GMC Hoops Blogosphere

2010 Colonia JV Summer League–Team Stats

COLONIA, NJ–On Thursday afternoon, GMC Hoops took all the results from the games played at the 2010 Colonia JV Summer League, and compiled team stats for all 12 teams that competed in the league. The stats were sorted by Point Differential, Total Offense, and Total Defense.

2010 Colonia JV Summer League–Point Differential

2010 Colonia JV Summer League–Total Offense

2010 Colonia JV Summer League–Total Defense

GMC Hoops again would like to thank Colonia JV and assistant coach, Brian O’Lone for his assistance this summer.

Colonia JV Summer League–August 3, 2010

St. Joseph’s Defeats Amboy In Semis And Hillside In Final To Win League Title

COLONIA, NJ–After a long day at work, GMC Hoops traveled over to Colonia High School again to take in the Championship Game of the playoffs at the 2010 Colonia JV Summer League. In the semifinals, second seeded St. Joseph’s defeated a sixth seeded Perth Amboy team that scored one of the bigger upsets of the tournament by defeating third seeded Roselle I. Meanwhile, fourth seeded Hillside scored an upset of its own by defeating top seeded Piscataway. In the final, St. Joseph’s used a 14-3 run at the start of the second half to pull away from a three point halftime lead en route to a 52-37 victory over Hillside.

Semifinal Results

The semifinal round of games were played earlier in the day with St. Joseph’s improving to 9-2 on the summer with a victory over Perth Amboy while Hillside improved to 10-2 with a victory over Piscataway. The Chiefs had earned the top seed, but had to hang on in the first round against St. Mary’s of Elizabeth. Perth Amboy ended the summer at 6-6 after winning in its first two playoff games over Colonia I (29-17) and Roselle I (37-35) while P-Way, which had a first round bye, ended the season at 9-3.

St. Joe’s Stifles Hillside In Second Half To Win, 52-37

GMC Hoops arrived at this game just as the first half was ending. St. Joseph’s took a 26-23 lead into the intermission, but then started the second half with a 14-3 spurt to take a 40-27 lead with 11:15 remaining en route to a 52-37 victory over Hillside. The Junior Falcons outscored the Junior Comets by a 26-14 margin over the final 20 minutes to get the win. Tom Cicalese (8 points) and Salman Hasan (7 points) combined for 58 percent of St. Joe’s scoring down in the game’s final 20 minutes to help the Junior Falcons win their first Colonia JV Summer League title since 2007.

The Falcons went to work right away to start the second half as Cicalese, who also picked up two steals and two assists in the final period, passed to Hasan for a three pointer from the right corner for a 29-23 lead at the 19:24 mark. Hasan then came up with a nice play on defense with a blocked shot, and then converted it into points as he released for the outlet pass, and went in for the layup, and a 31-23 lead with 18:06 remaining. Following a Hillside timeout with 17:41 to go, the Junior Falcons had a chance to score again when Brian Fitzpatrick stole an errant pass, and passed ahead to Cicalese for a layup attempt that drew a foul, but Cicalese missed the front end of a one and one with 17:16 to go. Cicalese would eventually go to the line again at the 15:35 mark, and make one of two from the charity stripe for a 32-23 lead.

Hillside, which was scoreless for the first 5:06 of the second half, finally got on the board thanks to a three pointer from the top of the key at the 14:54 mark for a 32-26 St. Joe’s lead. The Junior Falcons would get those points back though thanks to a three pointer by Cicalese as he drew contact (no foul called) at the 14:38 mark for a 35-26 edge. Fitzpatrick then found incoming freshmen, Mike Allen for a baseline jumper from the left side for a 37-26 lead. Hillside had a chance to trim the deficit, but missed the front end of a one and one at the 13:12 mark, and despite getting the offensive board, the Junior Comets were unable to cash it in. Cicalese then swiped a steal and drove in for a layup attempt that drew a foul, and produced a one of two showing from the line, and made the score, 38-26 with 12:36 to go.

Rob Ciragi got into the act when he picked up a steal, and passed to Hasan for a layup, and a 40-26 lead with 11:15 remaining. Hillside then got on the board again with its first points in 4:04 on a one of two effort from the foul line for a 40-27 Junior Falcon advantage with 10:50 left. Following a St. Joe’s turnover at the 10:16 mark, Hillside sank a three pointer from the left wing at the 9:40 mark for a 40-30 Junior Falcon lead. A little more than a half minute later, incoming freshman, Mike Cintron scored on a layup for a 42-30 St. Joe’s lead at the 9:03 mark. Hillside would score the next three points as the Junior Comets made one of two from the line at the 8:07 mark, and then fought through traffic on a drive from the right wing for a layup, and a 42-33 lead. St. Joe’s got back on the board as Steve Taraska found Cicalese for a layup, and a 44-33 lead with 5:50 to go.

