EDISON, NJ–The fourth week of action took place at the second annual and 2007 TBSA Fall League on Sunday evening at The Basketball Shooting Academy facility on Carter Avenue in Edison. On this night, the top teams in the GMC came to play as St. Joseph’s battled undefeated Trenton at 7:00 PM while Colonia took on another unbeaten team in Bridgewater, and Piscataway faced off against Roselle Catholic. In the end, it turned out to be quite a night for those GMC teams as all three won. St. Joseph’s, which entered the game with its only loss on the fall coming at the hands of Elizabeth, played without the services of sophomore guard, Steve Rennard, who rolled his ankle at the Top 100 being played at FDU this weekend, and senior forward, Paul Konopacki.
Nevertheless, the Falcons used the talent of its deep bench including the likes of a number of other talented sophomores including Dhaliwal Gaganjot, and Mark Bauer along with the experience of Gerard Lewis, Nikko Vastola, and Steve Brandenberg to pull out a hard fought, 56-49 win over Trenton. Afterward, on the same court, Colonia, a team that played with just five players the entire game, scrapped with Bridgewater to a 19-19 tie at halftime, and then broke away with a 32-17 surge in the second half for the 51-36 win as Brandon Hall spearheaded the charge. Simultaneously on Court #3, Piscataway led 14-13 with less than four minutes to go in the first half, but closed the period with a 6-1 run for a 20-14 halftime lead, and then opened the second half with seven straight points for a 27-14 lead at the 18:06 mark, and never really looked back in a 50-32 victory over the Lions of Roselle Catholic.
Undermanned Falcons Jolt Trenton From Ranks Of Unbeaten, 52-49
So, much for predictions! Right before I took my drive over to TBSA, I had finished posting my early thoughts on what could happen in the 2007-08 season. Well, I had the Falcons pegged for not only fifth in the pre-season Top Ten, but also third in the GMC Red. Although that’s not bad considering St. Joseph’s lost Darrell Carroll, Lamar Fisher, and Kyan Hines to graduation, I still may have to go back, and do some editing in light of tonight’s results. The Falcons fought tooth and nail with the Tornadoes, and held a 52-49 lead when I arrived at the 0:49 second mark. With St. Joseph’s in control of the ball, the Falcons had a chance to either get a score to put the game away, or run out the clock. However, Trenton applied some pressure on Brandenberg along the right sideline, and he inadvertantly stepped on the sideline to give the Tornadoes the ball with 46 seconds to play.
However, on the very next Trenton offensive possession, Brandenberg redeemed himself by playing good defense, getting good position, setting his feet, and drawing a very hard offensive foul from a Tornado player, who put his head down, and drove into him for a layup attempt at the 37 second mark to maintain the tenuous lead. Getting the ball back, St. Joseph’s pulled out the ball to run out the clock, which forced Trenton to foul. Nikko Vastola drove down the left side of the floor, and along the baseline for a layup attempt amongst the trees underneath when he was fouled at the 26 second mark. Vastola then promptly sank both free throws to give the Falcons more breathing room at 54-49. Trenton tried to get a quick score, but the ball couldn’t go in for the Colonial Valley Conference and Group IV powerhouse, and St. Joe’s got the rebound. The Falcons once again spread the floor, and got the ball to Gerard Lewis, who was then promptly fouled, and sank a pair from the line with 17 seconds to play for the final 56-49 score.
With the victory, St. Joseph’s moves up to 3-1 on the fall, and tied for second place with Trenton and Bridgewater. The Falcons also hold a tiebreaker over the Tornadoes thanks to this head to head win. Next week, the Falcons will play another top non-conference team in Bridgewater at 5:00 PM while Trenton will face off against the only undefeated team in the league right now in Piscataway at 7:00 PM.
Hall Helps Shorthanded Patriots Pull Away From Panthers, 51-36
Like St. Joseph’s, the Colonia Patriots were facing an undefeated foe with a shorthanded squad. The Pats only had five players in the lineup, but four of them were returning varsity players including three starters: Brandon Hall, J.J. D’Amico, and Nnamdi Usuwa, and they along with talented JV starter, Xavier Coleman rose to the occasion for the win. Trailing by a score of 8-4 with 11:13 left in the first half, CHS rallied with a 15-11 showing the rest of the way including a 10-4 spurt over a span of 5:07 to take a 14-12 lead to end up tied at 19-19 going into the intermission. Hall led the charge midway through the first half with two assists, a steal, a field goal, and two free throws. Usuwa netted a pair of free throws to close the game to 8-6 while Mentzel took a Hall dish for a layup to tie it at 8-8 with 10:09 left in the half. Bridgewater would retake the lead with a layup at the 9:53 mark, but Hall netted two free throws after being fouled on a reverse layup attempt at the 8:11 mark to tie it again at 10-10.
Neither team scored for about 1:17 before Bridgewater-Raritan took the lead again on a bank shot from the right side to make the score, 12-10 with 6:54 remaining before the break. Colonia promptly responded though on the next possession as Coleman found Mentzel for a jumper from the right wing to knot things again at 12-12 with 6:20 to go before the half. Hall then swiped a steal off a Bridgewater player on the next Panther possession, and went in easily for an uncontested layup from the right side to give the Pats a 14-12 lead at the 6:04 mark. Over the next 5:20, Colonia actually increased its lead slightly with a 5-4 run to make the score, 19-16 with less then a minute left. However, Bridgewater-Raritan got the last say in the first half with a three pointer from just to the right of the top of the key to knot the game at 19-19 going into the brief intermission.
