GMC Hoops Blogosphere

Hoop Group Headquarters Spring League Set To Begin April 8th

League Features Great Competition From Teams In Shore Conference

NEPTUNE, NJ–With the final games of the 2013 Tournament of Champions being played, our focus begins to turn toward the 2013-14 season, and that means Spring League basketball. In addition to the Kean Spring League, which is scheduled to start near the end of April, the Hoop Group Headquarters will also be running a Spring League starting the second Monday in April.

According to the flyer posted on the league at HoopGroup.com, eight games will be guaranteed for each team with league play starting on April 8th. Game times are at 7:00, 8:00, and 9:00 PM. The league will feature top tier competition from around the state, and have certified officials for all games. All contests will be played on four NBA replica hardwood courts at the Hoop Group Headquarters.

At least one team from the GMC has participated in this league for the past six years. Cost for the league is $750.00. For more information, please contact: Darren Cohen @ 732-897-3196 or dcohen@hoopgroup.com.

GMC Hoops Itinerary–June 2, 2011

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–This week, GMC Hoops made a couple stops over to the Raritan Bay Summer League in South Amboy as the Summer Tour 2011 rolls on. This is the third league that the site has already seen during this off-season. There is many more stops to go as we’ll be going all the way until the second week of August or so. Here’s what we’ve covered so far:

• Hoop Group Headquarters Spring League
• Kean Spring League
• Raritan Bay Summer League

Next week, the site plans to be back out at the Raritan Bay Summer League for more action. Two weeks from now, the summer league season kicks into full gear with the Montgomery and Linden Team Camps as well as the Bound Brook and Monroe Sports Center Summer Leagues starting up.

2011 Hoop Group Headquarters Spring League–Notebook

Asbury Park Recreation Finishes Undefeated While South River Goes Winless

NEPTUNE, NJ–On Monday, May 16th, the 2011 Hoop Group Headquarters Spring League ending with the traditional showcase round of games. There were 12 teams that competed in this league with most of them coming from the Shore Conference. Of those dozen teams, there were only four that sported a winning record including: Asbury Park Recreation, Neptune, Ocean Township, and Mansquan.

The lone GMC team that competed in the league, South River, finished up the spring without a victory, but made an important first step in getting ready for the 2011-12 season, which will be a challenge for them without the likes of Xavier Foster, Gavin Campbell, Tim Huff, Craig Huff, Nick Boyler, and Kyle Majewski, who are all graduating this June. The Rams have a few good pieces in place with the likes of Tyler Harris, Tim Dararr, and Erick Gomez returning next year, but they need to instill more of the little things in their game such as boxing out, drawing charges, getting back on defense, and just playing solid, smart basketball at both ends of the floor.

Another local team that drew some interest from the web site was the G-Force Stallions, led by former Bishop Ahr graduate, Rob Gomulka, who is now attending Monmouth Academy. Gomulka had some standout games for G-Force, but the Stallions were only able to get to .500 at 4-4. The Union County AAU team was one of four squads to finish at .500 in the league this spring. G-Force defeated the Tropics, Point Pleasant Boro (53-39), Marlboro (73-59), and Manasquan (54-50). In the victory over Manasquan, Gomulka pumped in 37 points while he scored 22 points against Marlboro. The Stallions lost tough ones to Neptune (48-38), St. Rose (31-30), and Middletown South (52-51) in addition to a showcase loss to Ocean Township.

Moving on to the rest of the competition, Asbury Park Recreation got off to a slow start as it didn’t compete in the very first week of play after taking a brief break from hoops following its appearance in the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions, but the Bishops made up for that by going through the competition at the Hoop Group Headquarters this spring en route to an 8-0 record. Among those wins was a Showcase Games round victory over Neptune, which had a 6-1 record entering the contest. Other victims this spring were: St. Rose, Middletown South (55-45), Ocean Township (54-51), Wall Township (57-51), South River (67-52), Manasquan (43-35), and the Tropics (60-53).

Two teams in this league finished at 6-2 including Ocean Township and Neptune, two squads from the Class B North Division of the Shore. Those two teams played head to head on April 25th with Neptune winning the contest by a slim two point margin (44-42). The Scarlet Fliers only lost to St. Rose (40-37) and Asbury Park Recreation. Besides defeating the Spartans, the home town team defeated Marlboro, G-Force, Middletown South (65-23), Wall Township (49-42), and South River (73-44). Meanwhile, the Spartans of Ocean Township, which finished 5-19 overall including a 1-10 mark in divisional play this past season, made some positive steps toward improving this spring.

