NEPTUNE, NJ–On Monday night, the third week of action took place at the 2008 Rebounds Spring League at the Rebounds facility in Neptune. All the teams competed including the lone GMC representative, East Brunswick, which was facing its toughest challenge yet this spring in the hometown team, Neptune, a squad that came off a campaign this past season that had the Scarlet Fliers in the Championship Game of the 2008 Central Jersey Group III State Tournament. In other action, Lakewood and Toms River East did battle in a game that pitted another two undefeated teams in a crossover game, and Point Pleasant Boro facing off against St. John Vianney in a contest between two teams that had already played East Brunswick this spring.
Lakewood Remains Undefeated After Overtime Win Over Toms River East, 51-49
In an unscheduled crossover game between two unbeaten teams, Lakewood and Toms River East, both from Ocean County and the Southern Divisions of the Shore Conference, battled in a closely played game that saw seven lead changes and five ties over the final 12:13 of the contest including overtime. Lakewood managed to pull this one out by outscoring Toms River East by margin of 4-2 in the extra session for the 51-49 squeaker to move up to 3-0 on the Spring. Arriving early for the start of the 9:00 PM contest between Neptune and the lone GMC representative, East Brunswick, GMC Hoops began to take in the action shortly after the game was tied up at 34-34 with 10:13 to play in the second half.
About a minute and twenty seconds went by before Lakewood took the lead on an offensive rebound and putback off a missed shot in the key to make the score, 36-34 at the 8:55 mark. Forty-three seconds later, the Piners increased their advantage to four via the charity stripe by making a pair of free throws for a 38-34 lead with 8:12 remaining in regulation. Neither team would score for almost 1:15 before Lakewood had a chance to go up by six. Unfortunately, the Piners misfired on a pair of foul shots at the 7:01 mark so the score remained, 38-34. Toms River East would get on the board next as the Raiders finally ended a scoreless stretch of nearly five minutes by connecting for a field goal that cut the deficit in half, and made the score, 38-36 with 5:36 to play in the second half.
A little more than a minute later, the Raiders, which are coached during the regular season by former South Brunswick head coach, Tom Carpenter, tied the game up on a score in the key for a 38-38 score with 4:35 to go in regulation. The Raiders then made it a 6-0 burst with a pair from the foul line some 35 seconds later to take a 40-38 advantage with exactly four minutes to go in the second half. Toms River East then capped its 8-0 spurt with another field goal at the 2:46 mark for a 42-38 lead. However, with a chance to perhaps put the game away, the Raiders coughed up the ball with 1:51 remaining in regulation, and that gave the Piners of Lakewood new life. Taking advantage of the second chance, Lakewood embarked on a 6-0 spurt that gave it the lead with 40 seconds to go. Sparking the rally were a pair of foul shots by a player with 1:33 to go in the second half, and then capping the run was a jumper for the 44-42 edge with under a minute to go.
Toms River East came back down the floor, and after Lakewood blocked the first shot attempt to tie with 27 seconds left in regulation, the Raiders managed to score with about 20 seconds left to knot the game up again at 44-44. On the very next Lakewood possession, the Piners took the lead as a player made a nice baseline drive from the left side, scored, and drew the foul for a traditional three point play for a 47-44 lead with 13.3 seconds left in regulation. Refusing to lose, Toms River East promptly called a timeout with 11.2 seconds to go, and following the stoppage, got a three pointer from the right wing with six seconds left in the second half to square the game at 47-47 as both teams went to overtime. In the extra session, both teams combined for just six points with Lakewood getting the lion’s share to come up with the win.
Thirty-three seconds into the extra period, Lakewood got a field goal to take a two point, 49-47 lead with 1:27 left. About 45 seconds later, Toms River East tied the game up for the last time, and the Raiders scored on a drive from the left wing into the key for a layup that made the score, 49-49 with 43.8 left. Setting up for a final shot, Lakewood took up some of the clock, and made it so that Toms River East wouldn’t have much time to respond with a last second shot in case of a score or miss. Then, with 3.4 seconds showing on the scoreboard, the Piners had a player drive down the middle and draw a foul. Going to the line, the Lakewood player sank both free throws for a 51-49 lead. The Raiders put up a long short, but it was off the mark, and the Piners came away with the two point win. Since both teams played against each other after neither of their original opponents showed up, they are still 3-0.
Point Boro Defeats Vianney, 45-37
While Lakewood and Toms River East were doing battle in a crossover game between two teams from Ocean County, two squads from Division A did battle as Point Pleasant Boro, which defeated East Brunswick the week before was taking on St. John Vianney, which lost to the Bears on opening day. Here, GMC Hoops picked up the action with about 4:30 to go in the game with the score, 37-30 in favor of Point Pleasant Boro. Nearly a half minute later, the Lancers got on the board with a one of two showing from the foul line for a 37-31 Point Boro lead. Both teams then spent the next minute exchanging turnovers as the Panthers from Point Pleasant committed a miscue at about the 3:30 mark, and then Vianney made one itself at exactly the three minute mark.
Point Boro then increased its lead to three possessions on a foul line jumper with 2:42 left that made the score, 39-31. Vianney then cut the deficit back down to six with a layup at the 2:03 mark, and the scoreboard then read, 39-33. On the next Panther offensive series, Point Boro scored on a three pointer from the left side for a nine point, 42-33 advantage. The Lancers would answer with a three of their own, but it only trimmed the margin to six at 42-36 with 1:17 left to play, and time becoming more precious. A short time later, Point Pleasant Boro went up again by three possessions with a baseball pass over the top of the fullcourt pressure for a layup that made it an eight point game again at 44-36 with a minute to go. Both teams then exchanged one of two efforts at the charity stripe for a 45-37 Panther lead with 35.8 seconds left, and that is how the game ended as Point Boro moved up to 2-1 on the Spring while Vianney dropped to 1-2.
