EDISON, NJ–The fifth week of action completed at the 2007 TBSA Fall League at the Shooting Academy on Carter Drive in Edison on Sunday night with the majority of GMC teams taking it on the chin against non-conference competition. The only two bright spots for the Greater Middlesex Conference were Dunellen, which defeated David Brearley Regional of Kenilworth by 23 in a 4:00 PM game, and Bishop Ahr, which rolled past North Hunterdon for its first win of the fall, 60-27. The majority of games were close with all but three of the ten games that were on the schedule decided by single digits including four that were decided by four points or less. Middlesex was another GMC squad that won a game, but it was against another conference foe in fellow Blue Division member, J.F. Kennedy of Iselin. Other results included a two point victory by Elizabeth over a very scrappy and competitive Monroe squad, Bridgewater over St. Joseph’s by seven, Roselle Catholic over Cardinal McCarrick by two, Colonia over Montgomery by two, Warren Hills over Timothy Christian by seven, and Trenton over Piscataway by six in a very intense and heated game that saw a couple of ejections towards the end of the contest. In addition, there are more results from action the previous week, September 30th along with the updated statndings. Besides covering the Bishop Ahr win over North Hunterdon, GMC Hoops also caught another North Edison based school in action as J.P. Stevens battled against Notre Dame of Lawrenceville.
Bishop Ahr Routs North Hunterdon For Its First Victory Of Fall, 60-27
The Trojans finally put it all together on this Sunday for its first win of the fall. Up to this point in the season, BGA had put in some good games and some bad games. This was the best effort the squad had put in so far. Scoring 32 of the 44 points in the first half, Bishop Ahr rolled out to a commanding twenty point lead at halftime, and never really looked back with a nearly two to one outscoring in the second half for a convincing 60-27 victory over North Hunterdon of Clinton and the Delaware West Division of the Skyland Conference. Ironically, North Hunterdon jumped out to the early lead with a three pointer from the left wing to make it 3-0 at the 19:49 mark. However, Bishop Ahr took off from there with 30 of the next 36 points over a span of 19:09 for an insurmountable 30-9 lead with 40 seconds remaining before halftime. Kevin Uszenski sparked the massive offensive output with a layup at the 19:03 mark, and that was followed by a steal and layup by Steve Grant to make it 4-3 at the 18:10 mark. Mike Williamson got himself on the board with a jumper from the right corner for a three pointer that made the score 7-3 with 15:10 to go in the first half. Although North Hunterdon picked up two blocks in a sequence at the 14:16 mark, and four within the first 5:44 of the half, Bishop Ahr continued to find many ways to score. Williamson made it an 8-3 lead with a one of two effort at the foul line with 13:52 remaining before the intermission, and then canned a jumper near the top of the key for a 10-3 advantage at the 13:10 mark.
Continuing to pull away from the Lions of Hunterdon County, BGA reeled off another four points over the next 2:52 for a 14-3 lead before North Hunterdon finally ended the 14-0 tear with a pair of free throws at the 9:48 mark to make the score, 14-5. A half minute after that, the Trojans got the ball to Martese Street with a nice entry pass for a jumper in the key to make it 16-5 at the 9:18 mark. Jordan Madsen contributed with a nice entry pass of his own to Street for a score that made it 18-5 with 8:36 to play in the first half. Ahr didn’t stop there as it was determined to get its first victory after starting the fall with four straight losses. For nearly eight minutes, the Trojans put together a 12-4 showing to compile a twenty-one point lead. During that span, North Hunterdon was actually without a field goal for over fifteen minutes. Trailing 30-9 with less than a half minute remaining in the first half, North Hunterdon tried to show some life by nailing a jumper from the right wing for a three pointer to make the score, 30-12, but Ahr replied with a score of its own to close out the first half with a 32-12 lead. In the second half, BGA continued to keep pouring it on with a 28-15 showing for the thirty-three point victory. Over the first 6:37 of the second half, Bishop Ahr scored 11 of the first 16 points for a 43-17 edge with 13:23 left.
