NEPTUNE, NJ–On Monday night, GMC Hoops traveled down to the Hoop Group Headquarters to take in the second week of action from the Spring League being run there. The site lucked out last week as teams got the week off thanks to the Easter Holiday. Many of the schools were having Easter Recess.
It was the first time this season that the web site was at HG Headquarters. Monroe had already played since all of its games this spring are being played at 7:00 PM. The Purple Birds won their contest by about six points over Point Pleasant Boro. The site did manage to take in a contest involving a GMC team as the South River Rams took on the Sabertooths from Manalapan.
Sabertooths Roll Past South River On 17-2 Tear, 53-36
After chatting a bit with Bob Turco, Tim Brix, and Danny Brix of Monroe, I headed over to the Sixers Court to take in the contest between South River and the Sabertooths, an AAU team from Manalapan. When I got to the HG Headquarters after being at work, there was about 6:15 to go in the first half, and the Sabertooths were in the lead by the score of 14-11. South River managed to pull within two points with a 5-4 run including a steal by a hustling Tyler Harris that led to a layup by Gavin Campbell for an 18-16 Sabertooths lead at the 4:30 mark. The Rams had a chance to get closer, but the Sabertooths got a steal off a Campbell pass that led to a scoring attempt, foul, and a one of two showing from the line for a 19-16 edge at the 3:15 mark.
The Sabertooths had another one of two showing from the foul line for a 20-16 lead after swiping a steal for a layup attempt at the 2:30 mark. Tyler Harris, who had been out for about a month with an abscess on his tailbone, showed hustle throughout including some that produced a steal. However, his efforts were in vain as the Sabertooths stole a Campbell pass for a layup and a foul that resulted in a traditional three point play and a 23-16 lead with 53 seconds to go in the first half. The Manalapan team later got an offensive rebound and follow off a missed jumper at the 22.6 second mark for a 25-16 lead. Campbell would get a layup with 8.7 seconds to play.
Campbell later got a rebound, and was heading upcourt for a possible score before the half, but dribbled the ball off his foot. The Sabertooths picked up the loose ball, and proceeded to score a layup high off the glass as time expired for a 27-18 lead at the break. Things didn’t start out much better in the second half as the Sabertooths scored eight unanswered points to cap a decisive 17-2 tear for a commanding 35-18 lead with 17:53 to go. The scoring began with a Sabertooths field goal at the 19:35 mark for a 29-18 lead. Following a Campbell turnover at the 19:21 mark, the Sabertooths connected on a jumper for a 31-18 lead at the 19:12 mark. Just under a minute later, the Sabertooths scored again on a baseline jumper from the right side for a 33-18 lead.
The Sabertooths finished the run by forcing another South River turnover, and running the fast break for a layup at the 17:53 mark for the 17 point advantage. The Rams finally ended a 7:15 scoring drought with a layup off an inbounds play underneath the Sabertooths basket for a 35-20 score at the 17:15 mark. After two scores by the Manalapan team, Xavier Foster got going by knifing through the defense from the left wing for a scoop shot, and a 39-22 Sabertooths lead at the 15:24 mark. Larry Smith had a chance to get the Rams closer, but came up empty on a pair of foul shots at the 14:12 mark. The Sabertooths scored another four unanswered points before Campbell dribbled through traffic for a left hand layup at the 11:13 mark for a 43-24 Sabertooths lead.
Harris got the Rams a bit closer when he grabbed an offensive rebound off a miss by Smith, and put it back in for a 43-26 score with 10:44 remaining. A little more than a half minute later, Foster swiped a steal, and drew a foul on a scoring attempt that resulted in a one of two showing from the charity stripe for a 43-27 Sabertooths lead. Foster then drove in and kicked out to Harris for a jumper from the right corner for a 43-29 score at the 9:39 mark. The soon to be senior guard picked up another steal, and converted it into a layup to close the gap to a dozen at 43-31 with exactly nine minutes to play. South River, which was 1 of 9 from the line during a stretch of 22:15, had a couple chances to get closer, but Harris went 0 of 2 from the line at the 6:42 mark, and Smith, who scored on a follow at the 6:08 mark to pull the Rams within ten at 43-33, missed a pair from the charity stripe at the 3:55 mark.
The Rams were unable to recover from that as the Sabertooths outscored them by a margin of 10-3 the rest of the way for the 53-36 win. With the victory, the Sabertooths remained in first place with a 2-0 record while South River dropped to 0-2 on the spring.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sabertooths (2-0) | 27 | 26 | 53 |
| South River (0-2) | 18 | 18 | 36 |
GMC Hoops will not be able to see any games next week since the two GMC teams are playing at earlier times, and that conflicts with work.