Ranney School boys basketball outduels Manchester in nondivisional game

The Ranney School boys basketball team proved it can protect a big lead against a quality opponent on Wednesday night in Tinton Falls.

The host Panthers jumped out to a big advantage after the first quarter and they held off a couple of Manchester scoring sprees in the second half for a 58-46 nondivisional win at the Gerhard Pavilion for Athletics.

"Coach Tahj Holden told us before the game that they (Manchester) are going to make their runs," Ranney's Isaac Hester said. "We just had to stay composed and do what we do. We had to run our plays, run our sets, and that's what we did and got the win."

The Panthers (9-2) had a 22-9 lead after the first quarter and the lead was 34-22 at halftime as Hester had 11 of his game-high 23 points in the first half. Hester also had five rebounds, two assists and one steal on senior night.

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Taheen Braswell-Brown had the hot hand for the Panthers in the second half as he supplied eight of his 13 points in that time frame despite Manchester trimming the lead to 47-36 after three quarters.

Manchester's Savon Myers (21 points) scored all nine of his team's points in the first quarter and he had 14 points at halftime as the Hawks methodically shrunk the deficit for a short time in the second half.

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"We just had to make it tough for them (Manchester's Savon Myers and D'Maari Brown). Those guys are scorers," Hester said. "I'm pretty sure they have three 1,000th-point scorers on their team. So, we had to make every time (down the floor) tough for them."

Myers would score his 1,000th career point in the game while Brown provided a spark with his outside shooting. Brown finished with 11 of his 17 points in the second half and made five three-pointers overall to fuel the Hawks' second half comeback.

In other boys basketball games

Manasquan 73, Ocean 45: Darius Adams led four players in double figures with a game-high 22 points as the Warriors (11-2, 7-0) rolled to a Class C North victory over the Spartans (2-11, 2-9). Alex Konov added 15 points while Matt Solomon had 14 points and Ryan Frauenheim had 11 points. Ocean's Zayier Dean had 18 points and Ron Richardson had 10 points, three rebounds and three assists.

Brick Memorial 70, Toms River East 40: Josh Michigan erupted for 16 of his game-high 26 points in the first half as the Mustangs (9-4, 7-3) cruised to the Class A South victory over the Raiders (2-12, 2-8). Luke Braaten chipped in with nine of his 14 points in the second half and Brian Starrett had eight of his 12 points in the first half. Brick Memorial has won four of its last five games. Toms River East's Steven Scorsone had nine of his team-high 12 points in the first half and Manny Vargas added eight of his 10 points in the fourth quarter.

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Shore 54, Henry Hudson 22: Alex George (11 points) led a balanced attack as 11 players scored in the Blue Devils (7-7) nondivisional win over the Admirals (2-10). Richard Studer added nine points, Donovan Hughes had seven points and Ben Levy and Liam Gajewski each added six points. Shore has won two of its last three games. Henry Hudson's Jax Ross finished with a team-high 11 points while Jesse Jacobs, Quinn Casey and Luke Jaccodine finished with three points each.

Southern 54, Lacey 38: Nick Devane recorded a career-high 26 points in the Rams' (7-7) nondivisional win over the Lions (4-8). Devane also finished with seven rebounds, three steals and one assist. Jaden Anthony added 10 points, nine rebounds and six assists, Tom Menegus had six points and five rebounds and Max DiPietro had six points, five assists, two steals and two rebounds. Lacey's Troy Buxton had nine points, four rebounds, two assists and Ryan Fitzgerald finished with seven points and five rebounds.

Sherlon Christie is a sports reporter at the Asbury Park Press and has covered sports at the Jersey Shore since 2004. Don't miss any of his coverage by subscribing at https://subscribe.app.com/. You can contact him via e-mail at schristie@gannettnj.com, on Twitter at https://twitter.com/sherlonapp, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/sherlonapp and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sherlon_christie

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Ranney School boys basketball outduels Manchester in key game