Meteoric rise of College Achieve Asbury Park picks up speed as Group 1 semifinals loom

It was stunning news last year when coach Dave Boff, a Tinton Falls resident, announced he was leaving Roselle Catholic, having just led the Lions to a sixth NJSIAA Non-Public B championship, to go to College Achieve Asbury Park, a startup charter school basketball program.

Since then, the Knights’ rise has been meteoric.

College Achieve won the Central Group 1 section in its first try, rolling through bracket, including a 74-33 win over Manville in the final. Now the Knights take on Pitman in a Group 1 semifinal Wednesday (7 p.m.) at Monroe High School.

It’s the most dramatic example of the growing role of charter schools in high school basketball. There’s a good chance the Group 1 final will be contested between a pair of charter schools, with Paterson Charter favored against Newark Tech in the other semifinal, with that game set for 7 p.m. Wednesday at Bloomfield High School.

The Group 1 final will be played at noon Sunday at RWJ Barnabas Health Arena in Toms River.

Pitman won the school’s first sectional title since 2014, when they went on to win the Group 1 championship, the third in school history, winning in 1997 and 1998.

College Achieve Asbury Park (20-7)

The Knights demolished everyone in their section, winning their four games by an average of 44 points. Everything starts with guard Deuce Jones, who scored over 1,000 points for St. Thomas Aquinas and scored 51 points in a game last month. He has been the leader, with the LaSalle commit averaging 20.5 ppg. Junior forward David Munro, a 6-8 Neptune native who played two seasons at Bergen Catholic before coming home, has been a force inside, averaging 12.6 points, including a career-high 28 points against Middle Township. Junior Nas Hart, a 6-8 Keyport native, and 6-10 Eunique Rink, a transfer from Payne Tech, are part of a dominant frontcourt. Also playing key roles have been 6-5 sophomore Jebron Harris, a St. Thomas Aquinas transfer, and junior guard Jamir Westry, who was at Payne Tech.

The Knights are favorites to win the Group 1 title. It’s too bad the NJSIAA cancelled the season-ending Tournament of Champions two years ago, because it would have been interesting to see College Achieve take on programs like St. Rose and Camden in the postseason.

Pitman (23-7)

Pitman has some decent wins on its resume, including one over a strong Group 3 Nottingham team. But nothing on the level of College Achieve. The Panthers lost to Timber Creek in the semifinals of the Tri-County Conference Tournament.

The Panthers do have some weapons, though. Elijah Crispin, a 5-11 junior, is averaging 18.6 ppg. He had a career high 39 points against Nottingham, and had 28 in the sectional semifinals against Salem. They got 22 points from senior 6-2 guard Steven Devanney in the South Group 1 final, going on the road to knock off top-seeded KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy, 60-56. Crispin and Junior guard Michael Fisicaro are their top 3-point threats, while 6-2 senior Sonny Myers, the son of head coach Bob Myers, has been a stalwart in the paint, averaging nearly 10 rebounds-per-game. Porter Kostiuk, a 6-2 senior, contributes both scoring and rebounding,

Prediction

College Achieve 82, Pitman 60

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: College Achieve Asbury Park takes on Pitman in NJ Group 1 semifinals