Monroe Falls To Elizabeth In Semifinals While Roselle Catholic Edges Cranford In OT
ELIZABETH, NJ–On Thursday night, GMC Hoops traveled over to the Dunn Center to take in the semifinal round of action in the 2009 Elizabeth Summer League playoffs. One of the teams making it to the final four was the Monroe Falcons, which was taking on the Minutemen of Elizabeth in the nightcap. In the opener, however, Roselle Catholic battled Cranford in what shaped up to be a very competitive game between two teams that appeared to have made major improvements from recent years. As a matter of fact, both semifinal games were very compelling. Each were decided by single digits, and one went to overtime.
Roselle Catholic Goes Overtime To Edge Cranford, 54-51
Upon arriving at the Dunn Center, the site took in the opening game of the doubleheader between Roselle Catholic and Cranford. Both of these schools are no strangers to one another. In recent years, they’ve competed against each other in the Mountain Valley Conference after Cranford moved into the league from the Watchung Conference. In recent years though, these once proud programs have hit on hard times. Since getting to the Group III Championship back in 2003, Cranford has only made two appearances in the state tourney. One in the Central Jersey Group II bracket in 2005, and the other in the North Jersey Section 2 Group III bracket in 2008. Meanwhile, Roselle Catholic has not been in the Non-Public A North bracket for the past two seasons after being a regular fixture in the tourney going back to the 2002 season.
Joining the action in the third quarter, the site picked up the game with 7:35 remaining in the period, and Roselle Catholic leading by a dozen, 34-22. A little more than a minute later, the Cougars began their 15-5 spurt to end the period with a layup from the right side at the 6:22 mark for a 34-24 Lions lead. Cranford then added a couple of free throws with 5:22 to go in the third to close the gap further to 34-26. The Cougars had a chance to pull within six, but Roselle Catholic came up with a blocked shot on the defensive end, and then scored on a putback for a four point swing, and a 36-26 lead with 4:50 remaining in the third. Cranford tried climbing uphill again by making two free throws at the 4:13 mark for a 36-28 Lions lead, but Roselle Catholic struck back with a three pointer from the left wing for a 39-28 advantage at the 3:30 mark. The Cougars responded though with the final seven points of the frame including a jumper near the top of the key at the 3:14 mark, a three pointer from the left wing with 1:55 left, two free throws at the 1:30 mark, and then a steal for a layup as time was running out for a 39-37 Roselle Catholic lead heading into the fourth.
The fourth started off with a brief lull in the scoring before Roselle Catholic came up with a steal for a layin, and a 41-37 edge at the 8:42 mark. However, Cranford would manage to tie the game up at 41-41 on a one of two showing from the foul line at the 8:05 mark, and then a three pointer from the left wing at the 7:02 mark. From that point on through the overtime, there would be a total of six lead changes and five ties while neither team had a lead bigger than three points. After Cranford knotted the contest up, the Lions were called for a backcourt violation with 6:31 left in regulation. The Cougars couldn’t take advantage of the Roselle Catholic miscue, and the Lions came back down, and scored on an offensive rebound and putback of a missed layup with 5:27 to go for a 43-41 lead. Cranford replied nearly a minute and a half later with a nice entry pass down low on the left side for a layup to tie the score again at 43-43. Another lull in the scoring took place over the next two plus minutes before Roselle Catholic went back out in front by a score of 45-43 with a pair of foul shots at the 1:54 mark.
Opportunistic on defense, Cranford anticipated very well, and was rewarded with a steal that set up a scoring opportunity. Getting fouled on a layup attempt off the fast break, Cranford tied the game again with two free throws at the 1:24 mark. On its next possession, Roselle Catholic went back out in front on a tap in with just under a minute to go in the fourth for a 47-45 lead. The Cougars came right back down on its next possession, and drew a foul on the reverse layup that produced two free throws for a 47-47 tie at the 46 second mark. The Lions continued the back and forth exchange with a jumper from the left side at the 25 second mark for a two point lead, and had a chance to put the game away with 17 seconds left, but missed the front end of a one and one. Cranford then forced overtime on a jumper from the right side with two seconds left in regulation for a 49-49 tie. In the extra session, Roselle Catholic outscored Cranford by a 5-2 margin to earn the victory, and the right to play in the Championship on Monday.
