J.P. Stevens Wins 2nd Straight Championship at Rahway
RAHWAY, NJ–On Wednesday afternoon and evening, GMC Hoops traveled over to Rahway High School for playoff action in the 2016 Rahway Summer League. For the second straight year, the J.P. Stevens Hawks won the Championship by defeating fourth seeded Rahway in the first round (42-37), and then defeating crosstown rival, Edison in the title game (43-34).
The Eagles punched their ticket to the all Edison final by rallying to defeat Scotch Plains in overtime, 42-37 in the other semifinal. Edison also defeated Scotch Plains during the regular season while Stevens defeated Rahway in last year’s title game. In the first semifinal game, J.P. Stevens led only 15-13 after a Rahway score opened the second half.
But the Hawks then appeared to put the game away with a 15-0 outburst over a span of about eight and a half minutes to take a 30-13 lead with 10:22 left. Rahway wouldn’t go away quietly though. Instead, the Indians rallied with a 22-7 surge over a span of 9:05 through a combination of three point shooting, full court pressure, and transition baskets to close the gap to 37-35 with 1:17 to play.
Rahway wouldn’t get any closer though as Stevens closed the contest with 5 of the last 7 points including a three point play by Rishav Ghosh for a 40-35 lead with 1:06 remaining to wrap up the victory. The other semifinal was just as exciting, and even more so as the cardiac kids of Edison rallied to force overtime, and then prevailed in the extra session over Scotch Plains to win their eighth straight at Rahway after starting the summer at 0-3.
Scotch Plains, which was the only team to defeat J.P. Stevens at Rahway this summer, and was coming off a win over J.F. Kennedy in its regular season finale on Tuesday night, had a 22-15 lead late in the first half, and held a 31-24 advantage with 8:45 remaining. However, Edison behind veterans Joe Cudakiewicz and Justin Turner, and incoming sophomore, Christian Wantong led the charge in a 11-4 spurt down the stretch to tie the game at 35-35 at the end of regulation.
In the overtime, Edison took the lead for good on a three from the left wing by Turner with 1:38 to play, and then Turner scored on a layup off a great dish from Cudakiewicz with 33.1 seconds left for a 40-37 lead. Turner, who scored all seven of the Eagles points in the extra session, then wrapped up the win with a pair of free throws with 10.8 seconds to go. The Eagles gave Stevens all it could handle throughout much of the Championship Game, but the Hawks proved to be too much.
After falling behind 7-3 on a three point play by Turner with about 16 minutes to go in the first half, Stevens gradually took charge. The Hawks finished the half on a 15-6 tear that included scores by Tyrese Conover at the 9:50 and 5:55 marks, and baskets by Rishav Ghosh at the 11:17 and three second marks for an 18-13 halftime lead. Stevens continued to pull away by scoring 12 of the first 19 points of the second half including two free throws by Ghosh at the 16:28 mark for a 30-20 lead.
Edison wouldn’t quit though. Instead the Eagles rallied with 8 of the next 10 points including a layup by Wantong at the 9:51 mark, a layup at the 6:00 mark and two free throws at the 5:08 mark by Cudakiewicz, and a pair of foul shots by Turner with 4:07 to go to narrow the deficit to four at 32-28. Unfortunately, the Eagles were unable to get any closer than that as Stevens finished the game on an 11-6 run that included a transition layup at the 3:33 mark, two free throws by Conover at the 1:27 and 40 second marks, and one of two from the line by Ghosh with 29 seconds left to wrap up the title with the nine point win. Below are all the playoff results from Rahway on Wednesday:
Rahway Summer League–Playoff Results–July 27, 2016
- Semifinals: J.P. Stevens 42–Rahway 37
- Semifinals: Edison 42–Scotch Plains 37 OT
- Championship: J.P. Stevens 43–Edison 34
Special thanks to Rahway head coach, Jeff Lubreski for his assistance and hospitality this summer.