PLAINFIELD, NJ–For the first time in three years, GMC Hoops took in the HawksBasketball Fall-Ball Classic showcase, 6th Annual All Star Bash, at Plainfield High School on Tuesday night. The last time the web site took in the All Star Bash was in 2004 when the league was still being run out of Woodbridge High School. Once again, the event was made up of four parts: Girls All-Star Game, which kicked things off at 6:30 PM. The game was then followed by the traditional Three Point Shooting and Slam Dunk contests that preceded the nightcap event, the Boys All-Star Game, which was played at 8:30 PM.
Hunterdon Central’s Silvas Wins Three Point Shooting Competition
Robbie Silvas of Hunterdon Central stood out from the crowd in the three point shooting competition at the 6th Annual All-Star Bash. Silvas, who has helped the Red Devils finish strong at the 2007 HawksBasketball Fall-Ball Classic, outshined a competitive field that included: Anthony Baskerville of Plainfield, Kenny Rubenstein of Columbia, Kyle Rowson of Watchung Hills, Smitty Antoine of Roselle, Frank Mitchell of Hillsborough, and Codey Preston of Metuchen. The last time GMC Hoops saw the three point competition at the All-Star Bash, Colonia’s Rob Gardella won it all with a memorable shooting performance in 2004.
Columbia’s Raymond Brings Home The Gold In Slam Dunk Competition
Columbia High School’s Yvon Raymond, who was created quite a stir this fall with his play in this year’s Fall-Ball Classic, and has drawn some attention from college coaches in attendance, came in as a strong favorite, and didn’t disappoint, particularly in the final round of the Slam Dunk Competition. While the two other finalists: James Grooms of Roselle and Daevon Boardingham of Newark Shabazz, were unable to seal the deal with the bright lights shining on them, Raymond pulled away with two dunks that drew a roar from an awestruck crowd. Other competitors in the slam dunk competition were Kevin Morris and Saheed Williams also from Shabazz.
South Rallies In First Half And Then Pulls Away Late To Defeat North, 85-77
In a game that had its share of runs and back and forth play typical of a high school all-star game, the South All-Stars fell behind early to the tune of a 17-11 deficit at the 12:16 mark, and trailed by four at 35-31 with 3:44 remaining in the first half when they turned things around with an 8-0 run over a span of 2:17 to take a 39-35 lead with 1:27 to go before the brief intermission. Then, after going into halftime with a two point, 43-41 lead, the South All-Stars broke away from a 67-67 tie with a decisive 16-5 tear over a period of 5:08 to take an insurmountable 83-72 lead, and went on to win, 85-77 before a good crowd at the Americo Parenti Gymnasium at PHS. Jameel Grace, Raymond’s teammate at Columbia, who has also drawn a lot of attention the past couple years, sparked the late first half rally with one of two at the foul line with 3:30 to go in the period, and then capped the run with a layup off an assist by Shabazz guard, Saheed Williams to make it a 39-35 lead with 1:27 to go before halftime.
In the second half, Williams was fouled on a three point attempt at the 4:12 mark that resulted in three free throws for the Bulldog guard to break a 67-67 tie, and then Grace scored on a layup as he was fouled to make it 74-67 nearly a minute later. The Columbia Cougar point guard, missed the bonus free throw, but it was rebounded, and put back in by Raymond for a 76-67 lead with 3:10 to play. The North All-Stars tried to rally with five of the next seven points to climb within four at 78-72, but Grace came up big again with an assist on a layup by fellow Essex County player, Williams, to make the score, 80-72 at the 1:01 mark, and then Raymond capped the game breaking spurt with a three pointer from the top of the key at the 37.3 second mark for an 83-72 advantage. From there, the North All-Stars closed out the game with five of the last seven points to round out the final 85-77 score. Grace ended up with MVP honors as he collected 18 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and a blocked shot.
The Greater Middlesex Conference was well represented again this year despite there only being three member schools in the league. Each GMC team had two players representing it in this game. Metuchen was represented by Evan Carberry and Codey Preston while Spotswood had Ross Gerhart and Cody Pace on the South squad. On the other hand, Woodbridge’s Richie Ng and Tim Weber competed for the North squad. All six players performed well while they were in the game. At one point in the game, the South team comprised of all four GMC representatives as Carberry, Preston, Pace, and Gerhart all played at the same time early in the second half. As a matter of fact, Gerhart got a steal and assist on a layup by Pace at the 18:25 mark for the first points of the second half that made the score, 45-41 in favor of the South All-Stars.
