NEPTUNE, NJ–On Monday night, the second week of May, and the fourth week of action overall at the 2008 Rebounds Spring League took place at the Rebounds facility in Neptune. Once again, East Brunswick, the lone GMC combatant in this league took to the floor as they took on an AAU squad in the Mid-Jersey Heat in a 9:00 PM contest over on the Knicks Court. Meanwhile, at the same time on the Celtics Court, Toms River East, which is currently coached during the regular season by former South Brunswick head coach, Tom Carpenter, went to battle against another AAU squad in G-Force Gold, which is coached by Bob Gomulka, the father of Rob Gomulka, who played on the St. Joseph’s Junior Varsity. The last time the Bears played over on the Knicks Court, they pulled off a come from behind victory over St. John Vianney on opening night.
Toms River East Remains Undefeated With Victory Over G-Force Gold
After losing a hard fought battle in overtime against Ocean County rival, Lakewood last week, Toms River East was looking to get itself on the right track again when it took on, G-Force Gold, an AAU squad that consists of players that compete in Union and Middlesex County during the regular season. Toms River East dominated the first half with a decisive 13-0 run that turned a 9-7 deficit into a 20-9 lead before going into the locker room ahead by ten, 20-10 at the half. For the first 9:08, the game was fairly nip and tuck with both teams exchanging leads several times before the Raiders took over. In the first 2:51, G-Force Gold scored four of the first six points for a 4-2 lead at the 17:09 mark. About forty seconds later, Toms River East cut the deficit in half to one at 4-3 on one of two free throws at the 16:28 mark.
Over the next 5:36, there were a few more lead changes before G-Force Gold took an 8-7 lead only to have Toms River East scoring two of the next three points to knot things up at 9-9 with 10:52 to go before the brief break. About a minute and a half later, the Raiders took the lead for good with a basket that made the score, 11-9 at the 9:27 mark. Over the next 2:42, Toms River East increased its lead to four with a field goal that made the score, 13-9 with 6:45 to go before halftime. Thirty-five seconds after that, the Raiders scored again on a layup while being fouled, but missed the bonus free throw for a 15-9 advantage with 6:10 to go in the first half. Over the next 4:32, TRE scored five straight points to take a commanding double digit lead at 20-9 with 2:44 to go in the half. G-Force Gold then scored the final points of the first half on a one of two showing at the foul line for a 20-10 Raider edge at the intermission.
In the second half, Toms River East got on the board first with a foul shot for a 21-10 advantage at the 18:30 mark. Over the next 3:06 though, G-Force Gold made its most significant run of the game with a 9-2 spurt to pull within four at 23-19 Raider lead with 15:24 to go in the game. G-Force continued to battle with a one of two showing at the foul line with 14:02 to play for a 23-20 TRE lead. Although Toms River East managed to maintain the lead over the next 2:50, G-Force Gold continued to creep back into the game with a 3-2 run for a 25-23 Raider edge with 11:12 remaining. Finally, the AAU squad based from Union County tied the matchup again with a score at the 9:07 mark that made it 25-25. Unfortunately, the comeback took a lot of starch out of G-Force as Toms River East embarked on a crucial 10-2 tear over the next 3:56 to take a 35-27 lead with 5:11 left. Highlighting the key spurt was a layup at the 6:23 mark, another layup off a pump fake down low at the 5:26 mark, and a layin at the 5:11 mark.
G-Force Gold fought valiantly to get back into the contest, but could not get any closer than six points. The Raiders actually had leads of eight and ten points after layups scored at the 4:05 and 3:00 marks, and had enough distance between them and their opponent for the 41-35 win. With the victory, TRE, which actually won by forefeit last week despite the overtime loss to Lakewood, is now 4-0 while G-Force Gold dropped to 1-3 on the season.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toms River East (4-0) | 20 | 21 | 41 |
| G-Force Gold (1-3) | 10 | 25 | 35 |
East Brunswick Unable To Get Over Hump Versus Mid-Jersey Heat, 54-45
While Toms River East was staying unbeaten by defeating G-Force Gold on an adjacent court, East Brunswick was taking on the Mid-Jersey Heat on the court where the Bears got its only victory so far this spring. On opening night, the Bears came up with timely shot after timely shot in a come from behind effort that overcame an 18 point deficit versus St. John Vianney of Holmdel for a one point, 54-53 win. Unfortunately, the karma of the Knicks court didn’t help the Bears this time. The combination of the Mid-Jersey Heat’s size, quickness, and athleticism along with an up-tempo game joined forces with East Brunswick’s ineptitude at the free throw line (0 of 2 FTs on four different occasions) and from the perimeter ultimately cost the Bears the game.
