South Amboy’s Ford Ties Game on Three While EB’s Ross Scores All Six in OT; Colonia’s Barneys Selected MVP
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| Colonia’s Chase Barneys fires up a three pointer during overtime in the 2016 GMCBCA Senior Boys All-Star Game at Woodbridge High School. Barneys was selected as game MVP as the White Team rallied for a 133-130 win in OT. |
WOODBRIDGE, NJ–For the third straight year, the White Team All-Stars won the annual GMCBCA Senior Boys All-Star Game at Woodbridge High. It was the second year in a row that they had to come back to do it. Trailing 121-112 with 3:48 to play in the game, the White Team put together a 15-6 tear over the remainder of regulation to tie the game at 127-127, and then scored 6 of the first 7 points of the extra session to secure the 133-130 victory.
South Amboy’s Keahre Ford came up with the clutch three with 5.1 seconds to play in regulation. After East Brunswick’s Matt Ross came up with a steal, he dribbled up the right side of the floor, and pulled up for a three that was contested by a Black Team defender, but it rimmed out. On the carom, the ball bounced out to near the foul line where Ford and EB’s Mike Vick converged on the ball. Ford got possession of it, and had the presence of mind to dribble back to the top of the key and put up the game tying trifecta.
The Black Team had a chance to win the game after calling a timeout, but it was unable to get off a good shot as time expired. The extra session was all Ross for the White Team as the 1,000 point scorer for East Brunswick scored all six points for the winning team. Off the opening tip, Ross got his hands on the ball, and went to the basket, where he drew a foul, and made one of two from the line for a 128-127 lead. The Black Team, which only made one field goal in the overtime, and that didn’t come until the closing seconds, misfired on its next possession.
Ross then added another layup and a three from the left wing for a 133-127 lead before Old Bridge’s Connor Romano netted a trey to end the scoring for the Black Team. Colonia’s Chase Barneys, who opened the game with a three pointer for the White Team, was selected as the game’s MVP. Speaking of the start, the White Team came up blazing as they scored 12 of the first 15 points of the contest. Barneys sank a three while JFK’s Kush Patel also added a trey and Woodbridge’s T.J. Simmons and Ford added scores during the blitz. Romano had the only points for the Black Team with a trey. The Black Team, behind the play of Romano, St. Joseph’s Branislav Vujadinovic, Spotswood’s Eric Dadika, and J.P. Stevens Alex Corrigan, rallied to take the lead.
After another trey from the right wing by Romano off a nice no look bounce pass on the kick out by Vujadinovic, Dadika swiped a steal, and raced in for a one handed dunk at the 16:04 mark. Corrigan and Vujadinovic then added threes as the Black Team capped a 13-0 spurt for a 16-12 lead at the 14:47 mark. The Black Team maintained the lead until the 12 minute mark when Vick went in for a one handed dunk to tie the score at 26-26. The Black Team retook control though by scoring 13 of the next 21 points including a trey by Corrigan for a 39-34 lead with 9:53 remaining in the first half. Bishop Ahr’s Corey Ciszek, who put on a show with 14 first half points including four threes, kept the White Team hanging around with his shooting.
Over a span of just 2:16, the White Team put together a 17-10 surge capped by a long three from NBA range by Ciszek for a 51-49 lead at the 7:37 mark. The Black Team then scored 7 unanswered points before Ciszek struck again on a trey from the right wing to close the gap to 56-54 at the 5:15 mark. The game continued to be a very fast paced, high scoring affair for the rest of the half. However, the Black Team appeared to be in firm control by finishing the first half on a 20-8 tear including a three from the right corner by Piscataway Tech’s Ali Austin for a 76-62 halftime lead. Both teams had combined for 138 points in the first half alone. Five years ago, the White Team had only 76 points for the game in a 96-76 loss.
After a frenetically paced, and fairly efficient shooting first half, both teams lost their focus, and got sloppy for the first 10 to 12 minutes of the second half. Despite that, the Black Team still managed to maintain the lead at 104-97 after another Corrigan score at the 10:08 mark. Corrigan had an earlier three from deep on the left wing while Sayreville’s Zack Alessi knocked down a triple from the left side as well and New Brunswick’s Emmanuel Osei scored on a layup from the right side. The White Team was beginning to chip away though, and continued to hang around. After the Black Team had put together a 15-10 showing over a span of 5:08 to go up by a dozen, Perth Amboy Tech’s Kyrie Byers fired in a three from the left corner to pull the White Team back within single digits at 119-110.
The White Team got another score to pull within seven before Osei got an outlet pass on the right side, and elevated for a two handed jam and a 121-112 Black Team lead at the 3:48 mark. The White Team roared back though by scoring 15 of the last 21 points including Vick’s third dunk of the contest, a score by Barneys, a layup by Ross, and the game tying three by Ford to tie the game at 127-127. The White Team then scored 6 of the 9 points in the overtime to finish the gap on a 21-9 tear over a 5:48 span for the victory. The White Team has now won three straight in the series by a combined margin of just 20 points. In 2014, the White Team won, 107-94 and last year, it rallied to win 112-108.