Linden Summer League–July 29, 2009

Colonia Advances To Play Linden In Championship Game

LINDEN, NJ–On Wednesday afternoon, GMC Hoops traveled over to Linden High School for the sixth time this summer to see action from the semifinal playoffs games in the 2009 Linden Summer League. On this day, the site saw two games, one involving a teams from the Greater Middlesex Conference. The Colonia Patriots were still alive after a fine run, and were taking on Hillsborough in the first semifinal while the hometown Linden Tigers were facing off against the up-tempo Knights of Paterson Kennedy.

Gray Leads Patriots Past Hillsborough Into Finals, 65-55

The Colonia Patriots, which struggled during its schedule through the Monday/Wednesday Division of the league, found some confidence during its playoff run, and not only got to the Final Four, but gained a berth in the Championship Game. Leading by two with 7:44 remaining, the Patriots gave way to a Raider squad that put together a 7-5 run including a three pointer at the three minute mark to knot the game at 51-51. However, soon to be junior, C.J. Gray, came to the rescue with all of Colonia’s 14 points down the stretch to help the Pats outscore Hillsborough by ten in a 65-55 victory. Gray connected on three treys, made two layups, and made one of two from the foul line in just 2:40 to propel Colonia into the title tilt against Linden.

Due to its work on the web site, GMC Hoops was unable to join the action until the fourth quarter with Colonia leading 46-44. Neither team scored for 1:32 until the Patriots made one of two from the line for a three point lead. Hillsborough then responded with a layup at the 5:31 mark to pull within one at 47-46. The Patriots went back up by three on its next possession with a jumper from the right wing at the 5:15 mark that made the score, 49-46. There was a lull in the scoring for a little more than a minute, and a half before the Raiders closed to within one again on a nice pass to a cutting player for a layup, and a 49-48 score at the 3:40 mark. Colonia responded though as Dave Cole dribbled and dished for a layup, and a 51-48 lead with 3:27 left. Then, Hillsborough tied the game up at 51-51 with a trey from the right wing after an offensive rebound at the 3:00 mark.

Enter C.J. Gray. On Colonia’s next possession, the Patriot guard gave his team the lead on a baseline drive from the left side for a reverse layup, and a 53-51 lead at the 2:40 mark. After Colonia stopped Hillsborough on the Raiders next possession, Gray clicked on a three pointer for a 56-51 lead at the 1:44 mark. The Raiders tried to respond with a layup while being fouled, but missed the bonus free throw, and Colonia stayed in front by three, 56-53 with 1:28 left. On Colonia’s next possession, Gray got a rebound off of a Cole miss, dribbled back up top, and fired another three pointer for a 59-53 lead with 1:04 left. A theme throughout this run was that Colonia wasn’t satisfied with maintaining a slim lead. The Patriots were determined to be aggressive on offense.

Hillsborough tried to stay within striking distance by hitting a bank shot on its next possession to trim the deficit to four at 59-55 with 43 seconds to play, but then Gray essentially put the game away with his final three of the game on a shot from the left corner with 28 seconds left for a 62-55 lead. Hillsborough then drew a foul, but missed both foul shots, and Gray drew a foul after getting the rebound. He then made one of two from the line with 13 seconds left for a 63-55 lead. Finally, he finished off his explosive performance with a steal for a layup to wrap up the 65-55 victory. With the win, Colonia advanced to the Championship Game to play Linden, which defeated Paterson Kennedy in the other semifinal.

Linden Storms Past Paterson Kennedy, 62-48

In the finale, Linden took on a Paterson Kennedy team that had won every other time GMC Hoops had seen it play this summer. However, the Tigers had their full roster here for this game, and they displayed plenty of size, strength, quickness, and power. Linden jumped out to an 11-4 first quarter lead by making 4 of 9 shots while limiting the Knights to just 1 of 7 from the floor. The Tigers then outscored Paterson Kennedy by a 13-4 margin over the first 8:40 to take a 24-8 lead before the Knights closed out the half with a 7-5 run to trail by a dozen at the break. The second half saw Linden jump out to a 36-21 lead in the third on a 7-4 run, and the Tigers led 42-28 heading into the fourth on their way to a convincing 62-48 win to reach the Championship game against Colonia.

For the game, Linden shot the ball very well going 26 of 38 overall for 68.4 percent while limiting Paterson Kennedy to just 18 of 43 from the field for 41.9 percent. The Tigers only made 1 of 3 from beyond the arc while the Knights were 3 of 13. LHS went 9 of 11 at the charity stripe for 81.8 percent while the Knights made 10 of 13 shots for 76.9 percent. In other statistical areas, Paterson Kennedy forced 21 turnovers while only making 15, but was outrebounded by an overall margin of 28-11 including a 9-6 showing on the offensive glass. Linden also had more assists (18-11) and blocks (3-0) while the Knights had more steals (17-10). Neither team drew a charge. Linden outscored Paterson Kennedy in each of the first three periods with both teams scoring 20 points in the final frame.

The Knights started out in a 2-2-1 fullcourt press, which gave Linden some difficulty at first, but once the Tigers were able to score inside and pressure Kennedy, it was able to dictate the tempo, and the ultimate outcome of the game. Points were hard to come by early on as the two teams scrapped it out. Paterson Kennedy took the lead at first with one of two from the line at the 6:48 mark following an earlier score to make it 3-0. Linden got one of two from the line at the 5:51 mark, and then got a field goal, and two free throws for a 5-0 run to take a two point lead at the 4:32 mark. The Knights got their final points of the period on a one of two showing from the line before Linden started its decisive 19-4 rampage that spanned 12:40. The Tigers run started with the final six points of the first period for an 11-4 lead. It continued into the second with an offensive rebound and putback for a three point play, and a 14-4 lead at the 8:11 mark.

Almost a minute later, Linden went up by a dozen on an offensive rebound and putback off an own miss for a 16-4 lead at the 7:18 mark. The Tigers then scored three of the next five points before Kennedy coach, Jim Ring called for time trailing 19-8 with inside six minutes to play in the half. LHS then added five more points including a one of two effort from the foul line at the 3:02 mark, a pair of free throws at the 2:01 mark, and a field goal for a 24-8 lead before the Knights finally got on the board with a drive from the left wing for a layup to start a 9-5 rally to end the half with Linden leading, 29-17. The third quarter started out with both teams playing back and forth basketball by exchanging turnovers before Paterson Kennedy swiped a steal for a layup, and a 29-19 Linden lead at the 8:29 mark. The Tigers answered about a minute and a half later with a feed into the left low block for a layup, and a 31-19 advantage.

The Knights pulled to within ten again on a layup with 5:55 to go in the period before Linden scored five unanswered including a steal for a one handed rim rocker at the 4:35 mark for a 36-21 lead. Although Paterson Kennedy outscored the Tigers by a 7-6 margin to close the frame, Linden went into the fourth ahead by a score of 42-28. The final period started out promising for Paterson Kennedy as the Knights came up with a three point play at the 8:51 mark, and then one of two from the line after swiping a steal, and getting fouled on a fast break layup attempt at the 7:49 mark. Kennedy added another score to creep within single digits at 42-34, but the Tigers put the game away with a 4-0 run for a 46-34 lead with 6:01 left. From there, Linden outscored Paterson Kennedy by a 16-14 margin the rest of the way for the 62-48 victory.

Team 1 2 3 4 Total
Linden 11 18 13 20 62
Paterson Kennedy 4 13 11 20 48

GMC Hoops was back out at Linden on Thursday afternoon for the Championship between Colonia and Linden.