Cicalese tried to return the favor when he swiped a steal, and drove to the basket. He tried to do the unselfish thing by passing to Taraska for a layup, but the pass went behind Taraska, and out of bounds with 5:11 remaining. Hillside then made two free throws to close the gap to 44-35 with 4:14 left, but Cicalese put together a nice drive and dish to a teammate for a layup, and a 46-35 lead. The Junior Falcons then closed out the game with six of the final eight points including a Fitzpatrick layup at the 1:47 mark to wrap up the Championship with a 52-37 win. With the victory, St. Joseph’s finished the summer at 10-2 while Hillside concluded its season at 10-3.

GMC Hoops would like to thank Colonia JV and assistant coach, Brian O’Lone for providing information on this league.

Colonia JV Summer League–August 2, 2010

Piscataway And Hillside Advance To Semifinals

COLONIA, NJ–After a long day at work, GMC Hoops traveled over to Colonia High School to take in the final two games of the night in the quarterfinal round of the playoffs at the 2010 Colonia JV Summer League. Top seeded Piscataway, which got a first round bye, took on ninth seeded St. Mary’s, an opening round winner over Roselle II while in the nightcap, fourth seeded Hillside took on fifth seeded Colonia II. The Junior Comets also got a first round by while the Junior Patriots defeated Cardinal McCarrick II in the first round.

Piscataway Hangs On To Advance To Final Four, 41-38

The Piscataway Junior Chiefs had a bit of a struggle in this one against a St. Mary’s team that was looking to score another upset. P-Way led by a score of 34-30 with 1:57 to go, and after a score by the Junior Hilltoppers to close the gap to two points with just under a minute remaining, the Junior Chiefs scored the next four points to take a 40-32 lead with under a half minute to play. St. Mary’s of Elizabeth got a huge break when a player was fouled on a three point attempt, and made all three of his free throws to close the gap to 40-36 with 16.4 seconds left.

On the ensuing inbounds, the Junior Hilltoppers were able to force a five second call, and the converted the turnover on a layup with 7.6 seconds left for a 40-38 Piscataway lead. However, the Junior Chiefs wouldn’t let the Elizabeth school get closer with one of two free throws at the 4.4 second mark to wrap up the 41-38 victory. With the win, Piscataway improved to 9-2, and advanced to the semifinals to face fourth seeded Hillside, which defeated Colonia II in another Elite Eight matchup. St. Mary’s finished the summer at 4-7.

Second Half Tear Helps Hillside Advance, 35-14

In the nightcap game, the Junior Comets of Hillside, the fourth seeded team in this tournament used an 18-4 tear in the second half to pull away from a 17-10 halftime lead for a 35-14 victory over fifth seeded Colonia II. Hillside scored 18 points off of 18 Colonia II turnovers while adding 10 second chance points en route to the victory. For the game, the Junior Comets made 17 of 53 shots for 32 percent, but limited Colonia II to just 5 of 39 shots for 13 percent. Colonia got more points from beyond the arc (6-0) and at the line (2-1), but it wasn’t enough to overcome the huge disadvantage in points off turnovers (18-0) and second chance points (10-0). In other statistical areas, Hillside had the edge in rebounds (40-30) including a 16-7 advantage in offensive boards, turnovers (8-18), assists (8-4), steals (10-3), and blocks (5-0). Neither team drew a charge.

Both teams got off to a slow start offensively as neither squad scored for the first 2:21 until Hillside scored on a floater at the 17:39 mark after missing its first three shots. The Junior Comets had a chance to go up even further, but following a steal for a layup attempt that drew a foul, they were unable to make the front end of a one and one at the 15:25 mark. Colonia II, which missed its first nine shots of the contest, finally got on the board at the 14 minute mark with a steal for a layin to tie the score at 2-2. Hillside would take the lead again with a field goal a minute later for a 4-2 score, but Colonia eventually went back in front for its first and only lead of the game on a three pointer at the 11:45 mark for a 5-4 score. The next 4:17 saw the Junior Comets take control of the game for good with an 9-0 run.

