GMC Hoops Blogosphere

GMC Hoops Highlights–March 13, 2013–#5 Newark Tech vs. #4 Newark East Side–T of C Quarters

Here are video highlights from Newark Tech’s come from behind victory over crosstown rival, Newark East Side in the quarterfinal round of the 2013 NJSIAA Tournament of Champions from Pine Belt Arena in Toms River. In a classic game that lived up to the hype, fifth seeded and Group II state champion, Newark Tech showed that it could play a little defense too, and overcame a 28-12 late second quarter deficit with a 30-11 surge over the final 16 plus minutes to win the rubber match against Newark Eastside by the score of 42-39, and advance to the T of C semis against top seeded Roselle Catholic.

GMC Hoops Highlights–March 15, 2013–#5 Newark Tech vs. #1 Roselle Catholic–T of C Semis

Here are video highlights from top seeded Roselle Catholic’s victory over Newark Tech in the semifinal round of the 2013 NJSIAA Tournament of Champions at Monmouth University. Fifth seeded Newark Tech, the Group II state champion, faced off against Roselle Catholic in the second T of C semifinal game at Monmouth University. The top seeded Lions, coming off the upset win over St. Anthony’s in the Non-Public B State Championship, gave up the first five points, and trailed 7-4, but then scored 11 of the last 13 points of the first period for a 15-9 lead, and then outscored Newark Tech by a 33-19 margin in the second for a 48-28 halftime lead en route to an easy, 78-64 win to set up the T of C finals matchup against St. Joe’s at Sun National Bank Arena in Trenton.

GMC Hoops Highlights–March 9, 2013–Roselle Catholic vs. St. Anthony’s–Non-Public B State Final

Here are video highlights from Roselle Catholic’s upset victory over St. Anthony’s in the 2013 Non-Public B State Championship at Pine Belt Arena in Toms River. Underdog Roselle Catholic, which experienced the lowest of lows after losing to eighth seeded Union in the quarterfinal round of the 2013 Union County Tournament in mid-February, has pulled off a huge upset by knocking off defending Non-Public B and T of C champion, St. Anthony’s of Jersey City, 48-44 in the Non-Public B State Championship at Pine Belt Arena. Hakim Saintil scored the go ahead basket on a follow of his own missed free throw with 1:21 left, and converted it into a three point play for a 45-42 lead. The Lions then sealed the win by making 3 of 4 from the foul line in the final 16.5 seconds.

GMC Hoops Bleacher Cam Highlights–#3 Atlantic City vs. #2 St. Joseph’s–T of C Semis

Here are the bleacher cam highlights from St. Joseph’s of Metuchen’s 63-49 victory over Atlantic City in the semifinal round of the 2013 Tournament of Champions at Monmouth University. After trailing 31-29 at the half, the Falcons outscored the Vikings by nearly a two to one margin in the final two periods for the 14 point victory.

St. Joe’s defense was simply stifling in the second half. Over the final two periods. AC’s shooting percentage dropped 15 percent. The Vikings went just 5 of 30 from the floor in the second half. 3 of 15 from the floor in the fourth quarter alone including misses on their last 10 shot attempts of the game. Atlantic City not only couldn’t get that clutch second half three that they had been able to get in the previous three rounds, but they couldn’t even buy one as it went 0 of 6 from beyond the arc in the final two periods. The result was the Falcons turning a two point halftime deficit into a 14 point, 63-49 win by outscoring the Vikings by nearly a two to one margin (34-18) over the final two periods.

The Falcons also overcame a double digit rebounding deficit at one point in the first half to have a 35-33 edge on the boards. St. Joe’s also committed fewer team fouls (15-17), and ended up shooting 25 of 51 from the field for 49 percent. Both teams ended up going 12 of 18 from the free throw line. The four time defending GMCT champion, didn’t shoot much better from three point range by only going 1 of 12, but the Falcons got a combined 54 points, or 86 percent of its scoring from the Big Three of Karl Towns (24 points), Wade Baldwin (15 points), and Marques Townes (15 points). Towns, who managed to avoid fouling out of the contest, connected on 10 of 16 shots while Townes clicked on 6 of 10 shooting for the winners.

GMC Hoops Highlights–March 15, 2013–#3 Atlantic City vs. #2 St. Joseph’s–T of C Semis

Here are the video highlights from St. Joseph’s of Metuchen’s 63-49 victory over Atlantic City in the semifinal round of the 2013 Tournament of Champions at Monmouth University. After trailing 31-29 at the half, the Falcons outscored the Vikings by nearly a two to one margin in the final two periods for the 14 point victory.