There was no scoring for the first 1:53 of the three minute overtime period. Roselle Catholic was called for a traveling violation at the 2:30 mark, but Cranford couldn’t take advantage. The Lions would call a timeout with 1:14 to go, and after that, drew a foul that resulted in two free throws at the 1:07 mark for a 51-49 lead. However, just as they did in regulation, the Cranford Cougars fought back to tie it up seconds later on a pair of free throws with one minute to go for a 51-51 tie. Moments later, Roselle Catholic lost the ball out of bounds. Once again though, Cranford couldn’t take advantage. The Lions got the ball back and after a timeout with 30 seconds remaining, and 15 seconds left, Roselle Catholic struck for a three pointer from the left corner with four seconds to go for the 54-51 victory.
Monroe Falls To Elizabeth Despite Efforts By Pace, 40-39
In the nightcap, Monroe, the lone representative from the GMC still alive in the playoffs, was taking on the host school in Elizabeth. The Falcons, led by the efforts of Kenny Pace, gave the Minutemen a good fight, but came up just short in the end. Elizabeth actually led by four late before soon to be sophomore Danny Brix canned a three pointer from the left corner as time expired for the one point Minutemen victory. The Purple Birds, which are still 48-11 on the summer overall, played admirably despite the fact that they had to go on without two of their top players, Timmy Brix, who was dealing with a neck injury, and Ahmid Williams, who was playing in an AAU event. For the game, Monroe struggled from the floor by going just 9 of 27 for 33.3 percent, but put together solid 5 of 10 effort from three. Couple that with a fine 16 of 25 effort from the foul line for 64 percent while only making 13 turnovers, and you could see why Monroe was still able to make a game of it.
On the other side of the ledger, Elizabeth made only 15 of 45 shots for 33.3 percent including 3 of 9 from beyond the arc while netting 7 of 11 from the line for 63.6 percent. One of the key differences in the game was rebounding. The Minutemen outrebounded the Falcons by a 26-22 margin including a 13-7 edge on the offensive glass. In other statistical areas, Monroe had more assists (9-7) and charges (1-0) while Elizabeth had fewer turnovers (12-13), and more blocks (2-1). Each team collected eight steals in the contest. The Purple Birds outscored Elizabeth in the first and fourth quarters by a combined margin of 27-19, but during the middle two periods, the Minutemen held a 21-12 edge including a decisive 17-5 showing in the second quarter. Pace led the way for Monroe with a team high 22 points on 4 of 9 shooting from the floor, and 11 of 18 at the foul line while also collecting 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. The soon to be senior scored 8 points in the first period, 7 points in the third, and 7 points in the fourth.
Danny Brix chipped in for the losing cause with 12 points on 3 of 8 shooting including 2 of 5 from long distance while making all four of his free throws. The younger Brix also had a rebound and an assist. Monroe started out fine with a 12-9 edge in the first quarter as it clicked on 4 of 11 shots overall from the field including a perfect 2 of 2 from beyond the arc while also making both free throw attempts. Elizabeth made just 4 of 12 shots including 1 of 3 from downtown, and didn’t attempt any free throws. Both teams combined for five turnovers with Monroe only committing two. Pace got off to a fast start by making 3 of 4 shots including two threes to account for 67 percent of Monroe’s scoring in the first. The Purple Birds went on the board first when Travis Dufner (7 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 assists, a block, and a charge) made a fine passing to a cutting Mike Mahmoud (2 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists), who gave a pump fake, and put in the layup for a 2-0 lead at the 9:12 mark.
A little more than a minute later, Pace connected on a three pointer for a 5-0 lead at the 8:00 mark. Elizabeth then countered with a 9-0 run that was sparked by a three pointer from the left wing at the 6:32 mark. The run continued on a leaner from the right elbow that tied the game at 5-5 with 4:54 left in the period, and then it finished with a nifty spin move for a layup followed by a fast break layup that gave the Minutemen a 9-5 lead at the 3:55 mark. Following a Monroe timeout at the 3:52 mark, the Falcons rallied with the final seven points of the period including another three by Pace off an assist by Mahmoud with 3:07 left, two free throws by Danny Brix at the 2:15 mark, and then a Pace layup with 1:10 to go for a 12-9 edge heading into the second. The next quarter was all Elizabeth as the Union County school put together a 15-0 run over the final 5:56 of the half to turn a 17-11 deficit into a 26-17 lead going into the intermission.
The Minutemen scored the first points of the period when they swiped a steal for a layin at the 9:28 mark. Thirty-eight seconds later though, Monroe answered when Mahmoud found Timmy Brix for his only points of the game on a layup from the right side to put the Falcons back ahead by three, 14-11 with 8:50 to go in the first half. About a minute and a half later, Danny Brix drove along the right baseline, and drew a foul that resulted in two free throws for a 16-11 lead with 7:14 to go in the second period. Monroe capped the five point burst when Zach Batchelor got a rebound and drove upcourt for a layup attempt that drew a foul, and produced one of two from the line for a 17-11 lead at the 5:56 mark. Suddenly, the game turned as Elizabeth shut out Monroe the rest of the way while putting together the game’s decisive spurt. It started modestly with one of two from the foul line at the 4:47 mark for a 17-12 lead.
