TBSA Summer League–July 24, 2008

EDISON, NJ–On Thursday, July 24th, GMC Hoops ventured out to The Basketball Shooting Academy over on Carter Drive in Edison to take in a couple games from the first round of the playoffs in the 2008 TBSA Summer League. During the visit, the web site had a chance to touch base with a number of people including Piscataway’s site runner, Dennis Wells, who also is very active in coaching the team during the summer, Woodbridge’s new head coach, Antoine Patterson, Perth Amboy’s new head coach, Edwin Santana, and New Brunswick’s head coach, Antoine Allen. First we’ll talk about our two new coaches in the GMC that have recently become a part of the always revolving coaches carousel in the conference.

Coach Patterson was recently hired at Woodbridge after it was announced earlier this summer that former Barrons head coach, Scott Sienkiewicz was stepping down. Patterson, who had previously served as an assistant coach at Roselle, played high school basketball in the Buffalo, New York area, and then went to college at St. Francis of Pennsylvania, now a member of the Northeastern Conference. There, Patterson played for Jim Baron, who happens to be Marquis Jones head coach at the University of Rhode Island. According to the official press guide for this year’s St. Francis of Pennsylvania team, the school was 7-20 prior to Patterson’s arrival although the Barrons new coach stated that the team was actually 5-24.

Regardless of record, Patterson has had great experience in turning things around at places that he has been to, and it all began at St. Francis of Pennsylvania. Within three years, St. Francis was 24-8, and playing Arizona in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. During the 1990-91 campaign, St. Francis was 13-3 in the Northeast Conference, and won the post-season tournament that year with victories over St. Francis of New York (96-70) and FDU (97-82). The Red Flash then won a Play-In game over Fordham by a score of 70-64 before falling to Arizona (93-80). The 1990-91 St. Francis team still owns the school record for most wins in a single season, and is the only team in school history ever to reach the NCAA Tournament. The team also produced an NBA Draft, Mike Iuzzolino, 2nd Round, Dallas Mavericks. Patterson went on to lead the team in field goal shooting percentage the following season (1991-92) by going 137-254 for a 53.9 percentage.

Prior to arriving at Woodbridge, Patterson assisted Mike Smith over at Roselle. The Runnin’ Rams have come a long way after the dual departure of standout Jesse Holle (played football and even basketball at North Carolina) and long time head coach, Stan Kokie. The program struggled for several years, but with the help of those like Patterson, Smith began to turn things around by building the program up from the lower levels. For the past several years, Roselle has had teams competing in the Raritan Bay Summer League. In addition, Roselle has been competing in the HawksBasketball Fall-Ball Classic. The hard work and patience paid off this season as the Rams not only thumped GMC White Division contender Carteret in the state tournament, but also defeated Weequahic for the Central Jersey Group II Championship. Patterson sees that he has talent on the team with the likes of Gerard Bullock and Blair Dolphin returning, and youngsters such as former Carteret legend Keith Hughes’ son coming up. However, he is trying to instill in the Barrons the idea that defense must come first. Patterson’s background in coaching Union County hoops these past several seasons will go a long way in trying to turn the fortunes of Woodbridge, which hasn’t had much success over the years.

Moving on to the Bayway portion of Northern Middlesex County, the next new coach hails at Perth Amboy High School. The Panthers are long linked to success in Middlesex County and Greater Middlesex Conference Tournaments. In the 40 plus years of the MCT/GMCT, Perth Amboy has appeared in the Championship game 13 times, and won 9 of those times. The Panthers also own the best all time record in tournament play with an overall mark of 84-34 (.712). However, the program has been in a state of transition for the past several years. Long time head coach, John Mazurek, stepped down a few seasons ago, and his replacement, Neil Kennett, who actually had coached at Amboy during the 1998-99 season, and guided it to a Cinderella run to the GMCT Final Four that season, just stepped down this spring.

