J.P. Stevens Hangs On To Beat Ahr In TBSA Summer League Championship

EDISON, NJ–After winning the Championship Game of the 2008 TBSA Summer League, some of the players on the J.P. Stevens Hawks were wondering about what GMC Hoops thought about its upcoming pre-season Top Ten. The Hawks, most notably Tahir Swinton and Kenny Bland were hoping for us to give them our blessing with the top spot in the upcoming poll. Unfortunately, the site hasn’t had the time to think much about polls, and doesn’t plan on having such a poll until at least late September like last year. However, if it did, it would be a little reluctant to give the Hawks the nod yet, especially after having to hang on to defeat Bishop Ahr for the TBSA Summer League title.

Stevens jumped out to a 21-10 first half lead, but the Trojans, which have much more depth and size off the bench didn’t quit as they battled back to pull within two late only to fall, 47-41. The second half charge by Ahr clearly had JPS a bit worn down and frustrated at times. You could see it in their faces at points down the stretch. Now, clearly the Hawks are one of the favorites to win the title this season. After the fine season that J.P. Stevens put in last year, it should be strongly considered to wear the conference crown. However, South Brunswick and Piscataway will be quick to tell you that the top spot is nothing to wish for since it is not a guarantee of a GMCT Championship come late February as the 2007 and 2008 tourneys have proven.

And for those in the GMC Blue like Middlesex, who think that Bishop Ahr may not be as formidable last year, and capable of winning the division crown, think again. There was that same feeling early last season before Ahr beat McCarrick in South Amboy too. The Trojans have had solid JV and Freshmen teams the past three seasons, and that talent is coming up to the varsity level if it is not already there now. It showed in this game. True, the BGA has to be more battle tested during the season with more games outside the division, and conference against formidable opponents so that come tourney time, it’s prepared to make that next step into the ranks of the GMC elite, but this team is still the team to beat in the Blue for now.

In this battle of North Edison, the web site didn’t arrive until the 3:09 mark of the first half with Stevens ahead 19-9. Bishop Ahr then got on the board with a one of two showing from the foul line by Widdoss that made the score, 19-10 at the 2:25 mark. The Hawks then got their final points of the half when Myles Reuben drove in for a bank shot from foul line to put his team up by 11 at 21-10. Stevens, which did some heavy lifting to get to this game by defeating Piscataway in the semifinals, had a chance to go up by more before the intermission, but after Bland was fouled on the floor with six seconds left, Reuben’s long three point attempt from way out on the right wing hit back iron as time expired.

The second half started with JPS picking up right where it left off as Nick Pol got into the act with a trifecta from beyond the arc for a 24-10 lead with 19:50 to go. Less than a minute later, Ahr got on the board with a field goal at exactly the 19 minute mark for a 24-12 score. A scoring drought by both teams would ensue over the next 3:49 before Jordan Smith found Matt Melnick, who did a pump fake, and then took a foul line jumper that rattled in for a 24-14 JPS lead at the 15:11 mark. The Hawks responded though with a jumper from the left corner to go back up by a dozen at 26-14 with 14:50 mark. Unwilling to go away, Bishop Ahr came back down on a subsequent possession, and netted a jumper for a 26-16 with 14:09 remaining. The Hawks would continue to keep Ahr at arm’s length by promptly responding with a layup for a 28-16 edge with just inside 14 minutes to play.

Nearly two minutes would go by before another score, and that would come from Ahr as soon to be senior Matt Sheehy used some of his football ability, and intercepted a pass for a steal at halfcourt. He then drove to the basket on the right side, where he was intentionally fouled, and that resulted in two free throws for a 28-18 score in favor of JPS with 12:07 remaining. Another minute and a half or so would go by before Matt Fiorino stepped up to the line, and made a pair of free throws for a 28-20 lead at the 10:39 mark. Reuben would give the Hawks a double digit lead again at 30-20 with a layup on Stevens next possession, but Ahr kept coming. Widdoss netted two free throws at the 9:38 mark for a 30-22 score, and then connected for a three pointer from the left wing after Swinton stole a side out of bounds on the left side, and drove in for a layup. With the score now at 32-25, the Ahr faithful began to sense the game was turning in their direction.

Nearly forty seconds later, Stevens was back on the board thanks to Pol, who curled to his right from the left wing for a floater, and a 34-25 advantage with 6:46 left. Then, the soon to be senior guard netted two foul shots for a 36-25. Seemingly caught in another precarious situation, the Trojans began to untangle themselves with seven straight points including three free throws by Fiorino, who was fouled by Swinton on a three point attempt, and a trey from the top of the key by Smith for a 36-32 Hawk lead with 4:15. At this point, you could see Stevens appeared to be pressing a bit. Nearly a minute afterward, soon to be junior forward, Manny Kroggman put in a layup, and suddenly the BGA was within two at the 3:22 mark. Bland gave JPS some breathing room with one of two free throws for a 37-34 lead at the 2:56 mark. Then, the Stevens forward came up with an offensive rebound and putback attempt that drew a foul, and resulted in a pair of free throws for a 39-34 advantage at the 2:30 mark.

Forty-five seconds later, Bland put the final nail in Ahr’s coffin by picking up a loose ball down low, and scoring a layup for a 41-34 lead with 1:45 to play. Following a BGA timeout with 1:43 to play, Kroggman came back with a pump fake and bucket in the left low block for a 41-36 score at the 1:22 mark. Ahr would call a timeout two seconds later, but couldn’t get any closer as Rueben passed to Swinton, who handed out an assist on a bounce pass to Bland for a score underneath on the right side, and a 43-36 lead at the 1:01 mark. BGA would outscore JPS by a slim 5-4 margin, but the Hawks came away with the title in a six point, 47-41 victory.

Ahr has nothing to hang its head over though. The only thing that the Trojans need to work on is putting together a solid 32 minutes of basketball game in and game out. Against Edison in the Quarterfinal round of the playoffs, Bishop Ahr got off to a huge lead only to nearly lose it late. Here, the opposite happened. If BGA can get off to a good start, and maintain it throughout, it will be able to have a chance to finally break through and reach the GMCT Final Four, where it hasn’t been since the days of Anthony Rosa, Greg Fowler, Darren Nicholas, and Gerard Wilson.

Team 1 2 Total
J.P. Stevens 21 26 47
Bishop Ahr 10 31 41