St. Joseph’s Advances to Semifinals; Woodbridge Edged by Union Catholic
LINDEN, NJ–On Wednesday afternoon, GMC Hoops traveled up to Linden High School for the third straight day, and took in action from the 2016 Linden Summer League Playoffs. St. Joseph’s was in action as the Falcons took on Middletown North in a quarterfinal round game.
Led by the likes of Alanzo Frink and Malachi Walker, the Falcons took a 25-14 lead with 5:35 to go in the first half only to have Middletown North respond with an 18-2 outburst over the next 6:16 including a three from the left wing at the buzzer to end the first half in a 27-27 tie, a three from the left wing at the 9:43 mark of the third for a 30-27 lead, and then a transition layup from the right side for a 32-27 edge.
From that point on, it was a donnybrook as both teams went back and forth the rest of the way. Over the last 19:21 of the contest, neither team had a lead bigger than six points, and there were three lead changes and three ties. Trailing 35-29 with 5:22 left in the third, St. Joe’s went on a 6-0 run that included scores by Frink and Letrell West to tie the score at 35-35. Middletown North then scored four of the last six points of the period for a 39-37 lead.
West then opened the fourth quarter with a three point play at the 9:10 mark for a 40-39 lead. After a Middletown North score put the Lions ahead by a score of 41-40, Frink scored on a layin at the 7:52 mark for a 42-41 lead. West then added a three pointer with 5:10 to go for a 45-41 lead. Middletown North then pulled within two by scoring a basket while being fouled with about four and a half minutes to play, but then Xavier Townes capped a good offensive sequence for the Falcons with a three from the left wing with 3:08 to go for a 48-43 lead.
Middletown North wouldn’t go quietly though. Instead, the Lions struck back with a three pointer from the left corner to close the gap to two again at 48-46, and then after a breakaway dunk by Frink at the 2:20 mark, the Lions struck again with another three from the left wing to pull within one at 50-49 at the 2:06 mark. Frink then made one of two at the line with 1:51 left for a two point lead, but the Lions then tied it up at 51-51 on a pull-up jumper at the 1:38 mark. The Falcons would come out on top by scoring the last five points of the game.
Frink ignited the decisive run with a layup from the left side off a nice dribble move for a 53-51 lead with 56 seconds to play. Following a Middletown North timeout at the 44.3 second mark, Walker gave the Falcons a four point edge by taking a long pass from Towns and throwing down a breakaway dunk with 21.9 seconds left. West then blocked a shot with 13.6 seconds to go, and later got a rebound and was fouled resulting in a one of two effort from the line with 6.8 seconds to play. In other action, Woodbridge fell to Union Catholic by one in another thrilling playoff game.
Below are some of the results from playoff action over the past two days at Linden:
2016 Linden Summer League–Some Playoff Results
- St. Joseph’s 56–Middletown North 51
- Union Catholic 64–Woodbridge 63
- Linden 63–Chatham 38
- Monsginor Farrell (S.I.) 61–St. Peter’s (S.I.) 47
- St. Peter’s (S.I.) 42–East Orange Campus 41
- Middletown North 63–North Plainfield 57
St. Joseph’s will be playing against Linden in the semifinals on Thursday afternoon. Winner will play in the Championship later in the day on Thursday.