Falcons Freshman Big Man Impresses At Pennsylvania Holiday Showcase
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–A lot has been discussed around Central Jersey about Karl Towns, Jr. already this season. Starting over the summer, the freshman at St. Joseph’s has garnered a lot of attention, and some wondered not only would the youngster be able to live up to expectations, and if the Falcons would all happily coexist, particularly on offense. However, through the first two weeks of the season, Towns has put those thoughts to rest.
Doing it on both sides of the ball, Towns has found a niche in the Falcons scheme, and the team has benefited tremendously. Over the holidays, Towns averaged 18.5 points, 14.5 rebounds, and 6.5 blocks per game against top flight competition at the Jameer Nelson/Scholastic Play-By-Play Classic at Widener University and Plymouth Whitemarsh High School in Pennsylvania. For his veteran like prowess, Towns earned GMC Hoops Player of the Week for the Holiday Tournaments.
Known more for his outside shooting, particularly from beyond the arc, Towns has really impressed on the boards and with his shot blocking. With senior Quenton DeCosey battling foul problems against Penn Wood, Towns stepped up to earn game MVP honors with 19 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 blocked shots. He followed that up the next day with a 18 point, 15 rebound, 8 block performance against a highly touted Academy New Church squad. In that contest, the Falcons led by as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter before winning by a dozen.
The youngster is not fazed by the level of competition. As a matter of fact, he has demonstrated a tremendous amount of confidence for a person his age on these kinds of big stages. Towns had 7 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 blocks despite foul troubles in a 49-42 win over East Brunswick on December 23rd. In the Hoop Group Tip-Off Classic contest against Teaneck, Towns turned in another solid display with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds along with 3 blocked shots.
Towns also played well in the Falcons recent upset win over Seton Hall Prep at the SFIC Hoops Festival with 6 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots. Through the first 10 games of the season, Towns has averaged 11.1 points per game while recording double digit rebounds four times. Congratulations, Karl on a fine start to a promising career, and best of luck the rest of the season.
Speaking of young talent, South Amboy has gone with the youth movement this season, and it has surprisingly paid off for second year head coach Lenny Reyes. After defeating Henry Hudson in the consolation game of the 2011 Keansburg Tournament in Northern Monmouth County, the Guvs were 3-2 including a 2-1 mark in the GMC Gold. South Amboy defeated Wardlaw on opening night, and only lost to Dunellen by a score of 49-41 before rolling past East Brunswick Tech to head into the holidays with half as many wins as it had all of 2010-11.
Sophomores Steve Herdman, Nick Kales, and Dan Murphy have made key contributions to the squad. Herdman fired in a game high 22 points including six threes to lead the Guvs past Henry Hudson while Murphy added 10 points. These three youngsters along with freshman Tim Kales have been playing every summer at the Raritan Bay Summer League for the past several years, and it is quite a sight to see these four continuing to improve while leading a South Amboy program to perhaps its first winning season since 2007-08.
Finally, Spotswood earned Game of the Week honors with its 68-60 victory over Bound Brook in the Championship Game of the 2011 Crusader Classic. The win marked the third time in the past four years that the Chargers have won this holiday tournament at Bound Brook. Tommy Soulias earned tourney MVP honors with a game high 24 points while Jamal Lewis and Jake Dadika earned All Tournament team selections with 15 and 13 points respectively. The Chargers had taken a 38-22 lead late in the first half when the Crusaders began a 25-9 surge to tie the game up at 47-47 after three periods.
Ricky Holliday (19 points) had two threes while former Perth Amboy standout, Hamilton Capellan and Isaiah Williams each added treys during the run to tie things up. Spotswood answered the challenged posed by the Crusaders and their fanatical student section with a 21-13 showing in the final period including 8 of the last 11 points to break away from a 60-57 lead.