SOUTH AMBOY, NJ–On Tuesday night, GMC Hoops made one more appearance at the Raritan Summer League for the finale of the season. It was the first time since the site began covering the league in 2004 that it came out for the last day of play. After being at work, the site came down just in time to see the final 2:24 of the 7:30 PM game between G-Force and the Monmouth Breakers from the High School Division, and the stayed for the nightcap between the Sayreville Knights and St. Ambrose from the 7th and 8th Grade Division.
G-Force Prevails Over Monmouth Breakers In Intense Battle, 66-60
According to one of the league organizers, Tom Reilly, all four games were action packed intense contests that went down to the wire. Emotions overflowed in the 7:30 PM game from the High School Division as both teams fought tooth and nail until the end. The Monmouth Breakers, which had gotten off to a quick start on the summer with two wins, lost to G-Force on July 16th by a score of 52-49. The Stallions on the other hand were coming off a win against Corpus Christi of East Brunswick on Monday night, and were looking to finish up strong.
The first half was nip and tuck as the Breakers took a 33-31 advantage into the brief intermission. However, in the second half, G-Force surged with a 35-27 showing to pull out the win. Over the first 17:36 of the final period, the Stallions outscored the Breakers by a 31-21 margin to grab an eight point, 62-54 lead with 2:24 to go. Six seconds after sitting down at the scorers table, GMC Hoops was treated to a steal for a layup by Rob Gomulka for a 64-54 advantage with 2:18 to play. However, the Breakers had an opportunity to pull in a potential six point play when a player was intentionally fouled on a three point shot at the 1:24 mark. Unfortunately, the Monmouth Breakers couldn’t cash in as it made only two of the three free throws, and then made only a two pointer on a turnaround bank shot with 1:16 left for a 64-58 score.
However, it did make things interesting again, and when Gomulka put his foot on the end line for a turnover with 1:04 to go, the Breakers had a chance to pull within four. Once again though, the Monmouth County based team couldn’t cash in at the 35.5 second mark, despite getting three offensive boards. Moments later though, the Breakers forced another turnover with a steal of an errant pass for a layup, and a 64-60 G-Force lead. In the end though, it still wasn’t enough as Tomasso found Davis on the left side for a layup with 16.7 remaining that wrapped up the 66-60 victory. During the ceremonial handshakes after the game, emotions boiled over, but the acrimony and rancor was quickly quelled without much incident.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| G-Force | 31 | 35 | 66 |
| Monmouth Breakers | 33 | 27 | 60 |
Sayreville Rallies To Defeat St. Ambrose, 33-29
In the finale of the 2008 summer at Raritan Bay, the Sayreville Knights squared off against St. Ambrose in a contest from the 7th and 8th Grade Division. It was a fitting end to a very competitive day of games as Sayreville took a two point, 15-13 lead at the half only to fall behind early thanks to a 10-0 St. Ambrose run early in the second. Nevertheless, the Knights found a way to battle back with a game ending 14-0 tear for a 33-25 lead in the waning seconds of a 33-29 victory. The Knights were paced by the likes of former Sacred Heart of South Amboy player, Chime Ekekeugbor, who will now be better known in GMC Hoops circles as Scrabble since his last time has to be one that would score a lot of points in the classic board game.
Ekekeugbor also owns another unique distinction, and that is playing for Sacred Heart head coach Billy Lewis, the brother of Cardinal McCarrick head coach Joe Lewis. Aaron Lewis, the son of Billy Lewis also plays on the Sayreville Knights. Not to be left out are the other members of the Knights: Cody Vanote, who played a pivotal role in the victory, Dan Iannaccone, Rob Seraji, who came up with several big shots down the stretch as well as a key play keeping the ball alive, Pat Kirk, Matt Zebrowski, Zach Doering, Nicky Demetriou, Zach Haskell, and William Chang. For St. Ambrose, the roster looks like this: Danny Fehl, Greg Xouris, Rob Casari, Matt Krauss, Mike Mohin, Matt Meehan, and Kevin Casari.
For St. Ambrose, it was a well balanced attack as Fehl led the squad with a team high 7 points. Xouris followed suit with 5 points while Rob Casari, Matt Krauss, and Mike Mohin each added 4 apiece. Matt Meehan collected 3 points and Kevin Casari rounded out the scoring with 2 points. In the first half, the Knights were paced by Vanote with 6 points while Iannaccone chipped in with 3 points. In the first half, the Sayreville Knights were able to establish the two point edge by connecting on a three pointer, five field goals, and 2 of 6 from the foul line while St. Ambrose made a trey, four field goals, and 2 of 9 from the charity stripe.
