2007 Rebounds Fall League–October 1, 2007

NEPTUNE, NJ–The third week of the 2007 Rebounds Fall League was held on Monday at the Rebounds Basketball facility in Neptune with all four teams from the GMC that are competing in this year’s league in action. Each of the GMC teams were involved in a game against a non-conference opponent. Three games took place at 7:00 PM while one took place at 8:00 PM. At 7:00 PM, East Brunswick was taking on Howell over on the Knicks court, South Brunswick was facing off against Asbury Park on the Celtics court nearby, and then over in the other gym, Cardinal McCarrick was taking on Non-Public B South rival, St. Rose of Belmar on the Nets court. Meanwhile, in the finale at 8:00 PM, South Amboy was battling Ocean Township on the Celtics court. In addition, the G-Force Stallions based in Union County, but have several players from St. Joseph’s playing on the team, were squaring off against Monsignor Donovan on the Knicks court.

Howell Shuts Down EB In Second Half For 34-29 Win

The Bears hung tough with the Rebels in the first half only trailing by one at the break, and then actually took the lead on a 13-7 run over the first 8:51 of the second half for a 27-22 score with 11:09 remaining. However, EB was shut down the rest of the game as it could only muster two more points the rest of the way while Howell rallied with a 12-2 showing including the last five points of the contest to pull out the win. The Rebels, which compete in the Shore Conference, held an 11-8 lead upon our arrival with 11:32 left in the first half. A little more than a minute and a half later, East Brunswick got a jumper to close the gap to 11-10, and then nearly a minute and a half after that, the Bears had an opportunity to take the lead, but Scott Stolzenberg came up empty on two attempts at the foul line with 8:32 remaining in the half.

Neither team scored for nearly two and a half minutes as Howell clinged to its one point, 11-10 lead at the 6:04 mark. The two teams still struggled to get points on the board for about another minute after that as Stolzenberg failed to make any of his two attempts again at the foul line as the score remained 11-10 with 5:01 left before the break. Howell, which takes on the likes of CBA, Freehold Township, Middletown North, Colts Neck, and Middletown South in the rough and tumble Class A North Division of the Shore Conference, then broke the 6:10 long combined scoring drought with a field goal at the 3:43 mark to increase its tenuous lead to three at 13-10. Then, over the next 1:42, the Bears rallied back with four of the next six points to close the gap to 15-14 in favor of Howell with 2:01 remaining before intermission, and that’s how the score stood going into halftime.

In the second half, East Brunswick continued to rally with 13 of the first 20 points to make it a 17-9 run over a span of 10:33 to take a five point, 27-22 lead with a little more than eleven minutes to go in the game. However, points became hard to come by for the Bears, which only got one score over the final eleven plus minutes of the contest as Howell took charge with a pair of free throws at the 9:52 mark to close within three at 27-24, a three pointer to tie things up at 27-27 at the 6:43 mark, and a off balanced, one legged jumper from the right wing by a Rebel player to take a two point, 29-27 lead with 4:29 left. On the next Bear possession, EB managed to tie the game up by ending a 7:09 scoreless drought with a score that made it 29-29 with exactly four minutes to play. However, the Rebels, which finished the game with 12 of the last 14 points, closed the game out with five staight points including two free throws with 14.1 left for the five point, 34-29 win.

With the victory, Howell, raised its record to 2-1 on the fall while East Brunswick dropped to 1-2. Next Monday night, the Rebels will be back in action at Rebounds with a game against Monsignor Donovan at 8:00 PM while East Brunswick will play at 9:00 PM against Keyport.

Team 1 2 Total
Howell (2-1) 15 19 34
East Brunswick (1-2) 14 15 29

Asbury Park Rolls Past South Brunswick, 52-37

While East Brunswick was squaring off against Howell, South Brunswick had its hands full with Asbury Park. The Bishops have been undergoing a resurgence the past couple of seasons after over about a decade of mediocrity. In the 2006-07 season, Asbury Park reached the Championship Game of the Central Jersey Group I State Tournament before it lost to eventual state finalist, Create Charter of Jersey City. Meanwhile, South Brunswick has undergone a coaching change with the departure of head coach, Chris Balent, to Elizabeth, and try to fill the void left behind by a starting five that guided the Vikings to its first state final appearance in almost 30 years.