Hillside sparked the run with a steal that led to a layup at the 11:02 mark for a 6-5 lead. The Union County score followed that up with a conventional three point play at the 10:27 mark for a 9-5 lead. The Junior Comets scored four of their points off of turnovers up to this point in the game. Following a Colonia II timeout at the 9:42 mark, Hillside scored the next four points including two offensive rebounds and a putback at the 7:28 mark for a 13-5 lead. Colonia II ended a scoring drought of 5:24 when a player was fouled on a three point attempt, and made two of three from the charity stripe for a 13-7 Junior Comets lead at the 6:21 mark. Neither team would score for the next 4:27 before Hillside connected on a jumper from the right wing for a 15-7 lead at the 1:54 mark.

On its next possession, Colonia II closed the gap to five with a three pointer from the left wing that banked in for a 15-10 score with a minute and a half to go in the first half. Hillside then added another score to go into the intermission with a 17-10 lead. At the break, the Junior Comets were only 8 of 28 from the floor, but they limited the Junior Patriots to just 3 of 20 shooting, and forced nine turnovers that resulted in 10 of their points. Hillside also got four second chance points. Despite all of that, Colonia II wasn’t out of the game. They were still in striking distance. However, the start of the second half would change that as Hillside put toget a 10-0 run to put the game out of reach. Over the first 3:18 of the second period, the Junior Comets increased its lead to 17 points thanks to eight points scored off Colonia turnovers.

Colonia would finally get on the board before calling timeout with 12:24 left. However, Hillside scored six unanswered points over the next 10:02 to take a commanding 33-12 lead. The Junior Comets wound up winning by a 35-14 score. With the victory, Hillside improved to 9-2 on the summer, and advanced to the semifinals against Piscataway, a winner over St. Mary’s in another quarterfinal. Colonia II finished the season at 7-4.

GMC Hoops was back out at the Colonia JV Summer League on Tuesday to catch the Championship Game.

Colonia JV Summer League–July 29, 2010

Opening Round Of Playoffs Begin As Colonia II Advances Easily

COLONIA, NJ–After being at both Linden and Rahway for playoff action there, GMC Hoops traveled over to Colonia High School to take in the final game of the night in the opening round of the playoffs at the 2010 Colonia JV Summer League. The contest between Colonia II and Cardinal McCarrick II was a rematch of a regular season game covered by site back on July 8th. This game was very similar to that first meeting, which was won by Colonia II (42-10). McCarrick II, the twelfth seed in the tournament, hadn’t won a game all summer in the league.

However, the summer league season is not always about wins and losses. It’s about working on the things that need to be worked on. Developing team chemistry, improving offensive and defensive skills, and most importantly, knowing what you need to do to get better. Traveling around the summer league circuit, you find some teams are more focusing on winning than on just getting better. This game serves as a lesson that it is not always about winning, but getting out there, competing, and trying to get better. The score wasn’t pretty, but give Cardinal McCarrick II credit for playing all 40 minutes, and doing the best it could despite having the odds stacked heavily against them. This McCarrick squad is the incoming freshman team, and for the past several years, the 9th grade teams at Cardy Mac have struggled, but head coach, Mike O’Hara vows that this team will be better this upcoming year.

One plus for the Little Eagles was that they held the Junior Patriots of Colonia II to fewer points. Unfortunately, Colonia II didn’t need as much to win this time around. CHS held McCarrick to just one point in the first half, and the South Amboy squad didn’t get its first field goal until there were 33 seconds left in the game. Colonia II came away with this 33-5 victory by making 15 of 30 shots for 50 percent including three of nine from three point range. It limited Cardy Mac to just 1 of 20 shooting from the floor while McCarrick II made three of seven from the foul line. The Junior Pats also took advantage of turnovers. Although the Little Eagles committed fewer turnovers this time around, Colonia II was still able to turn them into 20 points.

Colonia II also dominated in terms of rebounding with a 24-9 edge on the boards including a 9-2 advantage on the offensive glass. The Junior Pats didn’t really take advantage though as they only scored four second chance points. Colonia II also had edges in assists (9-1), steals (9-7), blocks (2-1), and charges (1-0). In all fairness to the Little Eagles, they are playing without some of the top players in their class. Top incoming freshman such as Aaron Lewis, played with the other McCarrick squad at Colonia, Cardinal McCarrick I. Lewis is just the latest example of top freshman players at McCarrick going up to the JV level. In the past, others have included Jeremy Cruz, Ryan Smith, and Robert Nunez. Another top incoming freshman, Marques Townes, has been seeing a lot of time with the varsity this summer.

