PLAINFIELD, NJ—GMC Hoops traveled out to Plainfield High School on Monday night, October 29th to watch two of the Elite Eight games in the playoff round of the 2007 HawksBasketball Fall-Ball Classic. Both games involved the only two GMC teams in the post-season tournament: Woodbridge and Metuchen. In the first game, which took place at 8:00 PM, the Barrons faced off against Watchung Hills of Somerset County and the Delaware East Division of the Skyland Conference while in the nightcap game at 9:00 PM, eighth seeded Metuchen took on top seeded and undefeated Columbia of Essex County and the Iron Divison of the Iron Hills Conference. Unfortunately for the Greater Middlesex Conference, it was a tough night as both member schools lost. After jumping out to an 18-15 lead in the first half, Woodbridge managed to only get one of two free throws and two field goals on a jumper and a layup over the final 7:09 of the opening half as Watchung Hills finished the half strong with a 13-5 run for a 28-23 lead. Then, in the second half, the Warriors opened things up with a 14-9 showing for a ten point, 42-32 lead with 12:15 left, and never looked back in a 58-52 win. Meanwhile, in the nightcap, Columbia’s Cougars jumped scored seven of the first nine points, and after Metuchen crept to within four at 11-7 with 10:21 left, went on a 17-2 rampage over a span of 3:06 for a 28-9 lead with 7:15 to go in the first half, and were never threatened again in a 71-36 rout of the Bulldogs.
Half Ending Tear Propels Warriors Past Barrons, 58-52
The second seeded Watchung Hills Warriors, which have been steadily improving as a program in recent years under the direction of Bob McAteer, had squared off against Woodbridge during the regular season, and the game was a close affair with the Warriors edging the Barrons by a score of 53-48 on September 17, 2007. The rematch between the two teams was just as close although WHHS outscored Woodbridge by one more point, and both teams combined to score ten more points in the contest. Led by the likes of Gerard Bullock, Richie Ng, Kirk Zambrana, and Blair Dolphin, the Barrons were able to take a three point, 18-15 lead with a little more than seven minutes to play in the first half as the higher seeded, and slightly favored Warriors appeared to be out of sync in the early going. Gradually though, things began to turn, and Watchung Hills began to play like it was capable of with well executed fast breaks, good fundamentals, and nice shooting. The result was a 13-5 spurt by the Somerset County school to close the half to turn the three point deficit into a five point, 28-23 lead at the intermission. In the second half, the Warriors, who have a number of players competing for Mike “SHOTMAN” Lanza on the AAU team, Jersey Stallions, scored 14 of the first 23 points to take a 42-32 lead with 12:15 remaining. So, in summary, Watchung Hills outscored Woodbridge 27-14 over a span of 14:54 to take control of the game.
During the first seven plus minutes of the first half, Woodbridge could only muster a Zambrana layup at the 5:50 mark, one of two free throws by Dolphin at the 3:38 mark, and a short jumper along the right baseline from Bullock at the 2:15 mark. Meanwhile, in the first nearly eight minutes of the second half, the Barrons could only get two layups for four points by Zambrana, a layup and one of two free throws by Bullock, and an offensive rebound and a turnaround jumper by Dolphin. During last two minutes or so of this stretch, Woodbridge was scoreless. Both teams had balanced scoring in each half with Watchung Hills winning both by a 28-23 margin in the first, and a 30-29 edge in the second. The web site arrived with just over seven minutes remaining with Woodbridge in front. Watchung Hills had a chance to cut the lead to one shortly afterward, but Kyle Rawson was called for traveling at the 6:50 mark. Forty-five seconds later, the Warriors did get on the board as Brandon Ward netted a jumper with a hand in the face from Ng to make the score, 18-17 with 6:05 to go in the half. On the very next offensive possession for Woodbridge, the Barrons got a nice back and forth play as Zambrana passed to Weber, who gave it right back to Zambrana for a layup to make the score, 20-17 at the 5:50 mark.
