EDISON, NJ–The third week of the second annual TBSA Fall League took place on Sunday night at The Basketball Shooting Academy on Carter Drive in Edison with a couple of very entertaining games involving teams from the GMC. GMC Hoops happened to catch the final two sets of games at 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM including Bridgewater vs. Timothy Christian over on Court #2, Colonia versus Trenton over on Court #3, J.P. Stevens taking on Warren Hills on Court #2, and Bishop Ahr battling Montgomery on Court #3. The first of the four games involved two non-conference teams as Bridgewater defeated Timothy Christian of Piscataway to remain undefeated at 3-0. The Panthers led 51-40 with 5:33 left, and never looked back with the victory. TCS has started the season with games against Trenton and Bridgewater, and has shown signs of being quite competitive despite being 0-3 to start the fall. Meanwhile, at the same time, Colonia was battling Trenton over on Court #3. The Patriots actually had a slim 23-19 lead at the half, but the Tornadoes outscored CHS by a 22-11 margin over the first 14:51 of the second half to take a 41-34 lead with 5:09 remaining. However, Colonia rallied with a 12-5 run to close the game including a three pointer with six seconds left to tie things up at 46-46, and force overtime.
Then, in the extra session, Trenton outscored the Pats by a 4-2 margin including a layup on the right side of the paint off an inbounds play underneath to take a 50-48 lead with twenty seconds left. Colonia had a chance to tie, or even win the game, but J.J. D’Amico was unable to make a three point shot from the left wing as the Tornadoes won a thriller, 50-48. Then, at 8:00 PM, J.P. Stevens came out roaring to the tune of an 11-0 tear in the first 5:06 of the game on Court #2, and eventually led 19-3 with a little more than eleven minutes remaining in the half, and then after leading 26-8 at the 7:34 mark, the Hawks closed the first half with a 15-6 tear including a shot by Nick Pol as time expired for a 41-14 lead at halftime. From there, J.P. Stevens cruised to an easy, 62-38 victory over Warren Hills of Washington Township in Warren County. Meanwhile, on Court #3, Bishop Ahr and Montgomery went toe to toe in what was pretty much a seesaw battle until the final ten minutes of the game. The Cougars, which lost to J.P. Stevens last week, finished the game with a 19-9 spurt for a 50-41 victory.
Trenton Survives Colonia In Overtime, 50-48
For the second time in the first three weeks of the 2007 TBSA Fall League, the Patriots of Colonia faced off against a perennial state powerhouse in boys basketball. On opening night, the Pats faced-off against Union County, Watchung Conference, and Group IV power, Elizabeth, and after trailing by ten in the second half, rallied to only lose by two, 37-35. On this Sunday night, CHS battled against Mercer County, Colonial Valley Conference, and another Group IV power in Trenton Central. In the first half, the Patriots jumped out to a 23-19 lead, but after the intermission, Trenton rallied to the tune of a 22-11 surge that included a 6-0 burst over a span of 1:31 to take a 41-34 lead with 5:09 remaining. With 6:40 to play, Trenton scored a bucket to take a 37-34 advantage. A minute later, the Tornadoes got a layin for a five point, 39-34 lead with 5:30 left. Trenton Central then got a turnover moments later, and turned it into a face break opportunity, which ended up with a layup set up by a nice over the head pass to a trailer to make it 41-34.
However, like it did in its loss to Elizabeth, Colonia rallied. The difference this time was that the rally was able to get a tie, and force overtime. Over the final 5:09, the Patriots outscored Trenton by a 12-5 margin to knot the game at 46-46, and push the game into an extra session. Junior forward, Nnamdi Usuwa started the rally with one of two at the foul line with 4:30 to play. CHS had another opportunity to make it closer, but Brandon Hall’s pass went off the hands of J.J. D’Amico in Colonia’s offensive end of the floor at the 3:31 mark. Taking advantage, the Tornadoes scored shortly afterward as they were able to get a steal off a Xavier Coleman pass in the Colonia backcourt after applying a ton of pressure on Usuwa following a rebound by the junior, and the score now read, 43-35 with 3:09 to play. Undaunted, Colonia kept at it by chipping away at the lead. Hall restarted the rally with a pair of free throws to make it 43-37 at the 2:16 mark. The Patriots then followed that up with another two foul shots for a 43-39 Trenton lead with 1:48 to play.
