NEPTUNE, NJ–The 2007 Rebounds Fall League kicked off with a full slate of 12 games on Monday night at the Rebounds Basketball facility in Neptune. All four GMC teams in the league were not only in action, but competing against each other as one of the larger schools in the conference, East Brunswick, took on one of the smaller teams in South Amboy at 7:00 PM. The Guvs jumped out to a 17-0 lead, and never looked back as they surprised the Bears, 41-34. Then, following that game at 8:00 PM, Cardinal McCarrick faced off against South Brunswick in a long awaited rematch of sorts from last year’s tremendous GMC Tournament semifinal, where the Eagles rallied from a huge first half deficit to defeat the Vikings and derail SBHS’ hopes for its first ever conference/county crown. Other teams were in action as well. Monsignor Donovan faced off against Henry Hudson while Asbury Park took on Team ABC among others.
South Amboy Early Rampage Proves To Be Too Much For EB, 41-34
It was a clash between the large and the small in the GMC, and from a historical standpoint, a battle between the haves and have-nots. East Brunswick, one of the largest schools in the Greater Middlesex Conference at Group IV, and from the GMC Red, faced off against Group I and Gold Division member, South Amboy in an opening night contest from the Division B Group of the 2007 Rebounds Fall League. However, the two teams come into the upcoming 2007-08 season with much different perspectives. After being a contender in the GMC Red Division, making back to back Elite Eight appearances in the GMCT, and qualifying for the state tourney in 2006 and 2007, the Bears of EB only have two returning players from last year’s team. Add that to the fact, that East Brunswick lost its entire starting five after the 2005-06 season, the Bears are basically in rebuilding mode. Meanwhile, South Amboy has perhaps its best team in many years with the likes of Mark Simko, Larry Lenahan, Colin Krzyzanowski, and youngsters such as Joe Charmello and Matt Richmond coming back. On top of that, the Guvs have to be the favorite to win the GMC Gold since St. Peter’s closed down this past June leaving what would have been a solid returning Cardinal team out of the mix.
East Brunswick played in the Rebounds Spring League, and knocked off Monroe toward the end of that season, and moved on to the Linden Summer League during the summer. Meanwhile, South Amboy played in both the Spring League and the Summer League down at Rebounds, and made some strides with victories over the likes of Freehold Boro while battling hard in defeat to Shore Regional and Long Branch. For the Guvs, it was an opportunity to make a statement despite the fact that it was only a fall league game. By defeating an established and much bigger program than East Brunswick, the Governors would definitely give their hopes for the upcoming season a big boost. And, right from the get go, South Amboy played as if it hand a lot to gain while East Brunswick played with a lot to lose. The first 7:50 of the contest determined the ultimate outcome as the Guvs came out blazing while the Bears came up shooting blanks.
Within the first eight minutes of the battle, South Amboy embarked on a 17-0 onslaught sparked by Simko, who has shown steady improvement over the spring and summer at Rebounds. Simko scored 11 of his team’s first 17 points, and ended up with 13 for the first half on six field goals and one of two from the first half. Meanwhile, East Brunswick misfired on its first ten shots of the game, and didn’t get on the board until the 10:35 mark when the Bears scored on a jumper from the right side. Mike Mello, one of the two returning players for EB, was not a scoring factor until late in the game as he scored six of his points in the final 1:37 of play. However, Mello did a great job trying to set up his teammates with great penetration and dishes, but his fellow Bears including Scott Stolzenberg failed to convert. South Amboy would be outscored 15-7 over the final 10:35 of the first half, but began the second half with a 13-8 showing for a 37-23 lead with 9:05 remaining. EB wouldn’t never get any closer than six points after that, and that didn’t happen until the 37.8 second mark as the Guvs pulled off a 41-34 surprise. In the first half, Simko comprised of 54.2 percent of South Amboy’s offense while big man Larry Lenahan chipped in with a field goal and 2 of 6 free throws for four points, and a yeoman like effort inside and on the boards against EB’s interior players including Stolzenberg. Also scoring four points in the opening half was Joe Charmello while Colin Krzyzanowski added a field goal for two points.
