Knights' Korner

Wall Boys Basketball: A couple of the Wall basketball players have adopted the phrase “why not us?” Well on Friday night, they put some meaning behind that.

Wall went up against favored Ocean and came down with a statement 59-41 win led by a career high 29 points from sophomore Trent Mitchell. Ocean had no answer for Mitchell who did his damage from the field and from the line, having 8 field goals and 13 free throws. Sophomore point guard Brenden Barcas was the second leading scorer that night with 9 points with 4 steals and 3 assists. Senior Kevin Waters dominated the boards with a game high 10 rebounds. This brings them to a record of 2-1, 1-1 in the division.

Saturday Dec 15 in their first game of the 2012-13 season, Wall beat Robbinsville on the road 63-55. Head coach Mike Puorro had his young guns firing and on target. The team was led by his three starting sophomores: Barcas, Mitchell and Ryan Janeczek. Barcas ran the point with such poise many coaches would like to see from seniors, ending with 14 points and 8 assists. The majority of his points came from the free throw line, making 11 from the charity stripe. Mitchell did a little bit of everything Saturday night with 13 points 5 assists and 5 rebounds. Janeczek stole the show, though, pacing the Knights with 21 points in his 2012/13 debut. Waters made his presence felt on the glass with a game high 13 rebounds, falling just a point short of a double double with 9 points. Three days later, Wall played their first B North game of the year, 52-44 to Freehold Boro. Barcas put in 12 points to lead the Knights, but didn’t get to the line as frequently as he did against Robbinsville, without a made free throw all night. Waters had a tougher matchup on the boards, only bringing down 5 rebounds.

Wall Ice Hockey: In the battle of the unbeatens Wednesday night, Wall was the team still standing as the dust cleared, improving to 7-0 that night, now 8-0. This 6-4 thriller between the Knights and Point Pleasant lived up to the hype that’s generated when two teams of that caliber face off. After two periods, Wall had a 4-2 advantage behind goals from junior Ryan Waddell (2), junior Alex Wuestneck and senior Tom Panico. Things got fun once the puck dropped for the third period. Point Pleasant clawed back, scoring the game tying goal with less than three minutes to play. The game was 4-4 when the stars for Wall stepped up when the Knights needed them most. A penalty put them down a man, and senior Troy Klahre made a few saves to preserve the deadlock. Then who else but Panico to have two assists in the final 105 seconds and who else but Knights leading scorer sophomore Jeff Morgan to put in those two goals?

Then on Thursday, the Knights had an unexpected scare against Manasquan. Wall were the heavy favorite, and complacency must have taken over because Wall needed almost every second of the 45 minute contest, putting in the game winner with two seconds left coming from the stick of sophomore Pat Judge. Morgan led the offense again, with a hat trick, his third this season, bringing his 2012/13 total to 16 after just 8 games.

Saturday the Dec 15 Wall sidestepped a tricky Jackson Liberty 3-1 without Klahre or Panico. Junior backup goalie Jake Henderson had 15 saves in his season debut between the pipes.

Wall Wrestling: Wall participated in the Colt Classic, their first tournament of the season, Saturday Dec 15 and finished 5th as a team. But, they had a lot of individual success. Senior Dan Kinsella picked up right where he left off in 2011/12 coming in first place for 138 weight class. Kinsella is clear about his preseason goal: placing in states. He was 23-6 last year and won his first competition of this year, so states is entirely possible for the senior. Freshman Brett Donner won the 152 weight class, making his first taste of varsity wrestling sweet. Sophomore Denzel Tovar finished second for the 106 weight class. They had three wrestlers win third place, senior Drew Donner, Brett’s older brother, sophomore Jack Wishart and junior Tyler Romanelli. Wednesday they had their first meet of the year, a loss to Ocean. But then beat Toms River East on Friday.

Wall Swimming: Both the boys and the girls split their two decisions this week. Early in the week they lost handily to Toms River North, but beat rival St Rose in a close match. Both teams are 4-2 this year, starting very well.