Looking Back At The Christmas Classic

It’s been just over a week since the Jackson Memorial Boys Basketball team completed a rather surprising run by winning the 26th Annual WOBM Christmas Classic for the first time since 1997. The Jaguars championship game victory over Brick Memorial came just a few hours after Rumson-Fair Haven won the girls title for the sixth time in eight years by beating Southern Regional. Because I’ve been out for a few days today is my first chance to talk just briefly about the latest edition of the High School basketball tournament we run every December.

The big snowstorm over the weekend of December 19-20 made for some challenging times but thanks to a lot of cooperation, especially from the Toms River Regional School District we were able to get things back on track. For the most part the 7-day, 54-game event went very smoothly with quite a few surprises on the boys side while form pretty much held up for the girls teams. Jackson because the lowest seed to ever claim a title as the 10th seeded Jaguars, led by MVP Jimmy McDonald knocked off four higher-seeded teams on their way to winning the WOBM Classic for the third time in school history.

This year’s tournament was presented by Cure Auto Insurance, one of nearly two dozen sponsors whose efforts help make this a signature event during the holiday season. Among those who have contributed for many years are the Causeway Family of Dealerships, Quality Inn of Toms River, Saint Barnabas Health Care System, OceanFirst Bank, Gateway Toyota-Scion, Atlantic Physical Therapy Center, Klee’s Bar & Grill and Professional Orthopaedic Associates, who helps provide athletic trainers for all 54 games. Special thanks as well to Boston’s Restaurant of Toms River, Wallach’s Farm Market & Deli, Oh What a Bagel of Bayville and Café 1144
for making our hospitality room a desirable place for coaches, sponsors and staff.

Speaking of the staff there were about 20 people who spent most if not all of the 7 days doing everything from selling tickets to operating the clock. I can’t name them all but I do offer special thanks to my “front office” of Joe Arminio, Jim Hibbs, Ed Sarluca and Paul Barnoski for all the 12-hour plus days. Here’s hoping we do it all again in say 344 days.