The Guvs scored right away to start the game as Simko took the opening tip, and connected on a running one hander along the right baseline to make the score, 2-0 at the 19:55 mark. Simko then teamed up with Krzyzanowski on a give and go for a layup at the 19:22 mark for a 4-0 lead. After Stolzenberg missed a pair of foul shots at the 18:43 mark, South Amboy continued its attack when Simko looked left, and found a cutting Charmello for a layup that made the score, 6-0 at the 18:16 mark. Nearly a half minute later, Lenahan showed some great hustle by diving and scrambling for a loose ball, getting the steal, and passing ahead to Simko, who went the length of the floor for a layup from the left side to make it 8-0 at the 17:49 mark. Following an East Brunswick timeout at the 17:47 mark, neither team scored for almost a minute until Lenahan grabbed an offensive rebound off a Charmello miss for a follow that made it 10-0 with 16:52 remaining in the first half. A little more than a half minute after that, Lenahan was at it again with another offensive rebound of a missed jumper by Krzyzanowski for a putback attempt that he was fouled on at the 16:14 mark. Lenahan only made one of two at the line as he had some rare struggles at the line, but it didn’t matter as the Guvs increased their lead to 11-0.
While East Brunswick continued to misfire and make mistakes on offense, the Guvs continued to pile on the points. About a minute and fifteen seconds after Lenahan’s effort at the line, Simko took in a pass from Matt Richmond for a layup at the 15:02 mark for a 13-0 lead. Forty-seven seconds after that, Simko was looking to score again as he drove to his right into the key, and knocked in a running jumper for a 15-0 lead. Simko then made one of two at the line at the 13:36 mark, and Lenahan made another one of two at the 12:10 mark to cap the 17-0 game deciding blitz. Following EB’s first score at the 10:35 mark, Charmello pushed the advantage back to 17 with a reverse layup to make the score, 19-2 at the 8:02 mark before the Bears put together a 7-0 spurt over a span of 3:07 to close the gap to 19-9 as South Amboy called for time at the 4:55 mark. The Bears had instituted a 2-3 zone to try and force South Amboy to shoot more from the perimeter, and it did have some results, and the Guvs missed badly from the outside at times. However, the Guvs were able to put a halt to the rally, and regain control despite a 6-5 edge by EB to end the half, and make it a nine point game at the break.
In the second half, South Amboy got a spark from senior forward, Steve Poltrictzky, who may be an “X” factor for the team’s chances in 2007-08. Poltrictzky, who showed promise prior to his freshman year by leading his South Amboy squad in the 2004 Raritan Bay Summer League, which was the inaugural season of coverage by GMC Hoops. Poltrictzky’s hustle, tenacity, and added relentlessness on the boards provided Lenahan with support inside for the difference in the second half. Poltrictzky gave the Guvs a boost right away in the second half with a layup while being fouled for a three point play that made the score, 27-15 with 19:27 left. East Brunswick got one of two at the line with 18:13 to play that made the score 27-16, and could have crept a bit closer, but Mello failed to connect on a pair of charity shots at the 16:28 mark. Lenahan then skied high for an offensive rebound, and put it back in at the 15:46 mark to make it 29-16. The Bears would get a three pointer to pull within ten at 29-19 with 13:56 to play, but South Amboy would score five of the next seven points over a span of 2:18 to lead again by thirteen at 34-21 despite a charge drawn by Stolzenberg on Simko at the 11:38 mark.
