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Sayreville Hoops Continues To Make Strides

May 20, 2011 on 1:51 pm | In Kean Pre-Summer League, Sayreville Hoops |

The Bombers Follow Up Solid Finish To Regular Season With Playoff Berth At Kean

UNION, NJ–Bomber Basketball is not quite back yet, but it is well on the road to recovery. After starting the year at 1-13, Sayreville won five out of its last nine games, won a GMCT play-in round game, and gave Gold Division champion, Piscataway Tech all it could handle before falling in the preliminary round. Now, Sayreville is in the playoffs at the Kean Spring League.

The Bombers earned the sixth seed at Kean, and will face Roselle in the opening round of the playoffs on Monday at 7:00 PM. Sayreville got the higher seed over Piscataway (seeded seventh) thanks to a forfeit win over the Chiefs. Sayreville and P-Way are the only two GMC teams to qualify for the playoffs. Eight teams out of the 13 competing in the league managed to qualify with the Roundballers AAU teams not making it since they weren’t a high school squad. J.F. Kennedy, South Plainfield, and Westfield also didn’t make it in.

Sayreville was able to get into the playoffs without having the likes of standout sophomore guard, Joe Saitta in the lineup until this past week, and a lack of size up front. Only Trey Johnson returns in the frontcourt. However, the Bombers live up to their namesake with a plethora of guards that can shoot the basketball. Besides Saitta, the Bombers have the likes of Cody Van Note, Corey Taite, and Danny Wojcik leading a solid perimeter game. Two weeks ago against South Plainfield, the Bombers netted nine three pointers including seven in the first half en route to a 34-15 lead, and then hung on for a 53-48 victory.

Van Note, who joined the varsity ranks in mid-January, has continued to flourish as he netted five threes in the victory over South Plainfield. Saitta drained a couple threes in the second half of a loss to Roselle this past Wednesday. Diminutive in statute, but big on heart, Corey Taite shows no fear in playing with the big boys with some fine playmaking ability along with good long range shooting. Wojcik, the younger brother of head coach John Wojcik, and former Sayreville standout, Tim Wojcik, is a fiery competitor that has a knack of making clutch jumpers.

The Bombers have a long way to go before getting to the level they had a couple seasons ago when they made the semifinals of the GMCT for the first time since winning it all back in 2000. However, by playing this spring at Kean, and enjoying a fair level of success, Sayreville has made one big step in its rebuilding process.