JSBL Provides Learning Experience for Shore Regional Grad

Racing up and down the court at St. Rose High School with a group of former collegiate and overseas professional players in Thursday night’s Jersey Shore Basketball League game against Larson Ford, Zack Hoffman was getting a glimpse of what the next level will hold.

The recent Shore Regional graduate will soon embark on the next phase of his career when he leaves for Division II Chestnut Hill in Philadelphia. Before he gets there, he is using this summer in the JSBL to steel himself for the higher level of competition. Hoffman is playing for Team Shore in the eight-team, NCAA-sanctioned summer league at St. Rose in Belmar.

“This is what we need for college, especially going into our first years,’’ Hoffman said. “The speed of the game is just so much faster. You've got to adjust to everything and play your own game, and eventually everything will start coming along.’’

Team Shore is made up of a group of former Shore Conference stars like Christian Brothers Academy graduate Roy Mabrey, Point Beach graduates Jordan Wejnert and Mike Rotando, Raritan graduate Kevin Furlong, St. John Vianney graduate Ryan Gille and St. Rose graduate Sean McPaul.

A point guard who may also play more of a combo guard role at Chestnut Hill, Hoffman has had to defend quicker, more experienced, and more physical guards. Larson Ford has been in the 42-year-old JSBL since its inception and usually features a solid array of veterans with college and professional playing experience, so it is always a good test for a young group like Team Shore.

Larson blitzed Team Shore with a 115-80 win on Thursday night, including a 32-4 run to start the game. However, the teenagers on Team Shore showed flashes against Larson Ford, which consists mainly of players in their mid-twenties and early thirties. Hoffman finished with 16 points in the loss.

Team Shore has taken its lumps in the first two weeks of JSBL play, only winning one game, but has focused on improvement with each time on the court.

“It's really challenging and everything, but we're figuring out a way to pull it all together and get the chemistry going,’’ Hoffman said. “It's definitely the physicality and the speed against a team like (Larson) that separates them.’’

Facing JSBL players from schools like Rutgers, Temple and Seton Hall as well as overseas professionals like Jason Westrol, Qa’rraan Calhoun, and Taquan Dean, Hoffman routinely sees talent at a higher level than Chestnut Hill.

“You’re not going to face much better than what I’m seeing now,’’ he said.

Hoffman made a big leap forward as a senior for Shore Regional, morphing into one of the Shore Conference’s top scorers. He averaged 19 points and 3.5 assists per game and was named to the All-Class A Central team by the coaches.

His improvement helped put him on the Division II radar, and he will head to Chestnut Hill on Aug. 20.

“I’m really excited,’’ he said. “I’m definitely ready to play at the next level.’’

For now, he is enjoying playing alongside former Shore Conference opponents whom he has known for years, including Furlong and Gille, whose teams were Class A Central opponents of his Blue Devils.

“We all know what the other is capable of doing because we’ve all been playing against each other for years,’’ he said. “It’s finally good to be playing with each other instead of against one another.’’