MANASQUAN — In Shore Conference high school basketball, when one side boasts one-sixth of the 18-man All-Shore Conference team, it’s a super-team.

In the Jersey Shore Basketball League, it is a work-in-progress.

Jaycen Santucci, Justin Fuerbacher and Colin Byrne were all members of the 2025 Shore Sports Insider All-Shore Team and the three local standouts from this past winter joined forces for the first time in JSBL play Thursday night for Ortho-NJ. The trio combined for 28 points in support of 51 points by teammate George Papas in a 125-106 loss to RKE Athletic.

It was a baptism-by-fire of sorts for three accomplished high-school players who are three of several who will be testing themselves right after graduation by competing in a league that houses mostly current college players with a sprinkling of current and former professionals — which includes the former Monmouth University star, Papas.

“It’s an important step for experience,” Fuerbacher said of his JSBL debut. “You have seen college guys before, you know what college guys look like and you see what real pros look like. I think it’s important to get that taste in your mouth, but there is also an aura around this league. It’s very well-known, so when people ask, ‘Hey, do you want to play in the JSBL?’ you jump at that opportunity.”

Justin Fuerbacher at CBA this past winter. (Photo: Tom Smith | tspimages.com)

As seniors at their respective high schools this past winter, Santucci, Fuerbacher and Byrne all starred as top scorers, rebounders, defenders and distributors. Santucci was a First-Team All-Shore guard at Central Regional, where he averaged 19.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists as a senior on the way to becoming the second-leading scorer in Golden Eagles history behind 2,000-point scorer Jermaine Clay.

Fuerbacher was a four-year contributor at Christian Brothers Academy, where few players make an impact as a freshman in any capacity, much less to the degree that Fuerbacher did four years ago. This past winter, he closed out his career with a Second-Team All-Shore selection after averaging 11.9 points and 5.1 rebounds as the CBA captain while playing through a sprained ankle for most of the season.

While both Santucci and Fuerbacher were returning All-Shore players from their junior seasons, Byrne made the leap between his junior and senior year to become a Third-Team All-Shore selection in leading a turnaround at Middletown North. The Lions went 0-10 in divisional play in 2023-24 and after moving out of a division with Rumson-Fair Haven, Red Bank Regional, Red Bank Catholic and Holmdel, they churned out an 18-9 season this past year and won the Class B Coastal division championship — Middletown North’s first division championship in 14 years. Byrne averaged 18.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and three assists in his final high school season.

“This gets us college-ready,” Byrne said. “These guys out here all have experience playing four years of college, so it gets us ready for what we’re going to see in the next couple of months.”

The credentials of each of the three players would have stood out in a Shore Conference All-Star Game, but on Thursday night, they were of little use against a veteran RKE Athletic team led by its own trio of Shore Conference alumni, only far more seasoned than the recent graduates on Ortho-NJ. Mater Dei Prep alums Peter Gorman (33 points, six rebounds, four assists) and Kyle Cardaci (25 points, six rebounds) helped lead the scoring effort while Manasquan alumnus and current Monmouth University wing Jack Collins chipped in 16 points, six rebounds and six assists.

“Everyone is skilled and more tuned,” Santucci said of his first experience in JSBL competition. “Everybody out here can shoot, everybody out here can dribble, so it’s kind of position-less.”

Central senior Jaycen Santucci during the WOBM Christmas Classic final vs. Manasquan. (Photo: Tom Smith | tspimages.com)

Cardaci played his college career at Bryant, Coppin State and Saint Peter’s, while Gorman is coming off an all-conference senior season at Ramapo in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) where he was also voted as the NJAC Player of the Year. Cardaci won a Shore Conference Tournament championship as a junior at Mater Dei Prep in 2017 and Gorman was a senior standout on the 2019-20 Seraphs team that upset No. 2 seed Middletown South as a 15 seed in the Shore Conference Tournament. Collins, meanwhile, was a starter on Manasquan’s 12-0 team during the COVID-shortened 2021 high school season.

Santucci, Fuerbacher and Byrne are all hoping to have similarly accomplished careers after high school, and playing in the JSBL before heading to campus is an early step they hope will prepare them for a college basketball atmosphere that demands newcomers — whether freshmen or transfers — to be able to contribute in year one.

