PLAINFIELD, NJ–The second week of action ended at the 2007 HawksBasketball Fall-Ball Classic with a couple of barnburner games in the 7:30 PM and 8:30 PM hours. GMC Hoops got to see two of the three Greater Middlesex Conference teams in action on this Wednesday night as Spotswood faced-off against Watchung Hills of the Delaware East Division of the Skyland Conference while Woodbridge battled Roselle of the Mountain Valley Conference in the nightcap. The Warriors from Warren took a 37-24 lead at the half, and withstood an early second half charge by Spotswood for a 59-45 victory. Later on the same court, Woodbridge and Roselle fought tooth and nail despite the fact that the Barrons were without three of its best players. The Runnin’ Rams outscored Woodbridge by a 5-2 margin over the final 2:30 for a 43-41 victory that avenged a heartbreaking loss to the Barrons in the opening round of last year’s playoffs. Meanwhile, host team Plainfield duked it out with Columbia in a game that pitted two undefeated teams, and ended up with the Cougars avenging its only two losses last fall with a close 45-44 win over the Cards.
Watchung Hills Downs Spotswood Despite Efforts Of Pace, 59-45
The Chargers got 20 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals from sophomore Cody Pace, but it wasn’t enough as Watchung Hills scored 37 points in the first half for a fourteen point lead, and didn’t let Spotswood cut into the lead in the second half despite a quick start by the GMC Blue squad in a 59-45 win. Ross Gerhart chipped in with 8 points and 2 blocks while sophomore guard, James Pareti contributed with eight points as well along with three rebounds, and an assist. Tyler Osofsky and Alex Dwani chipped in with four points each while Osofsky added two rebounds and an assist, and Dwani collected a rebound and an assist. Tim Pareti chipped in with a point while Pat Dwyer (4 rebounds and 2 assists) also played, but didn’t score. Pace had six points, two rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block in the second half while Gerhart added four points, a rebound, and an assist.
In the first half, both teams exchanged some scores early on, but then Watchung Hills took over with a fine display of passing on the break for back to back layups. Then, the Chargers did themselves in with bad passes as they tried to break the Warrior defensive pressure. Watchung Hills then got a bucket off a nice move in the key for a shot that got the benefit of a kind bounce, and then made two easy layups off steals for a 29-14 lead close to halfway through the first half. The Warriors didn’t stop there as they got another steal again that was converted into a finger roll layup for an 31-14 advantage with nine minutes left before intermission. A minute later, Dwyer grabbed a rebound, and passed upcourt to Gerhart for a layup attempt that he was fouled on, and that resulted into one of two at the line for an 31-15 WH lead at about the eight minute mark. Gerhart followed that up with a jumper about a minute or so later to cut the deficit in half at 31-17 with around seven minutes to go before halftime. Watchung Hills then made a pair of foul shots at the six minute mark for a 33-17 lead before Pareti battled amongst the trees for an offensive rebound and putback off a Warrior block on an Osofsky shot set up by nice passing from Dwyer and Pace to make it 33-19 with 5:30 left in the half.
About a minute and a half went by without either team scoring before Watchung Hills scored on a foul line jumper at the 4:00 mark to make the score, 35-19. Forty-five seconds later, Gerhart picked the pocket of a Warrior player for a steal, and passed upcourt to Pace, who passed back to Gerhart for a layup, and a foul for a three point play to make the score, 35-22. Pace then cut the deficit to eleven with a pair of foul shots with approximately 1:30 to play before the intermission, but Watchung Hills closed out the first half scoring with a nice back door cut for a left handed layup for the 37-24 halftime lead. Over seven and a half of the last nine minutes of the first half, Spotswood outscored the Warriors by a 10-4 margin, but the Somerset County squad still managed to stay ahead by thirteen at the break. The Chargers will make a run to start the second half that would not only enhance their first half finish, but also make the game interesting for a little while.
After trailing at the half 37-23, the Spotswood Chargers began the second half with a 12-5 spurt to close the gap to seven at 43-36 with 12:30 to go in the game. Watchung Hills actually began the new half with a running one handed shot in the key for a 39-24 lead with 19:45 before Spotswood scored six straight points including a field goal, two free throws by Pareti, and a layup by Pace that made it 39-30 with 18:30 left. Watchung Hills missed two free throws at the 18:00 mark, and the Chargers pulled within seven as Pace passed off to Gerhart for a jumper from the left wing to make it 39-32 with 14:45 left. Pace, the nephew of former Colonia head coach Ken Pace, and cousin to Monroe’s Ken Pace, Jr., then got a steal that he converted into a layup that made it a five point game at 39-34 with 13:00 left, and then a half minute later, Pace did it again with a layup that made it 43-36.
