ALLENTOWN, NJ–On Sunday, GMC Hoops saw the final four games from the second day of the 2009 Summer Prime Time Shootout. In addition, the site got results from three another games including two involving St. Joseph’s, and one involving Piscataway. This is the second straight year the site is covering the event, and third time ever. Below are brief capsules of each of the seven games.
Game #1–Trenton Catholic Academy vs. Lakewood
The Iron Mikes, which won the Non-Public B South State Tournament this past March over Cardinal McCarrick, jumped out to a 13-1 lead before Lakewood’s Jarrod Davis began putting on a show. Davis, a soon to be junior, scored 21 points over a 13 minute span to spark a 33-13 surge by the Piners over the final 15:57 of the opening half. Davis started things off with two threes and a field goal over a 4:06 span before TCA responded with five straight points for a 20-9 lead. Davis then netted two more threes while a teammate slammed home a dunk to close the gap to 22-17 at the 10:46 mark as TCA coach, Fred Falchi called for time. Falchi ended up calling four timeouts in a span of 3:02 as his team couldn’t stop Davis, who added a traditional three point play, a free throw, and a three pointer during the span. Leading 34-26 at the break, the Piners ended up winning the contest 57-45 as they outscored the Iron Mikes with a 23-19 showing in the second half including a 10-4 run that was highlighted two dunks to end the game after Trenton Catholic pulled to within six with 4:45 left.
Game #2–Burlington Township vs. Middletown North
Burlington Township lost its third game of the weekend in a landslide to Middletown North. After competing very well in its previous two defeats to Ewing (45-40) and Lakewood (52-46) on Friday, the Falcons were routed by the Shore Conference school on Sunday evening. With 7:53 remaining, the Lions, which went 9-14 overall last season including a 5-9 mark in the always rugged Class A North Division of the Shore, led 53-26. The Lions then closed the game with a 10-8 showing including a layup at the 7:00 mark to wrap up the 63-34 romp.
Game #3–St. Joseph’s vs. Hyde (CT)
The Falcons suffered their first setback of the weekend with a defeat to a Hyde of Connecticut that was very good. Hyde defeated Plainfield in double overtime on Saturday after falling prey to a 14-0 second half tear.
Game #4–St. Joseph’s vs. Newark Shabazz
In a game that matched up to pre-season Top 20 squads, Shabazz of Newark, which won the North Jersey Section 2 Group III Championship by defeating Watchung Conference rival and defending sectional champion, Scotch Plains, fell behind by 14 points before rallying to get the 63-47 victory. Trailing 29-28 at the half, Shabazz outscored the Falcons by a 35-18 margin in the final 20 minutes. Daevon Boardingham paced the Bulldogs with 20 points and 13 rebounds including 14 and 9 respectively in the second half. Steve Rennard led St. Joe’s with 16 points including two threes. St. Joseph’s finished the event with a 2-2 record.
Game #5–Piscataway vs. Plainfield
The Piscataway Chiefs lost their third game of the weekend with a defeat again at the hands of its neighborhood rival, Plainfield. The Cardinals defeated P-Way for the third time since January. The other two victories came in the 2009 Prime Time Shootout, and in the North Jersey Section 2 Group IV Championship.
Game #6–Trenton vs. Shabazz
The Tornadoes and Bulldogs put on an entertaining show in the nightcap of the final day of action at the 2009 Summer Prime Time Shootout. Shabazz led 12-10 with 7:10 remaining in the first half, but Trenton responded with four straight points for a 14-12 lead before the Bulldogs retaliated with a three for a 15-14 lead at the 4:51 mark. It was just a sampling of the competitiveness between the two schools as they exchanged leads six times in the final 7:10 of the half before Trenton used a 4-0 run to take a 20-17 lead, and led 20-18 at the intermission. In the second half, however, the Tornadoes maintained its lead with a 32-25 showing over the first 17:09 of the period for a 52-43 lead. Trenton added two free throws at the 2:33 mark for a 54-43 lead, and despite a technical foul in the final minute, won the game by a final score of 54-45.
Game #7–Piscataway vs. Timber Creek
Piscataway finished the Summer Prime Time Shootout with an 0-4 mark thanks to a 39-31 defeat at the hands of Timber Creek. With Wayne Newsome sitting out the contest, the younger Chiefs battled hard to gain a 15-14 lead at the break, but the Chargers pulled out the win with a 25-16 showing in the second half. The Chiefs had trailed 10-5 early after a 5-0 Timber Creek run in just 3:30, but they rallied with a 10-4 showing over the final 7:06 including a steal and an assist by Julius Nadarajah on a layup, and two free throws by Justin Kirkland at the 4:48 mark for an 11-10 lead. In the second half though, Timber Creek started strong with an 11-7 showing over the first 8:52 for a 25-22 lead. A little more than a minute and a half later, the Chargers got another score on a bucket down low for a 27-22 lead at the 9:30 mark. Two three point plays by Timber Creek at the 7:09 and 5:40 marks helped put the game away. Although Piscataway lost all four of its games, it only lost three of them by a combined margin of 15 points.
GMC Hoops plans to have summaries from several of the games it saw over the three days at the Prime Time Shootout soon.