For the contest, EB was 1 of 11 overall from the charity stripe for 9.1 percent while the Heat were better by going 6 of 11 for 54.5 percent. In addition, EBHS made only two three point shots the entire game including one at the 8:32 mark of the second half when Mauro Tucci drained a deep trey off an assist by teammate Dustin Schuld that closed the gap to 36-33. Meanwhile, the Mid-Jersey Heat, an AAU team, made a fortune by scoring on the inside, and converting easy basket opportunities with layups. Nevertheless, the Heat could not amass a lead bigger than eleven points while the Bears came within two and three points on several occasions. Unfortunately, East Brunswick was unable to get over the hump, and come away with the win as the Heat emerged victorious, 54-45.
The fast paced game started out ominously for both teams as neither team couldn’t put the ball in the basket for the first three plus minutes before EB had an opportunity to get on the board at the 16:56 mark. Kevin Johnson was fouled on a shot attempt in the left low block after a steal by Alec Mayo off a mishandled dribble by the Heat. However, Johnson misfired on both his free throw attempts, and the game remained scoreless. Nearly another minute passed before there was finally a score. With 16:06 to go in the first half, the Heat got fouled on a layup attempt that resulted in one of two free throws for a 1-0 lead. The first field goal of the contest didn’t occur until the 14:21 mark when Mayo grabbed a rebound, and threw an outlet pass upcourt to Johnson for a layin, and a 2-1 lead.
However, EB’s lead didn’t last long as the Mid-Jersey Heat not only took the lead back with a layin of its own at the 14:07 mark, but the score also sparked a 12-3 spurt over the next 6:32 for a 13-5 lead at the 7:35 mark. Now leading 3-2, the Heat added a one of two free throw effort for a 4-2 lead with exactly 13 minutes left in the opening half. On a subsequent Bears possession, East Brunswick shot itself in the foot with a traveling violation at the 12:17 mark. Shortly afterward, the Mid-Jersey Heat took advantage of its size advantage down low with a layup in the left low block while drawing a foul. Unable to take advantage of the traditional three point play opportunity, the Heat misfired on the bonus foul shot, and the score stood at 6-2 with 11:55 to go in the half. Forty seconds later though, the height advantage came into play again with two offensive rebounds by the Heat that led to a foul, and one of two free throws at the line for a 7-2 edge at the 11:15 mark.
On its next offensive possession, East Brunswick would get its only field goal during the run to trim the deficit to 7-4 with exactly 11 minutes to go before the brief intermission. The Mid-Jersey Heat would get a score of its own to answer the Bear bucket, and EB only got one of two at the line with 8:26 left in the half to make the score, 9-5. Then, the Heat got a layup for an 11-5 lead while East Brunswick committed a miscue by traveling in the key with just under eight minutes to go until halftime. The Mid-Jersey Heat then took advantage of the turnover by scoring a layup to finish off the run for the eight point, 13-5 lead at the 7:35 mark. Bears don’t like being cornered animals, and began to claw their way back with a three pointer on its next trip down the floor for a 13-8 Heat lead at the 7:22 mark. A little while after that, Mayo came up with a steal for a layup that made it 13-10 with 6:54 to go in the half.
The Mid-Jersey Heat then promptly called for time at the 6:50 mark, and after the timeout, quickly went back to work with a reverse layup for a five point, 15-10 lead with 6:40 remaining in the first half. EB then lost the ball out of bounds for a costly turnover at the 6:31 mark. Although the Heat didn’t take advantage of the error, they would force another turnover that they did convert to a score with a steal for a fast break layup that made it 17-10 with exactly six minutes to go in the first half. The Heat then got another basket, and then added one of two at the line to double EB’s scoring output at 20-10 with 4:09 to play in the half. A little more than a half minute after that, Nick Navara came up with a great feed into the paint that ended up as two points for a 20-12 Heat lead at the 3:30 mark. Schuld then followed suit with a drive into the key for a floater that made the score, 22-16 as the Bears outscored the Heat 6-2 over a 2:28 span.