In the early going things were close as the Bishops held a slim 10-9 lead some seven minutes into the contest. A little more than a minute after that, Asbury Park got rolling with a three pointer to make it 13-9, and then another trey at the 11:10 mark for a 16-9 lead. The Bishops then capped the 8-0 run with a layup at the 10:09 mark for an 18-9 lead. South Brunswick put a halt to the run with a three pointer from the right wing for an 18-12 lead at the 9:53 mark. A little less than 45 seconds later, Arman Wilson, Sean Lease, and Jordan Tiecher all returned to the game, but although Lease made one of two from the charity stripe at the 8:23 mark, Asbury Park scored the next five points over a span of 6:20 to take a 23-13 lead. Asbury Park got one of two foul shots at the 7:32 mark, a layup at the 5:12 mark, and a drive from the right side for a teardrop shot that made it 23-13 with 2:03 remaining in the half. Chris Weir then closed out the scoring in the first half with two free throws at the 1:26 half to make it 23-15 at the break.

In the second half, the Vikes showed some life with a 9-4 run over the first 9:30 to close the gap to three at 27-24 with 10:30 remaining. However, that would be as close as SBHS would get as the Bishops stole an errant pass by Arman Wilson at the 10:05 mark for a layup that sparked a 6-0 burst over the next 25 seconds for a 33-24 lead at the 9:40 mark. South Brunswick finally got a score about ten seconds later to take a 33-26 lead with nine and a half minutes left in the game. Asbury Park then got a score to push its advantage back to nine before the Vikings got a score on an offensive rebound and follow at the 8:26 mark to make it a seven point Bishop lead at 35-28 with 8:26 to go. Following an Asbury Park timeout at the 8:09 mark, the Bishops took off with a 13-2 tear that broke the back of South Brunswick’s hopes of getting back in the game. During the span, the Vikings were scoreless for 3:11 as the game slipped away. Add that to the fact that the Bishops already had an 8-4 run to establish a seven point lead, APHS put together a 21-6 outburst over a span of just 6:06 for a 48-30 lead.

After getting a basket to make it 39-30, the Bishops got a three pointer from the left corner for a twelve point lead at 42-30 with 6:50 left. Asbury Park added to its lead with a fast break opportunity that was converted by a no look pass to left for a layup, and a 44-30 lead with 5:16 left. The Bishops then scored again on another fast break with a nice drive for a 46-30 lead, and then capped the run with a layup at the 4:24 mark to make it 48-30. The Vikings then scored six of the next eight points for a 50-36 lead before Asbury Park got its final points of the game with a layup at the 52 second mark. Sean Lease then closed out the scoring with one of two free throws at the 7.7 second mark to round out the final, 52-37 score. With the victory, Asbury Park remains undefeated at 3-0 while South Brunswick dropped to 0-3. Next Monday night, both teams will be back in action as the Vikings will take on Lincroft at 9:00 PM while Asbury Park will be facing St. Rose at 8:00 PM.

Team 1 2 Total
Asbury Park (3-0) 23 29 52
South Brunswick (0-3) 15 22 37

Rosario Free Throws Help McCarrick Edge St. Rose, 50-45

The Eagles remained undefeated as it withstood a strong challenge from another Non-Public B South playoff team in the Roses from St. Rose of Belmar. Julio Rosario made a pair of free throws with 8.3 seconds left to give McCarrick a four point, 48-44 lead, and that put the game out of reach as St. Rose made one of two at the line with 5.6 seconds left before the Eagles closed things out with another score for a 50-45 victory. Cardy Mac took the early lead with 15 of the first 25 points over the first 9:33 for a five point lead. Taylor Snider then connected on a three pointer from the right wing at the 10:15 mark for an 18-10 lead. However, the Roses made it a ball game again with a 14-9 run over the balance of the half to pull within three at the break, 27-24. At the start of the second half, the Eagles got a three pointer to take a 30-24 lead at the 17:30 mark.

