TBSA Fall League–September 14, 2008

EDISON, NJ—On Sunday, GMC Hoops traveled over to The Basketball Shooting Academy over on Carter Drive in Edison to take in some of the action from Opening Day of the 2008 TBSA Fall League. This is the third year the league is being run, and it has grown so much in that time. In the first year of this league, there were only 12 teams. Now, there are 28 teams. There are the usual garden variety of GMC teams competing in the league such as Cardinal McCarrick, Colonia, J.P. Stevens, Monroe, Piscataway, and St. Joseph’s. However, there are some new teams coming from outside the conference such as Plainfield and Columbia, which had been in the HawksBasketball Fall-Ball Classic, and moved into this league after it was announced that the Fall-Ball Classic wasn’t running this year.

The site captured action from the final two games of the night. Unfortunately, Greg Machos works during much of the day on Sunday, and is only able to get out in time to see the final two games. There are a ton of games played each week with the first contest beginning at 1:00 PM, and the last one finishing at 9:00 PM or so. One of the games played on Sunday was between Cardinal McCarrick and Plainfield, and although the Eagles had some struggles this summer, and were without a couple players, they were able to defeat the Cardinals by 12. The final two contests of the evening consisted of J.P. Stevens and Weequahic of the Hills Division of the Iron Hills Conference on Court #2, and Colonia taking on one of the two Columbia squads competing over on Court #5.

Weequahic Edges Stevens, 50-45

GMC Hoops arrived at TBSA with several minutes gone by in the first half of this one. At the 14:15 mark, the Indians led the Hawks by only one point, 7-6. Fifty seconds afterward, Myles Reuben took in a feed from the left side, and scored a layup as he was fouled for a conventional three point play that catapulted JPS in front, 9-7 at the 13:25 mark. Neither team would score for almost two minutes until Weequahic applied some pressure to the Hawks backcourt, and forced Nick Pol to turn the ball over. Picking up the steal, the Indians quickly converted it with a powerful, yet athletic tomahawk slam dunk to knot the game back up at 9-9 with 11:32 remaining in the first half. A little more than 45 seconds later, the school from Newark swiped another steal that led to one more dunk attempt, but this time Stevens made them earn it at the line by picking up the foul.

After two free throws by Weequahic for an 11-9 lead, the Hawks came back with one of two of their own at the line for an 11-10 Indian lead at the 9:45 mark. Ten seconds later though, Weequahic went back up by three with a score at the 9:35 mark. JPS would get a score to pull within one again, but the Indians increased their advantage to four with a basket and a foul for a three point play, and a 16-12 lead with 8:44 to play before the intermission. Stevens would then get a bucket to pull within two at 16-14, but Weequahic continued to keep the school from North Edison at arm’s length with a spin move from the left side of the key for a short jumper that rattled in, and made the score, 18-14.

The Newark team then added three more points to go up by seven at 21-14 before Pol, a senior guard, clicked on a jumper from the left side that closed the gap to five at 21-16 with 6:46 to go in the half. Over the final 6:46, the Hawks pulled a bit closer with a 6-5 showing that made the score, 26-22 at the half. In the second half, GMC Hoops returned to the action with 5:24 to play after watching a good deal of the Colonia and Columbia #1 tussle. Upon returning, the site saw Stevens get on the board with two free throws from senior forward, Kenny Bland to make it 43-38 after Weequahic had started the half with a 17-14 showing over the first 14:36. Over the next 1:24, the Indians scored the next three points including a jumper from the left side for a 46-38 lead at exactly the four minute mark.

A minute afterward, the Hawks scored on a layup to pull within six again at 46-40 with three minutes to play. Approximately a minute and twenty seconds later, Weequahic turned the ball over, and moments later Bland was fouled on a scoop shot that resulted in two from the charity stripe for a 46-42 Indian edge at the 1:33 mark. Thirty-two seconds after that, Pol grabbed an offensive rebound off a Bland miss, and tried to follow it in, but was fouled, and made two from the line himself to close the gap to two at 46-44 with 1:01 remaining in regulation. The Hawks couldn’t get any closer though as Weequahic netted a pair of free throws at the 36 second and 17 second marks to wrap up the 50-45 victory.

