NORTH EDISON–On Tuesday afternoon, GMC Hoops took a short trip to John P. Stevens High School on the north side of Edison Township to take in a tri-scrimmage between West Windsor-Plainsboro South, Monroe, and the host, J.P. Stevens. The Pirates of WWPS are looking to rebuild after last year’s Central Jersey Group IV playoff berth, and eventual first round defeat to North Brunswick while Monroe is looking for its third straight playoff appearance, and Stevens is looking to make the state tournament for the first time since at least GMC Hoops began covering Greater Middlesex Conference Boys Basketball. The Hawks are looking to build off a fine summer and fall, where they did well at the 2007 HBC at Seton Hall University in June, finished second to Piscataway at the inaugural TBSA Summer League, and went 6-2 in the expanded and very competitive TBSA Fall League.
Meanwhile, Monroe has been steadily climbing the GMC Hoops charts. After originally being picked for a spot in the Top 15, and a sixth place finish in the GMC White back in late September, the Falcons enhanced their resume with a strong finish in the fall at TBSA in addition to an upset over sixth seeded South Brunswick in the opening round of the TBSA Summer League playoffs. With those recent results, the Falcons have moved onto the cusp of the GMC Hoops Pre-Season Top Ten, and into a projected fourth place finish in the competitive White Division according to the latest revision of the 2007-08 Predicitions. Outside the conference, West Windsor-Plainsboro South is looking to find someone to pick up the slack in wake of not only the departure of several key players from last year’s team due to graduation, but also the transfer of point guard, Jordan Robinson, who is now at Rutgers Prep, a team that scrimmaged Metuchen a day earlier.
The scrimmage started at 4:00 PM, but GMC Hoops didn’t seem to miss much despite arriving at about 20 minutes later. The web site watched all three teams scrimmage each other for about an hour and a half to an hour and forty-five minutes. Each team played the other two for a couple periods during that time. Overall, Monroe was the best team in this scrimmage while Stevens was second best, and West Windsor-Plainsboro was the team that struggled the most among the three squads. Now, again, this is based on the portion of the scrimmage that I saw from the time I arrived at about 4:20 PM to about 5:45 PM. I had to leave since I was scheduled to be at Middlesex County College for a game between the Blue Colts and Bergen Community College at 7:00 PM that day. Particularly surprising was how the Falcons dominated the Hawks in the two periods of action that I saw. During the summer at TBSA, these two teams played twice with Stevens winning both times including the Quarterfinal round of the playoffs. In the two quarters of play between these two schools, MTHS outscored JPS by a margin of 19 to 4 including a 12-4 showing in the first period, and a 7-0 effort in the second.
Monroe’s stifling defense, a product of their coach, who served as an assistant to his brother Dave for so many years at both Carteret and South Brunswick, clearly frustrated J.P. Stevens at times. For the two quarters, the Hawks only managed to make 2 of 25 shots including 0 of 5 from beyond the arc while only attempting one foul shot. Stevens also only committed ten turnovers. While Monroe had nine miscues themselves, they had much better success getting the ball in the basket. The Falcons were 6 of 22 from the floor for 27.3 percent including 2 of 7 from downtown for 28.6 percent. More importantly, MTHS made 5 of 8 free throws for 62.5 percent. In other statistical areas, Monroe had advantages in rebounding (23-14), assists (4-0), charges (1-0), and turnovers (9-10). Stevens did have edges in steals (4-3) and blocks (3-1). Most notably was the fact that Kenny Bland and Myles Reuben were a combined 0 of 8 from the floor against the Falcons while fellow junior, Nick Pol was 0 of 5. Senior, Alex Cacoilo was just 1 of 4. Ivan Barreto led Monore with 9 points and 6 rebounds as he went 3 of 6 from the field, and a perfect 3 of 3 at the line. Ken Pace, Jr., one of the talented group of sophomores on this Monroe team, chipped in with 4 points on 1 of 2 field goals, and 2 of 3 at the line while also collecting a rebound, assist, and a steal.
