MANASQUAN — When Brian Herbert subbed out of the Central Jersey Group III championship game with 24.6 seconds remaining, the entire bench stood up and high-fived him as Robbinsville’s student section serenaded the star senior.
Second-seeded Robbinsville’s historic season ended Tuesday night with a 71-46 loss at top-seeded Manasquan, but there wasn’t a more fitting accomplishment for Herbert to end his high school career on than eclipsing 1,000 career points.
Herbert reached the milestone with a 3-pointer from the right wing in the second quarter. In typical Herbert fashion, he didn’t stop to admire his shot. The 6-foot-4 wing simply ran back on on defense and stayed humble as he has throughout his time leading the Ravens (20-8) into a winning program.
“I was aware — it didn’t really matter,” Herbert said. “I just wanted to come out and win.”
Sixth-year head coach Conor Hayes expressed nothing but gratitude for the CVC Player of the Year as voted on by the league coaches. Adding to the achievement’s degree of difficulty was the fact that Herbert lost more than half of his junior season because of COVID-19.
“It’s something that I’m glad he got just because he’s been a phenomenal student-athlete the last four years. He just does everything the right way,” Hayes said. “He’s just a great kid. He just goes about everything the right way, so it’s easy to be happy for a kid like him making that major career accomplishment.”
Brian Herbert eclipses 1,000 career points at Robbinsville with this 3-pointer in the 2nd quarter. pic.twitter.com/UpUYNYRWqZ
— Greg Johnson (@gregp_j) March 9, 2022
Unfortunately for Robbinsville as a team, the dream came to an end Tuesday against a well-oiled machine from the Shore Conference.
Manasquan (25-5) had lethal drivers and connected on nearly all of its field goals in the first half including eight 3-pointers to lead by 21 at halftime. Throw in the fact that TCNJ-bound 6-foot-7 senior Matt Solomon gave Manasquan an advantage on the boards, and the task of winning the first sectional final in school history was simply too daunting for Robbinsville.
Sophomores Ryan Frauenheim (19 points) Alex Konov (15 points) each drilled five 3s for the Warriors.
“The plan was to take away their first option in all their different sets. They run a ton of sets,” Hayes said. “I really felt like we did a good job taking away the first option. It came down to kind of just breaking guys down after we took those options away. They did a phenomenal job of driving, kicking, finding open guys. And then they hit shots. They hit, it felt like, every open 3 and then they made tough 2s also. You’ve got to give them a lot of credit.”
Yet it was still an unprecedented run. Robbinsville finished with 20 victories for just the second time (2020). It won three state tournament games after previously winning only one in school history. And it went undefeated during the CVC regular season (Valley Division champions) with 13 straight wins.
This senior class won only four games as freshmen, so the Ravens held their heads high despite falling on the biggest stage they have ever experienced.
“It’s been a long journey, but the ride has been fun with everybody,” Herbert said. “I think it’s just the culture. We expect to win every game. We pick it up every game, every practice and we just do our best.”
Hayes praised Herbert and his classmates for establishing a new foundation for player development, work ethic and expectations.
“The rest of the seniors also set the right mentality, the right tone for the rest of the program. They’re a big reason why we are where we’re at tonight,” Hayes said. “This is definitely the vision. We can see how much further we’ve still got to go.”
The plan is for the younger players to continue to grow and push the team even further. Sophomore Luke Billings is one of the best distributors and slashers in the county, and sophomore Tyler Handy is also a terrific ball-handler with scoring upside.
Herbert is set to play in the North-South Senior All-Star Game on March 19 at Rider and the CYO All-Star Game on March 27 in Trenton. Next winter, he will move on to Division III basketball at Catholic University.
As for the Robbinsville program he leaves behind, he believes the future is bright.
“It was a great opportunity for everybody,” Herbert said. “We had a great crowd out here, so hopefully they can come back here next year.”
ROBBINSVILLE (46)
Herbert 4-2-13, Handy 1-0-3, Billings 5-2-13, Kapp 2-3-8, Dottino 1-0-2, Nadig 3-0-7. Totals — 16-7-46.
MANASQUAN (71)
Frauenheim 7-0-19, Konov 5-0-15, Solomon 4-1-9, Adams 5-3-15, Linstra 5-0-11, Dettlinger 0-2-2. Totals — 26-6-71.
Robbinsville (20-8) 12 6 13 15 — 46
Manasquan (25-5) 19 20 19 13 — 71
3-point goals: Herbert 3, Handy, Billings, Kapp, Nadig (R), Frauenheim 5, Konov 5, Adams 2, Linstra (M).