However, the Warriors from Warren in Somerset County regained their composure, and control over the game with a 16-9 run over the final dozen or so minutes of the game for the 59-45 win. Watchung scored six straight points over a span of about two minutes before Gerhart made a pair of free throws to make the score, 49-38 with nine minutes remaining. The Warriors then made a pair of free throws at the 7:48 mark for a 51-38 lead, and then got another score a little while after that for a 53-38 lead at the five minute mark. Dwani and Osofsky scored the next six points as Dwani netted two earlier jumpers, and Osofsky converted a driving layup to make the score, 57-44 late, but it wasn’t enough as Watchung Hills won by fourteen, 59-45. With the win, the Warriors raised their record to 2-0 on the fall at HBA while Spotswood, which is the only team in the league to play every night so far this season, dropped to 1-3. Next game for Spotswood will be on Wednesday, September 26th against Woodbridge at 7:30 while Watchung Hills will be playing against another GMC Blue team in Metuchen on Monday night, September 24th.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spotswood (1-3) | 24 | 21 | 45 |
| Watchung Hills (2-0) | 37 | 22 | 59 |
Columbia Outlasts Plainfield To Stay Undefeated, 45-44
Last fall, these two teams played each other twice. Once early on in the regular season, and then in the Championship Game of the post-season tournament. Both games were won by Plainfield, which ended up claiming its second straight Fall-Ball Classic Championship. However, the Cardinals are a much different team after losing the likes of Anthony Nelson, Raphiq Carnegie, Jerrell Thompson, and Rodney Tucker to graduation in June 2007. Only Anthony Baskerville and Isiah Epps are familar names returning from last season. However, with the likes of newcomers such as Daryll Gordon, the younger brother of 2004 graduate Mike Gordon, there is always plenty of talent to work with and develop at PHS. Meanwhile, Columbia has several players returning from last year including: Jameel Grace and Yvon Raymond.
The entire game was a back and forth affair with at least eleven lead changes and ten ties as neither team took a lead bigger than four. Columbia, which competes against the likes of Seton Hall Prep and Morristown in the Iron Hills Conference that spans over Morris, Essex, and Union Counties, took an early 6-4 lead with 16:30 remaining in the first half, but the Cardinals tied things up at 6-6 at the 16:07 mark. A little less than forty seconds after that, the Cougars retook the lead at 8-6, and then took the largest lead of the contest at 10-6 with 15:12 to go before halftime. However, Plainfield fought back with eight of the next twelve points over a span of 4:47 to make it a 14-14 tie with 10:25 to go before intermission. The game continued to be nip and tuck for the balance of the first half with a 12-11 edge for Columbia to hold a 26-25 advantage at the break. It would be more of the same in the second half as the two teams couldn’t shake each other. Columbia began the new half with four of the first six points to widen the gap to three at 30-27 with 18:27 to play in the contest, but Plainfield rallied back again with a three point play for a 30-30 tie at the 18:10 mark.
Columbia went back up by two with a basket at the 18:04 mark for a 32-30 lead, but the Cards tied things back up again before the Cougars got a three point play of their own at the 15:20 mark for a 35-32 lead. Plainfield got a score to pull within one at 35-34 with 11:40 to play before Columbia got another 3-2 run for a 38-36 lead with 10:53 remaining. Less than a half minute later, Plainfield tied the game up at 38-38. Over the next 5:15, Columbia scored three points in what was a tightly played defensive war to take a 41-38 lead before the Cards got a score at the 5:12 mark to pull within one again at 41-40. The Cougars made it a three point game again with a layup that not only made it 43-40, but also compelled Plainfield to call for time at the 4:24 mark. Following the timeout, the Cardinals drove in for a layin that got a kind bounce to make the score, 43-42 at the 3:50 mark as another raucous hometown crowd tried stirring things up.
But, Plainfield couldn’t get any closer, and overcome the slim deficit thanks to numerous missed opportunities down the stretch. Columbia gave them plenty of chances to take the lead, and the game late, but the more inexperienced Cardinals failed to capitalize. Following a Columbia timeout at the 3:21 mark, the Cougars turned the ball over at the 2:55 mark. However, Plainfield couldn’t cash in, and later was called for an over the back foul. The Cardinals kept battling by getting a steal at the 1:43 mark, and Columbia picked up a foul just seconds later. With possession of the basketball, Plainfield was a good offensive sequence away from taking the lead, but the Cards settled for a jumper that was well off the mark at the 1:28 mark. Columbia kept being generous though by traveling on the very next possession with 1:09 remaining, but the Cards still couldn’t take advantage as Grace picked up a steal, and went in for a layup when he was stripped by the Cardinals with 51.75 left. On the very next inbounds play, the Cougars got a pivotal score with a layup while being fouled, but missed the bonus free throw to make the score, 45-42 at the 49.61 second mark. Plainfield then put itself in a precarious situation by getting called for a double dribble at the 42.17 second mark.
