St. Joseph’s Surges Past Roselle Catholic for Championship, 69-57
COLONIA, NJ–After a thrilling semifinal that nearly went down to the wire between third seeded Colonia and second seeded Roselle Catholic, the JV Lions of RCHS took on top seeded St. Joseph’s in the Championship Game. The two teams played each other during the regular season with St. Joe’s winning that contest, 47-42 on July 11th.
This game was pretty close through much of the contest, especially at the beginning as both teams traded basket for basket, and run for run. Roselle Catholic trailed 16-10 midway through the first half when it went on a 9-0 run capped by a three pointer from the right side of the key for a 19-16 lead. St. Joseph’s battled back though with a 19-7 surge to end the half including a pair of free throws in the final half minute for a 35-26 halftime lead.
Roselle Catholic would charge back though with a 19-7 outburst of its own to retake the lead at 45-42 midway through the second half. Then, St. Joseph’s put on a display of firepower from both inside and out by first knocking down several threes to take a 51-45 lead, and then scoring 16 of the next 22 points thanks to a several more threes for a 67-51 lead with under two minutes to play.
The Junior Lions would outscore Joes 6-2 down the stretch thanks to a couple threes of their own, but the Junior Falcons came away with the Colonia JV Summer League Championship by the score of 69-57. Below are game notes from the action:
First Half
14:54–Back and forth game as both teams have combined for five lead changes and a tie before St. Joseph’s went on an 8-0 run that included two threes and a steal for a layup to take a 16-10 lead.
12:21–STJ–timeout–RC rallies with a 6-0 on several layups to tie the score at 16-16.
10:00–RC–takes a 19-16 lead on a three pointer from the right side of the key. Caps a 9-0 run by the Junior Lions.
6:21–STJ–Storms back with an 11-0 run consisting of two jumpers from just inside the top of the key and a three point play for a 27-19 lead.
2:33–STJ–now leads 33-23 after scoring 6 of the last 10 points of the game on two more three pointers.
28.7–STJ–calls a 30 second timeout after making two free throws for a 35-26 lead. Junior Falcons on a 19-7 tear since trailing 19-16.
0.0–STJ–still leads 35-26 going into the intermission.
Second Half
17:35–STJ–scores on a layup from the right low block to end a 6-0 run by RC for a 35-32 STJ lead.
17:20–RC–layup closes the gap to 35-34.
14:45–STJ–calls a timeout after netting a three pointer from the left wing to give itself some breathing room with a 42-38 lead. RC had been on a 12-4 run.
11:00–RC–goes on a 7-0 run to take a 45-42 lead.
8:30–STJ–now leads 58-49 after going on a 16-4 tear including four threes. Three of which came from the left wing.
3:35–STJ–leads 63-51 after getting a three from the left corner following a free throw. RC had been within eight at 59-51 after making two free throws.
1:10–RC–timeout after St. Joseph’s added two more layups for a 67-51 lead.
35.0–STJ–makes two free throws for a 69-54 lead.
0.0–RC–makes its second three in the final minute of the game to round out the scoring, but St. Joe’s wins, 69-57.
Once again, GMC Hoops thanks Colonia JV boys basketball coach, Brian O’Lone for providing information on this league.