Looking to go with someone younger, Perth Amboy decided to go with Edwin Santana, who has been the JV coach at the school for a number of years now. Santana’s youthful exuberance, and energy is a good fit for a program trying to restore its glory. Santana was on the staff during the last great Amboy team back in 2002-03 with the likes of Jermaine Clark (St. Rose), Brett Brown, Marcus Carty, Jefferson Mwango, and Damien Beasley. That season, the Panthers reached the Quarterfinals of the GMCT before losing to eventual semifinalist, South Plainfield. With the closing of St. Peter’s High School, and programs like New Brunswick also trying to rebuild, Perth Amboy’s renaissance in high school hoops would be much welcomed. Santana is excited about the team. Despite losing the likes of Edwin Guerra and Jamar Bridgeforth to gradaution, the first year head coach is enthused about youngsters coming up including his sophomore class.

This past season, Perth Amboy’s freshmen team reached the Quarterfinals of the 2008 Perth Amboy Freshmen Tournament before losing to the eventual tourney champion, St. Joseph’s. In addition to the influx of talented sophomores, Amboy got former McCarrick point guard, Eliazar Landeo, who transferred to the school. The Panthers do not have much in the way of size, but with the addition of a couple football players to the roster, Santana feels they’ll be ok. Amboy will also have the likes of Reggae Rojas, Brian Paulino, Justin Madden, and Alex Nemeth all returning next year. Although the Red Division is always tough with the likes of Piscataway, St. Joseph’s, and J.P. Stevens being the creme of the crop for 2008-09, Amboy has been competitive, but just hasn’t been able to find ways to win games in the end. Hopefully, Santana will help the Panthers figure out how to win again.

With a brief discussion of our two new coaches out of the way, we can now get to the matter at hand, which were the two featured games of the evening between Bishop Ahr and Edison, and J.P. Stevens and Ridge. Both contests were intense battles living up to the theme of playoff basketball. Each game saw one team jump out in front only to have the other team rally, and either make it interesting in the end.

Bishop Ahr Hangs On Despite Valiant Edison Rally, 38-33

It was a tale of two halves in this one. The Trojans, led by soon to be seniors, Matt Sheehy and Matt Fiorino, took a 16-0 lead over the first 13:36 of the first half, and led at halftime 20-5, but Edison rallied to make things interesting at the end. In the second half, the Eagles, who look to have some talent this year, but are still learning how to win, showed flashes of the potential they have this season. Outscoring Ahr by a 26-12 margin over the first 17:39 of the second half, EHS actually pulled within one point of the lead at 32-31 with 2:21 left in the game, but both Fiorino and Sheehy came up with huge free throws down the stretch to help BGA keep Edison just at arm’s length in a thrilling, 38-33 victory.

Arriving at TBSA with 11:55 to go in the first half, Bishop Ahr had already staked itself to a 7-0 lead. Less than a half minute later, the Trojans were on the board again with a score at the 11:30 mark. Almost exactly a minute later, BGA got another field goal to take an 11-0 lead, and then added a three pointer for a 14-0 advantage with nine minutes to play in the first half. Meanwhile, Edison continued to have problems just getting themselves going. For example, with 7:07 to play in the first half, the Eagles traveled, and then with 4:40 to go before the break, EHS committed a backcourt violation. Manny Kroggman then capped the Trojan run with a layup from the left side for a 16-0 lead at the 6:24 mark.

Edison would go scoreless for approximately 18:16 of the first half until it knocked in an off-balanced shot in the key for the first field goal and points of the game. The Eagle bucket began to open up the flood gates as Ahr, which had been scoreless for 4:40 at this point, began to lose the momentum it had built up for the majority of the half. Prior to Edison getting on the board for the first time, Matt Melnick lost the handle on the ball, and ended up getting tied up, which resulted in a foul, and Edison getting possession at the 4:07 mark. Jordan Smith did what he could to prevent that by scoring on a fadeaway jumper with 1:04 to go in the half. Sheehy then added a layup from the right side some 29 seconds later for a 20-2 lead before the Eagles got a three pointer with 15 seconds remaining for the 20-5 halftime score.

