Rahway Summer League–July 15, 2011

RAHWAY, NJ–On Friday night, GMC Hoops traveled over to the Rahway Summer League for the fifth time this summer to see the final three games of the eleventh night of play. Five teams from the Greater Middlesex Conference were in action as Perth Amboy took on A.L. Johnson at 6:30 PM, Dunellen squared off against Woodbridge at 7:30 PM, and J.F. Kennedy and J.P. Stevens battled in the finale at 8:30 PM.

Amboy Downs Johnson Regional, 51-34

The Panthers jumped out to a 25-13 halftime lead, and then put together a 26-21 showing in the second half to come away with the 17 point victory. A.L. Johnson did have some good moments though, and had opportunities to make things interesting late in the second half, but an Amboy steal in the Crusader backcourt led to a layup, and a four point swing for a 43-26 lead with under five minutes left.

The second half started out quietly for Amboy as their Union County opponent worked the ball around for 33 seconds before the Panthers attempted to swipe a steal along the Crusader sideline.   On the ensuing inbounds, the Clark school got a scoring opportunity on a drive through the middle that drew a foul, and produced one of two free throws for a 25-14 Amboy lead with 18:33 to go in the game.

Over the next minute and a half, the Panthers had chances to score, but couldn’t convert before making a nice skip pass down low for a layup, and a 27-14 lead.  On its next possession, A.L. Johnson broke Amboy’s pressure to set up for a jumper from the right wing that closed the gap to 27-16 with 16:30 left.  Perth Amboy would get on the board again by getting an offensive rebound, and drawing a foul that resulted in one of two free throws for a 28-16 lead at the 15:30 mark.

Following a missed shot by the Crusaders, Amboy got back on the board again with a layup at the 14:40 mark for a 30-16 lead.  Johnson Regional got those points back by drawing a foul at the other end, and making two free throws with 14:11 to play for a 30-18 Panthers lead.  PAHS went back up by a baker’s dozen when it drew a foul down low, and made one of two from the charity stripe for a 31-18 lead with 13:30 left.

David Rogers, who didn’t start in the second half, came into the game, and immediately made an impact by intercepting a pass that was converted into a layup at the other end for a 33-18 lead at the 12:28 mark.  A.L. Johnson then got its first points in over three minutes, and its first field goal in nearly six minutes for a 33-20 score.  The Crusaders then swiped a steal that led to another score on a kickout for a jumper from the left side to close the gap to 33-22 with 10:30 remaining.

Amboy retaliated though with four quick points on a layup, and then a steal for a score to go up by 15 before the Crusaders fired in a jumper from just inside the top of the key for a 37-24 lead with 9:17 remaining.  After an A.L. Johnson timeout, the Panthers went back to work by feeding Rogers in the paint, who dribbled and spun his way to a turn around jumper that drew a foul, and produced one of two from the foul line for a 38-24 lead.

Amboy padded its advantage by getting a stop at the other end, and then passing out to the right wing for a three pointer, and a 41-24 lead with 7:27 to play.   Johnson Regional tried to climb back into the game with a transition layup at the 6:00 mark to pull within 41-26, and then seemed to catch a break when Perth Amboy couldn’t cash in on numerous offensive rebounds.  Amboy head coach, Edwin Santana tried to call a timeout, but the officials didn’t grant him one.  Fortunately, the Panthers were able to get a steal for a layup to take a 43-26 lead at the 4:48 mark.

Following a jumper from the right wing at the 4:00 mark, Amboy wrapped up the win by scoring six straight points including a short hook shot for a bucket with 1:47 left, and then a steal in the Crusader backcourt with about a minute and a half to go for a 49-30 lead.  The Panthers went on to win by the final score of 51-34.


Dunellen Pulls Away In Second Half To Defeat Woodbridge, 43-36

In the second game of the triple header of contests covered by GMC Hoops, and the third game of the day at Rahway, two GMC teams went at it as one of the smallest schools in the conference, Dunellen, took on one of the largest in Woodbridge. Both teams played shorthanded with Woodbridge playing without the likes of such starters as Keith Hughes, Kyle Pearson, Duquan Bailey, Kyle Anderson, and Anthony Nyers while Dunellen started the game with five players.