McCarrick would score again as first Wil Snider came up with a nice save off a St. Rose player, and that eventually led to a score as Eliazor Landano passed to his left, and found Mike Burwell for a jumper that was true to make the score, 32-24 with 16:23 left. St. Rose got a three pointer from the right side to trim the deficit to five at 32-27 with 15:20 remaining. The Eagles replied a little more than a half minute later as Burwell made a nice entry pass into Taylor Snider on the left low block for a layup that made the score, 34-27 at the 14:43 mark. Neither team scored for about the next minute and a half before Burwell was assessed a technical for hanging on the rim after he tried to jam home a missed jump shot by Taylor Snider. Consequently, St. Rose was able to step up to the line, and knock down a couple free throws to close the gap to 34-29. The Roses followed that up with a short baseline jumper from the left side that rolled in a little more than a half minute later for a 34-31 McCarrick lead with 12:41 left.

Almost a minute after St. Rose pulled within three, the Belmar school got another basket on a jumper from the left wing that made the score, 34-33 with 11:47 remaining in regulation. Tom Costello gave the Eagles some breathing room with a one of two showing at the line for a 35-33 lead at the 11:16 mark. Wil Snider helped McCarrick put some more distance between itself and St. Rose with a steal and a layup to make the score, 37-33 with 10:47 left. St. Rose had a chance to pull within two again at the 9:51 mark, but missed a pair of free throws, and the score remained 37-33 in favor of Cardinal McCarrick. However, the Roses would continue to persist, and close the gap to a single basket with an 11-9 showing over the next 9:16 to make the score, 46-44 with just 35 seconds left. Unfortunately for St. Rose, that would be as close as they would get because Julio Rosario put the game out of reach with his two clutch free throws in the final seconds to put the game out reach as the Eagles pulled out the five point win. With the victory, Cardinal McCarrick remained undefeated at 3-0 while St. Rose dropped to 1-2 on the fall. Both teams will be back in action on Monday night, October 8th with 8:00 PM games as McCarrick will be facing Manasquan while St. Rose will be squaring off with another undefeated team in Division A in Asbury Park.

Team 1 2 Total
Cardinal McCarrick (3-0) 27 23 50
St. Rose (1-2) 24 21 45

South Amboy Falters Down Stretch As Ocean Wins, 48-46

On this Monday night, the Governors of South Amboy faced a familiar opponent in Ocean Township. While the two teams didn’t mean during the course of the summer at the 2007 Rebounds Summer Festival, the Guvs and the Spartans did battle back on May 14th in a game during the 2007 Rebounds Spring League. In that game, Ocean won by a slim six point, 68-62 margin. This particular matchup was a much lower scoring game although both teams did combine for 61 points in the second half after the Spartans took a 19-14 halftime lead. As a matter of fact, it appeared that Ocean Township, which competes in the very tough Class A North Division of the Shore Conference along with Howell another team in action against a GMC team in East Brunswick, was going to put the game away early with 11 of the first 14 points in the opening 6:58. However, the Guvs rallied with a 11-8 showing to end the half, and a 14-5 spurt in the first 6:28 of the second half for their first lead of the game at 30-28 with 13:32 left.

From that point on, there were six lead changes and four ties while neither team had a lead bigger than five points. As a matter of fact, for the game, there were eight lead changes and five ties while neither team had a lead bigger than eight points. South Amboy seemed to be in control late with leads of 37-32 at the 9:20 mark, 39-35 at the 6:39 mark, and more importantly, 45-40 at the 3:05 mark. Ocean eventually overcame the first two leads with an 8-2 spurt including a 5-0 run over a span of 1:04 that included a three pointer for a 40-39 lead. But then, after the Guvs retook the advantage with a 6-0 burst in a span of 2:30, the Spartans took the game with a 7-0 run in just 1:41 to take a 47-45 lead with 1:24 remaining. Ocean began the run with a nice, quick drive for a layup to make it 45-42 with 2:24 left, got another nice drive from the left wing by the same player for a 45-44 South Amboy lead at the 1:54 mark, and then capped the game deciding rally with a three pointer from the left wing at the 1:24 mark that gave the Spartans the lead for good at 47-45.

