HILLSBOROUGH, NJ—After taking in the semfinal round of the playoffs in the 2009 Linden Summer League, GMC Hoops got back on the road, and traveled down Route 1 South to 287 North to Route 22 West, and over to Route 206 South into Hillsborough to take in the second round of playoff action at the 2009 Hillsborough JV Summer League at Hillsborough High School. It was the second visit that the site made to the league, which has two schools from the Greater Middlesex Conference competing. It was quite a lively crowd on hand again for one of the two nightcap games. Two teams from the Skyland Conference went at it as North Hunterdon played the host school, Hillsborough II.
North Hunterdon Advances To Semifinals With 36-29 Victory
In one of the finale games in the Elite Eight at Hillsborough, the Junior Lions of North Hunterdon took on one of the two teams from the host school, Hillsborough II. Once again it was a classic Skyland Conference matchup pitting the Delaware West Division against the Delaware East Division. Earlier in the evening, the winner of Monday’s game between East Brunswick and Middlesex took on Watchung Hills in the Old Gym. The game was fairly close throughout as North Hunterdon led by only four at the half, 18-14. However, in the second half, the offensive rebounding and free throw shooting of the Junior Lions proved to be the difference in an 18-15 showing over the final 20 minutes for the 36-29 victory.
Over the first 4:48 of the second half, North Hunterdon scored 6 of the first 8 points including two free throws at the 15:12 mark for a 24-16 lead. Hillsborough II replied with four unanswered points including a steal for a layup before the Junior Lions made two more free throws for a 26-20 lead with exactly 14 minutes to play. North Hunterdon then added three more points including a tip-in off a missed jumper at the 10:20 mark for a 29-20 lead. Hillsborough II got those three points back to pull within six again at 29-23 before the Junior Lions reeled off four straight points including a layup at the 5:03 mark for a 33-23 edge. Points then became hard to come by over the next 4:02 as both teams combined for just three points for a 34-25 North Hunterdon lead as Hillsborough II called for time with 1:01 left. After the timeout, the Junior Lions missed the front end of a one and one.
The Junior Raiders couldn’t take advantage though. Although they got two layups in the final 12 seconds of play, North Hunterdon prevailed by the final score of 36-29. The Junior Lions advanced to the semifinals, which are scheduled for Monday, August 3rd.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Hunterdon | 18 | 18 | 36 |
| Hillsborough II | 14 | 15 | 29 |