Neptune Proves To Be Too Much For East Brunswick, 68-55
On this first Monday in May, or what is better known to partiers as Cinco de Mayo, East Brunswick was participating in its third week of action at the 2008 Rebounds Spring League in Neptune. Up to this point in the season, the Bears have played quite competitively by winning their season opener over St. John Vianney, and losing in overtime last week in its second game of the season to Point Pleasant Boro of Ocean County. However, this third game of the spring would probably be its toughest test as it faced off against Monmouth County power and 2008 Central Jersey Group III finalist, Neptune. The Scarlet Fliers are always talented, athletic, and aren’t afraid to play an up-tempo game. EB decided to try and run with Neptune, and perhaps that was a mistake. However, behind the solid shooting performance of junior Nick Navara, who connected on at least five three pointers, the Bears were able to make things interesting on a couple of occasions. In the end though, Neptune, which was playing in front of a home crowd in essence, won the game 68-55 after jumping ahead by a twenty point, 54-34 margin with 8:01 to go in the game.
In the first half, the Scarlet Fliers, which lost to fellow Monmouth County school, and Shore Conference member, Middletown South in the Central Jersey Group III Championship this past March, jumped out to a 26-7 lead with 8:55 to go in the first half, and after East Brunswick climbed to within twelve at 37-25 with 2:12 to go before the intermission, they took a fourteen point 43-29 lead at the break as both teams combined for 72 first half points. Then, in the second half, Neptune outscored EB by a 17-9 margin over the first 11:59 of the second half to take its largest lead of the game before the Bears rallied with a 21-14 showing to make the final score more respectable. Neptune went to work right away with a three pointer to open the scoring for a 3-0 lead at the 18:30 mark. Mauro Tucci then got East Brunswick back on the board with a layup off an assist by Alec Mayo for a 3-2 Neptune lead. The Bears had a chance to take a one point lead on a subsequent possession, but the Fliers managed to force a steal off Mayo, and converted that into two points with a layup for a 7-2 lead at the 16:15 mark.
About a minute and fifteen seconds later, Neptune scored again with an offensive rebound and putback off a missed layup on the drive for a 9-2 advantage with 15:21 to go in the first half. The Scarlet Fliers then made it an 8-0 run for an 11-2 lead before Dustin Schuld handed out an assist on another bucket by Tucci on a fadeaway shot in the paint for an 11-4 Neptune lead at the 14:23 mark. The Scarlet Fliers then pushed its advantage back to nine with a pair of free throws that made the score, 13-4 with 13:43 left before the brief intermission. A little more than a minute later, Neptune made it a lead of an even dozen thanks to a three pointer from the top of the key that made the score, 16-4 with 12:40 to go in the first half. Mayo helped EB cut into the lead with a three pointer from the top of the key himself that made the score, 16-7 at the 11:41 mark. The Bears had an opportunity to get the ball back, and cut into the lead, but after Neptune misfired on two foul shots at the 10:54 mark, the Fliers grabbed the offensive board, and scored on the follow for an 18-7 lead. The putback served as a catalyst for a key 10-0 spurt over the next two minutes that was capped by a well executed fast break for a layup at the 8:55 mark for a commanding 26-7 edge.
Over the next 3:04, Neptune then outscored the Bears by a 5-2 margin to increase its virtually insurmountable lead to 31-9 before Schuld got EB back on the board with a nice drive from the right side for a layup that banked high off the glass, and made it 31-11 with 5:51 to go in the half. Schuld’s drive and score sparked a 7-0 rally by the Bears over the next 1:58 for a 31-16 Neptune advantage before the Scarlet Fliers connected on a jumper from the left wing to put a halt to the Bear run for a 33-16 lead. Then, over the next 1:12, East Brunswick put together a 6-2 burst that included three pointers by Tucci at the 3:39 mark, and Navarra at the 2:41 mark that closed the gap to 35-22 in favor of Neptune. At this point, the Bears had rallied with a 13-5 tear over a 3:10 span. Neptune scored another basket to take a 37-22 lead before Schuld made a drive along the left side, and then kicked out to Navara in the left corner for a three pointer that made the score, 37-25 with 2:12 to go before the brief break. The Fliers then put some breathing room between themselves and EB with a 6-0 spurt that was capped by a resounding one handed slam that made the score 43-25 at the 1:07 mark. East Brunswick closed the gap to 43-29 at the break with the final four points of the half including a coast to coast layup by Navara.
In the second half, Neptune withstood a brief early charge by East Brunswick before going on a run that helped them outscore the Bears by an 11-5 margin over the first 11:59 of the second half to take a twenty point, 54-34 lead with 8:01 remaining in the contest. The Bears, behind the shooting heroics of Navara along with the scrappy play of the entire team to make things respectable. However, the huge deficit was too much to overcome, and Neptune came away with the thirteen point victory to remain undefeated on the Spring while East Brunswick fell to 1-2. Next week, the Bears will be back in action at 9:00 PM against the Mid-Jersey Heat.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neptune (3-0) | 43 | 25 | 68 |
| East Brunswick (1-2) | 29 | 26 | 55 |