Trenton pushed its lead back to five with one of two of its own from the charity stripe for a 44-39 score with 1:24 remaining in regulation. Colonia replied right away thanks to Usuwa, who got a score in the paint to close the gap to three points at 44-41 with 1:17 left. Nearly forty seconds after that, Hall stepped to the line, and made two free throws once more to make it a one point game at 44-43 with 38 seconds remaining. Now with the ball, Trenton tried to run the clock out, but D’Amico fouled a Tornado player, and that resulted in two free throws with 19 seconds left for a 46-43 Trenton lead. With a chance to tie, Colonia got the ball into its offensive end, and got off a three pointer that was true to square the game at 46-46 with six seconds left in regulation. Trenton was unable to get a score as time expired so both teams went to overtime. In the extra session, neither team scored in the first minute before Trenton Central got on the board for the lead with an offensive rebound and putback to make it 48-46 with 0:59 left. Brandon Hall then brought the ball right back down the floor on the left side, and blew past his defender for a layup to tie the game again at 48-48 with 39 seconds remaining in overtime.
After two timeouts were called at the 25 second mark including one by Trenton to avoid a five second violation, the Tornadoes got a layup on the right side off the inbounds for a 50-48 lead. Colonia took the ensuing inbounds, got the ball to Hall, who brought the ball up the floor on the left side, eyed the clock, and passed back to D’Amico for a three pointer that hit iron as time expired. With the 50-48 victory, Trenton managed to remain undefeated at 3-0, and keep pace with Bridgewater, which also won its game against Timothy Christian. Meanwhile, Colonia fell to 1-2 on the fall. Both teams will be back at it again next week when the Tornadoes will face off against St. Joseph’s at 7:00 PM on Court #2 while Colonia battles Bridgewater on the same court one hour later at 8:00 PM.
| Team | 1 | 2 | OT | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trenton (3-0) | 19 | 27 | 4 | 50 |
| Colonia (1-2) | 23 | 23 | 2 | 48 |
J.P. Stevens Cruises Past Warren Hills, 62-38
While it was the third time that GMC Hoops was seeing the Hawks of J.P. Stevens in action this fall, it happened to be the first time that the web site took a look at Warren Hills. The Warren County school based in Washington Township was 12-14 last year including a six point, 45-39 loss to Newark Westside late in the season. In the season prior to that, the Blue Streaks from the Delaware West Division of the Skyland Conference, which defeated Ridge twice and Franklin during the 2006-07 season, went 12-9 in 2005-06, and qualified for the North Jersey Section 2 Group III state tournament, where it lost to Scotch Plains, 51-32 in the first round. The Raiders of SPFHS went on to lose to top seeded Colonia in the Quarterfinals, 52-43.
The Blue Streaks are coached by former South Plainfield football and basketball standout, Chris Walker, who went on to be an assistant coach to Wayne Fiorino at St. Peter’s when the Cardinals won the GMC Blue, and reached the GMCT Championship in 1988. That same season, the Cards reached the Non-Public B South Final, where it lost to Bishop Eustace of South Jersey in the Championship. Walker and Fiorino would team up later lead St. Peter’s to a sectional championship in 1990. After that, Walker moved on to his alma mater, South Plainfield, where he served as assistant to Jeff Lubreski during the 1992-93 campaign. That season, the Tigers finished 13-12, earned the 16th and final seed in the last ever GMCT before the concept of an open tournament was introduced in the 1993-94 season, and reached the semifinals of Central Jersey Group II, where it lost to eventual champion, Princeton. In recent years, Walker was head coach over at Hackettstown before coming over to Warren Hills.