Eventually, Sean Gibney and Deon Brown would be among three Destroyer players that brought in reinforcements later on during the first half of the contest. However, Tony McGuane had to take on the responsibility of bringing up the ball for Dunellen. One veteran player that stepped up for DHS was Dylan Hoski, who pumped in 14 first half points to lead the Destroyers to a 20-14 halftime lead. Dunellen spotted Woodbridge a 4-0 lead before going on a 19-7 tear over a span of 15:07 to take a 19-11 lead late in the half.

Hoski only had a field goal and two free throw early on in the second half, but still ended up with a game high 18 points on five field goals including a three pointer along with 7 of 9 from the foul line. The soon to be junior also collected a block and an assist. Gibney played 24:18 of the contest, and scored all nine of his points over the final 11:02 of play. Gibney had two field goals including a three while making all four of his foul shots. The soon to be senior also swiped three steals.

Brown scored all six of his points over the final 9:12 of the game. Brown had a field goal, and made 4 of 8 from the foul line while swiping two steals. The Dunellen guard netted all four of his made free throws down the stretch to put away the 43-36 victory. McGuane added three points on a three to open the Destroyer scoring of the game. He also picked up a block and an assist. As a team, Dunellen connected on 11 field goals including three treys, but really sealed the deal by making 18 of 26 from the foul line.

Woodbridge made 15 field goals including two treys, but was only 4 of 7 from the foul line. Dunellen outscored the Barrons 9 to 6 in points from beyond the arc, and 18 to 4 in points scored at the charity stripe. Woodbridge managed to stay in the game thanks to a 12-9 edge in points off of turnovers. Both teams had 3 blocks while the Barrons had more second chance points than the Destroyers. WHS led for the initial two minutes of the game while the game was tied for just 53 seconds. DHS led for the other 37:07 of the contest. There was only one lead change and one tie in this matchup while the biggest lead was eight points in the contest.

Dunellen led by eight four times in the game including three times late in the first half, and once late in the game. The Destroyers also led by seven on a couple of occasions. DHS led 20-12 with a minute to go in the first half before Woodbridge rallied with a 12-4 spurt over a span of 6:13 to tie the game at 24-24 with 13:47 remaining in the contest. Four of those points came off Dunellen turnovers. Highlighting the Barrons run was a steal for a layup with 37 seconds to go in the first half, a conventional three point play to open scoring in the second half, a layup from the right side at the 17:41 mark, a steal for a layup at the 16:54 mark, and then a trey to tie the game with under 14 minutes to go.

However, the Destroyers wouldn’t let the game slip away. With the help of a very active trapping defense, Dunellen pulled away from the tie for good with an 11-4 tear over a span of 4:54 to take a 35-28 lead with exactly eight minutes to play. While Hoski kicked off the decisive run with a pair of free throws at the 12:54 mark, Gibney scored seven of his nine points including a three pointer at the 11:02 mark, a steal for a layup at the 8:22 mark, and then two free throws to cap the run. Brown also contributed with a steal for a layup.

Both teams scored eight points the rest of the way, and Woodbridge got no closer than five points after three pointer with just 21.4 seconds to play. Gibney then wrapped up the 43-36 victory with a pair of free throws at the 6.5 second mark.


Stevens Stumps Kennedy, 46-30

The finale was a clash between neighborhood rivals as J.P. Stevens took on J.F. Kennedy.  The game got off to an auspicious start as Kennedy hd a turnover by Alvarez on its first possession, and then a three attempt by Vik Pawar that grazed the front of the rim.  Meanwhile, Marvin Crawford scored the first four points of the contest with two foul line jumpers at the 19:15 and 18:53 marks respectively.

The Mustangs didn’t get on the board until the 18:27 mark when Josh Kamenas scored underneath four a 4-2 Hawks lead.  Stevens went back up by four on a layup from the left low block by Sky Harris at the 16:55 mark before Kamenas scored underneath again at the 16:30 mark for a 6-4 JPS edge.  Neither team would score for the next 4:32 even though the Hawks had numerous chances to add to its lead.