About a minute and a half later, Elizabeth drained a three pointer from the left wing for a 17-15 Monroe lead at the 3:18 mark. Thirty seconds after that, the Minutemen were on the board again thanks to a steal for a short pull-up jumper to tie the game at 17-17 with 2:48 remaining in the first half. EHS didn’t stop there either. About a minute after tying the contest, Elizabeth took the lead for the first time since the end of the first period with a three pointer from the right wing that made the score, 20-17 at the 1:49 mark. After Kenny Pace misfired on the front end of a one and one with 1:37 left, Elizabeth scored on a layup at the 1:09 mark to take a 22-17 lead. The Minutemen then closed out the half with the final four points including an offensive rebound and follow as time expired for the nine point advantage going into the brief intermission. At the break, Monroe was only shooting 5 of 14 overall while Elizabeth was 11 of 28. Both teams were fairly successful from three as the Falcons made both their attempts while the Minutemen were 3 of 7. The Purple Birds connected on 5 of 7 from the line while Elizabeth was just 1 of 2. Both teams combined for nine turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
In the third period, there was just a combined total of 11 points with Monroe gaining a 7-4 edge. All of the Falcon points came from Pace, who sank 7 of 10 from the line in the period. Neither team scored for about the first two minutes of the frame before Pace was fouled on a jumper, and canned both his free throws to trim the deficit to seven at 26-19. Elizabeth replied with a drive for a layup at the 7:06 mark for a 28-19 lead. Pace stepped to the line again some 44 seconds later after being fouled on a drive, and sank one of two from the charity stripe for a 28-20 Elizabeth lead at the 6:22 mark. Almost a minute later, Elizabeth put together some nice teamwork for a layup, and a ten point lead. Monroe then closed out the period with the final four points including a one of two showing from the line by Pace at the five minute and 1:40 marks, and then two more free throws by Pace with 50 seconds left for a 30-24 EHS edge heading into the fourth.
In the final period, Monroe outscored Elizabeth by a 15-10 margin, but it wasn’t enough. Pace opened up the scoring by continuing to go to the line. Getting fouled on a layup attempt at the 9:36 mark, Pace sank one of two from the line to close the gap to five. Elizabeth was then forced to call timeout at the 9:00 mark in order to avoid a five second call. After Monroe stopped the Minutemen, and got the ball back, Pace handed out an assist on a layup by Danny Brix with 7:20 remaining to pull the Purple Birds within three at 30-27. Elizabeth got some much needed breathing room with a 4-0 run that including a layup at the 6:55 mark, and an offensive rebound and putback with exactly six minutes to play for a 34-27 lead. Neither team scored for the next four minutes before Pace was fouled on a three point attempt, and made one of three from the line for a 34-28 score. Elizabeth missed the front end of a one and one at the 1:42 mark, and Mahmoud got the ball to Pace for a three pointer from the left wing to make it a one possession game at 34-31 with 1:34 left.
Elizabeth made one of two from the line to go back up by four with 1:26 remaining, but Monroe didn’t quit as Pace responded with a perfect 2 of 2 from the line at the 1:13 mark for a 35-33 Minutemen lead. Fouling right away, the Falcons forced Elizabeth to the line, where it made one of two, but when Pace grabbed the rebound on the missed second shot, he lost the ball out of bounds giving it back to EHS with 58 seconds to go. The Minutemen couldn’t take advantage though. After calling a timeout to avoid another 5 second call, Elizabeth threw the ball away with 54 seconds to play. The Purple Birds had a chance to get closer, but Batchelor missed the front end of a one and one at the 52 second mark. The Minutemen then made two free throws with 40 seconds left for a 38-33 lead before Pace grabbed an offensive rebound off his own missed, and kicked out to Danny Brix for a three pointer that cut the Elizabeth lead to two with 19 seconds left.
Forced to foul right away again, Monroe made Elizabeth go to the line, and EHS made both free throws for a 40-36 lead with five seconds remaining. Danny Brix then made his last second three to close out the 40-39 Minutemen victory. With the win, Elizabeth advanced to the Championship Game on Monday against Roselle Catholic.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elizabeth | 9 | 17 | 4 | 10 | 40 |
| Monroe | 12 | 5 | 7 | 15 | 39 |
GMC Hoops thanks Elizabeth head coach, Chris Balent for providing information on this league from time to time.