SOUTH AMBOY, NJ–On Tuesday night, the day after Memorial Day, action resumed at the 2008 Raritan Bay Summer League with a full slate of four games starting at 5:30 PM to begin the second week of the schedule. In the first game, St. Stan’s edged Monroe in the only game from the 3rd and 4th Grade Division, 16-15. Then, in the second contest, Parlin’s 7th and 8th Grade team defeated Roselle’s 5th and 6th Grade squad, 45-26.
GMC Hoops arrived for the third and fourth games of the evening as the site has done each night so far this summer. In that third game, Matawan was taking on Roselle in a battle from the 7th and 8th Grade Division while in the nightcap, it was the Battle of Sayreville as the Sayreville Stars dueled with the Sayreville Bombers for the town’s bragging rights. As always, Greg Machos received the finest hospitality that the Raritan Bay Summer League has to offer thanks to the great work of both Tom Reilly and Gary Lange, who both go to great lengths to make sure GMC Hoops has what it needs to cover the games played there.
Roselle Uses Pressure Defense To Key Crucial Second Half Spurt In 40-32 Victory
Leading by only one at 11-10 to go in the first half, Roselle outscored Matawan by a 7-1 margin to close out the first half for an 18-11 halftime lead. Then following two free throws by the Huskies at the 18:47 mark of the second half, the Runnin’ Rams utilized full court pressure to create mayhem and miscues for Matawan that resulted in a game deciding 13-0 spurt over a 3:53 span to take a commanding 31-13 lead, and ultimately a 40-32 victory.
When, GMC Hoops entered the gym at South Amboy Middle/High School, the game between Roselle and Matawan had already been underway for a bit. With 7:41 to go in the first half, the Runnin’ Rams of Roselle was up by a slim one point margin, 11-10. The score remained that way when there was a tie up that resulted in a jump ball, and alternate possession to Roselle with 6:11 left in the half. Almost a minute later, Roselle extended its lead to three points on a feed inside for a layup that made the score, 13-10 at the 5:15 mark. Roselle would eventually turn the ball over at the 4:20 mark, but Matawan, which called for a timeout still trailing by three with 3:42 left in the half, turned the ball over itself following the timeout with 3:36 to go before the brief intermission. Roselle then promptly took advantage with a layup to push its lead up to five at 15-10 with 3:20 to go in the period. About a minute and fifteen seconds later, Roselle made one of two at the foul line for a six point lead at 16-10.
Matawan would get its only points in the final 7:41 of the first half when it had a player step to the line, and make one of two from the charity stripe with 1:15 to go in the half for a 16-11 Roselle lead. However, the Runnin’ Rams got the final points of the first half on a nice move in traffic for a scoop shot that made the score, 18-11 at the break. At the start of the second half, Matawan closed to within five by scoring first with a pair of foul shots just 13 seconds into the new period that made the score, 18-13. Unfortunately, for Huskies followers, that would be as close as the squad would get for the rest of the game. The reason for that was the fact the Roselle stepped it up on the defensive end by applying some full court pressure. Pressuring Matawan in its own backcourt created confusion and chaos that resulted in a number of turnovers, which Roselle was very happy to convert into some form of points. Simply put, Roselle registered 13 unanswered points in a span of 3:53 that turned a somewhat close game into one on the verge of a blowout.
After missing two free throws at the 17:56 mark of the second half, Roselle got a score down low a little less than a minute later, which enabled the Rams to deploy its pressure defense. Moments after taking a 20-13 lead, the full court press created a steal that was quickly converted into a layup for a 22-13 lead at the 16:49 mark. On the very next inbounds, Roselle forced another miscue, and that resulted in another steal that led to a jumper from the left side for a 24-13 advantage with 16:35 remaining in the game. Following a Matawan timeout with 16:04 to play, the Runnin’ Rams went back to work with another steal that set up a three pointer from the top of the key for a 27-13 edge with 15:18 left. Over the next 24 seconds Roselle forced two more turnovers by Matawan that promptly ended up as points for a 31-13 lead. At that point, the press rule went into effect, and Matawan was able to gain some life, which started the team back on the road to a recovery that almost culminated with a comeback.