The Trojans opened the half with five of the first nine points for a 37-16 lead at the 15:54 mark. A little more than a half minnute later, North Hunterdon knocked down one of two at the line for a 37-17 lead with 15:20 to play. Bishop Ahr then got an offensive rebound and putback at the 14:35 mark for a 39-17 lead. Derek Figueredo, who has been a bright spot at times during the difficult start at TBSA for Bishop Ahr, made a nice entry pass on the right side to Madsen for a layup that made the score, 41-17 at the 14:08 mark. Madsen then added another score with a layup at the 13:23 mark for a 43-17 lead. North Hunterdon then got its first field goal in three minutes on an offensive rebound and putback at the 12:54 mark to make the score, 43-19. Bishop Ahr then got a three pointer for a 46-19 advantage before the Lions got a circus shot to fall to make the score, 46-21 with 12:18 remaining. Figueredo then got back into the thick of things with a rebound and outlet pass to Fiorino for an assist on the junior guard’s score that made it a 48-21 game with 10:33 left, and the senior guard followed that up with a layup that made the score, 50-21 at the 10:15 mark. Street then converted an offensive rebound off a missed shot by Uszenski with a putback for a 52-21 lead at the 9:27 mark, and then Figueredo capped an 8-0 run with a fast break layup to make it a thirty-three point game at 54-21 with 9:09 left in the contest. From there, both teams scored six points each as the Trojans won easily, 60-27.
With the victory, Bishop Ahr raised its record to 1-4 while North Hunterdon, which entered the contest winners in three of its first four games, dropped to 3-2. Over the final three weeks of the fall at TBSA, the Trojans will be playing some tough opponents in Notre Dame of Lawrenceville on October 14th at 8:00 PM, Elizabeth on October 21st at 6:00 PM, and Roselle Catholic to round out its fall season on October 28th at 7:00 PM. Meanwhile, North Hunterdon will face Timothy Christian at 8:00 PM on October 14th, Colonia at 6:00 PM on October 21st, and St. Joseph’s at 5:00 PM on October 28th to round out its fall league play.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop Ahr (1-4) | 32 | 28 | 60 |
| North Hunterdon (3-2) | 12 | 15 | 27 |
Hawks Fall Behind Early And Can’t Recover Against Irish, 45-41
The Hawks of J.P. Stevens faced a very stern test on Sunday when it faced off against Notre Dame of Lawrenceville. The Fighting Irish come from the Colonial Valley Conference, and have played quite well this fall with losses coming only at the hands of St. Joseph’s and Piscataway. Meanwhile, Stevens has made great progress during the summer, and the fall as the Hawks look to improve significantly over last season as well as step up into the contender role in the always rough GMC Red Divsion. JPS didn’t come to play early on in this one, and it cost them. Over the first eleven minutes of the game, Notre Dame scored 16 of the first 20 points, and then added two free throws at the 8:40 mark for an 18-4 lead. Despite a 9-4 run to close the half by J.P. Stevens, and a 28-23 effort in the second half by the Edison school, the Irish, which reached the semifinals of the Non-Public A South State Tournament, still managed to hang on for the 45-41 win. The opening 11:20 of the game proved to be the difference in this one because from the 8:40 mark of the first half until the end of the game, JPS outscored Notre Dame by a 37-27 margin including a 13-3 tear over the final 5:15 of the contest to close the gap to four after trailing 42-28.
Trailing 18-4 with 8:40 left in the first half, the Hawks started to finally get going when Bland made one of two at the line for an 18-5 Notre Dame lead at the 8:08 mark. Shortly afterward, the junior forward made a nice save to Tahir Swinton, who passed off to Myles Reuben for an assist in a shot in the key that was good to make it 18-7 with 7:34 left in the first half. Stevens then got the ball back shortly afterward by forcing a turnover at the 6:51 mark, and a little while after that, the Hawks capitalized on it as Nick Pol got a steal, and knocked in a jumper for an 18-9 Notre Dame lead with 6:14 to go before intermission. The Irish finally ended the 5-0 JPS run with a pair of free throws at the 5:22 mark for a 20-9 advantage. Points became hard to come by after that for the balance of the first half as Stevens outscored Notre Dame by a 4-2 margin including a layup by Alex Cacoilo at the 3:10 mark to cut the deficit to nine at 20-11. The Irish, which only had one field goal over the final nine minutes of the half, still managed to hold on to a nine point, 22-13 margin at the half.
In the second half, Notre Dame managed to start out strong with a 20-15 showing over the first 14:45 to increase its edge to fourteen at 42-28 with 5:15 remaining. A key portion of that stretch was a 7:15 span where the Irish outscored the Hawks 14-6 after JPS began the half with nine of the first fifteen points to close the gap to six at 28-22 with 12:30 left in the game. Notre Dame started things off with a layup at the 12:15 mark to make the score, 30-22. The Hawks had a chance to bring the deficit back down to six again, but couldn’t cash in on the fast break opportunity as Swinton’s pass was too long, and the score stood at 30-22 with 11:24 to go. The Irish then went ahead by double digits with a three pointer from the right wing for a 33-22 score with just under eleven minutes to play. Notre Dame then padded its lead even more with a pair of foul shots at the 10:07 mark that made the score, 35-22 with 10:07 left. Ending the 7-0 Notre Dame run, Cacoilo got Stevens on the board again by knifing in for a nice driving layup for a 35-24 Irish lead at the 9:29 mark. However, Notre Dame put the Hawks on the ropes with a three pointer that made the score, 38-24 with 8:35 to play.
