By: Susan Murphy | March 1, 2022 | Local | Fair Haven
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FEATURED PHOTO: Fair Haven Mid Monmouth Boys Basketball Team (left to right, front row) Brody Mauro, Henry Schirick, Cole Hogan, Keagan Kearns, Ben Padula, Casey Moore, Jack Kingery; (left to right, back row) Cole Spoonier, Coach Chris Grier, Danny Sullivan, Ben Gredell, Will Grier, and Coach Dennis Sullivan
On January 30 at the Hoop Group, Fair Haven’s Mid Monmouth Basketball Team, consisting of 11 seventh grade boys, won the championship game by defeating Ocean Township with a score of 59-37. Chris Grier and Dennis Sullivan, who coach the team, noted that eight of these eleven boys have been together with the team and program since third grade.
“This is an extremely talented and determined group, whose persistence and resilience has often been tested. Having come up just short for the title in years past, the collective group never lost sight of their overall goal – becoming Fair Haven’s first boys’ team to ever win the title,” said Grier. “Beyond all else, as a coach, watching them truly play as a team, together, for Fair Haven makes me most proud of their development. We could not have accomplished what we did without the contributions of all 11 of these boys up and down the roster playing for each other.”
Three of the boys shared their reactions to this win.
“We won as a team and needed all 11 of us in order to go undefeated and win the championship; especially this year, when most of us missed games because of Covid,” said Brody Mauro. “Everyone contributed and that’s why we had so much fun.”
“We started playing together in third grade and came very close so many times to winning the championship in the past, but we never gave up or stopped working and this year, we played more unselfish than ever before which helped us get to the top,” said Will Grier.
“I knew we could win it all this year when we beat the reigning champs by 20 points mid-season,” said Danny Sullivan.
“There were zero personal agendas with this group. They just wanted to win as a team. All of them were extremely selfless and put the team goal of winning the championship ahead of any individual accolades. The results speak for themselves – 16-0 perfect season,” said Grier. “The boys’ development as basketball players and their continued understanding of the game itself afforded us the opportunity to expand what we could in a game setting, throwing more at them in terms of understanding and executing game plans on a game-by-game basis.”
Grier and Sullivan have taken great pride in developing the basketball fundamentals in these boys. “But even more importantly, developing these boys to be the best people they can be off the court as well. As the boys have grown and matured from third grade to now, I could not be prouder of their development as players, but even more so as fine young men,” shared Grier.
He explained that the majority of the boys have grown up going to school together, shooting hoops at the park together, playing other sports on the same team together; and the familiarity, friendship, and appreciation the boys have with each other on and off the court is special. “This bond as well as setting the legacy as the first team to do this for Fair Haven is something they will always be able to say they shared in together,” said Grier. “As a coach, being able to enjoy this experience with my son and 10 of his buddies will always be a special memory for me. I have always believed that as a coach you want to challenge the kids but also provide a lifetime of positive experience they can take with them for the rest of their lives.”
