Undermanned Lawrence falls to Burlington City in Molinelli final

LAWRENCE » Jeff Molinelli knew what his undermanned Lawrence High boys basketball team was going to be up against when it took the court in the championship game of the 17th annual John Molinelli Holiday Classic.

That his team, down a handful of players due to health and safety protocols, had even won its openinground game was a bit of a surprise.

For two-and-half quarters, the Cardinals hung around in the title game before Burlington City pulled away for a 65-46 victory on Wednesday afternoon.

“I’m so proud of my guys who played,” Molinelli said. “They stepped up and worked hard. They literally gave everything they had and I couldn’t expect anything more from them.”

Everything they had wasn’t enough against an opponent who picked up full court and used its size and athleticism to dominate the glass and force turnovers.

Tournament MVP Dejuan Hunter scored 21 points, Jacquez Hunt added 16 and Izaiah Johnson had 11 for the Blue Devils (2-0), who were back on the court this week for the first time since March of 2020.

“It feels great,” Hunter said. “It’s been a long journey. We played (well) this week. We had a few turnovers, but other than that we played hard the whole time.”

Brandon Ford netted a game-high 25 points for Lawrence (2-2) and averaged 23 points over the two games, while Dylan Adamsky added 12.

Ford scored 11 of his 25 points in the third quarter and sparked an 8-0 Cards run out of the locker room to pull within one (33-32), but City answered by closing the period on a 14-5 spurt and then put the game away with a 14-0 run early in the fourth quarter.

“They pressured us and then they started switching,” Molinelli said. “I think Burlington City will have a really nice year. Our boys played as hard as they could for as long as they could and they tired out a little bit.”

The annual holiday tournament that pays tribute to Molinelli’s late father nearly didn’t get played for a second straight year because of COVID issues. It was moved back a day so that all four teams — Lawrence, Hopewell Valley, Burlington City and Ocean Township — could figure out if they would have enough players.

In the end, all four games got played even if some of the teams — Lawrence and Hopewell in particular — had to play shorthanded.

That was as important as any result. “It was definitely special,” Molinelli said. “This was the 17th year and would have been the 18th, so to get it back going my dad was all about community and family and bringing people together. To get it back this year was nice.” BURLINGTON CITY (65)

Barnes 0-0-0, Bell 1-0-3, Cutshaw 1-0-2, Fowler 4-0-8, Hunt 6-4-16, Hunter 10-0-21, Johnson 4-2-11, Willis 0-00, Young 1-0-2, PUal 1-0-2. Totals: 28-6-65. LAWRENCE (46)

Adamsky 5-2-12, Bruestle 2-0-5, Ford 10-3-25, Kelly 1-0-2, Moore 0-0-0, Robinson 0-0-0, E. Goodman 0-0-0, J. Goodman 1-0-2, Gregory 0-0-0, Pasch 0-0-0, Shivaparan 0-0-0. Totals: 19-5-45. Burlington City (2-0) 16 17 14 18 —65 Lawrence (2-2) 20 4 13 8 — 46

3pt goals: Bell, Hunter, Johnson (BC). Bruestle, Ford 2 (L).

HOPEWELLVALLEY52,OCEANTWP.36

Brendan O’Reilly scored 13 points to pace a balanced offensive effort and the Bulldogs cruised past the Spartans to take the consolation game at the Molinelli Holiday Classic.

Hopewell (2-3) got off to a 19-6 start in the first quarter and never looked back. Brian O’Reilly and Kevin Ellis added nine points each.

Brendan O’Reilly connected on two of his three 3-pointers in the third quarter as Matt Stein’s team pulled away by outscoring Ocean, 187, in the period. The Bulldogs held the Spartans (1-4) to single digits in each of the first three quarters.

Zayier Dean netted a game-high 17 points for Ocean and was its only player to make more than one field goal. OCEAN TWP. (36)

Dean 8-0-17, Birzin 1-0-2, Mendez 1-0-2, Richardson 1-9-11, Sobieski 1-0-2, Simms 1-0-2, Destin 0-0-0, Brawer 0-0-0, Parker 0-0-0. Totals: 13-9-36. HOPEWELL VALLEY (52)

Bre. O’Reilly 5-0-13, Bri. O’Reilly 3-2-9, Sullivan 2-2-7, Ellis 3-3-9, O’Grady 1-0-2, Briehler 3-1-7, Whitlock 1-3-5, Rich 0-0-0, Brown 0-0-0, Casano 0-0-0. Totals: 18-11-52 Ocean Twp. (1-4) 6 8 7 15 — 36

Hopewell Valley (2-3) 19 7 18 8 — 52

3pt goals: Dean (OT). Bre. O’Reilly 3, Bri. O’Reilly, Sullivan (HV).