COLTS NECK -- All that Paul Jones could do was put his hands on the scorer's table and sag his head as his Ewing High boys basketball team unraveled at the absolute worst time.
A 5-for-21 clip at the foul line. Twelve turnovers through three quarters. And too many botched layups to count.
Some combination of those elements was the story of all the Blue Devils' losses this season, but no one associated with the program expected them to resurface to this magnitude, given how Ewing began to peak as a dominant force in February.
In a result that few could have predicted, sixth-seeded Ewing saw its red-hot run come to an end Friday night at fourth-seeded Colts Neck with a 52-43 loss in the Central Jersey Group III championship game.
"I think we were just so amped up for the game that we missed gimmes that over the last four, five games we had converted on," Jones said after his second season as head coach ended with a 22-8 record including the inaugural CVC Tournament championship. "Then that started to play a mental game on the kids. They start missing things they have been making over the last five games; it starts to get to them."
The Blue Devils' offense was so out of sync that by the time halftime rolled around and they trailed by eight points, they had eight turnovers with zero made 3-pointers and were 0-for-8 on free throws.
Meanwhile, star senior Joel Cineus had to go to the bench for stretches with foul trouble and struggled to get in rhythm as Colts Neck repeatedly fronted the post to deny entry passes. Cineus fouled out of the game with only nine points and 1:28 left in the fourth quarter.
"I think two of his fouls he picked up were kind of like ticky-tack, but again, we have to adjust to the refs," Jones said. "I just think his energy was just not what it needed to be, but not to put it on him. He was getting doubled pretty much the entire game."
Colts Neck, conversely, executed a balanced attack of slashing, finishing through contact, kicking to open shooters and knocking down 3-pointers. The Cougars had three players score double figures including four 3s by senior Nolan Duddy, and they even got a huge 3 by freshman Nate Sloane in the third quarter to extend their lead to double digits.
"Their role players wanted it a little bit more than us today," Jones said. "They got on the ground for loose balls. They hit open shots; we missed open shots. They made their free throws, and then we missed ours. That was the story of the game right there."
Ewing held a pair of early two-point leads but never pulled ahead again after senior Dan Buoncore ripped a 3 to give Colts Neck an 8-6 lead with less than four minutes left in the first quarter.
The Blue Devils shot about 33 percent from the field overall against the Cougars, who mostly played zone and held all four of their opponents in the tournament to fewer than 50 points.
Jones felt his team got away from the game plan at times in a loud atmosphere by settling for too many jumpers and not aggressively moving the ball around and attacking.
"We tried to adjust, we tried to get some pressure, but they made timely baskets, timely passes and timely 3s," Jones said.
Still, it was ultimately a season to remember for Ewing, which finished one win shy of its first sectional title in eight years. The Blue Devils uplifted the community for much of the winter by playing with the toughness and swag that the program had been known for under Hall of Fame coach Shelly Dearden.
"Since Shelly came back (from 2020 to 2022) and then I took over for Shelly, we've been trying to build Ewing back to where it has been -- the basketball, I would say, powerhouse that it has been," said Jones, who won a state title as a player under Dearden in 2012. "This would've been a nice icing on the cake if we had been able to take care of business here."
But the Blue Devils must keep their heads up and move on, he added, and they're already prepared to get back into the gym in April to start training for next season. This team will graduate only four seniors, so perhaps the best is yet to come in Jones' tenure.
For now, when the pain of Friday's loss wears off, they can all reflect on what made this winter a special ride -- regardless of the ending.
"We came together as a family," Jones said. "A lot of teams have people who played since they were little, always together, people who have played on AAU teams. We were a bunch of different pieces that we finally put together, and once it started to go, it looked beautiful."
EWING (43)
Cineus 4-1-9, Summiel 3-2-8, Morton 1-0-2, Traylor 4-0-9, Thomas 4-0-9, J. Upshur 1-2-4, Williams 1-0-2.
Buoncore 3-3-10, L. Sloane 4-2-10, Younger 1-5-7, Duddy 4-0-12, Belcher 2-0-4, Freid 2-0-4, N. Sloane 1-2-5.
3-point goals: Traylor, Thomas (E), Duddy 4, Buoncore, N. Sloane (CN).