Team 1 2 Total
Weequahic (1-0) 26 24 50
J.P. Stevens (0-1) 22 23 45

Columbia Downs Colonia In Another Close Battle

While Stevens was taking on Weequahic, another GMC team was in action against a squad from the Iron Hills Conference. The Colonia Patriots, which are coming off a season where they reached the Championship Game of the North Jersey Section 2 Group III bracket, were taking on the Columbia Cougars from the Iron Division of the Iron Hills Conference. Last fall, the Cougars won the Championship of the HawksBasketball Fall-Ball Classic by defeating two-time defending champ, Plainfield. After watching about eight minutes of the JPS-Weequahic game, the site came over to watch the last six and a half minutes of the first half, and the first 10:30 of the second half. Although Columbia did lose a lot with the departures of Jameel Grace and Yvon Raymond, the Cougars still have some fine players returning including sharpshooter Kenny Rubenstein, and Jeff Melvin.

On the other side of the ledger, the Patriots may have lost Brandon Hall, but they have forward Nnamdi Usuwa, who is returning after off the court problems sidelined him for almost the entire season last year. In addition, sophomore Matt Wagner transferred in from St. Joseph’s in Metuchen to complement J.J. D’Amico in the backcourt. The site joined the action with 6:32 to go in the first half, and the score reading 10-8 in favor of Columbia after a three pointer by Wagner. A timeout was taken at the 6:08 mark, and after the stoppage, the Patriots stayed within striking distance as both teams traded three points for a 13-11 score at the 2:00 PM following two free throws. About a minute later, the Pats squared the game again with a field goal for a 13-13 tie. Columbia then took the lead in the waning moments of the half as Rubenstein was fouled on a drive that resulted in two free throws at the 14 second mark, and then his Cougar teammates swiped a steal off an errant pass by D’Amico for a 15-13 lead at the intermission.

In the second half, the Patriots started strong with an 8-0 spurt over the first 3:39 for a 21-15 lead. Usuwa started things off by taking in a lob pass from D’Amico, and powering in down low on the right side for a layup, and a 15-15 tie at the 19:47 mark. Dave Cole then scored on an acrobatic layup twenty-four seconds later to put the Pats ahead, 17-15 with 19:23 remaining. Then, CHS added another score at the 18:45 mark for a four point lead. Usuwa then stepped up on the defensive end with a block at the 17:50 mark, and then Columbia turned the ball over at the 17:18 mark before calling for time with 17:09 to go in the game. Following the timeout, Usuwa was fouled from behind on a lay attempt. He sank the first free throw, and then after a Cougar timeout, made the second with 16:21 left for the six-point edge.

Following the stoppage, Columbia finally got on the board as Melvin clicked on a three point attempt from the left corner to give the Cougars their first points of the second half after not scoring for the initial 4:17. Fifty-two seconds later, Columbia crept a bit closer with a one of two showing at the foul line to pull within a bucket at 21-19 with 14:51 to play. The Maplewood school then made it a 6-0 run that tied the game at 21-21 as Rubenstein swiped a steal off D’Amico for a layup at the 13:58 mark. Neither team would score for over a minute until Usuwa drew a foul on a shot attempt, and netted two charity shots to put the Patriots ahead again at 23-21 with 12:55 to play. Rubenstein then scored the next three points himself for the Cougars with a jumper from the left wing at the 11:56 mark, and then one of two at the line with 11:29 to play that gave Columbia at 24-23 lead.

Continuing to go back and forth, the teams exchanged leads again as sophomore David Cole connected on a jumper from the left side for a 25-24 Patriot advantage at the 10:31 mark. Columbia then tied things up at 25-25 with 9:28 to play by making one of two at the line. The team from Essex County would pull out the win with a 20-13 run over the final 10:31 to register the 44-38 opening night win.

Team 1 2 Total
Columbia #1 (1-0) 15 29 44
Colonia (0-1) 13 25 38