East Brunswick would attempt to rally with an offensive rebound and putback of its own at the 10:10 mark to pull within eleven at 34-23, but South Amboy would take its biggest lead of the second half as Lenahan dribbled into the paint, and then kicked back out to Simko at the top of the key for the first three pointer of the game by the Guvs to make the score, 37-23 at the 9:05 mark. From there, EB rallied with an 11-3 tear over the next 8:28 including two free throws at the 2:38 mark, a back door cut on the left side for a layup at the 1:37 mark, and a drive through the middle for layup at the 55.6 mark by Mello to close the gap to six at 40-34 with 37.8 to play. However, it was too little, too late as South Amboy got one of two at the line from Poltrictzky, who had a field goal and three of five at the foul line for five points in the second half, to close out the 41-34 victory. With the win, South Amboy moved up to 1-0 on the fall while East Brunswick dropped to 0-1. Next Monday night, the Guvs take on the Griffins of Monsignor Donovan while East Brunswick faces off against the G-Force Stallions.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Amboy (1-0) | 24 | 17 | 41 |
| East Brunswick (0-1) | 15 | 19 | 34 |
Cardinal McCarrick Stampedes Past South Brunswick, 63-35
Following South Amboy’s surprise win over East Brunswick, GMC Hoops sat down to watch the most anticipated GMC matchup of the night as Cardinal McCarrick faced off against South Brunswick in their opener at the 2007 Rebounds Fall League. McCarrick had its struggles early on as the Vikings led by a new look, Arman Wilson, and the efforts of fellow senior, Jordan Tiecher took a 15-13 lead at the 10:11 mark. However, without the likes of returning players Troy Confessore (soccer) and Mohammed Sanu (football), and with McCarrick having its full arsenal of players including senior Mike Burwell and junior Julio Rosario, who sat out Sunday night’s game against North Hunterdon at the TBSA Fall League, South Brunswick would ultimately give way. For the balance of the first half, the Eagles, which got 18 points from Burwell and 6 points from Rosario, surged past the Vikings, which were out of sync after not playing much together during the summer, to the tune of a 15-1 outburst for a 28-16 halftime lead. Then, in the second half, Cardinal McCarrick opened things up with an 8-0 spurt for a 23-1 surge, and a 36-16 lead before getting sloppy toward the end in an otherwise solid, 63-35 win.
Over a span of 19:56 of the game, McCarrick outscored South Brunswick by a 33-7 margin including an 18-6 tear to begin the second half for a 46-22 lead with 10:15 to go in the game. However, much to the displeasure and disgust of McCarrick coach, Joe Lewis, who was sitting nearby in the stands observing the action, the Eagles got careless offensively for the next 5:15, and the Vikes took advantage with a 13-7 rally to make the game a bit more respectable at 53-35. However, that would be as close as SBHS would get as the Eagles closed the game with a 10-0 run including seven points by Burwell on a three pointer, field goal, and 2 of 2 effort at the foul line while Alvin Baptiste-Ousley added a layup to finish off the 28 point victory. Burwell finished with at least 31 points while Rosario, who took many shots down the stretch including a number of ill-advised ones, ended up with at least 16 to account for approximately 75 percent of the team’s offense. Meanwhile, Wilson, who spent much of his summer on the AAU circuit, had his struggles for South Brunswick, but played on even despite suffering leg cramps early on in the second half. In the first half, Wilson and Tiecher accounted for 62.5 percent of the Viking offense with six and four points respectively. Tiecher actually got all four of his first half points within the first three and a half minutes of the game, but wasn’t really much of a factor the rest of the way.
To quote a South Brunswick parent at the game, “McCarrick was in mid-season form.” The work the Eagles did in the off-season with its participation at the Eastern Team Camp, Linden Summer League, and the Rebounds Team Camp as well as work put in at the lower levels at the Colonia JV and Freshmen Leagues added up to having a team already well prepared for the upcoming 2007-08 season. Meanwhile, South Brunswick played at the TBSA Summer League while the JV also played at Colonia. During the course of the summer the Vikings were without Wilson, and others such as Confessore at times as well. The game started out as if the Eagles were going to roll early as Rosario made a pair of free throws at the 19:12 mark while Wil Snider drew a charge on Wilson at the 18:39 mark, and Burwell scored on a jumper while being fouled, but missed the bonus free throw to make it 4-0 at the 18:15 mark. Cardy Mac’s lead grew to 7-2 before Tiecher, who got South Brunswick on the board with an offensive rebound and putback off a missed jumper by Wilson at the 17:12 mark, made it a three point game with a pair from the foul line to make it 7-4 at the 16:29 mark.
