Ocean Township High School - Sandpiper Yearbook (Oakhurst, NJ)

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Ocean Twp. Wins Basketbal Feb. 27- Trailing for three periods, Ocean Town- ship High School exploded for nine successive points in the first four minutes of the final period to beat Henry Hudson Regional, 65-56, to win the 34th annual Shore Conference championship bas- ketball playoffs before a capacity crowd at Toms River High School North. Ocean's Spartans, the Class B champions, thus won the Shore Conference over-all championship for the first time. The Spartans now have a 21-4 rec- ord for the present campaign. In the final analysis, the superior size of the Spar- tans enabled them to win as the Admirals, who had previously upset Long Branch and Neptune, ran out of gas. Mark Hlatky was the game's star, scoring 24 points and leading the Spartans' stall in the last four minutes of the game. George Anders, Ocean's 6-6 center, turned in the best individual effort of his career, scoring 22 points and smothering the Admir- al's big man, Larry Kelly, who did not continue his recent superlative play. Henry Hudson was ahead at each of the first three periods thanks to the Riley brothers, who car- ried the load for the losers. They collaborated for 41 of the Admirals' points - 24 for Tom and 17 for Bob. It was rare for the Admirals to get a second shot as Anders, Hlatky, and Ron Bonforte dominated both boards. However, the rebound chart only showed the Spartans with a 40-39 margin. In the game it appeared for different. The turnovers were about even with the Spartans losing the ball 18 times, two more than the Admir- als. Ocean's shooting accuracy was also superior. The Spartans sank 25 of their 56 field goal at- tempts and 15 of 23 foul attempts. The Admirals hit for 22 of 64 field goals and 15 of 23 foul shots. The Spartans stuck to their 2-2-1 defense throughout the game. It was very effective in mak- ing the Admirals shoot from beyond the twenty-five foot mark, and, in the crucial fourth quarter, miss consistently. With 6:10 left to play in the game, the Admirals clung to a 52-51 lead. Here the roof caved in on Henry Hudson as the Spartans scored the next nine points to take a commanding 60-52 lead. Charlie Brown, who was limited to two points in the first and second quarters, ignited this winning rally by pumping in one basket and three foul conversions. Anders and Bonforte helped Brown by each scoring a basket. ' The Admirals, noted for late rallies, were muffled for the last four minutes as the Spartans stalled for the balance of the game with Hlatky in the engi- neering role. The Spartans completely throttled Henry Hudson in the final period, outscoring the losers, 16-6. I Title

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