To make matters worse, South Amboy lost one of its key players as Larry Lenahan fouled out with just 32.8 seconds to play, and after Ocean made one of two at the line for a 48-45 lead, the Guvs misfired on a chance to tie the game as sophomore Joe Charmello missed his first two free throws at the line after being fouled on a three pointer with 3.6 left. Charmello hit the third free throw to round out the final, 48-46 score. For the game, the Guvs as a team shot themselves in the foot at the charity stripe with a 5 of 12 showing including 3 of 6 by Charmello, and a 1 of 4 effort by Steve Poltrictzky. South Amboy further hurt itself with silly fouls and unwise decisions. The Guvs also need to improve defensively by making sure not to miss assignments that lead to easy scores. In games of this nature against bigger schools, or teams that are more talented, doing the little things such as making free throws, not missing defensive assignments, and drawing charges, or putting your hands up on defense to alter a shot rather than trying to block it, could make the difference for the Guvs in what appears to be a promising season ahead in 2007-08.

Both Charmello and Poltrictzky did play solidly for the Guvs during the contest. As a matter of fact, the entire team played hard as they always do. Matt Richmond in particular, showed great hustle in the times he was in the contest. Despite turning the ball over on offense, Richmond hustled down the floor to break up a fast break, and then went hard into a wall after going out of bounds, and split his head open just before the end of the first half. He was attended to at the break, and despite a laceration on his forehead, appeared to be ok. South Amboy will just need to play smarter though, and being able to do that will help them steal a few games against more talented teams during the course of the regular season. Charmello came up with a three point play at the 3:05 mark with a drive for a layup while being fouled to make it 45-40. Meanwhile, Poltrictzky played hard with 9 points, numerous rebounds including three on the offensive end, and a blocked shot. Larry Lenahan added 9 as well along with several offensive rebounds before fouling out late in the game. Lenahan did himself in with a couple of bad fouls during the game resulting from crashing into an Ocean player going in for a layup after trailing on the play.

Mark Simko continued to play well with half of the teams points in the first half, and 23 points for the game along with several assists, but was held scoreless over the final 6:39 of the contest. The Guvs played shorthanded with only seven guys, and sorely missed the presence of Colin Krzyzanowski on the perimeter. The game started ominously as Lenahan picked up a quick loose ball foul at the 19:14 mark after a missed shot by South Amboy. Ocean then drew first blood with a score before Poltrictzky connected on a short bank shot in the left low block to knot the game up at 2-2 with 17:27 to play in the first half. The Spartans took the lead again soon after that, and then maintained it by blocking a Poltrictzky shot at the 15:59 mark. The Guvs pulled within one as Simko gave Lenahan a lob entry pass on the inbounds underneath over on the left side for a layup that resulted in a foul, and one of two free throws for the big man to make the score, 4-3 with 14:44 left in the half.

At this point, Ocean took over, and nearly blew the game open with seven straight points over a span of just 1:42 to take an 11-3 lead. Highlighting the spurt was a steal off a Matt Richmond pass, and assist on a fast break layup that followed an earlier three pointer for a 9-3 lead, and then an Ocean player drove to his left on the right side for a finger roll layup that made the score, 11-3 at the 13:02 mark. South Amboy began climbing back into the contest with a field goal at the 12:45 mark that resulted from a nice two man game between Simko and Lenahan for a Lenahan layup that made the score 11-5. Neither team scored for the next 3:15 although the Guvs had an opportunity to close the gap to four when Poltrictzky took in a pass on the high post over on the right side for a layup attempt that he was fouled on. Unfortunately, Poltrictzky failed to capitalize by missing both free throws, and Lenahan misfired on a follow attempt off an offensive rebound at the 9:30 mark.