Going into the second half with just two timeouts left, and only five players, Colonia was going to have to dig down deep to come away with the win, and they did. The Patriots managed to actually pull away, and nearly double Bridgewater’s output, 32-17 to come up with a double-digit victory. Over the first eight minutes of the second half, CHS outscored BRHS to the tune of an 14-10 run for a 33-29 lead with about twelve minutes to play. D’Amico made it a six point advantage when he got the ball, faked, dribbled to his left for a foul line jumper that made the score, 35-29 with 11:43 left. The Panthers promptly responded with a three pointer on their next offensive possession to cut the lead in half at 35-32 at the 11:10 mark. However, Colonia pushed the lead back to six as Hall drove hard down the middle of the court, dished to Usuwa for a layup and a foul for a three point play that made it 38-32 at the 10:49 mark, and the Hall stole the inbounds for another layup that gave the Pats a 40-32 lead at the 10:39 mark.
Bridgewater would knock in a couple foul shots at the 10:04 mark to close the gap to six again at 40-34, but Hall would spark an 11-2 tear to close the game with a steal, drive, and dish to Usuwa on his right for a layup that made it 42-34 with 7:20 to play. Colonia called timeout to give its limited troops a much needed breather before scoring nine of the last eleven points for the 51-36 victory. With the win, Colonia evens its record again at 2-2, but considering the Pats have played Elizabeth, Trenton, and Bridgewater-Raritan during the first month of the season, a .500 record is not that bad. Meanwhile, the Panthers lose their first game of the fall, and are now at 3-1. Next Sunday, CHS will be back in action against Montgomery at 6:00 PM while Bridgewater will face off against St. Joseph’s at 5:00 PM.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colonia (2-2) | 19 | 32 | 51 |
| Bridgewater (3-1) | 19 | 17 | 36 |
Chiefs Come Up With Key Run To Roll Past Roselle Catholic, 50-32
The Chiefs, which were without the services of James White (football), J.D. Griggs (football), and Bryan Waluk, had some difficulty with Roselle Catholic for much of the first half, but scored six of the last seven points before the brief break, and then reeled of the first seven to take control with a 27-14 lead at the 18:06 mark, and were never really threatened after that. Junior forward, Tristian Benjamin led the charge at the end of the first half with aggressive play consisting of driving hard to the basket for layups, or dishes to Omar Smith layup attempts that led to free throw attempts. Leading 14-13 with a little less than four minutes to play in the half, the Chiefs got a score at the 3:41 mark to make it 16-13. Then, after Roselle Catholic pulled within two with one of two from the foul line at the three minute mark to make it 16-14, Benjamin grabbed a rebound, drove up court, and dished to Smith for a layup attempt that the senior forward was fouled on. Smith then made one of two at the charity stripe to make it 17-14 at the 2:45 mark.
Benjamin followed that up himself a little more than two minutes later when he took the inbounds pass from Ricky Regan at half court, drove hard through the middle of the floor for a shot, and foul for a three point play to make it 20-14. Meanwhile, on the defensive end, Benjamin came up with a huge blocked shot with just four seconds remaining before halftime. In the second half, Benjamin as well as sophomore teammate and fellow forward, Wayne Newsome, showed another dimension by taking the ball up the floor, and orchestrating the offense a bit while rarely played reserves got into the scoring column with a jumper at the 18:22 mark, and a three pointer at the 18:31 mark to make it a 11-1 tear for a 25-14 lead. Benjamin then capped the 13-1 attack with a steal at about halfcourt, drove up the left side of the court for a one handed thunderdunk that rocked the entire basketball net apparatus on Court #3 at TBSA for a 27-14 lead with 18:06 to play.
Roselle Catholic would end the schneid with its first field goal in the last 7:27 to make it a 27-16 P-Way lead, but Newsome would get into the act with a drive up the right side for a foul, and two free throws to make the score, 29-16 with 16:15 left. The Lions would bring the deficit back down to eleven again as a player took a shot from the outside that got a kind bounce to go in, and make the score, 29-18 with 13:16 to go. Then, Roselle Catholic got two more scores including a layup underneath on the right side for a 29-20 lead with 11:52 remaining, and a jumper from the right wing to make the score, 29-22 with 11:05 to play. The Chiefs then were forced to call timeout after turning the ball over on the next offensive series at the 10:46 mark, but after that, they were fine with a 7-2 run over the next 6:16 to take a double digit, 36-24 lead with 4:30 left. Piscataway then promptly made it a 9-2 run when Jeff Adkins passed to Smith, who drove let into the key for a bank shot that made the score, 38-24 with 4:18 to play.
Roselle Catholic got layups at the 4:08 and 3:39 marks to trim the deficit to ten at 38-28, but Smith pushed the Chief advantage back to a dozen with a drive down the right side for a layup to make it a 40-28 score at the 3:23 mark. Piscataway’s defense then came up with a steal that ended up being slammed home by Newsome at the 2:58 mark to go up by fourteen, 42-28. Newsome then sank a pair of free throws at the two minute mark for a 44-30 lead, and then after a Lion score, Newsome got a steal off Roselle Catholic’s Matt Henn, and converted it into a score with a one handed jam to make it 46-32 with 1:27 left. Benjamin and Newsome then closed out the game with steals and assists on layups at the 0:36 and 0:07 marks to close out the 50-32 lead. With the win, Piscataway remains undefeated on the fall at 4-0. The Chiefs have beaten North Hunterdon, Notre Dame, Elizabeth, and Roselle Catholic. Meanwhile, the Lions drop to at least 1-2. P-Way will face off against another strong Group IV team in Trenton at 7:00 PM next Sunday night while Roselle Catholic plays Cardinal McCarrick at 6:00 PM.
GMC Hoops will be back out at TBSA next Sunday night for some games from the sixth week of action in the 2007 TBSA Fall League.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piscataway (4-0) | 20 | 30 | 50 |
| Roselle Catholic (1-3) | 14 | 18 | 32 |