The Eagles would push the lead back to five at 9-4 before Rosario tightened up the defense, and forced a five second violation on Wilson at the 15:45 mark. Tiecher would help the Vikes close the gap within three again as he registered an assist on a layup by Wilson at the 15:00 mark. McCarrick made it a five point lead again as Rosario scored once more on a layup that made it 11-6 with 14:47 to go before the intermission. Over the next 4:36 after the Rosario score, SBHS picked things up, and played their best ball of the game with a 9-2 rally that gave the Vikes a 15-13 lead at the 10:11 mark. Chris Weir sparked the spurt with a lefty layup off an assist by Sean Lease to make the score, 11-8 at the 13:42 mark. Lease then followed that up with one of two free throws to make it 11-9 at the 13:18 mark. Wilson then tied the game with an offensive rebound off his own missed shot, and followed it in for an 11-11 score with 12:19 remaining before halftime. Burwell briefly put a halt to the rally with a drive to the right side for a layup, and a 13-11 McCarrick lead with 12:03 to play in the first half, but the Vikings scored the next four as Lease blocked a Burwell shot that was rebounded by Weir, who passed ahead to Wilson for a finger roll layup that tied it, and then SBHS got another score to make it 15-13.
Following a Cardinal McCarrick timeout at the 10:11 mark, neither team scored for the next 1:10 before Snider found fellow guard, Eliazor Landano for a short jumper from the left wing to tie it up at 15-15. Burwell followed with a three pointer from the top of the key at the 7:27 mark, and then Rosario got a steal off a deflection for a layup to make it 20-15 with 7:14 to go in the half. A little more than a half minute later, Burwell got a layin to make it 22-15, and then after two missed free throws by the Vikings, Landano found Burwell for a jumper from the left wing that made the score, 24-15 with 4:48 remaining before the brief break. Wilson then came up empty at the foul line at the 4:15 mark, and the Eagles capitalized less than a minute after that as Rosario got a rebound, pushed the ball upcourt on the break, and dished to his right to a cutting Burwell for a layup that made it 26-15. South Brunswick ended a scoreless drought of 7:29 with one of two free throws to make it 26-16, but Burwell closed out the first half scoring with a spin move for a turnaround jumper from the right side that got a kind bounce for a 28-16 lead at the half.
In the second half, Cardinal McCarrick essentially put the game away with an 8-0 spurt at the start for a 36-16 lead with 16:42 left. Burwell handed out an assist on a layup by Rosario to open up the second half scoring for a 30-16 lead at the 19:55 mark. Burwell then followed that up with a hard drive on the right side, which he got fouled on, and made a pair of free throws at the 19:20 mark for a 32-16 lead. McCarrick added another score before Landano made an entry pass down low to Burwell on the right side for a layup that made it a twenty point lead with less than seventeen minutes remaining. Meanwhile, South Brunswick didn’t get on the board in the second half until about the 16:30, and at the 15:56 mark, Tiecher made one of two free throws for a 36-19 Eagle lead. Up to that point, SBHS had only managed a field goal and two free throws over a span of 15:15. Moreover, Wilson had to go to the sidelines with leg cramps. Cardy Mac then got six straight points from Rosario on an easy layup off a fast break chance to make it 38-19 at the 15:27 mark, a hard drive through traffice for a layup and a foul (he missed the bonus free throw) at the 15:04 mark, and then another layup at the 13:24 mark for a 42-19 lead as the Eagles ended up starting the second half with an 18-6 tear for a 46-22 lead with 10:15 to go.