Poltrictzky would atone for his free throw woes with a blocked shot at the 8:27 mark, and then followed that up with a tap in off his own miss on the offensive end to make the score 13-7 in favor of Ocean with 8:18 left in the first half. Thirty seconds later, Ocean Township pushed the lead back to eight with a layup and a foul, but missed the bonus free throw to make the score, 15-7 with 7:48 left before intermission. Simko then made a jumper at the 7:06 mark for a 15-9 Ocean lead, and then after a Spartan layin at the 6:30 mark, the senior guard connected on a three pointer to make the score, 17-12 at the 5:36 mark. Simko had a chance to make it a three point game, but Ocean drew a charge on him at the 3:32 mark. He would eventually make it a three point game as Richmond came up with a steal and assist on a layup by the former Sayreville transfer to make it 17-14 with 2:45 left before the break.

Ocean capped the first half scoring with a steal, and drive up the right side of the floor that resulted in a foul and two foul shots for a five point, 19-14 advantage at the half. In the second half, South Amboy rallied with a 16-9 opening including 14 of 19 points during a 5:34 stretch to take a 30-28 lead with 13:32 remaining in the contest. The Guvs started things out with a score at the 19:37 mark, but the Spartans replied quickly with two scores including a layup set up by a nice pass to a cutter on the right wing at the 19:20 mark, and then a steal for another layup at the 19:06 mark to make it a seven point lead at 23-16. South Amboy battled back with two scores of their own including one at the 18:46 mark, and then a Lenahan layup off a nice dish by Simko for a 23-20 Ocean lead with 18:26 to play. Ocean Township then got a three pointer from the left wing for a 26-20 advantage at teh 18:06 mark, but Simko retaliated with a three pointer of his own to make it 26-23 with 17:45 left.

The Spartans got the next score on a fast break opportunity that was converted with a no look pass for a layup from the left side to make it 28-23 with 16:52 remaining, but then the Guvs rallied back with the next seven points including a three pointer at the 16:30 mark, an offensive rebound and putback by Lenahan off a Simko miss at the 13:59 mark, and then a layup by Simko to give South Amboy its first lead of the contest at 30-28 with 13:32 to go in the game. From there, it was pretty much a nip and tuck affair with the game swinging back and forth like a pendulum. Following an Ocean timeout at the 13:27 mark, the Spartans knotted the game back up with a power move to the right side for a layup that made it 30-30 at the 13:05 mark. The Guvs wrestled the lead back as Charmello fed Lenahan for a layup at the 12:49 mark that made the score, 32-30. Ocean squared the game back up with a turnaround jumper that was true ata the 12:21 mark for a 32-32 tie.

Poltritctzky put South Amboy back on top with a one of two showing at the free throw line to make the score, 33-32 with 10:48 remaining. Lenahan made it a three point lead with an offensive rebound and putback at the 10:03 mark for a 35-32 score. Poltrictzky then capped the 5-0 mini-run with an offensive rebound and putback of his own off a Simko miss at the 9:20 mark to make the score, 37-32. Ocean then ended the run with one of two at the line with 8:01 remaining, and then scored again with a layup off an inbounds pass underneath to make it a two point game at 37-35 with 6:58 left. Simko got his final points of the contest when he drove into the key, and connected with a scoop shot that got a kind bounce for a 39-35 advantage with 6:39 to play. Ocean took the lead back with five straight points in a little more than a minute’s time for a 40-39 edge as the Guvs called for time at the 5:35 mark.

Emerging from the timeout, South Amboy fought back with a mini 6-0 rally of its own over the next 2:30 as Charmello made one of two at the line with 4:48 left, Poltrictzky added an offensive rebound and putback at the 4:07 mark, and then Charmello drove in for a layup as he was fouled for a three point play to cap the run, and make the score, 45-40 with just 3:05 remaining. However, the Guvs didn’t get a field goal the rest of the way while only scoring a point, and Ocean rallied with 8 of the last 9 points for the 48-46 victory. With the win, Ocean knocked South Amboy from the ranks of the unbeaten, and raised its own record to 1-2 on the fall. The Governors are now 2-1, and are scheduled to play next Monday night at 9:00 PM against a potential Central Jersey Group I playoff opponent in Henry Hudson, which qualified for the state tournament the past three years: 2005, 2006, and 2007 after many years of futility. Meanwhile, Ocean Township will play again on Monday night against the G-Force Stallions from Union County.

Team 1 2 Total
Ocean (1-2) 19 29 48
South Amboy (2-1) 14 32 46