Twenty seconds later, Watchung Hills got right back on the board, and the team came downcourt for a score to pull within one at 20-19 with exactly 5:30 remaining before intermission. Neither team would score for over a minute and a half before Warrior pressure forced Dolphin to battle for a loose ball and avoid a turnover as the Barrons called for time at the 3:56 mark. Emerging from the timeout, Woodbridge set up for a score as Dolphin drove along the left side for a layup attempt, and drew a foul, which resulted in a one of two showing from the foul line to push the Barron advantage back up to two at 21-19 with 3:38 to go in the half. A little more than a minute after that, senior forward Justin Matisak scored on a nice drive and spin move to knot the game at 21-21 with 2:28 left before halftime. Bullock then gave WHS its last lead of the game with a short jumper along the right baseline on the very next Barron possession to make the score, 23-21 at the 2:15 mark. Watchung Hills then closed the half with the final seven points including a short jumper along the right baseline by Jesse Ross at the 2:09 mark, a score by Kyle Rawson at the 1:14 mark, and a nice pass by Jim Chmielewski to Kevin Baglin for a three pointer that made the score 28-23 with 35 seconds left before the brief break. Woodbridge, which was held scoreless for the final 2:15 of the first half, would fight an uphill battle the rest of the way.
In the second half, Watchung Hills made it a 9-0 run over a three minute span by making a score at the 19:15 mark for a 30-23 advantage. Woodbridge then ended its 3:12 scoring drought as Ng drove to his right into the key, kicked to Zambrana for a driving right handed layup to close the gap to 30-25 at the 19:03 mark. Bullock then followed that with an offensive rebound and putback attempt off of a Zambrana miss, and drew a foul for one of two free throws to make the score, 30-26 at the 18:09 mark. Ross then struck again for the Warriors with a jumper that got a kind bounce for a 32-26 lead with 17:15 left before Bullock replied by driving for a layup to pull the Barrons within four at 32-28 with exactly seventeen minutes remaining. Watchung Hills responded promptly again as Ross got on the board again with a drive for a layup to make it 34-28 at the 16:48 mark. The pace continued to be a bit frenzied as Zambrana gave Woodbridge another quick response with a layup underneath for a 34-30 Watchung Hills lead at the 16:32 mark. A little more than forty-five seconds after that, Ross, who scored eight points over a span of 6:25 from the 2:09 mark of the first half to the 15:44 mark of the second half, netted a pair of free throws to make it a six point Warrior lead again at 36-30. Neither team scored for a little more than a minute and a half before Dolphin trimmed the deficit to four again with an offensive rebound and turnaround jumper on the follow to make it 36-32 with 14:11 to play.
Over the next 1:56, Watchung Hills took command of the game with six straight points including a drive for a layup by Rawson for a 38-32 lead at the 13:55 mark, a steal and drive up the length of the floor for a layup by Ward that made it 40-32 with 13:36 to go, and then a score by Eric Kane at the 12:15 mark for a 42-32 advantage. Ng helped the Barrons bring the deficit back down under single digits with a jumper at exactly the twelve minute mark for a 42-34 score. At that point, my pen ran out of ink, so I had to go to my car, and get another one. During the 4:48 interlude, the Warriors pretty much maintained their lead with a 9-8 showing that made the score, 51-42 with 7:12 remaining. Ross then made one of two at the line for a 52-42 advantage at the 6:08 mark, and then Rawson scored on a drive along the baseline from the right side for a reverse layup for a 54-42 lead at the 5:17 mark after his teammates came up with a blocked shot on Dolphin at the other end. Chimelewski then gave a nice pass to Ross for a layup at the 5:01 mark to make the score, 56-42. Over a span of 9:00, the Warriors had outscored the Barrons by a two to one margin for its biggest lead of the game.
Now in dire straits, Woodbridge needed to call for time to see if it could turn the tide, and somehow get back into the game and perhaps force overtime. However, with a running clock, and less than five minutes to play, the odds were heavily stacked against the Barrons. Nevertheless, WHS didn’t give up, which is a good sign the Barrons won’t be the push-overs they were last season. Over a 2:52 span, the GMC White Divsion team, which finished last season at 1-21, rallied with a 10-0 run to pull within four at 56-52 with one minute left. Highlighting the run was a Zambrana drive and dish to Bullock for a score to ignite the rally for a 56-44 Watchung Hills lead with 3:52 to play. Ng then passed to Bullock for a three pointer from the top of the key at the 2:39 mark to make it 56-47. Bullock then picked up a steal for a layup from the left side of the floor for a 56-49 Warrior lead at the 1:52 mark. The Barrons then capped the run after Matisak miss at the 1:31 mark as Bullock penetrated and kicked to Ng in the left corner for a three pointer to pull within four at 56-52. Unfortunately, the Barrons couldn’t overcome the hole they had dug for themselves in the second half as Eric Kane got an easy layup with 53.2 left to close out the 58-52 Warrior win.