The Group III school lost its only two games to perhaps the best two teams in the league in Asbury Park Recreation (54-51) and Neptune. Having six or seven more points this spring could have gotten the Spartans an undefeated record like Asbury Park Rec. The Spartans defeated Wall Township, South River (46-36), Tropics (49-44), Point Boro (52-32), Marlboro (48-38), and G-Force. The last team to have a winning season this spring was Manasquan with a 5-3 mark overall. The Warriors only lost to Asbury Park, G-Force, and Point Boro while defeating Wall Township (44-38), Marlboro (47-45), South River (42-27), St. Rose (52-35), and Middletown South. Rebuilding after having a fine campaign in 2009-10 that saw the school reach the semifinals of CJ Group II state tourney after winning it all in 2009, Manasquan had a tough go with the likes of Lakewood, Monsignor Donovan, and Point Boro in Class C Central. A solid spring is a positive step toward getting back to the elite in the Shore and Group II.

Besides G-Force, Middletown South, St. Rose, and the Tropics were all 4-4 this spring. The Eagles of Middletown South took a back seat to its crosstown rival, Middletown North, which earned the top seed in the Central Jersey Group IV tournament this past season, and reached the championship game despite some team turmoil towards the end. Returning to Class A North after spending some time in Class B North, the Eagles struggled against the likes of Middletown North, CBA, Howell, Manalapan, and Freehold Township. This spring though, the Eagles had some good moments, and some bad moments. The loss to Neptune on April 18th was the darkest hour of the season. However, Middletown South did battle back with victories in three of their last four games over Point Boro (61-57), Marlboro (54-53), and G-Force (52-51).

St. Rose was also .500 as they look to retool after another successful season in Class B Central with a 21-7 record including an 11-1 mark in divisional play against the likes of Asbury Park and Point Pleasant Beach. The Roses, which earned the top seed and reached the semifinals of the Non-Public B South State Tournament this past season, defeated Neptune, Tropics (74-71), G-Force, and the Tropics again in the showcase round.

Little Things Need To Mean A Lot For South River Basketball

NEPTUNE, NJ–This past week the 2011 Hoop Group Headquarters Spring League wrapped up competition with its showcase round of games. The only team from the Greater Middlesex Conference, the South River Rams were still looking for its first win of the spring in the league.

While the Rams were perhaps the smallest high school team to compete in the league, there are still some issues for a program that will take a hard hit from graduation in June. South River will be losing the likes of Xavier Foster, Gavin Campbell, Tim and Craig Huff, Nick Boyler, and Kyle Majewski from a team that finished tied for second with Dunellen at 10-4 in the expanded eight team Gold Division while putting together an overall mark of 13-14.

South River has made tremendous strides in just two years under the guidance of former standout, Rodney Harris. Although a 24-30 record is still subpar, it is still more victories for the school than in the several years previous combined. The Rams have also reached the state playoffs in each of the past two seasons after not making them since reaching the Central Jersey Group I semifinals back in 2005. True Rome wasn’t built in a day, and there is progress made here that the Rams should be proud of. However, more needs to be done.

The Rams still face some of the many problems they had last spring at the Hoop Group Headquarters. The little things are very important. While they may not always be necessary to beat some of the competition in the Gold, which South River will face again in 2011-12, they are vital when playing up against teams in the Blue, White, or Red Division teams in crossovers or the conference tournament. Let’s also not forget non-conference opponents, especially in state tourney play.

Nobody including myself is looking for South River to beat teams such as Neptune and Asbury Park at this stage. However, if the Rams are going to make inroads as a program, they have to start learning to do the little things, which will help them become more competitive against those bigger foes. Boxing out and rebounding was big achilles heel for this team this Spring. Despite having the likes of big men Tyler Harris and Erick Gomez on the front line, the Rams were consistently victimized by second and third chance opportunities that they gave opponents in games.

In addition, the Rams need to get out of the habit of always trying to block shots, especially against bigger and more athletic players. During the course of the spring, the coaches for South River consistently urged the players to draw charges on the defensive end, but those urgings became cries in the dark. Getting back on defense is also another issue. In the loss to Neptune two weeks ago, the Rams were not getting back on defense, and the Fliers took advantage by putting on a slam dunk display.