Trying to stem the tide, Kenny Bland got an offensive rebound, and was fouled on the putback attempt that resulted in a pair of charity shots at the 8:18 mark for a 38-26 Notre Dame lead. However, Bland wound up doing the same thing done to him on the other end of the court as he was called for a foul while trying to block a putback attempt. Consequently, Notre Dame knocked in both free throw attempts, and the score stood at 40-26 with 7:27 remaining. Bland did what he could to redeem himself with an offensive rebound of a Cacoilo miss, and follow for a score that trimmed the deficit to twelve at 40-28 with 6:47 remaining. Neither team scored for a little over a minute and a half until Notre Dame netted two free throws at the 5:15 mark for a 42-28 lead. Finally getting the sense of urgency it had lacked for much of this contest including early on, the Hawks began to make a move as Reuben found Bland for a jumper from the right side that made the score, 42-30 with 4:51 left. JPS then added a three pointer to make it a 5-0 run that cut the lead even further to 42-33 with 3:30 to play.
Notre Dame managed to end the mini-run by the Hawks with a score at the 3:08 mark to make it a double digit lead again at 44-33. Neither team scored for exactly a minute until Bland grabbed an offensive board, and passed off to Reuben for a layup attempt that was blocked, but also resulted in a foul that sent the junior forward to the line for a pair of foul shots to put Stevens within nine at 44-35 with 2:08 left. Nick Pol then followed that up with some great hustle and a save to Bland for a layup attempt and foul that resulted in a one of two showing at the charity stripe for a 44-36 Irish lead with 1:23 left. Following a Notre Dame timeout at the 1:14 mark, Cacoilo picked up a steal, passed to Bland, who passed right back to Cacoilo for the layup and the foul for a traditional three point play that suddenly made it a five point game at 44-39 with 1:02 remaining. The Irish then got their final points of the game on a one of two effort at the foul line to make the score, 45-39 with 53 seconds left. Fourteen seconds after that, the Hawks had an opportunity to pull within four, but Cacoilo wasn’t able to convert a layup. Eventually though, J.P. Stevens did cut the lead to two possessions as Cacoilo passed to Bland, who drove along the left side of the key for a left handed scoop shot that went in for a 45-41 Notre Dame lead at the 0:25 mark.
Unfortunately for the Hawks, there wasn’t enough time to climb all the way out of the hole, and perhaps force overtime. Notre Dame missed a one and one with 24 seconds left, but Cacoilo lost the ball out of bounds following a rebound off a missed shot by Pol with seven seconds left, and the Irish were able to come away with the hard fought, 45-41 victory. With the win, Notre Dame improved to 3-2 on the fall while J.P. Stevens dropped to 2-3. Over the next three weeks, Stevens will be taking on Elizabeth on October 14th at 7:00 PM, Roselle Catholic on October 21st at 8:00 PM, and finally Trenton on October 28th at 7:00 PM. Meanwhile, Notre Dame will battle Bishop Ahr on October 14th at 8:00 PM, Timothy Christian on October 21st at 5:00 PM, and Colonia on October 28th at 6:00 PM.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notre Dame (3-2) | 22 | 23 | 45 |
| J.P. Stevens (2-3) | 13 | 28 | 41 |
Rest of Last Week’s Results–September 30, 2007
In addition to the information on this past week’s results, here are the results from the rest of last week’s games played on September 30, 2007. In other action, Notre Dame beat Monroe by six, Warren Hills surprised Bishop Ahr in a three point upset, Elizabeth downed Cardinal McCarrick by ten, J.P. Stevens forfeited to North Hunterdon, and Montgomery edged Timothy Christian of Piscataway by eight points. Here are the latest standings in the 2007 TBSA Fall League:
- Trenton (4-1)
- Piscataway (4-1)
- Elizabeth (4-1)
- Bridgewater (4-1)
- St. Joseph’s (3-2)
- Notre Dame (3-2)
- North Hunterdon (3-2)
- Colonia (3-2)
- Montgomery (3-2)
- J.P. Stevens (2-3)
- Roselle Catholic (2-3)
- Warren Hills (2-3)
- Bishop Ahr (1-4)
- Cardinal McCarrick (1-4)
- Monroe (1-4)
- Timothy Christian (0-5)
GMC Hoops will try to be back out at TBSA for the final week of action in the 2007 TBSA Fall League on Sunday, October 28th.