It wasn’t until John Maxham got a rebound, pushed the ball up the floor, and got it down low to Crawford on the left low block for a layup at the 11:58 mark for an 8-4 lead that the offenses on at least one team got going again.  J.P. Stevens got another score from Harris on a layin for a 10-4 advantage before Kennedy called for time with 11:27 to go in the first half.  Following the timeout, there was a brief lull in the scoring of 1:39 before Harris added another basket for a 12-4 lead at the 9:48 mark.

Things continued to go well for the Hawks as Maxham became the first player other than Crawford and Harris to score when he pulled up for a jumper from the left wing at the 9:00 mark for a 14-4 lead.  Following a layup by Shabas Clarke for JFK at the 8:21 mark, Crawford got a feed deep in the paint and scored in traffic for a 16-6 lead.  A Kennedy reserve got a jumper from the left side to fall that cut the deficit to eight before the Hawks called for time with 6:29 remaining in the first half.  After not scoring for over eight minutes, the Mustangs offense showed signs of life.

Stevens would get a score from Xavier Johnson following the timeout to go back up by ten, and had a chance to go up by even more when Jalen Sorrell was called for an elbow foul with about six minutes to go in the half.  The Mustangs were able to take advantage as Clarke drove through the middle for a layup that got a kind bounce.  The Hawks would get scores by Crawford at the 4:07 and 3:21 marks for a 22-10 lead, and added another score from Johnson for a 24-10 lead with 2:30 to play in the half.  JFK then closed the half with scores by Kamenas and Clarke for a 24-14 Hawks lead at the intermission.

Looking at the halftime scoring, Crawford had game high with 12 points for Stevens while Harris chipped in with 6.  Maxham had two, and Johnson added four points.  The Hawks got all of their first half points on 12 field goals.  Meanwhile, Kennedy got six points each from Kamenas and Clarke and two from a reserve.  The Mustangs got all of their first half points on 7 field goals.  Two-thirds of J.P. Stevens scoring came from either Crawford or Harris while 86 percent of JFK’s scoring came from Kamenas and Clarke.

Stevens opened the second half scoring when Harris faked, dribbled, and connected on a baseline jumper from the right side for a 26-14 lead at the 18:47 mark.  Almost a minute and a half later, Harris followed that up with another baseline jumper from just about the exact same spot after getting a loose ball for a 28-14 lead.  Alvarez got on the board for Kennedy with a three pointer on the very next possession for a 28-17 JPS lead before Crawford scored again in the paint for a 30-17 advantage with 16:30 to go.

Clarke tried to get Kennedy going again when he got the carom off a missed three attempt by Alvarez, and drew a foul on the follow for two free throws, but the Mustangs misfired on subsequent chances, and eventually J.P. Stevens got out on a 3 on 2 fast break with Sahej Chowdary dishing right to Crawford for a layup, and a 32-19 lead with 14 minutes to play.  Pawar connected on a jumper with 12:30 to play, and Kennedy had another chance to score when Clarke swiped a steal, but he missed on a dunk attempt, and the Hawks got the ball with a 32-21 lead.

J.P. Stevens got baskets from Brandon Ahmed and Maxham over the next two minutes while Clarke made one of two from the line for a 36-22 lead midway through the second half.  Clarke then added a basket to draw the Mustangs within a dozen, but then Johnson made back to back threes, and Harris connected on a jumper from the right side for a 44-24 advantage.  J.F.K. got a three pointer by Alvarez from the left side, and a late layup by Pawar while JPS had a reserve score to round out the final 46-30 score.

Crawford ended up with a game high 16 points on eight field goals for Stevens while Harris added 12 on six field goals. Johnson had four field goals including two threes for 10 points while Maxham added four points on two field goals. Ahmed and a reserve rounded out the Hawks scoring with two points each on a field goal. JPS had 22 field goals including two threes. Meanwhile, Kennedy was led by Clarke who had 11 points on four field goals and 3 of 4 from the foul line. Kamenas and Alvarez each chipped in with 6 points while Pawar added 4 points. The Mustangs had five field goals including two threes and went 4 of 6 from the foul line in the second half. For the game, JFK had 12 field goals including two treys, and 4 of 6 from the charity stripe.