“Everybody else is coming in ready, so you want to be able to keep up,” Fuerbacher said. “Playing in a league like (the JSBL), you want to get as many live reps as possible against guys like that.”

“It’s just like we’re freshmen in high school again,” Santucci said. “It’s a completely different level. It’s going to be the same kind of adjustment and it might take a little longer, maybe not as long, but you’ve just got to feel it out and see where you fit in.”

Peter Gorman during opening-night JSBL action. (Photo: Bob Badders | rpbphotography.com)

Santucci will be the most local of the Ortho-NJ All-Shore trio, as he is staying in Ocean County at Georgian Court University as a prized recruit for GCU head coach Dave Fedor.

Fuerbacher is headed to Division III Middlebury College in Vermont and Byrne will continue his career at Stonehill College in Massachusetts. Stonehill will be playing its first season in Division I in 2025-26.

Santucci and Fuerbacher each made their JSBL debuts on Thursday night and reached double-figures in scoring, with Santucci posting 16 points and eight rebounds, while Fuerbacher went for 11 and nine. Byrne was coming off a 15-point night in a season-opening loss to Sterns Trailer and finished with two on Thursday.

Former Matawan guard Mike Dunne went for 16 points and eight rebounds and former Raritan star Mike Aaman — the Shore Conference Player of the Year in both 2011 and 2012 — put up 11 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in the loss. Papas went off for 51 on 16-for-32 shooting, including 10-for-24 from three-point range.

“The games are competitive, it’s just that guys are so good that it’s tough to play defense against them,” Santucci said. “It becomes more like trading baskets than actually playing.”

Papas and Cardaci exchanged words in the final minute of the game and had to be separated during the postgame handshake line —  a heated finish to a game RKE controlled from the end of the first quarter through the final whistle of the game, which came before the buzzer due to the rising tensions between the two players.

“These guys don’t become pros without having a little edge to them,” Fuerbacher said. “I don’t want to say I was surprised, but you don’t go into a basketball game thinking that something like that is going to happen. It adds to the experience.”

“These guys compete,” Byrne said. “You could see it coming.”

WCT Warriors guard Andre Wells defended by RKE Athletic’s Kyle Cardaci during opening-night action in the JSBL. (Photo: Bob Badders | rpbphotography.com)

Game 2 Recap: Larson Ford 97, WCT Warriors 88

Pepperdine transfer and former Montclair Immaculate star Zion Bethea scored 22 points and recent Red Bank Regional graduate Zayier Dean led a balanced supporting effort with 17 as Larson Ford bounced back from its season-opening loss Wednesday with a win over the WCT Warriors on Thursday.

Dean followed up his 23-point season debut on Wednesday with another double-digit scoring effort on 7-for-14 shooting from the field (3-for-4 from three-point range) that also included four rebounds and five assists. Bethea, meanwhile, did most of his damage from the free-throw line, where he shot 11-for-13. Bethea — who is currently in the transfer portal ahead of his red-shirt senior season — also added five rebounds and four assists.

Colts Neck alumnus Lloyd Daniels was one of four Larson players to chip in 14 points, with Daniels also grabbing five boards and shooting 3-for-4 from the three-point line. Larson and WCT each attempted 27 three-pointers and Larson’s strong shooting (11 makes; 41 percent) vs. WCT’s poor shooting (6 makes; 22 percent) proved to be the difference in the outcome.

St. John Vianney alum Alex Leiba — who also played at Pepperdine this past season — turned in an all-around effort with 14 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots. Je’lon Hornbeak (11 rebounds, five assists) and Gene Campbell (seven rebounds) also scored 14 points apiece in the win.

Former Seton Hall forward Jorge Mercado led the WCT Warriors with 22 points and nine rebounds. A pair of Shore Conference alumni packed up Mercado’s effort, with former Matawan point guard Andre Wells going for 18 points, five rebounds and nine assists while former Lakewood standout Ryan Savoy contributed 19 points and nine rebounds. Former Manasquan center Quinn Peters also reached double-figures with 11 points.