnificent,” Manasquan coach Andrew Bilodeau said.

Manasquan (26-4) advances to face Middle Township, which beat Sterling in the South Group 2 final, on Thursday at Central Regional, with tipoff scheduled for 5 p.m.

“You have to adapt to the environment, play within the environment and just have fun with it,” Frauenheim said.

It was the first time Manasquan has won a sectional title on the road during its run of success under Bilodeau - the first under the coach in 2009 was on a neutral-site court.

Manasquan lost in the state semifinals to Haddonfield in 2019, and went 31-1 a year later only to have the tournament called off due to the start of the pandemic after winning the Central Group 2 title. The state tournament was not held in 2021, and last year Manasquan lost to Woodrow Wilson (now Eastside) in the Group 3 semifinals.

More:Shore Conference Tournament boys basketball: Manasquan wins title, topping Ranney, 61-46

The program’s lone appearance in a state final was in 2004, falling to Raritan in the Group 3 title game. The goal of playing for a state title was made that much easier when Camden, the favorite to defend the Group 2 title it won a year ago, was pulled out of the tournament before it started by the school district after an on-court brawl erupted in a game two weeks ago.

Manasquan’s only loss over the last 22 games was a regular-season ending game at Union Catholic, which plays for the South Non-Public A championship Wednesday.

'It's how we respond'

It looked like Manasquan was going to be in complete control of the game early on as South River fell behind 15-7 late in the first quarter. But the Rams went on a 14-6 run to pull even at 21-all, and took the lead at 24-23 on a 3-pointer by Gavin Franco. But after a Franco jumper made it 26-25, Frauenheim connected on his two triples, the second with three seconds on the clock, to put his team up five points.

“I thought the (6-0) run right before the half was important,” Bilodeau said, “because late in the second quarter I thought we might have been on the verge of blowing them out. I felt that, and then they made a run and we immediately answered to be up five going into the half and that was big, and that was kind of an example of how the rest of it went.”

The Shore Conference champs never trailed after that, building an eight-point lead midway through the third quarter.

But South River, which got 13 points from sophomore Alex Gropse, made it a single possession game at 52-49 on a reverse layup by Ramon Santos with 2:10 remaining. Then sophomore Darius Adams, who finished with 12 points, hit a pair of free throws, Frauenheim hits a short floater and senior Jack Dettlinger scored on a drive with a minute left to put the game away.

“That’s what basketball is. It’s a game of runs,” Frauenheim said. “We know they’re going to throw a punch. How we respond to that punch is what matters.”

PREGAME

Manasquan basketball seeks fourth straight sectional title: 3 things to know vs. South River

Fun fact. As of the start of the week, all four teams Manasquan lost to this season were still alive in the NJSIAA Tournament, including: Roselle Catholic, the favorite in North Non-Public B; Union Catholic, in the South Non-Public A semifinals; Linden, in the North Section 2 Group 4 final; and Shore Conference rival St. Rose, the top-seed in South Non-Public B.

It says a lot about the 10-week gauntlet that’s prepared second-seeded Manasquan (25-4) for this moment, facing top-seeded South River (26-3) in Tuesday’s NJSIAA Central Group 2 final.

Having ducked no one, Manasquan, which is still a relatively young team with two sophomores and two juniors in the starting lineup, won’t be surprised by anything they see against South River.

“We owe it to our kids to try and showcase them and play best competition we can get, and then you hope it pays dividends in terms of toughening you up as you go through the year, and I’d like to think it did,” said Manasquan coach Andrew Bilodeau, as his team goes for its fourth straight sectional title.

Manasquan has won 20 of its last 21 games, with the only loss in a regular season-ending game against Union Catholic. Since then, the closest anyone's come is Ranney, which lost by 15 points in the Shore Conference Tournament final.  In their wins, nobody has been within single digits since beating St. Rose, 41-37, back on Jan. 19.

It’s part of a process that began for this group a year ago, when a 25-6 record and dominating postseason run to win the Central Group 3 title provided the foundation. It all ended with a disappointing loss to Woodrow Wilson in the Group 3 semifinals.

“I still think this team is so young and is ahead of schedule even now,” Bilodeau said. “We had two freshmen and two sophomores in the lineup last year, and we have two sophomore and two juniors this year.

“With age comes experience, and we got good experience last year.”

While Manasquan has talent up and down the lineup, it all starts with 6-3 sophomore Darius Adams, one of the state’s most dynamic players. He went over the 1,000-point mark for his career two games ago, and is averaging 20.5 points and 7.6 rebounds. He has multiple high-major offers already, including from Rutgers and Seton Hall.

And his top sidekick is junior point guard Ryan Frauenheim, who is averaging 11 points and five assists

“Ryan has grown into an elite scorer, and I think he’s the best point guard at the Shore,” Bilodeau said. “A guy like Alex Konov (6-7 junior) has really rounded out his game – the other night he had 10 points and six rebounds by halftime – and Griffin Linstra (6-4 sophomore) as flourished into such a great all-around player. Some nights he has a double-double, others he’s focused on defense.”

Here are three things to look for as Manasquan seeks to keep its season going:

1. Under the radar players

While Manasquan’s underclassmen have gotten a lot of the headlines, the two seniors in the rotation have been the glue that’s held the season together. Jack Dettlinger, at 6-5, has scoring in double figures eight times this season, including a double-double against Union Catholic, while 6-6 Quinn Peters has been a grinder at both ends of the court.

“They’re having big-time years,” Bilodeau said. “I think they do fly under the radar. That’s pretty typical of the sports world we live in where whoever puts the ball in the hole that night gets a lot of adulation. We do a lot of work to congratulate the kids that do the dirty work, and recognize them for what they do.”

2. South River is tough

South River’s only loss in its last eight game was in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament semifinals against South Brunswick, which plays Trenton in tonight’s Central Group 4 final. By way of comparison, South River beat Point Boro, 83-56, in the second round. Manasquan beat Point Boro by scores of 66-25 and 59-47 this season.

In their semifinal win over Bound Brook, South River had all five starters in double figures, led by Gavin Franco and Roman Santos with 15 points, Lazaro Rodriguez and Alex Grospe with 13 points, and Jeremy Grospe with 11 points, accounting for 67 of South River’s 72 total points.

“I don’t care what anybody says. If you have a record like that, 26-3, that’s an outstanding team. They’ve played everybody and beaten most,” Bilodeau said. “It’s team that really knows how to win. They’re athletic, have size, great balance and are very, very similar to us in the way that they play. They like to up the tempo, they can shoot the three, and they defend. They’re as talented as any team we’ve played.”

3. What it means

If Manasquan can secure a fourth straight sectional title, it would set up a Group 2 semifinal between the winner of the South Group 2 final between fourth-seed Sterling, which bounced top-seeded Haddonfield, and seventh-seed Middle Township.

Camden had been the heavy favorite in South Group 2, and to win the Group 2 title, but was pulled out of the tournament by the school district after a brawl erupted on the court two weeks ago. So if Manasquan can emerge against South River, there is a realistic path to what would be the school’s first-ever overall state championship.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Manasquan NJ basketball wins sectional title over South River, 80-62