Steve Falk 's look at the power points

BY STEVEN FALK
STAFF WRITER


It appears 14 Shore Conference teams have clinched
berths in the NJSIAA playoffs
and six other Shore teams will
clinch playoff berths with wins
this weekend, according to unofficial tabulations by the As
bury Park Press.

The cutoff date for the
NJSIAA playoffs is Saturday.
The top eight teams in the pow
er rankings with .500 or better
records in each of the state's 20
sections qualify. Only a team's
first eight games count towards
qualification.

Teams that appear to have
clinched berths with the section they compete in are as
follows: Asbury Park (Central
Jersey Group I); Keansburg (CJ
I); Holmdel (CJ II); Long
Branch (CJ III); Freehold (CJ
III); Middletown South (CJ
Group III); Howell (CJ IV);
Jackson Memorial (CJ IV);
Point Pleasant Boro (South Jersey Group II); Lacey (SJ III);
Toms River North (SJ IV);
Southern (SJ IV); Toms River
East (SJ IV) and Red Bank
Catholic (Non-Public Group
IV).

Rumson-Fair Haven (CJ II);
Wall (CJ III); Colts Neck (CJ
IV); Brick (CJ IV); Manasquan
(SJ II) and Barnegat (South J
II) clinch berths with wins this
weekend.

New Egypt (CJ I), Matawan
(CJ II) and Neptune (CJ III) are
all still alive.

Holmdel, Point Boro and
Toms River North will likely
clinch No. 1 seeds with wins
this weekend.

Howell and Southern, which
hosts Toms River North Friday
night in matchup of the No.‚1
and No.‚ 2 teams in the Asbury
Park Press Top 10, both have
chances of being No ‚1 seeds.

The following is a brief look
at each of the sections.

CJ I

It appears Keansburg (6-1, 33
points) will be the No.‚ 2 seed
with a win over 1-6 Group III
Pinelands Saturday. Asbury
Park (7-1, 38 points) will be the
No.‚ 3 seed.

CJ II

Holmdel (7-0), 47 points) is
the probable top seed with a
win over 2-5 Group II Red
Bank. Rumson will be the No.‚
5 or 6 seed with a win over 0-7
Group II Raritan.

Matawan will have a chance
to qualify should it defeat 6-1
Group III Freehold Saturday
night, and if both Governor
Livingston and Carteret lose.

CJ III

Long Branch (6-1, 53 points)
will likely be the No.‚ 2 seed
with a win over 3-4 Group III
Ocean Friday night.

Freehold (6-1, 52 points) will
likely be the No.‚ 3 seed with a
win over 3-4 Group II Matawan.

Middletown South (6-2, 51
points) is looking at a 5 or 6
seed and a road game in the
first round.

Wall (5-2, 40 points) is in and
a possible No.‚ 5 seed with a
win Saturday at home over
Group III Lacey (5-2). If the
Crimson Knights lose, they
could be out.

Neptune will give itself an
outside chance should it beat
6-1 Group II Red Bank Catholic
Saturday.

CJ IV

Howell (6-1, 62 points) will be
in a residual point battle for
the top seed with West Wind
sor-Plansboro South (7-1, 70
points) if it beats 0-7 Group IV
Marlboro Saturday.

West Windsor-Plainsboro
South will likely finish 1-2
points ahead of Howell.

Jackson Memorial (5-3, 52
points) is looking at a 5-7 seed.

Colts Neck (5-2, 43 points)
still has a reasonable chance to
qualify even if loses at Brick
(4-3, 40 points) Friday night. A
win would give the Cougars a
chance at the No.‚ 5 seed with
an outside chance at getting up
to the No.‚ 4 seed and earning a
first-round home game.

Brick is in at likely the 5-7
range with a win over Colts
Neck and could be out if it
loses.

SJ II

Point Boro (6-1, 33 points) is
the top seed with a win over
Barnegat (4-3, 23 points). If it
loses, it will likely be the No.‚ 3
seed.

Manasquan (4-3, 24 points)
earns the No.‚ 4 seed and a
first-round home game with a
win over 3-5 Group I Shore Re
gional and if Barnegat loses to
Point Boro.

Barnegat, if it beats Point
Boro, will likely be the No.‚ 4
seed and earn a first-round
home game should it beat Point
Boro. The Bengals could be out
with a loss.

SJ III

Lacey (5-2, 51 points) will be
either the No‚ 2 or 3 seed, de
pending on the result of the
Winslow Township-Eastern
game, should it defeat Wall. If
it loses, it will likely be no
lower than a No.‚ 4 seed and
could still be the No.‚ 3 seed.

SJ IV

Toms River North (7-0, 70
points), if it wins, will be 1-2
points ahead of Eastern (7-0, 69
points) should the Vikings win.
The Mariners could drop down
as low as No.‚ 4 with a loss.

Southern (6-1, 63 points)
earns the top seed should it
beat Toms River North and
Eastern lose to Winslow. The
Rams could drop to No.‚ 5 with
a loss. Toms River East (6-1, 55
points) is likely looking at a
No.‚ 6 seed.

Non-Public Group
IV

Red Bank Catholic (6-1, 62
points) could earn a No.‚ 4 seed
and a first-round home game
with a win over Neptune. That
would mean the Caseys would
avoid state powers Don Bosco
Prep, St. Peter's Prep and Bergen Catholic in the first round.