First Half Surge Lifts Tigers Past Destroyers
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| Timothy Christian’s Will Clemons goes up for a layup in the second half against Dunellen in a GMC Gold Clash on Friday. Clemons chipped in with 10 points in the Tigers win over the Destroyers. |
DUNELLEN, NJ–Over the first week of the season, there really haven’t been many surprises in the GMC Gold Division. The top two teams pre-season, Perth Amboy and Timothy Christian, have both lived up to expectations while the rest have been playing catch-up. Dunellen has been the only exception.
Entering their contest against Timothy Christian on Friday evening, the Destroyers have managed to win two of its first three games. Both wins over Wardlaw (42-37) and Piscataway Tech (62-57) were by single digits while the lone loss was a one point defeat to Highland Park (43-42) on Wednesday.
For the first half of the opening period in its contest against TCS, Dunellen appeared poised to make a game of it. After yielding the first four points of the game to the TIgers on scores by Pierce Kokosinski and Will Clemons, the Destroyers scored five unanswered points including a three by R.J. Mitchell and a layup by Angel Suarez for a 5-4 lead.
From that point on though, it was all Timothy Christian for the rest of the first half. Over the final 12 minutes of play in the half, the Tigers surged with a 22-3 showing that was sparked by a three pointer by A.J. Myha and included a layup by Clemons and several scores from Robert Saydee to take a commanding 26-8 lead going into the intermission.
Dunellen tried to show some life early in the third by scoring 4 of the first 5 points to pull within 27-12, but Kokosinski then banked in a runner at the 5:54 mark of the frame to put TCS back up by 17, and spark a 6-2 spurt capped by an Myha layup at the 4:33 mark for a 33-14 lead. Timothy Christian then cruised from there for a comfortable 55-39 victory.
Saydee finished with a game high 17 points while Myha, who showed some versatility with two threes, chipped in with 13 points while Clemons added 10. Nazir Martin led Dunellen with 13 points while freshman Tyje’ Kelton chipped in with 11. Both teams had seven different players score in the contest. Dunellen as a team collected 23 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals in the game.
Saydee and Myha each scored 8 points in the first half when Timothy Christian pulled away from an 11-7 first quarter lead with a 15-1 showing in the second. Clemons and Koksinski each chipped in with four points. The Tigers ended up making 11 of 27 shots for the half after clicking on 6 of 12 from the floor in the second. The TCS defense limited Dunellen to just 3 of 14 shooting from the field in the first half.
Dunellen made the game more respectable in the second half, especially after trailing by 21 early on in the fourth. The Destroyers ended up outscoring TCS by a margin of 31-29 over the final two periods including an 11-5 spurt over the final 5:55 of the contest thanks to three pointers by Kelton and Martin along with free throws by Kelton, Martin, and Noah Wenzel.
With the victory, Timothy Christian, which defeated South River (84-60) in a GMC crossover on opening weekend, improved to 4-1 overall and in the GMC including a 3-1 record in the Blue Division. Dunellen, which lost its second straight, dropped to .500 at 2-2 overall and in divisional play. Both teams will return to action over the holidays in Christmas tournaments.
Dunellen will be hosting its own holiday tournament starting on Tuesday with a contest against Hopatcong of Morris County at 7:00 PM. Timothy Christian, will travel up to North Jersey to compete in the Eastern Christian Holiday Tournament against Hawthorne Christian on Tuesday evening at 5:30 PM.