Preston, who went 3 of 4 at the foul line, then made a pair of free throws at the 17:09 mark to make it 47-43, and Carberry took in a pass from Columbia’s Melvin Floyd to put a halt to a 4-0 run by the North to make the score, 49-47 at the 16:15 mark. Carberry, who connected on a baseline jumper from the left side to cap a 5-2 run towards the end of the first half, then struck again with two free throws at the 15:05 mark for a 51-47 score. Meanwhile, Ng didn’t back down from the very talented field of players competing in this game. The Woodbridge guard continued his aggressive play as he led all scorers with ten points including six in the first half. Weber, his Barron teammate, made a splash with a nice drive and pirouette around Grace for a layup with less than 30 seconds to go in the first half. Floyd Melvin, a Columbia forward, who has gradually made strides since last fall, made a solid impact on the game as well with two free throws at the eight minute mark that made the score, 64-59, and a little more than a minute later after a one of two showing at the line by Epps for the North, he made a three pointer to push the advantage to 67-60 with 6:57 to play.
Speaking of Epps, the do it all Plainfield guard, did what he could to keep his team in it along with fellow Plainfield teammates Anthony Baskerville and Mike Price. Epps scored a basket to cap an early 5-0 run for a 17-11 lead at the 12:16 mark, and then almost converted a traditional three point play at the 10:20 mark to highlight a 7-3 North run for a 24-19 lead. Then, after Carberry’s jumper around the six minute mark, Epps struck again with a jumper from the left wing to push his team’s advantage back to four at 31-27 with 5:45 left before intermission. Anthony Baskerville helped the North squad jump out to an early lead with an assist on Ng’s score to open the game, and then added a layup at the 16:56 mark to make it 8-5, and an acrobatic scoop shot for a 10-8 edge at the 16:10 mark. Price contributed during the 7-3 spurt midway through the first half with a three pointer from the left wing at about the eleven minute mark. Neither team had a lead bigger than six in the first half, and for the game, the biggest lead was only eleven at the very end. In addition, there were a total of nine lead changes and four ties in the contest. Both teams also combined for twelve runs in the game as momentum was swinging back and forth like a pendulum.
In a game that saw a combined total of 162 points in just 40 minutes under a running clock, the two squads combined for 84 points in the first half, and 78 in the second. The North drew first blood early on with the game’s first four points within the first minute of action including the opening score by Ng. Raymond put the South All-Stars on the board with a two handed layup from the left side to cut the deficit in half at 4-2 with 18:47 to go in the first half. Raymond’s Columbia teammate, Grace then followed that up with a three pointer from the right side to put the South squad on top by a slim 5-4 margin with 18:33 left in the half. The North then scored the next four points including a pair of free throws at the 17:35 mark, and then a layup by Baskerville at the 16:56 mark to make it 8-5. Grace, who had at least 16 points in the contest, then made a conventional three point play to square things up again at 8-8 with 16:36 left before halftime. Baskerville answered by putting the North team up by two again with an acrobatic scoop shot that had the crowd in awe, and made the score 10-8 with 16:10 to play in the first half.
The North All-Stars then took a 12-8 lead before Raymond plucked a steal, and joined forces with Grace on a give and go that resulted in a layup for the senior forward from Columbia that closed the gap to 12-10 at the 15:07 mark. Codey Preston then got his first points on the night with a one of two showing at the foul line to make the score, 12-11 with 13:52 to go before intermission. The North squad then reeled off the next five points over a span of just 1:36 including a basket by Epps to increase its advantage to six at 17-11. The South rallied though with five straight points of its own including a bucket by Tony Willis from Shabazz to make it a one point game at 17-16. However, the North continued to keep the South at arm’s length with seven of the next ten points including the trey by Price, the near three point conversion by Epps, and an offensive rebound and follow by Rob Champouilon of Hillsborough to make it 24-19 nearly midway through the first half.
Both teams exchanged three points for a 27-22 North All-Star lead with about eight minutes remaining in the opening half when the South All-Stars scored five of the next seven points including a jumper by Carberry that capped the run, and made the score, 29-27. The North replied thanks to the efforts of Epps, who connected on a jumper from the left wing at the 5:45 mark to make the score, 31-27. Each team then had two scores each as the North maintained its four point advantage at 35-31 with 3:44 left before halftime. Rich Ng highlighted North’s scoring with both baskets. Grace then made one of two at the line to not only cut the deficit to 35-32 at the 3:30 mark, but also spark a pivotal 8-0 run that gave the South its first lead of the contest since it lead 5-4 at the 18:33 mark. Ironically, that lead came about thanks to Grace as well on a trey. The South team capped its late second half rally when Grace scored on a layup off of an assist from Williams to make the score, 39-35 at the 1:27 mark.