McCarrick II was 0 of 15 from the floor in the first half while Colonia II was 9 of 19 from the field. The Junior Patriots also scored six points off of Little Eagle turnovers. Colonia II jumped out to a 5-0 lead over the first 5:55 of the game, and then connected on a short baseline jumper from the right side at the 13:36 mark for a 7-0 lead. While McCarrick II was having its troubles shooting, Colonia II wasn’t faring much better only going 3 of its first 8 from the floor. The Little Eagles didn’t get their first point until the 12:18 mark when it made one of two from the foul line. The Junior Pats then got going a little bit from the floor as they ended the first half making 6 of 11 shots including a pull-up jumper at the 9:46 mark, and a jumper from the right side at the 9:17 mark for an 11-1 lead.

Colonia II then added a nice dish for a layin that made the score 13-1, and then drew a charge at the 5:01 mark. The home team closed out the half with the final six points including a baseline jumper from the left side with 3:52 to play before the intermission for a 17-1 lead. The Junior Patriots, which scored six points off turnovers in the first half, got another basket to end the first period up by 18. Colonia II then opened the second half with an 8-0 run over the initial 8:45 of the period for a 27-1 lead. All of the points were scored off McCarrick II turnovers. The Little Eagles, which didn’t score for a span of 30:18, finally got on the board with two free throws at the two minute mark. Cardy Mac II then closed the scoring in the game with a field goal in the final minute as Colonia II won by 28.

The Junior Patriots improved to 7-3 on the summer, and advanced to play fourth seeded Hillside on Monday in the quarterfinals. Cardinal McCarrick II finished the season at 0-10.

GMC Hoops was back out at the Colonia JV Summer League on Monday to catch quarterfinal playoff action.

2010 Colonia JV Summer League–Analysis

COLONIA, NJ–On Tuesday night, the 2010 Colonia JV Summer League came to an end with the semifinal and championship rounds played. It was a very competitive league at CHS this summer with the top five teams finishing within two games of first place. Piscataway earned the top seed while St. Joseph’s got the second seed. Union County Conference schools, Roselle I and Hillside also had first round byes as the third and fourth seeds respectively.

Perth Amboy, seeded sixth, made a fine run in the tourney with a first round win over Colonia I, and then an upset over Roselle I in the quarterfinals. The Panthers fell to St. Joe’s in the semis. Meanwhile, Piscataway had to hang on to defeat St. Mary’s of Elizabeth in the quarterfinals, and then lost to Hillside in the semis. St. Joe’s then defeated the Junior Comets to win the championship. There were twelve teams in the league from nine different schools. Of the nine schools, six were from the Greater Middlesex Conference.

GMC Hoops made the trip out to Colonia a few more times this summer, and captured action from all three days of the playoffs. The site saw St. Joseph’s twice, Piscataway twice, Colonia I and II five times. The Junior Falcons have a good group coming in again in 2010-11 with the likes of incoming sophomores Brian Fitzpatrick, Salman Hasan, Sean Finan, Tom Cicalese, and Steve Taraska along with incoming freshmen such as Jake Dadika, Mike Cintron, Mike Allen, and Rob Ciragi. Piscataway had the likes of Rodney Freeney and Clarence Morris with their JV squad. Colonia II was the better of the two squads with a 6-3 regular season record, a first round win over McCarrick II, and a loss to Hillside in the quarterfinals.

The GMC had three teams reach the Final Four with Piscataway, St. Joseph’s, and Perth Amboy reaching the semifinals, but the Union County schools: Hillside, Roselle, and St. Mary’s had some athletic players that brought a different style of play to the league that all the teams benefited from. This league has been running for a long time, and has been covered by the site in seven of the past eight years. After seeing significant growth a few years back with a peak of 16 teams in 2006, the league has experienced some decline.

St. Joseph’s Wins 2010 Colonia JV Summer League

Junior Falcons Break Away From Three Point Halftime Lead With 26-14 Surge In Second Half For 52-37 Victory Over Hillside

COLONIA, NJ–On Tuesday night, the semifinals and championship took place at the 2010 Colonia JV Summer League. In the semifinals, fourth seeded Hillside knocked off top seeded Piscataway while second seeded St. Joseph’s defeated sixth seeded Perth Amboy. The Junior Panthers had upset third seeded Roselle I in the quarterfinal round. Then, in the Championship Game, St. Joseph’s took on the Junior Comets of Hillside. After a back and forth first half with St. Joe’s taking a 26-23 halftime lead, the Junior Falcons took over in the second half as they gradually pulled away with a 26-14 surge to claim the 52-37 victory. It was the second title in this league for St. Joseph’s in the past four years.