Moving on to the game, J.P. Stevens, back on track following its 56-46 victory over Montgomery in week two, jumped out on top early, and never looked back as its talented junior class including the likes of Kenny Bland, Myles Reuben, Nick Pol, and Tahir Swinton was simply too much for the Blue Streaks. Over the first 5:06 of the game, the Hawks reeled off the first eleven points. Warren Hills didn’t score until the 14:35 mark when it got a three pointer from the left wing to make it 11-3. JPS quickly replied with a score to make it 13-3, and that sparked an 8-0 run that included a drive for a running one hander from the right side by Nick Pol at the 13:42 mark, a pair of free throws by Reuben at the 12:33 mark, and capped by a turnaround jumper by Bland off a lob pass by Reuben with 11:11 left in the first half. The Blue Streaks tried desperately to climb back into the affair with five of the next seven points including two free throws at the 10:17 mark, and a three pointer at the 8:20 mark to make it 21-8. Sandwiched in between those scores by Warren Hills was a well executed play by Teryl Dunlap, Myles Reuben, and Tahir Swinton as Dunlap passed off to Reuben, who penetrated along the left side, and dished to Swinton for a layup to make it 21-5.
J.P. Stevens made a three pointer in response at the 8:05 mark to make the score, 24-8, and then added another score to make it 26-8 with 7:34 remaining in the first half. Leaving to watch the game between Montgomery and Bishop Ahr, we could still observe what was going on in the game until the end of the first half. Over the final seven and a half minutes or so of the first half, Stevens continued to dominate with 15 of the last 21 points before the intermission including a hard drive down the floor for a last second scoop shot by Pol to take a commanding 41-14 lead at the break. In the second half, Warren Hills tried to make things respectable with nine of the first fourteen points of the second half despite a highlight reel block by Bland at the 15:56 mark to make the score, 46-23 in favor of JPS. Highlighting the run over the first 5:19 was a three point play at the 15:30 mark to make the score, 46-19, an offensive rebound and follow at the 15:02 mark to make the score, 46-21, and a tap in at the 14:41 mark to cut the deficit in half. The Blue Streaks continued to try and chip away with a pair of free throws at the 12:23 mark that followed an earlier score by the Hawks to make it 48-25, and then a bank shot in the paint from the left side at the 10:16 mark to make it 48-27.
However, the Washington Township based school couldn’t get any closer as Stevens got a three pointer at the 9:56 mark to make it 51-27, and then stayed even with the Blue Streaks the rest of the way with an 11-11 showing to round out the final, 62-38 score. With the victory, J.P. Stevens raised its record to 2-1 on the fall while Warren Hills dropped to 0-2 (not counting the result from 9/16/07). Next Sunday night, JPS will take on North Hunterdon, a team that it plays regularly during the regular season over the past few years, over on Court #3 at 6:00 PM. Meanwhile, the Blue Streaks will face off against Bishop Ahr an hour earlier on Court #3 at 5:00 PM.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| J.P. Stevens (2-1) | 41 | 21 | 62 |
| Warren Hills (0-2) | 14 | 24 | 38 |
Montgomery Breaks Away From Ahr For 50-41 Victory
After watching much of the first half between J.P. Stevens and Warren Hills over on Court #2, GMC Hoops scooted over to Court #3 to watch the balance of the first half between the Trojans of Bishop Ahr and the Cougars of Montgomery. Both teams were coming off losses in week two as BGA lost to Bridgewater, 57-37 while Montgomery lost to Stevens by a 56-46 margin. Sitting down at the 12:05 mark, Bishop Ahr was leading 10-6. Montgomery then got a foul line jumper that got a kind bounce for a 10-8 score at the 11:59 mark. The Cougars crept closer by getting fouled on a reverse layup attempt at the 10:59 mark that resulted in a 1 of 2 trip at the foul line to make the score, 10-9. BGA tried to increase the lead, but Jordan Madsen had his jump shot attempt from the left corner blocked, but Montgomery was unable to pick up the loose ball as it went out of bounds to Ahr at the 9:53 mark. Montgomery was unable to eventually stop the Trojans, and get the ball back though as Kevin Tarca picked up a steal and converted it into a layup for a 5-0 run for a 11-10 lead.