Unfortunately though for the small contingent of Cougar fans at the game, Columbia failed to put the game away with four missed front ends of one and ones over the final 38.97 seconds, and then PHS pulled within one again with a long jumper at the 18.8 second mark to make it 45-44. However, despite CHS missing one and one opportunities at the 16.74, 9.7, and 5.43 marks, Plainfield couldn’t pull out the win. With 6.91 seconds left, the Cardinals threw the ball away, and then with 3.48 left, missed a front end of a one and one itself to preserve the Columbia 45-44 win in a contest that surprisingly nobody wanted to win for the last ten minutes or so. With the victory, Columbia took sole possession of first place at 3-0 while Plainfield dropped to 1-1 on the fall. On Monday night, Columbia will take a well deserved day off while Plainfield will battle Woodbridge at 6:00 PM. The Cougars will be next out at the Fall-Ball Classic on Wednesday night when it faces Metuchen at 7:30 PM.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia (3-0) | 26 | 19 | 45 |
| Plainfield (1-1) | 25 | 19 | 44 |
Roselle Wins Over Shorthanded Woodbridge In A Seesaw Affair, 43-41
In all fairness to the Plainfield and Columbia game, I didn’t see the entire game, but the Roselle and Woodbridge game at least as exciting with quite a number of lead changes and ties. For the game, there were 17 lead changes and 7 ties between the two teams while neither team had a lead bigger than eight points. Despite not having Anthony Graham, Gerard Bullock, and Blair Dolphin on hand for the game, the Barrons showed a lot of guts and determination as Rich Ng (7 field goals for 14 points) and Kirk Zambrana (4 field goals and 7 of 10 free throws for 15 points) came up with solid efforts in a losing cause. After Roselle had taken a 25-17 lead early in the second half, the Barrons battled back with a 14-4 tear over the first ten minutes of the second half to actually take a 31-29 lead. From that point until the end of the game, there were six leads and one tie while neither team had a lead bigger than three. In the end though, Roselle scored five of the last seven points over the final 2:30 to turn a 39-38 deficit into a 43-41 win.
The Runnin’ Rams, which lost to the Barrons in the first round of the 2006 HawksBasketball Fall-Ball Classic playoffs, put together their best offensive display GMC Hoops has seen in several years, particularly from the outside with one made jumper after another. Roselle went on the attack right away by getting fouled at the 19:45 mark, but missed both free throws, and then the follow on the offensive rebound. The Runnin’ Rams finally got on the board with a pass in the key for a short jumper that made the score, 2-0 at the 19:15. Zambrana would respond for the Barrons with a layup for a 2-2 tie at the 19:15 mark. Rich Ng, who started out on fire in the first half, netted a foul line jumper at the 18:25 mark that gave Woodbridge at 4-2 lead. Roselle would respond some forty seconds later with a jumper of its own to knot the game again at 4-4. Two and a half minutes would go by before another score when Tim Weber passed off to Ng for a score that made it 6-4 in favor of the Barrons, but thirty seconds after that, Roselle squared the contest once more at 6-6 with a jumper in the key with 14:45 to go in the opening half.
Zambrana had an opportunity to give Woodbridge the lead back when he was fouled on a layup attempt at the 14:30 mark, but misfired on both free throw attempts so the score remained tied at 6-6 until Roselle connected on a bank shot from the left side to take an 8-6 lead with fourteen minutes to go before halftime. A minute later, the Barrons would tie the game with a spin move for a short jumper that made the score 8-8, but on the next possession the Rams retook the lead with a score at the 12:30 mark to make it 10-8. Roselle held the lead for over two minutes before Ng tied it once more with a dribble drive to his right for a short jumper to make it 10-10 at the 10:20 mark. Once more though, Roselle scored on its next possession thanks to two offensive rebounds and a follow that resulted in a foul, and one of two free throws for an 11-10 advantage with 9:30 to go before the break. The Barrons replied on their next offensive possession as Weber took a dribble in from the top of the key to knock down a short jumper from straight on to give his team a 12-11 lead with about nine minutes left in the first half.
Roselle continued to come right back with a score as they got a bucket again on their next possession to take a 13-12 advantage with about 8:30 to go in the first half. Both teams got stuck in the mud a bit offensively with no points over the next 3:45 before the Barrons were forced to take a timeout at the 4:45 mark to avoid a turnover. The stoppage helped set up a good scoring opportunity for Woodbridge as Ng took a good shot attempt, but it missed, and the Rams converted it into a fast break opportunity and layup for a 15-12 lead with approximately four minutes to go in the half. On the next Woodbridge possession, Zambrana showed no fear as he powered in amongst two Roselle defenders down low on the left side for a layup and a 15-14 Ram lead with about 3:30 remaining before the brief break. Zambrana then followed that up with two free throws at the 2:30 mark to give the Barrons a 16-15 lead before Roselle took the lead again at the 1:45 mark on a jumper, and then drew a charge on a driving Zambrana with 45 seconds remaining in the half.