However, McCarrick would get complacent and sloppy for a few minutes as Rosario seemed to take a jump shot every time he got the ball, and the Vikings took advantage with 13 of the next 20 points to try and make things not only more respectable, but more interesting down the stretch. Wilson highlighted the run by moving left for a jumper that made the score, 48-26 with 8:55 remaining. Closing the gap to 53-35 with exactly five minutes left, South Brunswick was unable to get any closer as the Eagles shutdown SBHS the rest of the way for the 63-35 victory. McCarrick raised its record to 1-0 on the fall with the win while South Brunswick dropped to 0-1. Next Monday, South Brunswick will take on Manasquan while Cardinal McCarrick will try to run its Rebounds unbeaten streak to ten in a row as the Eagles face St. John Vianney of Holmdel.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cardinal McCarrick (1-0) | 28 | 35 | 63 |
| South Brunswick (0-1) | 16 | 19 | 35 |
Late Spurt Gives Mon Don Edge Over Henry Hudson, 37-29
While South Amboy was surprising East Brunswick, Monsignor Donovan had its hands full late with the Admirals of Henry Hudson, which have qualified for the state tournament in each of the past two years after going through years of struggle along the Northern Monmouth County shoreline. Mon Don, which had a tremendous team nearly two years ago led by current Stonehill guard, Randall Stallworth, jumped out to an 8-0 lead within the first seven minutes of play, and lead by as many as nine at 13-4 with 6:15 left in the half before Henry Hudson cut into the lead with a 7-6 showing the rest of the way to pull within eight at the break, 19-11.
In the second half, the Admirals crept a bit closer with a 6-4 edge over the first 7:41 to pull within seven at 23-17 before Mon Don got a free throw at the 12:19 mark to make it a seven point lead. The Griffins then added four more points to make it a 5-0 run for a 28-17 advantage at the 8:21 mark before Henry Hudson rallied with nine consecutive points over a span of 2:40 to pull within two at 28-26 with 5:41 to play. However, that would be as close as the Admirals would get as the team that lost to Metuchen in the opening round of the 2007 Central Jersey Group I State Tournament, couldn’t get any closer. Monsignor Donovan closed out the game with a 9-3 spurt for the 37-29 win. Next Monday night, the Griffins take on South Amboy at 8:00 PM while Henry Hudson plays Ocean at 9:00 PM.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monsignor Donovan (1-0) | 19 | 18 | 37 |
| Henry Hudson (0-1) | 11 | 18 | 29 |
Asbury Park Pulls Away In Second Half To Defeat Team ABC, 55-41
While Cardinal McCarrick was rolling past South Brunswick, the Bishops of Asbury Park were taking on Team ABC on an adjacent court. In the first half, Asbury Park, which lost to Create Charter in the Central Jersey Group I final this past March, jumped out to the early lead at 15-12 over the first 9:06 of the game. Then, the Bishops, which also won the 2006 St. Peter’s Cardiinal Classic by defeating Spotswood in the first round, and the host school, St. Peter’s Cardinals in the Championship, closed the half with a 9-8 edge to increase its lead slightly to 24-20 going into the brief break. Then, in the second half, Asbury Park pulled away with a 31-21 showing for the 55-41 victory. The Bishops went to work right away in half number two with a score at the 19:15 mark for a six point, 26-20 lead. The nearby school then added to its lead with one of two free throws at the 18:07 that made the score, 27-20. Asbury Park then made it a 7-0 run with four more points over the next 3:16 for a 31-20 lead.
Nineteen seconds after that, the Bishops, which have dramatically improved over the past couple seasons with a state tourney berth in 2005 as well as their run in 2006 after a number of years in disarray, added another score to make it 33-20 as Team ABC called for time at the 14:32 mark. Following the timeout, Team ABC seemed to make headway with a 4-0 run, but that was quelled by an Asbury Park three pointer at the 12:20 mark to make it 36-24. Team ABC tried again with another 4-0 run, but once more it was halted by another three from the Bishops to make the score, 39-28 with 11:17 to play. Asbury Park then put the game away with an 8-2 run for a 47-30 advantage with just 6:11 remaining. From there, the Bishops were never really threatened despite being outscored down the stretch 11-8 for the final, 55-41 score. With the win, Asbury Park moves up to 1-0 while Team ABC falls to 0-1. Next Monday, the Bishops are scheduled to play Point Pleasant while Team ABC will take on St. Rose.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asbury Park (1-0) | 24 | 31 | 55 |
| Team ABC (0-1) | 20 | 21 | 41 |