Harris, Gomez as well as Tim Darrar had some good moments this spring. Both Harris and Gomez are trying to spread their offensive game to the perimeter to compliment their inside scoring. Harris has shown a good deal of improvement from beyond the arc since the end of this past season. Danny Boychuck played with a lot of pride against Neptune, and was one of the few bright spots in that game as a result. These are some good things to build on along with the fact that the kids are getting to work on next year right away, which is a nice plus that Rodney Harris has brought to the program.

However, the Rams need to use this off-season to work on doing those little things so that they will still be able to compete despite heavy losses to graduation.

2011 Hoop Group Headquarters–April 25th–Game Capsules

NEPTUNE, NJ–On Monday night, GMC Hoops took another trip down to the Hoop Group Headquarters after week to take in the fifth night of action from the 2011 Spring League there. South River was in action, but the site was unable to see them play since its game against Asbury Park Recreation was played at 7:00 PM, and we weren’t able to get out of work until 7:30 PM. The Rams wound up losing 67-52. Meanwhile, in the other 7:00 PM game, Rob Gomulka of Bishop Ahr fired in 37 points to lead G-Force to a 54-50 victory over Manasquan. Here are the capsules from the other games that were played.

Middletown South vs. Point Pleasant Boro

The Eagles were looking to recover from last week’s rout suffered at the hands of Neptune, and they started out strong with a 21-4 lead at the 9:00 mark of the first half.  The Panthers responded by scoring eight of the next 10 points over a span of about seven minutes to close within 23-12.  Middletown South scored five of the next six points to take a 28-13 lead with 41.2 seconds to go in the first half, but Point Boro made a free throw, and a basket for a 28-16 score with 20.8 seconds left, and led by a dozen at the break.  

The Panthers from Ocean County then opened the second half with a 7-0 run including two threes to close within five at 28-23 with 18:23 to go.  Up to this point in the contest, Point Boro had outscored Middletown South by margin of 19-7 to get back into the game.  Over the next 3:59, Middletown South put some breathing room between itself and Point Boro with a 14-5 spurt for a 42-28 lead with 14:24 left.  Point Boro rallied with a 27-19 surge to pull within six with 40 seconds left.  However, Middletown South pulled out the 61-57 win.

Ocean Township vs. Neptune

The Scarlet Fliers and Spartans resumed a rivalry that goes on during the regular season in the Class B North Division of the Shore Conference.  Neptune jumped out to an 11-6 lead before the Spartans responded with a 7-2 run to tie things up.  The Fliers then scored five straight points for an 18-13 lead before Ocean Township converted a traditional three point play to pull within a basket.  Neptune then took a five point, 21-16 lead at the intermission thanks to a three pointer.  

The Fliers then began the second half with an 8-5 run over the first 5:14 to go up by eight at 29-21 with 14:46 to go.  Over the next 2:11, Neptune added to its lead with a 6-3 run for a 14-8 start, and a 35-23 advantage.  Ocean rallied with a 17-9 spurt including a three pointer with under a minute to go in the first half.  The Spartans were down by two with 4.8 seconds left, but Neptune stole the inbounds pass to pull out the 44-42 win.

Wall Township vs. Tropics

The Tropics used the three point shot to jump out to a 14-4 lead with 12:00 to go in the first half.  The Tropics led 23-13 midway through the half when Wall rallied with an 18-8 tear to tie the game at 31-31 going into the intermission.  The Crimson Knights continued their onslaught with the first six points of the second half for a 37-31 lead at the 17:18 mark.  

The Tropics rallied with 6 of the next eight points to draw within two before Wall got a basket and a foul at the 12:21 mark for a 41-37 lead.  The Tropics then went on a 17-6 tear for a 54-47 lead with three minutes left.  Wall then trailed 57-50 after a three by the Tropics, but scored five straight points including a three pointer to pull within two at 57-55 with 40 seconds left.  The Knights were unable to get any closer as the Tropics won 61-59.

St. Rose vs. Marlboro

Marlboro jumped out to an 11-2 lead, and led 15-7 with 8:00 to go in the first half.  Marlboro then went on a 18-13 run including a half court heave at the buzzer to end the first half with a 33-20 lead.  Marlboro opened the second half with a 9-7 run for a 42-27 lead when a timeout was called at the 12:27 mark.