St. Joe’s defense was simply stifling in the second half. Over the final two periods. AC’s shooting percentage dropped 15 percent. The Vikings went just 5 of 30 from the floor in the second half. 3 of 15 from the floor in the fourth quarter alone including misses on their last 10 shot attempts of the game. Atlantic City not only couldn’t get that clutch second half three that they had been able to get in the previous three rounds, but they couldn’t even buy one as it went 0 of 6 from beyond the arc in the final two periods. The result was the Falcons turning a two point halftime deficit into a 14 point, 63-49 win by outscoring the Vikings by nearly a two to one margin (34-18) over the final two periods.

The Falcons also overcame a double digit rebounding deficit at one point in the first half to have a 35-33 edge on the boards. St. Joe’s also committed fewer team fouls (15-17), and ended up shooting 25 of 51 from the field for 49 percent. Both teams ended up going 12 of 18 from the free throw line. The four time defending GMCT champion, didn’t shoot much better from three point range by only going 1 of 12, but the Falcons got a combined 54 points, or 86 percent of its scoring from the Big Three of Karl Towns (24 points), Wade Baldwin (15 points), and Marques Townes (15 points). Towns, who managed to avoid fouling out of the contest, connected on 10 of 16 shots while Townes clicked on 6 of 10 shooting for the winners.

GMC Hoops Highlights–March 9, 2013–St. Peter’s Prep vs. St. Joseph’s–Non-Public A State Final

Here are video highlights from the NJSIAA Non-Public A State Championship between St. Joseph’s of Metuchen and St. Peter’s Prep of Jersey City. St. Joseph’s, winnners of Non-Public A South for the second straight year, fell behind early as the Marauders took an 11-4 lead, but slowly and surely, Joes climbed back into the game as it trimmed the deficit to one at the end of the first, and then took the lead at 22-19 going into the intermission.

St. Joseph’s pulled away in the second half by outscoring St. Peter’s Prep by a score of 35-28 in the second half, but it wasn’t easy. The Falcons only led 39-37 with 3:42 remaining, and had to close the game with a 18-10 run as Karl Towns, who was saddled with foul trouble, flushed home two dunks to seal the win.

The Falcons shot 50 percent from the field while the Marauders shot only 37 percent. St. Joseph’s was 73 percent from the line while St. Peter’s was 75 percent. Both teams shot 25 percent from three and had nine points from beyond the arc. St. Joe’s had fewer fouls (15-18), and outrebounded St. Peter’s Prep by a margin of 29-20. The big three of Wade Baldwin (17 points), Marques Townes (14 points), and Karl Towns (12 points) combined for 43 of the Falcons 57 points on 15 of 26 shooting.

Jimbo Long had some key contributions though including a three pointer en route to his 7 points while Raven Owen came off the bench to score 5 points. James Ziemba rounded out the Falcon scoring with two points on a key layin in the second half. Trevis Wyche led St. Peter’s Prep with 16 points while backcourt mate, Austin White added 14. Vic Jusino chipped in with 9 points, but only had two in the second half before fouling out. With the win, St. Joe’s became the first Middlesex County team to win back to back state titles since Sayreville in 1951-52.

GMC Hoops Slideshow–March 13, 2013–#5 Newark Tech vs. #4 Newark East Side–T of C Quarterfinals

Here is a slideshow from photos taken of Newark Tech’s come from behind win over in-city rival, Newark East Side in the quarterfinal round of the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions. Fourth seeded Newark East Side jumped out to a 13-5 first quarter lead, and led by 16 late in the second before Mustafa Lawrence hit his second three of the game to draw fifth seeded Newark Tech to within a baker’s dozen at 28-15 going into the intermission.

Lawrence’s triple sparked a 30-11 surge by the Terriers the rest of the way as they grabbed the lead midway through the fourth and led by six late before Akbar Hoffman scored four points for East Side to draw the Red Raiders within two with under a minute to play. However, Newark Tech survived a flurry of scoring chances by the Raiders in the closing seconds to come away with the dramatic come from behind, 42-39 victory. View the game notes from the contest.

Rakwan Kelly led the Terriers to victory with a game high 14 points including 11 scored in the second half. Akbar Hoffman led Newark East Side with 12 points including 10 in the first half.

GMC Hoops Slideshow–March 13, 2013–#6 Point Pleasant Beach vs. #3 Atlantic City–T of C Quarters

The nightcap game was an amazing finish to the night. For the third time in 19 days, GMC Hoops was treated to a double overtime classic as sixth seeded Point Pleasant Beach gave third seeded Atlantic City all it could handle before falling, 80-73 in the second extra session. The Garnet Gulls jumped out to a 12-0 lead, and went into the locker room at the half up 34-20 behind 13 first half points by Matt Farrell.