After watching a bit of the contest between J.P. Stevens and Ridge, GMC Hoops returned to the action with 6:24 left to play, and Bishop Ahr only leading by five. The Eagles had climbed all the way back into the contest with a 19-6 second half surge, and a 24-13 run over a span of exactly 20 minutes since Ahr led 16-0. Edison continued to creep closer with a field goal at the six minute mark for a 29-26 BGA lead. EHS had an opportunity to get closer with a great move that got the attention of a number of people on the sidelines including New Brunswick head coach, Antoine Allen, but it didn’t produce a score with 4:43 remaining. The Eagles refused to go away though with a 5-3 run over the next few minutes to pull within one on the three pointer at the 2:21 mark.

However, on a subsequent BGA possession, Fiorino netted two free throws with 1:33 to go in the game for a 34-31 lead. Then, after an Edison timeout at the 1:29 mark, the Trojans came up with a huge defensive play as Sheehy drew a charge on Steve Migliore with just inside a minute to play. Five seconds later, Jordan Smith failed to connect on a front end of a one and one, but his teammates picked him up by making two critical foul shots with 28 seconds remaining for a 36-31 lead. The Eagles would pull to within three again on a field goal before calling a timeout with 15 seconds to play, and a 36-33 BGA lead. Sheehy misfired on a front end of a one and one with 13 seconds left, but the Trojans forced an Edison turnover, and Fiorino drew a foul that resulted in a pair from the charity stripe with six seconds remaining for the final, 38-33 margin.

Team 1 2 Total
Bishop Ahr 20 18 38
Edison 5 28 33

Stevens Comes From Behind To Down Ridge, 57-50

While there wasn’t the same wide disparity in the lead in this one, the Red Devils gave the Hawks all they could handle before Stevens pulled out the hard fought win. Early on in this one, the game went back and forth, but then Ridge embarked on an 8-0 run that included back to back three point plays at the 13:03 and 12:23 marks respectively for a 14-6 lead. Stevens eventually climbed back into the contest with first an unconventional three point play at the 10:30 mark on one of two free throws, and then an offensive rebound and putback of the missed second shot by Kenny Bland for a 14-9 score, and then a 14-12 showing over the next 10:09 to pull within three at 26-23. However, Ridge got a free throw with no time on the clock for a four point, 27-23 advantage at halftime.

After watching some more action from the contest between Bishop Ahr and Edison over on the other court, GMC Hoops returned to the action with 11:40 to go, and Ridge still clinging to a two point, 40-38 lead. Fifteen seconds later, the Red Devils netted a pair of free throws to lead again by four at 42-38 with 11:25 to play. The Hawks, which actually had a 9-1 run over a span of 5:15, got things going their way when Bland came up with a huge block that Nick Pol rebounded and drove down the left side with for a layup attempt that resulted in a pair of free throws, and a 42-40 Ridge lead at the 10:26 mark. Stevens then committed a turnover at the 8:40 mark, and its bench was assessed a technical with eight minutes left in the game that resulted in one of two at the line by Ridge for a 43-40 lead. The Hawks then used the emotion of the technical foul to continue its rally.

Myles Reuben drew a foul on a shot attempt, and netted one of two from the line. On the missed second free throw, the soon to be senior grabbed the offensive board, and put it back in for a 43-43 tie with 7:27 remaining in regulation. JPS then produced a steal on defense that resulted in a layup, and a 45-43 lead at the 6:32 mark. Reuben then capped the 9-1 run, and padded the Hawk lead with two free throws at the 6:10 mark that made the score, 47-43. The Devils would finally get a field goal to pull within two again at 47-45, but then Pol quickly responded with a floater at the other end for a 49-45 lead at the 5:05 mark of the second half. The Hawks would then get another stop, and Bland then dished to Reuben for a layup attempt that drew another foul, and produced a one of two showing at the foul line for a 50-45 lead with 4:28 remaining in regulation.

Ridge then pecked away some more with one of two from the line at the 3:40 mark, and another one of two at the line with 1:57 left to close the gap to two again at 50-48. Stevens then turned the ball over at the 1:30 mark, but after Ridge called for time with 1:17 left, the Hawks made amends on its miscue by first forcing a Devil turnover at the 1:10 mark, and then essentially putting the game away on a three point play by a reserve with exactly a minute to go. From there, Stevens outscored Ridge, 4-2 including a pair of free throws by Pol to ice the 57-50 win.

Team 1 2 Total
J.P. Stevens 23 34 57
Ridge 27 23 50