PLAINFIELD, NJ–The third week of action kicked off on Monday night in the 2007 HawksBasketball Fall-Ball Classic at Plainfield High School with four games that were played on the main court. Games started at 6:00 PM, 7:00 PM, 8:00 PM, and 9:00 PM. Due to some catch-up that I had to do on the games from last week, I wasn’t able to stop down at PHS until a little before the scheduled 9:00 PM matchup between Metuchen and Watchung Hills. However, I did managed to catch the very end of the game being played at 8:00 PM between Hunterdon Central of Flemington and Hillsborough. Both of these schools are long time rivals from Hunterdon and Somerset counties respectively, and their rivalry goes back to the days of the old Mid-State Conference, which was the predecessor to the now present Skyland Conference. The Red Devils from Hunterdon Central, compete in the Delaware West Division of the Skyland with the likes of fellow Hunterdon County schools, Voorhees and North Hunterdon as well as Warren Hills, which competed on September 23rd against J.P. Stevens at the 2007 TBSA Fall League. Meanwhile, Hillsborough competes in the Delaware East Division of the Skyland, which features teams from Somerset County such as Bridgewater, Franklin, Immaculata, and another Fall-Ball Classic participant, Watchung Hills.
The game was a nip and tuck affair that went down to the wire. Hillsborough had the lead late by a score of 45-44 when Hunterdon Central was fouled, and went to the line with 30 seconds left. The Red Devils missed the front end of the one and one, but managed to outhustle the Raiders for the offensive rebound, and was fouled again with 22.66 seconds to play. This time, Hunterdon Central was true on both foul shots, and took a one point, 46-45 lead. Hillsborough attempted to come back down and tie the game on the very next possession, but turned the ball over underneath the Hunterdon Central basket with about ten seconds left, and the Red Devils wound up edging the Raiders by one, 46-45. With the win, Hunterdon Central, which lost to Metuchen last Wednesday, evened its record at 1-1 while Hillsborough, which has already lost a couple of tough games including to rivals Franklin and Watchung Hills, is still winless on the fall at 0-4.
Watchung Hills Breezes Past Metuchen Behind Strong First Half, 38-22
The Metuchen Bulldogs began their season with a tough loss to fellow GMC member, Woodbridge thanks to a superb effort from junior Gerard Bullock in week one of the 2007 Fall-Ball Classic season. However, the Bulldogs did rebound to defeat another Group IV school in Hunterdon Central last Wednesday night, and as you saw above, the Red Devils knocked off Hillsborough, so perhaps Metuchen could score another surprise against another solid team from the very competitive Delaware East Division of the Skyland Conference. Unfortunately, MHS got too far behind in the first half, and couldn’t turn it around against a very fundamentally sound team in the Warriors. GMC Hoops had a chance to watch WHHS in action the previous Wednesday against another GMC Blue team in Spotswood, and was quite impressed with the way the team passed the ball, ran the break, and shot from the perimeter. It shouldn’t be that surprising though since the Warriors play in a division of the Skyland that has the likes of Bridgewater, Immaculata, Montgomery, and Hillsborough, where that type of play is typical. The only team in that particular division that may play a different style is Franklin, which has plenty of athletic and talented players.
Metuchen had started off on the right foot with the first bucket of the game that came at the 18:36 mark. After junior Codey Preston had drawn a charge on Watchung Hills forward Justin Matisak at the 19:18 mark, the tall and lanky forward, who has a good eye for his teammates, found Elijah Sellers for a jumper from the left wing that was true to make it 2-0 with just one minute and twenty-four seconds gone by in the first half. However, the Bulldogs wouldn’t have much success after that as the Warriors held the Middlesex County school scoreless for 12:54, and without a field goal for 15:56 while embarking on a 19-0 rampage that put them in front to stay at 19-2 with 7:01 remaining in the first half. Leading the way for Watchung Hills was forward Brandon Ward, who ended up with eight points on the night off of three field goals and 2 of 4 shooting from the foul line. Meanwhile, teammate Kyle Rawson chipped in with a three pointer, two field goal, and one of two at the foul line for eight points as well. Sellers ended up being a bright spot for MHS with 6 points on three field goals including two down the stretch in the second half while Nick Collas chipped in with 5 points on a field goal and 3 of 6 at the line.
Despite the fact that there were a few occasions, particularly early on in the first half where Metuchen was able to get back on defense, and disrupt Watchung Hills fast break, the Warriors eventually wore down the Bulldogs, and it resulted in easy transition baskets. In addition, Watchung Hills, which didn’t exactly have one of its better shooting nights, outhustled Metuchen for loose balls, and pounded the offensive glass for numerous second chance opportunities, which often resulted in second chance points. After being scoreless for nearly three minutes, Watchung Hills finally got on the scoreboard at the 17:09 mark when Jesse Ross penetrated and dished to Ward for a layup from the left side to knot the game at 2-2. Neither team would score for a little over a minute and fifteen seconds before the Bulldogs called for time at the 15:52 mark. Ten seconds after the stoppage, Watchung Hills took the lead for good as Matisak picked up a steal, and went in for a layup attempt, which was missed, but Ward grabbed the offensive rebound, and put it back in to make the score, 4-2 at the 15:42 mark. Nearly a minute later, Matisak returned the favor to Ward, when the junior forward managed to grab an offensive rebound, and put it back in after Ward had stepped to the line, and came up empty on his two charity shot attempts to make it 6-2 at the 14:50 mark.
