Late First Half 13-0 Tear Lifts Vikings Past Chargers at Montgomery Team Camp
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| South Brunswick’s Greg Lee guards Spotswood’s Abdullah Nieskens in the first half of action in the contest between the Vikings and Chargers at the 2016 Montgomery Team Camp on Thursday. South Brunswick won, 54-43. |
SKILLMAN, NJ–The 2015-16 season was a magical one for the South Brunswick Vikings. For the first time since 1993, the Vikes appeared in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament Championship, and for the first time since winning the Central Jersey Group 4 sectional title in 2007, they appeared in the sectional semifinals.
SBHS will lose the likes of Eric Savage (Tufts University), Jaier Garrett, Sean Nally, Danesh Thirukumaran, and Isaiah Franklin to graduation, but a solid crop of juniors led by Tavian Alford and Chris James will be back next year to give the Vikes another opportunity to contend for the GMC Red crown and for the GMCT title. Meanwhile, Spotswood came off one of its best seasons ever with a a 22-6 record and another GMC Blue crown, but the Chargers will also be losing some top players to graduation as well.
Heading to the University of Rhode Island as a walk-on is Eric Dadika while Marlon Hart will also play either football or basketball at the next level. However, returning for 2016-17 will be the likes of J.T. Vento, Andrew Fuzesi, Vinnie Guardiola, Abdullah Nieskens, and Justin Dekovics. Both teams had some of their top returning players on hand for a GMC crossover contest between the Vikings and Chargers in one of the two finale games on the final day of action at the 2016 Montgomery Team Camp. Spotswood battled throughout, but a late first half run by South Brunswick proved to be the difference.
Tied at 23-23 after a three pointer from the right wing by Fuzesi at the 4:50 mark of the first half, South Brunswick went on a decisive 13-0 tear highlighted by a couple scores from Alford and a couple pairs of free throws by Greg Lee to take a 36-23 lead at the intermission. After Spotswood scored the first five points of the second half to get back within single digits, the Vikings added an 11-4 spurt to take a commanding 47-32 lead with 12:12 remaining, and then held on for a 54-43 win in a shortened game that was called due to a player injury with 5:13 to play.
South Brunswick jumped out to a 5-2 lead thanks to Chris James, who scored the first bucket of the game, and Anthony Blakey, who added a three pointer from the top of the key at the 20:13 mark for a 5-2 lead. Spotswood kept close though as it scored 7 of the next 12 points including a pair of free throws by Guardiola and a three from the left wing by Fuzesi at the 16:49 mark to pull within one at 10-9. However, the Vikings managed to stay in front by answering with a 9-2 spurt over the next 4:38 including two free throws by Lee, and a score and a pair of foul shots by James for a 19-11 advantage with a little over 12 minutes left in the first half.
The Chargers wouldn’t go away though as they put together a 12-4 tear of their own over the next 7:22 that included a layup by Guardiola, two free throws and a score by Nieskens, and then a three by Fuzesi that capped the run and tied the game at 23-23. South Brunswick didn’t let Spotswood take the lead though, and seized control of the game for good by scoring the last 13 points of the half for a baker’s dozen lead at the intermission. The Chargers opened the second half with the first five points including two free throws by Matt Vento at the 17:43 mark for a 36-28 SBHS lead, but the Vikings responded with a 7-2 burst capped by a trey from the left wing by James at the 14 minute mark for a 43-30 lead.
After South Brunswick added four of the next six points on transition buckets to take a commanding 47-32 lead, Spotswood tried again to battle back with 9 of the ensuing 13 points including two more free throws by Vento and a long three from the right wing by Nieskens to pull the Chargers within ten at 51-41 at the 8:08 mark. However, Alford put the exclamation point on the VIkes win with a conventional three point play off a nice dish by James with about six minutes to play for a 54-41 lead, and SBHS eventually won 54-43. For the week, South Brunswick went 3-1 at the Montgomery Team Camp while Spotswood finished 0-4.
The Chargers will be back in action next week at the 2016 Monroe Sports Center Summer League, where they will open up action at Ranney with games against Rumson at 7:30 PM on Wednesday, June 22nd, and then against Ranney at 6:30 PM on Thursday, June 23rd.