With the victory, Watchung Hills not only improved to 9-2 on the fall, but also advanced to the semifinals, where it will play Plainfield at 9:00 PM on Wednesday night. The Cardinals advanced by virtue of its 71-61 victory over Watchung Conference rival Shabazz as they avenged a 56-51 loss to the Bulldogs on October 3rd. The winner of the semifinal will play for the Championship on Thursday night against the winner of the other semifinal between top seeded Columbia and third seeded Roselle at 7:45 PM at Plainfield High School. For Woodbridge, the fall season ends, but the Barrons also made some strides this fall despite some struggles. Considering that Woodbridge didn’t have all their horses for every game, they played well and competed. Just need to carry that momentum over to the start of practices after Thanksgiving, scrimmages, and into the regular season.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watchung Hills (9-2) | 28 | 30 | 58 |
| Woodbridge (4-7) | 23 | 29 | 52 |
Team Effort Helps Columbia Roll Past Metuchen, 71-36
Unlike the first of the two games covered in the Quarterfinals here at the HawksBasketball Fall-Ball Classic, this game was not as close. Metuchen, which had some trouble in the early going before pulling to within four late in the first half in its last meeting with Columbia back on September 26th, stumbled out of the gate again, and never recovered as Columbia cruised to victory. Despite getting ten first half points from junior forward, Codey Preston on three field goals and four foul shots, the Bulldogs only managed to connect on six field goals and five free throws for a total of 17 points. Meanwhile, Columbia doubled the Bulldog offensive output with five three pointers, nine field goals, and 2 of 5 at the foul line for a 35-17 halftime advantage. The Bulldogs were basically done in by a 17-2 thrashing over a span of 4:21 that turned an 11-7 deficit into a 28-9 rout. During that stretch, Metuchen managed only one field goal, and was held scoreless for 3:54. In the second half, things didn’t get much better as Columbia picked up right where it left off as Yvon Raymond connected twice from three point range within 34 seconds to make it a 41-17 lead to ignite a 23-11 surge over the first 7:50 for an insurmountable 58-28 lead. So, over a span of just 12:11 of this contest, the Cougars outscored the Bulldogs by a margin of 40-13, which proved to be too big a hole to climb out of for the GMC Blue Division member.
For the game, Columbia ended up with ten three pointers in the matchup including three by Kenny Rubenstein, two each by Raymond and Jameel Grace, and one each by Melvin Floyd and Willy Summer. Meanwhile, Metuchen struck for a few threes in the second half including two by Codey Preston, and one each by Elijah Sellers, Akeeme Greene, and Mike Crusco. So, in total, there were 15 treys between the two teams in the contest. Kenny Rubenstein and Yvon Raymond helped lead the charge with 13 points each while Jameel Grace chipped in with 10 points and 5 assists, and Melvin Floyd added 9. Reserve Aaron Baritma came off the bench for 8 points as well for the winners. For Metuchen, Codey Preston turned out another solid effort to go along with his fine game against Plainfield on October 17th with 16 points on three field goals, two threes, and four foul shots. The story in this game was the fact that Columbia, which is located in Maplewood, New Jersey, was able to set up the tempo with a fast pace, and its defense forced Metuchen to either turn over the ball, or become out of sync on offense. In a play that gave a strong signal of how things were going to go, Columbia took advantage of two offensive rebounds when senior forward, Jamal Reynolds scored to give the Cougars first blood, and a 2-0 lead at the 19:43 mark.
Codey Preston did what he could to get his team on the board with a nice spin move and touch on a one handed shot inside to tie things up at 2-2 with 18:51 to go in the first half. Melvin Floyd then passed to Raymond for a layup attempt that resulted in a Metuchen foul, and one of two at the line for a 3-2 lead with 18:13 to go before halftime. Raymond then added his first field goal of the contest as he got a turnover, and scored off an offensive rebound for a 5-2 advantage at the 17:54 mark. Grace then scored on a drive and scoop shot to make it 7-2 with a little more than two and a half minutes gone by in the opening half. In a theme that would play out through the entire contest, Preston was a one man gang for the Bulldogs with an offensive rebound and putback off his own miss to make it a three point game at 7-4 with 16:09 to go in the first half. Grace then retorted with a three pointer from the top of the key a little more than a minute after that for a 10-4 Columbia lead at the 15:02 mark. Metuchen then got three of the next four points on one of two from the line by Collas at the 13:08 mark, and then a drive through the middle for a layin by Preston to make the score, 11-7 at the 10:21 mark. Reynolds got his third point of the game earlier when he took a pass from Raymond and was fouled on a layup attempt that resulted in one of two at the line.