Marlboro then scored four more points after the stoppage for a 46-27 lead before St. Rose rallied with a 21-10 surge over a span of 9:20 to pull within eight at 56-48 with 40 seconds left.  The Roses couldn’t get any closer as Marlboro won 58-48.

GMC Hoops will have the updated team stats posted later this week.

2011 Hoop Group Headquarters–Standings–Through Week Five

NEPTUNE, NJ–Now that we have compiled all of the results from the first five weeks of play at the 2011 Hoop Group Headquarters Spring League, here are the latest standings. Asbury Park Recreation remains in first place with an unblemished 5-0 record. G-Force and Neptune are tied for second place at 4-1. South River, the lone GMC team in the league, remains winless at 0-5. Below are the updated standings:

Standings–2011 Hoop Group Headquarters Spring League–Through Week Five

• Asbury Park Recreation (5-0)
• G-Force (4-1)
• Neptune (4-1)
• Manasquan (3-2)
• Ocean Township (3-2)
• Tropics (3-2)
• Marlboro (2-3)
• Middletown South (2-3)
• St. Rose (2-3)
• Point Pleasant Boro (1-4)
• Wall Township (1-4)
• South River (0-5)

GMC Hoops will be back out at the Hoop Group Headquarters next Monday night to see the South River Rams in action.

2011 Hoop Group Headquarters–Results–April 25th

NEPTUNE, NJ–On Monday night, GMC Hoops traveled down to the Hoop Group Headquarters to see the fifth week of action from the Spring League that is being played there. All 12 teams were in action with a pair of games being played on the Knicks and Celtics courts at 7:00 PM, 8:00 PM, and 9:00 PM. South River was in action again as the Rams took on Asbury Park Recreation. Below are all of the results from the six games played:

2011 Hoop Group Headquarters Spring League–Results–April 25th

• Asbury Park Recreation 67–South River 52
• G-Force 54–Manasquan 50
• Middletown South 61–Point Pleasant Boro 57
• Neptune 44–Ocean Township 42
• Marlboro 58–St. Rose 48
• Tropics 61–Wall Township 59

GMC Hoops will post the latest standings shortly.

2011 Hoop Group Headquarters Spring League–Team Stats–Through Week Four

NEPTUNE, NJ–Four weeks have ended here at the 2011 Hoop Group Headquarters Fall League, and GMC Hoops has compiled the results from all the games, and all the scores except those from four games played in the opening week and one contest in week two. Using the scores that have been compiled, the site has put together team stats on the 12 schools playing in the league. We have arranged the teams by point differential, total offense, and total defense.

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GMC Hoops plans to be back out at the Hoop Group Headquarters on Monday night to take in the fifth week of action including the contest between South River and Asbury Park Recreation at 7:00 PM on the Celtics Court.

2011 Hoop Group Headquarters Spring League–Standings

NEPTUNE, NJ–Now that we have compiled all of the results from the first four weeks of play at the 2011 Hoop Group Headquarters Spring League, here are the latest standings. Asbury Park Recreation remains in first place with an unblemished 4-0 record. G-Force, Manasquan, Neptune, and Ocean Township are all tied for second place at 3-1. St. Rose and Tropics have had their records corrected.

Standings–2011 Hoop Group Headquarters Spring League–Through Week Four

• Asbury Park Recreation (4-0)
• G-Force (3-1)
• Manasquan (3-1)
• Neptune (3-1)
• Ocean Township (3-1)
• St. Rose (2-2)
• Tropics (2-2)
• Marlboro (1-3)
• Middletown South (1-3)
• Point Pleasant Boro (1-3)
• Wall Township (1-3)
• South River (0-4)

GMC Hoops will be back out at the Hoop Group Headquarters next Monday night to see the South River Rams in action at 7:00 PM against Asbury Park Recreation on the Celtics Court.

2011 Hoop Group Headquarters Spring League–April 4th–Result

NEPTUNE, NJ–On Monday night, GMC Hoops traveled down to the Hoop Group Headquarters to see the fourth week of action from the Spring League that is being played there. In the process of seeing all of the contests on Monday night, the site got a result from the second week of action, which had seven games. Asbury Park Recreation and St. Rose, late entries in the league, played an additional game on April 4th. Below is the result from the additional game that they played:

2011 Hoop Group Headquarters Spring League–Result–April 4th

• Asbury Park Recreation over St. Rose

GMC Hoops will post the latest standings shortly.