East Brunswick had an opportunity to get even closer as a player drew a foul on a scoring chance, but misfired on both free throws, and despite getting the offensive rebound, the Bears ended up turning the ball over with about a little more than a minute to go in the half. The Mid-Jersey Heat then got a score moments later to push its lead back to eight entering the final moments of the first half. In the waning seconds of the first half, Navara swiped a steal that led to a great feed for a layup that trimmed the deficit to only six at the half, 24-18. In the second half, the Heat would resist the advances made by EB in the latter portion of the first half, and throughout the final period of play with a 30-27 showing for the nine point victory. However, things didn’t start out smoothly as East Brunswick came up with a steal that got into the hands of Mayo, who handed out an assist on a layup that opened the second half scoring to make it 24-20 at the 19:25 mark.
A little less than a half minute later, Johnson came up with a steal and assist on a Tucci layup that pulled the Bears to within two at exactly the 19 minute mark, 24-22. A half minute later though, the Mid-Jersey Heat came up with a nice feed to the cutter for a layin from the right side, 26-22 at the 18:26 mark. The AAU team came up with a nice defensive sequence as they got a shot block on a Mayo shot attempt that was set up nicely by a Johnson steal and dish with 17:52 to play in the game. Ten seconds later, East Brunswick failed to score as an offensive rebound off a missed Mayo jumper resulted in a foul, and two missed free throws with 17:42 to go. Finally, about 50 seconds later, the Bears came up with a nice fast break play as Johnson passed off to Mayo, who dished to Tucci for a layup, and a 26-24 Heat lead with 16:54 to play in regulation. With the Bears on its heels, the Mid-Jersey Heat came up with a crucial 8-0 spurt over a 2:46 span to take a ten point, 34-24 lead with 14:08 to go.
The spurt began innocently with a layup at the 16:47 mark, ad then continued with back to back layups over a 1:22 span that made it 32-24. Over another minute would go by before the Heat handed out a nice pass underneath to a cutter off the inbounds for the double digit lead. East Brunswick compounded their now perilous situation by misfiring again on both free throw attempts at the other end with 10:48 to play, but the Bears would finally start digging themselves out of the hole when Tucci came up with a steal for a layup from the left side to put a halt to the 8-0 run, and made the score, 34-26 with 10:30 to play. Tucci then continued to put forth a solid effort by picking up a steal, and handing out an assist on a Schuld layup with 9:35 to play that made the score, 34-28. Both teams would exchange scores before Tucci’s three made it a three point game at 36-33 with 8:32 left.
Once again though, the Mid-Jersey Heat would put its opponent at arm’s length with another key 8-0 run that included layups at the 7:56 and 7:15 marks, a jumper from the left wing with 6:40 to go, and a pair of free throws that resulted from a Bear technical foul at the 5:54 mark for a 44-33 lead. But the visitors from Middlesex County continued to show the fortitude it has had all spring with 12-6 spurt over the next 4:54 to pull within five with a minute to go in the game. Following a timeout at the 5:06 mark, EB got going for its final push with a layin by Johnson at the 4:45 mark. Mayo then followed that up quickly with a steal for a layup at the 4:30 mark. Schuld then made a nice defensive play to prevent a layup at the 2:26 mark, and Mayo got yet another steal for a layup to close the gap to five at 50-45 with time running out. However, the Bears were unable to get any closer as the Heat ended the game with the final four points for the 54-45 victory.
With the victory, the Mid-Jersey Heat improved to .500 at 2-2 on the spring while East Brunswick fell to 1-3 overall. Both teams will be back in action next Monday with the Bears playing undefeated Lakewood on the Celtics court at 8:00 PM, and the Heat taking on Point Pleasant Boro on Celtics court right after at 9:00 PM.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mid-Jersey Heat (2-2) | 24 | 30 | 54 |
| East Brunswick (1-3) | 18 | 27 | 45 |