With Columbia hanging on to just a four point lead, images of Metuchen’s scrappy play in the first meeting between the two schools, and the Bulldogs fine effort against Plainfield on October 17th started to make Metuchen fans wonder if they could give the Cougars a run for their money. Those thoughts were quickly extinguished when Columbia scored 17 of the next 19 points to essentially blow the game wide open. Grace sparked the onslaught with a three pointer at the 10:08 mark for a 14-7 advantage. Then, after Collas made a shot on the inside that got a kind bounce for a 14-9 Columbia lead, the Essex County school reeled off fourteen straight points including a three pointer by Rubenstein at the 9:41 mark, a steal and score off the ensuing Metuchen inbounds by Raymond at the 9:37 mark, and a steal and layup by Rubenstein at the 8:53 mark for a 21-9 lead before Metuchen coach, Corey Preston called for time. Following the timeout, Columbia continued its assault with a rebound on the defensive boards by Grace, who drove upcourt, and dished to Rubenstein for a layup that made it a 23-9 Cougar lead at the 7:55 mark. Kelil Brown got into the mix with an offensive rebound and follow off a missed shot by Rubenstein at the 7:33 mark to make the score, 25-9. Floyd then capped the outburst with a three pointer to make the score, 28-9 with 7:15 left in the half.
Metuchen didn’t score for another 1:15 after that until Evan Carberry scored on a hook shot in traffic to make the score, 28-11 with exactly six minutes remaining before halftime. Columbia then closed out the first half with a 7-6 showing for the eighteen point, 35-17 lead. Metuchen’s scoring was made up of 10 points by Preston, three by Collas, and two each by Switzer and Carberry. Things didn’t get better in the second half either as the Cougars nearly outscored the Bulldogs again by a two to one margin, 36-19. Raymond was raining threes down on Metuchen to open the half as he struck from long distance twice to begin the second half including a trey from the left wing off a pass from Grace to make it 38-17 at the 19:03 mark, and then another one from the right wing set up by a steal, drive upcourt, and dish by Reynolds to make the score, 41-17 at the 18:29 mark. Floyd then knocked down a foul line jumper for a 43-19 lead with 17:51 remaining as the Bulldogs tried desperately to stem the tide by calling for time. Following the timeout, Codey Preston knocked down a three pointer from the left side for a 43-22 Columbia advantage at the 17:27 mark, but Floyd replied quickly with a jumper at the 17:05 mark to make it a 45-22 game. Then, in what was an emphatic exclamation point on the romp by the Cougars, Summer came up with a steal, passed ahead to Grace, who dished to Raymond for a one handed slam from the right side to make it 47-22 with 16:06 remaining.
Following Raymond’s dunk, Columbia, which used a great deal of its reserves throughout the game including diminutive reserve guard, Matt Stevens, who played well also, scored 11 of the next 17 points including two threes by Rubenstein for a thirty point, 58-28 advantage. Codey Preston and Elijah Sellers proved to be the bright spots during the stretch with a trey apiece. From there, Columbia cruised easily to victory although it rubbed the difficult to swallow defeat in the face of the Metuchen reserve players at the end with poor gamesmanship while running out the clock. Nevertheless, the Cougars advanced with a convincing 71-36 victory over a Metuchen team that had made great strides during the course of the fall. With the victory, Columbia advances to the semifinal round, where it will take on third seeded Roselle, which has been a pleasant surprise this fall, at 7:00 PM on Wednesday night. The Running Rams advanced to the semis by defeating Hunterdon Central by a score of 62-44 in its Elite Eight contest. The winner will take on either Plainfield or Watchung Hills in the Championship on Thursday at 7:45 PM.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia (11-0) | 35 | 36 | 71 |
| Metuchen (4-7) | 17 | 19 | 36 |