Bishop Ahr still managed to tie things up with one of two free throws by Steven Grant at the 8:35 mark to make the score, 11-11. A little more than a minute later, Ahr took the lead as Mike Williamson drove down the right side of the key, was fouled, and made one of two free throws for a 12-11 lead with 7:25 left before intermission. The Trojans increased their lead to three as Madsen grabbed an offensive rebound off the missed second free throw, and followed it back in for a 14-11 advantage at the 7:08 mark. Montgomery fought back though with a 5-0 run including two free throws at the 6:20 mark to make it 14-13 BGA, a steal and a layup at the 6:02 mark to take a 15-14 lead, and then one of two free throws at the 4:15 mark to go up by two at 16-14. In a half that saw six lead changes and one tie over the final 12:05, Bishop Ahr fought back to retake the lead with five of the next seven points over a 2:07 span including a pair of free throws by Derek Figueredo for a 19-18 advantage with 2:08 to go in the half. However, Montgomery would strike the final blow going into halftime with a three pointer from deep on the right wing by Tarca to make it 21-19 at the break.
In the second half, GMC Hoops returned to the game with 12:12 remaining after watching some more of the J.P. Stevens–Warren Hills matchup, and the game continued to be close with the score tied at 29-29. Tarca then drove up court, knifed into the paint, and dished to the left baseline for a layup that gave the Cougars a two point, 31-29 lead with 11:22 remaining. The Trojans came right back down the floor for a three pointer at the 11:05 mark to retake the lead at 32-31. However, that would be the last time BGA would hold the edge in this game as Montgomery closed out the game with a 19-9 surge to pull ahead, and then away from Ahr for the win. The Cougars started the game deciding run with a score at the 10:39 mark to make it 33-32. Then, on the next BGA possession, the Trojans would miss, and Montgomery rebounded, threw an outlet pass to Tarca, who drove up court again to dish for another layup that made it 35-32 with 10:18 left. Neither team would score for exactly 3:30 until the Cougars got a pair of free throws at the 6:48 mark to take a 37-32 advantage. Matt Fiorino ended the Cougar 6-0 run with a pair of foul shots himself to make the score, 37-34 with six minutes remaining. Unfortunately for Ahr, that would be as close as they would get the rest of the way.
Tarca gave Montgomery its five point lead again with an off-balanced layup at the 5:46 mark to make it 39-34. Tarca then struck again by getting a steal off the Trojans on their next possession, and converted it into a layup to make the score, 41-34 with 5:34 left. Grant kept BGA within striking distance with one of two free throws at the 5:03 mark, but the Cougars pushed its advantage to eight with an offensive rebound and putback off a missed jumper from the left corner to make the score, 43-35 with 4:04 to play. Following a Bishop Ahr timeout at the 3:40 mark, the Trojans had an opportunity to pull within six again, but Figueredo misfired on a front end of a one and one with 3:15 left, and then Montgomery later scored with 2:22 remaining as the Cougars broke Ahr’s pressure with ease for layup and a ten point, 45-35 lead. Martese Street brought the deficit back down below single digits with one of two from the foul line at the 1:51 mark. However, Montgomery would take its biggest lead of the game with a layin at the 1:40 mark at 47-36, and the Trojans were never able to recover as the Cougars went on to win by nine, 50-41. With the victory, Montgomery, which won its opener over Monroe, improved to 2-1 on the fall while BGA dropped to 0-3. Next Sunday, Montgomery will take on Timothy Christian at 7:00 PM on Court #3 while Bishop Ahr will face off against Warren Hills on the same court two hours earlier at 5:00 PM.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montgomery (2-1) | 21 | 29 | 50 |
| Bishop Ahr (0-3) | 19 | 22 | 41 |