Scott Martin, Red Bank boys basketball coach for 21 seasons, wins final home game

One of the longest-serving boys basketball coaches at a Shore Conference school got a heartwarming send off in the team's last home game of the season.

Red Bank Regional coach Scott Martin, who's stepping down at the conclusion of the Bucs' 2021-2022 season, took a moment to thank the players and the fans, who have supported him for the last 21 seasons.

But before Martin could give his short speech, his players had to handle some business on the basketball coach against Middletown North in an NJSIAA Central Group 3 first-round game.

The No. 8 seed Bucs defeated No. 9 seed Middletown North, 54-47 as Nick Valentino had a team-high 18 points.

That gives Martin at least one more game to coach when the Bucs go on the road to continue in the NJSIAA Central Group 3 quarterfinals at Manasquan on Thursday.

"Last year was my son's senior year and last year was stolen from him and all of these guys (via COVID-19). He and I sat down and talked. And I asked him if he wouldn't mind if I continued," Martin said. "And he said 'Dad, of course, I've been playing high school basketball for four years and you've been coaching for like a hundred years."

Martin hasn't been coaching quite that long but he has been a coach for 23 seasons and 21 of them as the head coach at Red Bank.

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In that time frame, he's amassed a career record of 271-259, won four Albert E. Martin Buc Holiday Classics (Albert Martin, no relation, was coached by Scott Martin; Albert died after collapsing during a break at a pre-season scrimmage in 2012), secured three Shore Conference division titles, made three NJSIAA Sectional Final appearances and made three Shore Conference Tournament semifinal appearances.

"They (Middletown North) are a really tough team. They have a lot more size than us. But we just came to play," Valentino said. "We are all very close. We have great team chemistry and I'm personally very close to the seniors and we couldn't lose this game. We knew we had to win it for them."

Martin got win No. 271 on a night when the Bucs (15-10) clung to a 46-45 lead with 2:31 left. The Bucs would go on a game-breaking 8-2 run to close out the game.

Valentino drained a shot with 2:05 left to give the Bucs a 48-45 lead. Off a timeout and a set play, Collin Teter (13 points) got a layup to extend the lead to 50-45 with 1:02 remaining. Valentino made the first of two free throws with 49.8 left pushing the lead to 51-45 and Braydon Kirkpatrick (nine points) sank two free throws for a 53-45 lead with 24.4 seconds remaining.

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Middletown North's Zach Searight (eight points) broke the scoring spree by the Bucs with a putback with 10.8 seconds left and then Teter finished off the scoring with a free throw with 5.3 seconds remaining.

Overall, Valentino led the Bucs in scoring followed by Teter, Brian Tobin (13 points) and then Kirkpatrick. Conversely, Middletown North's Matt Kenny finished with a game-high 20 points and Lucas Cerbo added 11 points and Tommy Giannone added six points.

In other NJSIAA Tournament first round games

Keyport 102, Somerset Tech 29: No. 2 seed Keyport (17-6) got off to a blazing start, a 31-3 lead after the first quarter, and cruised to the Central Group 1 win over the Jaguars. DJ Thomson finished with a game-high 33 points and he also had seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. George Mitchell added nine of his 15 points in the first half and he had nine rebounds, four assists, two blocks and one steal and Max Judson added 14 points and seven rebounds. Nahsirr Hart came off the bench and finished with 15 points and five rebounds.

Point Pleasant Beach 57, Highland Park 55: Kevin Burns provided 18 points and Andrew Laumbach added 17 points and 13 rebounds and Stephen Seaman had nine points and two rebounds as the No. 8 seed Garnet Gulls (11-11) edged the No. 9 seed Owls in a Central Group 1 game.

Florence 51, Asbury Park 47: In a Central Group 1 game, Davon Foster spearheaded the No. 12 seed Blue Bishops' (3-12) effort with 16 points and Jaisun Brown added 11 points in a loss to the No. 5 seed Flashes.

New Egypt 56, Henry Hudson 36: Jax Ross (13 points) guided the No. 14 seed Admirals' (4-19) performance against No. 3 seed New Egypt. Meanwhile, Jack Fitzpatrick added eight points and Demitrius Harvey had six points in the Central Group 1 game. It was the Admirals first NJSIAA Tournament appearance since 2016.

Shore 74, South Amboy 33: The No. 6 seed Blue Devils (13-13) won their first NJSIAA game in seven years, according to coach Erik Mazur, as Brett Sweeney supplied 14 points while Richie Studer and Joey Santi each had 11 points. Overall, 10 players scored against No. 11 seed South Amboy in a Central Group 1 game.

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Manasquan 81, Steinert 16: Quinn Peters had 10 points and helped No. 1 seed Manasquan (22-5) blow past No. 16 seed Steinert in a Central Group 3 game. Also, Jack Dettlinger added nine points while Cole Kozlowski and Alex Konov each had eight points.

Brick Memorial 55, Colts Neck 38: Luke Braaten's double-double (18 points, 18 rebounds), Josh Michigan's all-around effort (18 points, three rebounds, three assists) and Brian Starrett's seven points, five rebounds and eight assists powered the No. 3 seed Mustangs (19-6) past the No. 14 seed Cougars (10-13) in a Central Group 3 game. Colts Neck's Tyler Spencer had 12 points, two rebounds and two assists and Will Surdez added nine points, six rebounds and two assists. Colts Neck's Lou Piccola, the only head coach in school history, closed out his career with a 621-352 record between Colts Neck and Xavierian High in Brooklyn.

Hamilton West 63, Brick 46: Alex Jenkoski led three players in double figures with 14 points as the No. 11 seed Dragons (10-16) fell to No. 6 seed Hornets. Also, Jack Dougard had 12 points and Robert Giovine had 10 points in the Central Group 3 game.

Jackson Liberty 43, Hopewell Valley 41: Dahkareo Pritchett banked in a go-ahead three-pointer with about nine seconds left and the No. 7 seed Lions (16-10) outlasted the No. 10 seed Bulldogs in a Central Group 3 game. Pritchett finished with nine points while Phanique Dupree led all scorers with 16 points.

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Robbinsville 62, Wall 23: Kyle Gerber led the No. 15 seed Crimson Knights with five points and Chris Mitchell and Joe Tvrdik each added three points in the Central Group 3 loss to the No. 2 seed Ravens.

Moorestown 50, Pinelands 18: Aiden Skeie powered the No. 16 seed Wildcats (8-12) as they challenged the No. 1 seed Quakers. Teammate Daniel McCarthy added four points, Darren Barreau had three points and Mike Hall had two points in the South Group 3 game.

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: NJ boys basketball: Scott Martin, Red Bank coach for 21 seasons, wins final home game