A little more than a minute after that, Preston had a chance to get Metuchen back on the board, and in the game when he drove through the middle for a layup attempt, and was fouled, but he misfired on his two foul shot attempts at the 13:39 mark. Speaking of foul shots, it wasn’t a good night for free throws as the Bulldogs shot 4 of 11 at the free throw line for 36.4 percent while the Warriors were actually worse by going only 3 of 10 for 30 percent. Looking at other shooting statistics, Metuchen’s 22 points on the game came as a result of nine field goals, and the four made foul shots while Watchung Hills accumulated its 38 points by virtue of its 13 field goals, 3 treys, and three made free throws. In the first half, Metuchen only managed to register seven points on three field goals, and 1 of 6 free throws while WHHS got its 21 on a three pointer and nine field goals while missing both of its free throw attempts. Returning to the game, Watchung Hills resumed its first half onslaught following the two missed free throws by Preston when Matisak found Rawson for a jumper from the left wing that made it 8-2 at the 12:19 mark.
Not stopping there, the Warriors got into double digits when Ward got another offensive rebound off a missed jumper by Matisak and followed it in for a 10-2 advantage at the 11:50 mark. Watchung Hills then made its only trey in the first half nearly midway through the period as Metuchen’s coach and recent graduate, Corey Preston, was compelled to call for time at the 10:07 mark with the score reading 13-2 in favor of WHHS. Shortly after the timeout, Watchung Hills picked up right where it left off as Matisak scored an easy layup thanks to a Metuchen defense that had no player willing to step in a take a charge on the play as the deficit grew to thirteen at 15-2. Almost a minute and a half later, the Warriors scored again as senior forward, Eric Kane swiped a steal, and later handed out an assist on a layup by Jim Chmielewski to make it 17-2 with 8:25 remaining before the intermission. Finally, Watchung Hills put a cap on the run with a well executed break finished off with an assist by Kean on a layup by Rawson for a 19-2 lead at the 7:01 mark.
After falling behind 19-2, Metuchen finally was able to put a halt to the juggernaut that was the Watchung Hills offense. Over the final 7:01, the Warriors were held scoreless for approximately 5:47 of that time frame with their only field goal coming at the 1:14 mark when Ross knocked down a short baseline jumper from the left side for a 21-5 lead. Meanwhile, Nick Collas finally put an end to the Bulldog scoring drought at the 5:42 mark as he drove in from the left wing and was fouled, which resulted in a one of two showing at the free throw line to make it 19-3 at the 5:42 mark. Neither team would score for a little over three minutes before Codey Preston took a drive from the left wing through drive for a finger roll layup for his only field goal of the first half, and some of his limited points of the matchup to make it 19-5 with 2:41 to go before the brief break. The Bulldogs then answered Watchung Hills late score with one of their own down the stretch to make it 21-7 at the half. Things didn’t improve much for MHS at the start of the second half as WHHS seemed to pick up right where it left off.
Over the first 51 seconds of the second half, the Warriors gave their perimeter game a jump start with a three pointer at the 19:38 mark, and then after a Bulldog score at the 19:21 mark, Rawson knocked in a trey from the top of the arc to make it 27-9 with 19:09 remaining in the contest. Metuchen did its best to try and climb back into it with four of the next five points over the subsequent 6:12 to nearly cut the deficit in half to 28-13 at the 12:57 mark, but its defense would fail itself again as the Warriors got another uncontested layup to make it 30-13. Vinny Sardone had an opportunity to close the gap to fifteen at the 12:15 mark, but misfired on two foul shots, and the deficit remained at 17 points. Forty-three seconds after that, Ward got his hands on another offensive rebound, and tried to put it back in when he was fouled. Unfortunately, Ward came up empty at the line, but in a sequence that was emblematic of Metuchen’s woes, Kane grabbed the offensive rebound, and that eventually led to a layup by Rawson for a 32-13 lead. Over two minutes would go by before another score would occur, and that came at the hands of Sellers, who connected on a jumper from the foul line extended on the left side for the first Bulldog points in the last six minutes to make it a 32-15 game with 9:20 left.
Over two and half minutes later, Evan Carberry drained a jumper from straight on for a 32-17 Watchung Hills lead, and after Matisak failed to convert on a pair of free throws at the 6:10 mark, Sellers got his hands on the rock, dribbld to his left, and knocked in another jumper for a 32-19 score in favor of the Warriors with 4:41 to play. Jim Chmielewski put an end to the minor uprising by the Bulldogs with a jumper from the left wing to make the score, 34-19 with 4:11 left, and then a Warrior rebound and outlet pass downcourt led to a fast break opportunity, and an eventual layup by Ross that made the score, 36-19 with 3:30 left. Metuchen wouldn’t score again until the 1:07 mark when Sardone came up with a three point play to round out the final 38-22 margin. With the victory, Watchung Hills remained undefeated on the fall at 3-0, and kept pace with Columbia, which was idle after defeating Plainfield in a key early season matchup last Wednesday night. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs slipped to 1-2 on the fall. On Wednesday night, Metuchen will have its work cut out for them when they take on Columbia while Watchung Hills faces off against Hillsborough.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watchung Hills (3-0) | 21 | 17 | 38 |
| Metuchen (1-2) | 7 | 15 | 22 |