Starting slowly by just chipping away at the large deficit, Matawan got a bucket to end the 13-0 Roselle tear with about 14 minutes to play to close to within 16 at 31-15. Neither team would score for 2:16 before the Huskies got on the board again for a 4-0 run that prompted the Runnin’ Rams coaching staff to call for time at the 11:44 mark with the score still showing Roselle ahead, 31-17. Following the timeout, Matawan would get on the board at the 10:49 mark with a nice pass from about midcourt setting up a score down low for a 6-0 run that made it 31-19. Neither team scored for the next 3:39 before Matawan reaped the benefits of a long rebound off a three point attempt, and turned it into second chance points with a fadeaway jumper from the left side for a 31-21 lead at the 7:10 mark. The Huskies had a couple chances to pull even closer, but failed to convert, and when Roselle scored at the 4:57 mark to put an end to the 8-0 Matawan run for a 33-21 lead, hopes for a comeback were significantly dimmed.
Matawan would get to within eight points on a couple of occasions, and almost made a three to get within five, but Roselle refused to let them get any closer with a 7-4 run for a 40-29 lead at the 1:04 mark of the second half. The Runnin’ Rams yielded three points to Matawan down the stretch, but still came away with the 40-32 victory to even its record to 1-1 after losing 45-26 to Parlin in an earlier game on Tuesday.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roselle (1-1) | 18 | 22 | 40 |
| Matawan (1-1) | 11 | 21 | 32 |
Sayreville Stars Use Second Half Surge To Earn Town Bragging Rights
In the battle for the unofficial Mayor’s Trophy of Sayreville, the Sayreville Stars pulled away from a 19-8 halftime lead with a 33-13 showing in the second half for a convincing 52-21 victory despite having one of its best players, Danny Wojcik sitting the bench. Leading by only seven at 22-15 with 16:16 to go in the game, the Stars embarked on a decisive 17-0 surge that spanned 11:55 for an insurmountable, 39-15 lead. The Stars had closed out the first half with an 8-0 run to take the double digit lead into the brief intermission before the Bombers rallied with 7 of the first 10 points of the second half to make things interesting.
The Sayreville Stars went to work right away in this one by scoring the first five points on a layup just 50 seconds into the contest, one of two free throws by Danny Wojcik at the 17:50 mark for a 3-0 lead, and then an offensive rebound and follow in the key for a short jumper that made it 5-0 at the 16:47 mark. After the Sayreville Bombers got a steal for a breakaway layup that produced their first points of the game, the Sayreville Stars made it 7 of the first 9 points in the contest as Wojcik, the younger brother of coach and former Sayreville standout Tim Wojcik as well as another older brother and Ramapo College standout, John Wojcik, made a nice pass for an assist on a layup that made the score, 7-2 with 15:52 to play in the first half. The Bombers wouldn’t go away though. Making two steals for layups, the Bombers went on a 4-2 run that closed the gap to 9-6 with 12:31 to go before the intermission.
Following that exchange of six points, neither team scored for a span of about 10:49 in what was the longest scoring drought by two teams so far this summer at Raritan Bay. It wasn’t until the 1:42 mark of the first half that finally one of the teams broke through. Nevertheless, GMC Hoops was entertained by Gary Lange’s son as well as 8th Grade Class Vice Presidential candidate, Kyle Krzyzanowski, who also happens to be the son of retiring head coach, George Krzyzanowski, and brother of Centenary bound Colin Krzyzanowski, at the scorers table. The Sayreville Stars were the team to break the scoring drought with a steal for an easy layup that made the score, 11-6. Moments later, the Bombers came up with their first points in a while on a field goal that made it 11-8, but the Stars got the two points back with a bucket that made it 13-8 with 1:07 left before the intermission.
The Stars’ basket sparked a final 8-0 assault that closed out the first half for a 19-8 lead at the break. Capping the run was a frantic last second drive through traffic upcourt for a layup that gave the Sayreville Stars the 11 point halftime lead. In the second half, the Bombers came out scratching and clawing with 7 of the first 10 points over a span of just 3:44. Highlighting the early run was a three pointer that banked in at the 18:01 mark that made the score, 22-13, and a jumper from the left side for a 22-15 Sayreville Stars lead at the 16:16 mark. However, the Bombers would not get any closer as the Stars went on their 17-0 rampage that spanned nearly 12 minutes for the commanding 39-15 lead. The Bombers would not score again until there was 4:21 left in the game on a layup from the right wing that made it a 39-17 Stars lead. The winners then closed out the contest with a 13-4 run that rounded out the final 52-21 score.
With the victory, the Sayreville Stars improved to 1-0 while the Sayreville Bombers fell to 0-1. On Wednesday night, there will again be a full slate of games starting at 5:30 PM including one from the 3rd and 4th Grade Divisions as well as one from the High School Division. GMC Hoops plans to be there to cover the final two games of the night.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sayreville Stars (1-0) | 19 | 33 | 52 |
| Sayreville Bombers (0-1) | 8 | 13 | 21 |