Point Beach opened the second half with a 9-4 run as Farrell and Riley Calzonetti got baskets, and Dominique Uhl connected on a three for a 43-24 lead midway through the third. Atlantic City battled back like it has repeatedly during its playoff run with a 31-7 surge over the next eight minutes or so to take a 55-50 lead with under four minutes to play in regulation. Isaiah Graves gave the Vikings their first lead of the game on a triple from the left wing at the 4:15 mark.

The Gulls then fought back themselves with a 9-4 run the rest of regulation as Uhl scored on a two handed jam at the 2:54 mark, and then Farrell tied the game at 57-57 with a three from the top of the key at the 2:21 mark. After Ga’briel Chandler scored at the 2:05 mark for a 59-57 AC lead, Farrell helped Point Beach knot the game back up at 59-59 about a minute later with a layup. The Group I State Champs then almost pulled off the upset when P.J. Kinneavy got a good look on a three from the left side as time was running out, but just missed, which evoked a large collective roar from the crowd.

In the first overtime, Atlantic City jumped out to a six point lead on a couple of occasions including a 68-62 advantage with 1:08 to play. However, Point Beach rallied again with an 8-2 run the rest of the extra session including a layup by Uhl at the 1:01 mark, another layup by Calzonetti at the 45 second mark, a reverse layup by Calzonetti with 11.4 seconds left in overtime, and then two free throws by Calzonetti with three seconds left for a 70-70 tie. Finally, Atlantic City put the game away in the second overtime with a 10-3 showing for the 80-73 win.

GMC Hoops Highlights–February 22, 2013–#2 St. Joseph’s vs. #1 East Brunswick–GMCT Final

Here are video highlights from the 2013 GMCT Championship. In this contest, second seeded St. Joseph’s and top seeded East Brunswick put together a classic GMCT final. Perhaps the best ever. It was the first final that went to overtime in 20 years, and the first ever MCT/GMCT Championship ever to be decided in double overtime. If you thought nothing could top the first two matchups between these two fierce rivals, think again.

East Brunswick trailed 29-20 late in the first half, but rallied with a 16-8 surge over the next eight plus minutes to pull within one heading into the fourth. Then, the Bears got a huge three late in regulation by senior guard, Danny Leung to tie the game, and force overtime at 51-51. Both teams scored seven points to force a second overtime. In the final extra session, EB led 61-58 with about a minute to go when the Falcons put together the decisive 8-2 run to win the contest. Marques Townes sparked the key rally with a steal for a layup, and then the Falcons went to the line to put the game away.

St. Joe’s found a way to win without having the services of Kentucky bound big man, Karl Towns, who fouled out of the game. For the game, St. Joe’s shot 49 percent versus 38 percent for EB. The Bears shot 33 percent from three, and outscored the Falcons by a 21-3 margin in points scored from beyond the arc. East Brunswick shot 82 percent from the line while Joes was 74 percent, but the four time defending champs outscored the Bears by a 23-14 margin in points from the charity stripe. Leung led all scorers with 24 points on 6 of 11 shooting overall including 5 of 8 from three while also making 7 of 8 from the line.

Rob Ukawuba chipped in for the Bears with 20 points. Towns, who earned tournament MVP honors, finished with 21 points on 7 of 12 shooting from the floor and 7 of 10 from the line. Wade Baldwin also finished with 21 points including 11 of 14 from the line. Townes ended up with 6 of 12 shooting from the floor and 5 of 7 from the free throw stripe. With the victory, St. Joseph’s became the first school since Perth Amboy in the early to mid 1970s (1972-75) to win four consecutive conference/county crowns.

GMC Hoops Highlights–March 1, 2013–Spotswood @ Lakewood–CJ Group II Semifinals

The Chargers, which were making their third trip to the semis in the last five years, battled throughout, but fell victim to two key 9-0 runs in a 53-36 loss. Trailing by only three at the end of the first period, Spotswood gave way to the first run in the second as Lakewood got two threes from Eric Davis to take a 21-9 lead midway through the period. Tyrice Beverette, who ended up with a game high 24 points, then scored six in the last 2:31 of the half as the Piners went into the intermission ahead, 27-16.

Spotswood opened the third with an 8-2 run including two three pointers by junior Jake Dadika to pull within five at 29-24, but Lakewood answered with the second key 9-0 run that included two threes from the right side by Beverette, and a steal for a dunk, and a three point play by Davis with 1:57 to go in the frame for a 38-24 lead. The Chargers would only get as close as 10 points the rest of the way. Davis ended up with 10 points while Dadika finished with 13, and Dalonte Grant chipped in with 11 for the Chargers.