Stevens did salvage its afternoon by playing much better against West Windsor-Plainsboro South. In the two quarters against the Pirates, the Hawks won both periods by a combined score of 32-17. The first quarter saw the home team win by a 14-6 margin while the second frame saw more scoring, but the same result as JPS won with an 18-11 edge. Over the two periods of this scrimmage, J.P. Stevens made 14 of 32 shots for 43.8 percent including 3 of 5 for 60 percent from beyond the arc. The Hawks didn’t attempt any foul shots in this scrimmage, and only had one attempt at the foul line for the entire time GMC Hoops was there. On the other hand, the Pirates were only 5 of 23 from the floor for 21.7 percent including 1 of 5 from three point land for 20 percent. Moreover, West Windsor-Plainsboro South was 4 of 4 from the line for a perfect 100 percent. In other statistical areas, WWPS outrebounded JPS by an 18-13 margin. Of those eighteen rebounds, eight were on the offensive glass, and were converted into four second chance points. Stevens won the turnover battle 6-10 while only allowing two WWPS points off those six miscues on top of yielding no fast break points.
Looking at other stats, the Hawks garnered edges in assists (10-5) and steals (5-3) while the Pirates had more blocks (2-0) and charges (1-0). Reuben shined the most for J.P. Stevens in this scrimmage with 15 points on 6 of 9 shooting including a perfect 3 of 3 from beyond the arc while grabbing three rebounds, and swiping a steal. Although Bland got on the board with six points in this portion of the exhibition, he still struggled with 3 of 11 shooting from the field for a total of 4 of 15 in the four quarters combined versus Monroe and WWPS. Alex Cacoilo added four points on 2 of 3 shooting while adding two rebounds, two steals, and an assist. Tahir Swinton, who was ineligible last season, didn’t score for the Hawks, but still handed out four assists and grabbed three rebounds. Having him on the bench this coming season will be a big help for head coach James Cardillo since he can play point, and also provide some size and athleticism. Keeping his head together off the court, and in the classroom will be key. The Hawks still look to be a much more formidable squad than they have over the past couple years this season. The talent, size, and athleticism is there for a promising season. However, if they intend to be considered to be in the top echelon in the very tough GMC Red, the Hawks will have to find ways to better handle teams that are going to play tough defense, and play physical, especially if the officials let the teams play.
Returning to the Falcons, they too scrimmaged against West Windsor-Plainsboro South for two periods, and like J.P. Stevens, they handled the Pirates well although by a closer margin. In the first period, Monroe won by an 11-5 margin while in the second, the Falcons gained a 17-16 edge although WWPS made a late run with a layup at the 53.1 mark, and an offensive rebound and putback near the very end of the frame. Winning by a combined total of 28-21, MTHS went 12 of 20 from the floor for exactly 60 percent including 3 of 5 from three for the same percentage. The only sour shooting note was the one of four effort at the line for 25 percent. Meanwhile, West Windsor-Plainsboro South made 7 of 24 shots for 29.2 percent while connecting on 5 of 7 from the line for 71.4 percent. In other statistical areas, Monroe held edges in assists (9-2), but West Windsor Plainsboro had advantages in rebounds (19-12), steals (6-2), blocks (2-0), charges (1-0), and turnovers (5-8). Of the nineteen rebounds by WWPS, nine were on the offensive glass, and converted for ten second chance points. The Pirates also converted five points off the eight Falcon turnovers including four fast break points.
The reserves did get the lion’s share of the playing time we saw against West Windsor Plainsboro-South especially in the first period. However, Steve Blish stood out for the notable Falcon players that played. Blish made all three of his shots from the floor including a three pointer for 7 points along with a rebound and an assist. Baretto chipped in with a field goal as well as two rebounds. But the pleasant surprise of this scrimmage was sophomore guard, Blake Bascom. Bascom, who had quite a bit a difficulty during the end of the season at the 2007 Rebounds Spring League, showed tremendous progress with 1 of 3 shooting from the floor, and 1 of 2 at the line for 3 points, but more importantly, handed out five assists, swiped a steal, and grabbed two rebounds, while minimizing his turnovers. One thing is for sure, the Monroe Falcons have made their case that they are going to be much better than some including myself had originally contended. Especially now with Sayreville not having Ray Rodriguez for the first month of the season, and North Brunswick having issues taking care of the basketball and defending the perimeter in a recent scrimmage with Roselle Catholic. Most importantly though, Monroe has shown steady improvement since last spring at Rebounds.