Roselle then increased its lead to three with a jumper from the right wing on the next offensive possession at the 20 second mark, and then after Zambrana made one of two at the line with 15 seconds left in the half, the Runnin’ Rams closed the half out with a jumper from the right wing to make it 21-17 at the break. In the second half, Roselle picked up right where it left off with a nice jumper with good rotation from the left wing to take a six point, 23-17 lead with 19:15 left in the game, and then scored again thirty seconds later on a short jumper from the left baseline for the biggest lead of the entire game at 25-17 with 18:45 to go. Woodbridge would storm back though with a Zambrana foul line jumper to make it 25-19 at the 18:15 mark, and then nearly a minute later scored again as Ng kicked out to Silvasadder for a jumper from the right wing to make it a four point game again at 25-21 with 17:20 remaining. Edrise Pope-Wright then made it a two point game with a layup at the 16:30 mark to make it 25-23 before Roselle knocked down a jumper from up top for a four point, 27-23 lead at about the sixteen minute mark. On the next Woodbridge possession, Silvasadder made a nice entry pass down low to Weber for a reverse layup to make it a two point game at 27-25 with 15:30 left.
Following a Roselle timeout at the fifteen minute mark, the Runnin’ Rams pushed their advantage back to four with another nice jumper from the right side for a 29-25 score with 14:00 to go. Woodbridge then scored on their very next possession as Zambrana drove in for a layin, and was fouled, which resulted in a pair of made free throws for a 29-27 Roselle lead with 13:35 remaining. Nearly two minutes passed without a score before Zambrana returned to the charity stripe for two more free throws after being fouled on a follow with 11:45 left to knot the game at 29-29. Almost two minutes after that, the Barrons actually took the lead as Ng capped a 14-4 rally with a drive for a outstretched left handed layup that made it 31-29 midway through the second half. However, as it did throughout the contest, Roselle came right back with a foul line jumper that was true to square the game at 31-31 with 9:40 left. Zambrana, which scored eight points in the second half, scored on a layin at the 8:30 mark to give Woodbridge a 33-31 advantage. But, once again, Roselle not only came back with a score, but took the lead with a layin and a foul for a three point play to make it a 34-33 score with seven minutes to play.
After Woodbridge called for time at the five minute mark with Roselle still leading by one, Roselle increased its advantage again to three with a spin move for a score to make it 36-33 with about 4:15 to play. However, Woodbridge wouldn’t go away as Silvasadder knocked down a bank shot at the 3:45 mark for a 36-35 Roselle lead, and then Zambrana passed off to Ng for a layup and a 37-36 lead at the 3:25 mark. The Rams battled back with a layup of their own for a 38-37 lead, but Woodbridge replied immediately on their next possession with a layup to take a 39-38 edge. However, that would be the last time the Barrons would hold the lead as Roselle converted a layup to make it 40-39 at the 2:15 mark, and then got a steal on the next Woodbridge possession that was converted into a layup at the other end for a 42-39 lead with 1:30 to go. Woodbridge, which won its opener over Metuchen last Wednesday took a timeout at the 50 second mark, and then got its last points of the contest as Weber passed off to Ng for a long jumper from the right wing for a 42-41 Ram lead with 40 seconds left. Woodbridge then fouled to stop the clock, and eventually forced Roselle to the line with with four seconds to play. The Runnin’ Rams made the first of the bonus, but missed the second giving the Barrons a chance to tie, but Weber’s inbounds pass to halfcourt was intercepted by Roselle as time expired for the 43-41 victory.
For the game, Ng and Zambrana combined for 70.7 percent of the Barron offense while Silvasadder chipped in with three field goals for six points, Weber had a field goal in both the first and second half while Pope-Wright rounded out the team scoring with a field goal for his only two points. Both teams are now 1-1 on the season as Roselle lost its first game of the fall to host school, Plainfield last week, 71-46 while the Barrons rolled past Woodbridge on the same night, 44-24. Next week, Woodbridge has a full schedule with two games including one against Plainfield on Monday, September 24th, and another against fellow GMC member, Spotswood on Wednesday, September 26th. Meanwhile, Roselle will play one game next week on Monday against the only other 3-0 squad at the Fall-Ball Classic in 2007 in Franklin.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roselle (1-1) | 21 | 22 | 43 |
| Woodbridge (1-1) | 17 | 24 | 41 |