DUNELLEN, NJ–On Saturday morning, GMC Hoops traveled down to the Faber Gymnasium on High Street in Dunellen to watch the hometown Destroyers host Edison in a scrimmage. To get to the gym, we traveled the old fashioned way, we walked from South Plainfield, to Walnut Street in Piscataway, and took that road all the way down to High Street, where Faber Elementary School, and its gym are located. Leaving at about 9:35 PM, I didn’t arrive at the scrimmage until about a little beyond halfway through the second quarter. Edison had already won the first period by a 15-9 score thanks to a trapping defense that got the Eagles out in front early, 10-2. Dunellen then outscored the GMC Red visitors the rest of the way by a 7-5 margin for the six point, EHS quarter win. Both teams are coming off playoff seasons in 2006-07. The Eagles, which went 10-15 overall, and 6-8 in divisional play, qualified for the state tournament for the first time since the days of Thomas Johnson back in the inaugural season of this web site in 2000-01.
Meanwhile, Dunellen has enjoyed a great deal of success over the past several years in the GMC Gold Division. The Destroyers have won at least a share of the division crown three years straight, and are looking to do it again. Qualifying for the state tournament in each of the past five seasons including top seeds in Central Jersey Group I in 2005 and 2007, and semifinal appearances in the Central Jersey Group I Tournament in 2003 and 2004 and the North Jersey Section 2 Group I Tournament in 2006. However, the Destroyers did lose a lot of size with the departures of Mike Bartilotti and Lim Beltran along with shooter Keith Lefchuck. Nevertheless, Dunellen does have T.J. Wenzel returning along with Jim Schleppenbach and newcomers such as Nick and Luke Francisco, the cousins of former Bishop Ahr standout, Corey Francisco. Schleppenbach was a standout player at the JV level two years ago as a sophomore, and appeared to be on his way to being one of the top players in the GMC Gold Division and the conference before going down with a torn miniscus against Roselle Park on January 15th last season. The younger brother of John Schleppenbach, who fought back from a knee injury himself to play a couple seasons ago, has battled, and came off the bench during this scrimmage. His return puts him in the forefront of the GMC Hoops Comeback Player of the Year candidates. Nick Francisco has taken over the reins at the point guard position while DHS sports a new athletic and talented player at forward.
Back to Edison, the Eagles have a group of seniors that came in with plenty of promise as freshmen. The likes of Barry Holmes, Nathan Otokiti, Ron Lordi, Andy Hernandez, and Frankie Perez were all members of a Edison Little Eagle squad that earned the fourth seed in the 2005 Perth Amboy/GMC Tournament, where it reached the Quarterfinals before losing to twelfth seeded South Brunswick as the Vikings were in the midst of a Cinderella ride to the finals. In 2005-06, Edison began to improve with a victory in the 2005 Gene Haley Memorial Tournament, and three straight wins after an 0-3 start before getting soundly defeated by A.J. Rudowitz and Monroe in the 2005 Monroe Township Holiday Tournament. The Eagles were up and down for the most part with a 10-13 overall record, but showed signs during the course of the rest of the season with two wins over Piscataway, and an upset over an East Brunswick team that eventually received the eighth seed in the 2006 GMCT, and won 18 games. Then, last season, EHS lost two more games and were defeated in the Championship of the 2006 Haley Tournament, but managed to qualify for the states with a 10-15 record. Biggest win of the season was in the team’s third game when it knocked off a St. Joseph’s squad that ended up 20-9 after beginning the year at 0-3.
The scrimmage was six quarters with the varsity teams playing four periods while the JV played two. In the JV scrimmage, Edison dominated winning both periods by 12-2 and 10-4 margins respectively for a 22-6 total victory. Meanwhile, in the varsity scrimmage, the two teams were much closer although the Eagles won three of the four periods, and held the overall edge, 45-32. Edison won the first period 15-9, the fourth period 15-8, and the fifth period 8-7 while Dunellen won the second, 8-7. From the 4:34 mark of the second period on, Dunellen made 7 of 24 shots overall for 29.2 percent including 3 of 5 from beyond the arc for 60 percent while EHS made 11 of 24 shots for 45.8 percent including 2 of 6 from downtown for 33.3 percent. At the line, DHS had a decisive edge thanks to T.J. Wenzel, who shot all the Destroyer free throws, and went 6 of 7 for 85.7 percent while the Eagles went just 0 of 2. In other statistical areas, the Destroyers had the edge in rebounds (16-13), assists (6-5), and blocks (1-0) while Edison held advantages in steals (4-3), charges (1-0), and turnovers (8-12). Offensive rebounds were even as both teams grabbed three each, but Edison converted all of them for six points while Dunellen didn’t have any second chance points. The Eagles also scored 10 points off of Destroyer turnovers while DHS collected four points off EHS miscues.
T.J. Wenzel stood out for Dunellen with 11 points including a field goal, three pointer, and 6 of 7 at the line while also picking up three steals and a block. Nick Francisco chipped in with a trey as well as three assists, and Schleppenbach added two points, a rebound, and an assist of the bench. Barry Holmes led Edison with 7 points on 3 of 9 shooting including two field goals and a three while also picking up a steal and a charge. Perez chipped in with a perfect 3 of 3 for six points as well as a steal. Quenta McDonald contributed as well off the bench with 2 of 3 shooting including a three pointer for 5 points. Overall, it was a competitive scrimmage just like last year although there was a bit more separation between the two teams this time around. Edison’s trapping defense caused problems for the Destroyers, but Dunellen played competitively, particularly in the second and fifth periods. Wenzel looked very good for DHS. Despite only shooting 2 of 8 from the floor, he had a number of good opportunities, and cashed in on several of them at the line. He needs to finish better, but he continues to be a very active player on the floor, and this Destroyer team will go as far as he can take them. Nick Francisco showed a lot of potential with his trey and three assists. After playing varsity a bit down the stretch last year, he will be the person running the point for now as Schleppenbach is being gradually brought back into the fold. Dunellen lost a lot of size underneath last year, but still will be a factor in the division since the Destroyers play good defense, they’re smart, and have some athletic ability with Wenzel as well as another player. If Schleppenbach can progress, and the two Francisco kids continue to improve, South Amboy may have a tough time breaking the Destroyer’s recent grip on the Gold.
Meanwhile, the Edison Eagles were the better of the two in this scrimmage, but there are questions. One, who is going to fill the shoes of Zach Manfre. With the likes of Holmes, Otokiti, and Lordi, EHS has some size to compensate for the losses of Mike Campbell and Terry Roland, but who will step up to replace Manfre? Manfre was such a hard nosed player, who always seemed to get a lot of steals, and key defensive plays. His loss is going to be tough, especially now that neither Josh Williams, nor Erik Janz are returning as well. Roland also did some intangible things on the floor like diving for loose balls, and taking charges. Holmes is the key player on this team. He is athletic, and can shoot the ball while Otokiti, Lordi, and Hernandez are players that area going to have to rebound well in the tough GMC Red. I liked the way Perez and McDonald played off the bench. Both certainly gave the Eagles a spark as McDonald shot the ball well while Perez went to the basket. Edison will be in the middle of the pack in the Red Division along with Stevens and East Brunswick, but that could still be good enough to reach the state tournament for the second straight year.