Local Shore Conference High School Basketball

In local high school basketball action, the Matawan Regional High School (MRHS) boys are 6-2 and the girls are 2-6. The boys nearly lost a recent game after a last minute upset bid by Red Bank took the Huskies by surprise but turned it around in the final minutes with a number of clutch free throws, according to an APP blog. The Huskies boys program has been steadily improving over the past five years, according to Freehold InJersey. The Freehold blogger, who asks if the Huskies are for real, points out that they were 0-24 in 2007; 3-21 in 2008; 6-19 in 2009; and at the time of publication were 3-0. The Huskies girls team led Middletown North through the third quarter in their most recent game but lost by 3 at the buzzer, per APP.

St John Vianney's girls are ranked 2nd in the state, per APP. They beat 3rd-ranked Fair Haven on Thursday in a squeaker and remain undefeated (7-0). The SJV boys were 2-1 in late December, but I couldn't immediately find their current stats.