The scoring began at the 19:16 mark when Sayreville drew first blood on a one of two showing from the free throw stripe by Iannaccone for a 1-0 lead. A minute and eleven seconds later, Vanote connected on a jumper from the left side for a 3-0 Knight lead at the 18:05 mark. St. Ambrose had an opportunity to break into the scoring column, but misfired on one of two free throws at the 16:54 mark. Then, after the Old Bridge based parochial school called a 30 second timeout at the 15:51 mark, St. Ambrose finally scored on a nice dribble and dish to the right for a layup, and a 3-2 score with 13:45 to go in the first half. St. Ambrose then tied things up by drawing a foul on a shot attempt that produced one of two from the line for a 3-3 tie at the 12:12 mark.
The Old Bridge school then took the lead with a basket while being fouled for a three point play, and a 6-3 lead with 11:13 left in the half. Following a timeout by Sayreville with 10:24 to go in the half, St. Ambrose went up by five on an offensive rebound and follow at the 7:30 mark for an 8-3 score. On the very next possession, the Knights pulled to within three on a field goal with 7:15 remaining before halftime. Vanote then scored on a shot in the paint that closed Sayreville to within one at 8-7 at the 5:30 mark. The Knights then tied things up at 8-8 with 4:35 remaining on a one of two showing from the line. There would be a minute and a half, or so without any scoring before St. Ambrose took the lead again with a three pointer from the left corner for an 11-8 score at the 3:02 mark.
Sayreville would pull within one again on a layup with 2:51 remaining in the half only to have St. A’s go back up by three on its final field goal of the half. Scoring on a baseline runner from the left side, St. Ambrose took a 13-10 lead with 2:27 to play before the intermission. The Old Bridge school even had a chance to go up by more, but missed both free throws with two minutes to go in the first half. Sayreville then tied things up on a three pointer by Seraji that banked in from the right wing for a 13-13 score at the 1:25 mark. St. A’s would again misfire twice at the line with 1:15 left in the half, and then moments later, Sayreville scored on a layup that put them ahead by two, 15-13 at the 1:10 mark. In the waning moments of the period, Iannaccone drew a foul, and had an opportunity to make it a four point lead at the break, but failed to convert, and it remained a two point game at halftime.
In the second half, St. Ambrose got off to a strong start, and seemed poised to break the game wide open. Scoring the first ten points of the second half, the Old Bridge school had a 23-15 lead at the 14:33 mark before Sayreville realized what had happened. Capping the run was two offensive rebounds and a follow of a missed second free throw for the eight point lead. Sayreville would finally get on the board in the second half, but St. A’s went back up by eight with a baseline runner form the left side at the 13:33 mark for a 25-17 lead. St. Ambrose would then call a timeout at the 11:16 mark, but it wouldn’t be the tonic as the Knights began their final assault that would decide the game. Ekekeugbor, who only had one point in the entire first half, played a pivotal role in the game deciding surge as he started off with a drive from the left side for a layup, and a 25-19 St. Ambrose lead with 10:03 left.
Almost a minute and a half later, Ekekeugbor was at it again, but this time at the foul line with a one of two showing for a 25-20 score at the 8:38 mark. The Knights then followed that up with another score thanks to a steal for a layup that made it 25-22 at the 8:05 mark. Moments later, the Knight defense forced a steal, and converted that into a layup to close within one. Now, with the scoreboard reading 25-24 in favor of St. Ambrose at the 7:50 mark, the Old Bridge based school was compelled to call a timeout to try and stem the tide. There would be a dearth of scoring chances over the next two plus minutes before Sayreville had a chance to either tie, or take the lead. With 5:49 left in regulation, Ekekeugbor had an opportunity to put the Knights in front, but misfired on a couple free throws, and the score remained 25-24.
However, Sayreville would go ahead on a three pointer by Seraji that was a high arching shot from the right wing for a 27-25 score with 3:35 left. The Knights then went up by four on an offensive rebound and dump off to Ekekeugbor for a layup, and a 29-25 lead at the 2:53 mark. Following a St. A’s timeout with 2:42 left, Vanote scored the final four points for the Knights including a layup off a sharp pass by Ekekeugbor at the 1:05 mark, and then the two free throws at the 13.3 mark to help garner the 33-29 victory. GMC Hoops would like to take this opportunity to thank both Gary Lange and Tom Reilly for their hospitality this summer. It is always great to come over to South Amboy Middle/High School every summer. There we are always treated like royalty, and the site appreciates that.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sayreville | 15 | 18 | 33 |
| St. Ambrose | 13 | 16 | 29 |