Tom Cicalese scored eight points in the second half while Salman Hasan added seven to help St. Joe’s get the victory. The Junior Falcons opened the final period with a 14-3 run over a span of 8:45 to take a 40-26 lead with 11:15 left. From there, Hillside was unable to get any closer than nine points on several occasions as the Junior Falcon defense prevented the Junior Comets from getting out in transition and score easy baskets, or pound the offensive glass for second chance points like they did in the victory over Colonia II in the quarterfinals. St. Joseph’s, the second seeded team in this year’s tourney, defeated tenth seeded Cardinal McCarrick I in the quarterfinals after a first round bye, then knocked off Amboy in the semis, and Hillside in the Championship.

The Junior Falcons finished the season with a record of 10-2 while Hillside closed out the summer with a 10-3 record. A more detailed summary on the Championship Game will be posted in the blog. Special thanks to Colonia JV and assistant varsity coach, Brian O’Lone for providing information on this league throughout the summer.

2010 Colonia JV Summer League–Results–Semifinals And Championship–August 3rd

COLONIA, NJ–On Tuesday night, the semifinal and championship rounds of playoff action took place at the 2010 Colonia JV Summer League at Colonia High School. There were three games on the schedule. GMC Hoops was in attendance, and got the results of the final game of the evening as well as which teams won in the semis. Below are the results from the games.

Colonia JV Summer League–Playoff Results–Semifinals–August 3rd

• #2 St. Joseph’s over #6 Perth Amboy
• #4 Hillside over #1 Piscataway

Colonia JV Summer League–Playoff Results–Championship–August 3rd

• #2 St. Joseph’s 52–#4 Hillside 37

GMC Hoops thanks Brian O’Lone for his assistance in covering this league this summer.

2010 Colonia JV Summer League–All Results–Quarterfinals–August 2nd

COLONIA, NJ–On Monday night, the quarterfinal round of playoff action took place at the 2010 Colonia JV Summer League at Colonia High School. There were four games on the schedule. GMC Hoops was in attendance, and got the results of the final two games of the evening as well as the scores of the earlier two games from Colonia JV and assistant coach, Brian O’Lone. Below is the result from that game.

Colonia JV Summer League–Playoff Results–Quarterfinals–August 2nd

• #6 Perth Amboy 37–#3 Roselle 35
• #2 St. Joseph’s 51–#10 Cardinal McCarrick I 26
• #1 Piscataway 41–#9 St. Mary’s of Elizabeth 38
• #4 Hillside 35–#5 Colonia II 14

GMC Hoops was out at Colonia for the Championship Game on Tuesday night. Results of the semifinals and championship will be posted shortly.

2010 Colonia JV Summer League–Some Playoff Results–Quarterfinals–August 2nd

COLONIA, NJ–On Monday night, the quarterfinal round of playoff action took place at the 2010 Colonia JV Summer League at Colonia High School. There were four games on the schedule. GMC Hoops was in attendance, and got the results of the final two games of the evening. Below is the result from that game.

Colonia JV Summer League–Some Playoff Results–Quarterfinals–August 2nd

• #1 Piscataway 41–#9 St. Mary’s of Elizabeth 38
• #4 Hillside 35–#5 Colonia II 14

GMC Hoops plans to be out at Colonia on Thursday for playoff action.

2010 Playoff Bracket Update–July 30th

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–With the playoff results in from several different leagues including the Bound Brook and Rahway Summer Leagues, GMC Hoops has just updated the brackets from leagues or events that took place this summer. Rahway is having its Championship Game on Friday night while the Colonia JV Summer League resumes its playoffs on Monday. Below are all the brackets that we have from the leagues we’ve covered:

• Bound Brook Summer League–Playoffs
• Colonia JV Summer League–Playoff Brackets
• Kean Ironman Challenge II–AM Session
• Kean Ironman Challenge II–PM Session
• Middlesex County College Summer League–Playoff Brackets
• Rahway Summer League–Playoff Brackets

GMC Hoops thanks coaches Anthony Melesurgo of Bound Brook, Bernie Buniak of Dunellen, Brian O’Lone of Colonia, Chris Tarver of Middlesex County College, and Tom Wagenblast of Kean for getting us these results.