The North fought back though with a 6-2 rally of its own to tie the game at 41-41. Highlighting the run was a nice play by Weber as he drove down court, made a nice pirouette around Grace, and went in for the layup to make the score, 41-41 with about 30 seconds remaining. However, the South All-Stars took the lead at the half on a late score to make it 43-41 going into the brief break. The second half saw the South pick up right where it left off in the first half as the mostly GMC laden squad came up with the first points of the new half. Ross Gerhart of Spotswood got a steal, and passed downcourt to his Charger teammate, Cody Pace, who drove in for the layup to make it 45-41 at the 18:25 mark. Another GMC player, Codey Preston, then sank two free throws at the 17:09 mark to answer a previous score by the North to make it a four point game again at 47-43. Scoring the next four points, the North All-Stars managed to tie the game up again at 47-47 before Melvin found Carberry for a layup to give the South the lead once more at 49-47 with 16:15 remaining in the contest.
Carberry, who has shown increasing amounts of poise with every game he plays, sank two free throws that not only padded his scoring on the night, but also padded his team’s lead at 51-47 with 15:05 to play. Grace then capped the 7-0 spurt with a three pointer from the right wing to make the score, 54-47 with 14:26 left. Once again though, the North showed resolve and fortitude by rallying once more with eight straight points including an offensive rebound and follow by Epps at the 12:42 mark to take a one point, 55-54 lead. Unfortunately for the North All-Stars, that would be their last lead in the game. The reason for that was that the South quickly retook the lead, and raised it back to seven with another patented 8-0 run highlighted by a three point play by Raymond at the 11:58 mark, and then a pair of free throws by Grace at the 11:06 mark to make the score, 62-55. The North attempted to climb back into the affair once again with four consecutive points to trim the deficit to three at 62-59 with 10:07 remaining, but Melvin made another key contribution with a couple free throws at the eight minute mark for a 64-59 advantage.
The North made it a four point game again with one of two from the line by Epps, but the South responded immediately as Melvin came up big again with a three pointer to make the score, 67-60 with just under seven minutes to go in the showcase. Once more though, the North All-Stars battled back with seven unanswered points in a span of just 1:12 to knot the game up again at 67-67. The South then pulled away with a key 16-5 game deciding tear sparked by Williams, who was fouled on a three point attempt from the right wing at the 4:12 mark, and promptly canned three foul shots for a 70-67 lead. Adding to the lead, the South All-Stars got another score to make it 72-67, and then Grace scored on a layup while being fouled to make it 74-67 at the 3:22 mark. The Columbia High point guard missed the bonus free throw, but his teammate, Raymond was there to get the offensive board, and put it back in for a 76-67 lead with 3:10 left. Continuing to fight valiantly to the end, the North All-Stars rallied with five of the next seven points to close the gap to 78-72, but Grace registered another assist on a pass to Williams for a layup that made the score, 80-72 with 1:01 to play. Raymond then finished off the final onslaught with a three pointer at the 37.3 second mark for an 83-72 lead.
Once again, the North rallied with five of the game’s last seven points to make the score a more closer 85-77 final. With the 6th Annual HawksBasketball Fall-Ball Classic All-Star Bash behind us, it is now time to take a peek at the upcoming playoffs, which get underway on Monday, October 29th with the Quarterfinal round. The top eight teams made the playoffs including: 1. Columbia (10-0), 2. Watchung Hills (8-2), 3. Roselle (7-3), 4. Shabazz (6-4), 5. Plainfield (6-4), 6. Hunterdon Central (4-6), 7. Woodbridge (4-6), and 8. Metuchen (4-6). Two teams that did not qualify were Hillsborough and Spotswood while Franklin left the league after the first four games. The Quarterfinal games will be held at 6:00 PM, 7:00 PM, 8:00 PM, and 9:00 PM at Plainfield High School. In the first game at 6:00 PM, host school and fifth seeded Plainfield will take on Watchung Conference rival and fourth seeded, Shabazz in a rematch of a tremendous game that was played on October 3rd with the Bulldogs winning, 56-51. The next game at 7:00 PM features another rematch between Roselle and Hunterdon Central, which played a thrilling overtime game that was won by Roselle, 47-45 on October 3rd. Then, at 8:00 PM, Watchung Hills takes on Woodbridge in a rematch of another close game from the regular season that was won by the Warriors, 53-48 on September 17, 2007. In the nightcap, top seeded Columbia will face off against eighth seeded Metuchen in a rematch of not only an early season game, but also another first round playoff game from last season’s tournament. Both games were won easily by Columbia although the Bulldogs showed some fight in the regular season clash this year before losing, 58-41. Metuchen has been steadily improving, and gave Plainfield a hard time before the Cardinals pulled away at the end for a 55-46 win on October 17th.
The Quarterfinal winners will meet in the two semifinal games at 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM on Halloween night, and then the two semifinal winners will play in the Championship the following day on Thursday at 7:45 PM.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| South All Stars | 43 | 42 | 85 |
| North All Stars | 41 | 36 | 77 |