SOUTH AMBOY, NJ–On Wednesday night, GMC Hoops returned to South Amboy Middle/High School to take in some of the action from the fourth week of games at the 2008 Raritan Bay Summer League. On this night, the web site managed to catch the opening contest in the usual quadrupleheader of action between Milltown and South Amboy from the 5th and 6th Grade Division.
In a low scoring contest, South Amboy jumped out to a 14-4 lead only to have Milltown rally with eight unanswered points to pull within two at 14-12 with 6:23 remaining. Unfortunately for Milltown, it was unable to get any closer as South Amboy closed out the game with four of the final six points for an 18-14 win. The first half saw the hometown team jump out to a seven point lead at the break on five field goals and one of two free throws while Milltown only managed to connect on two field goal attempts while missing both free throws. Then, in the second half, Milltown outscored South Amboy by a 10-7 margin as it clicked on two field goals, a three pointer, and 3 of 9 from the foul line. Meanwhile, South Amboy got its seven on three field goals and one of four from the charity stripe. Overall, South Amboy had 8 field goals, and 2 of 6 from the line while Milltown made 4 field goals, a three pointer, and 3 of 11 from the free throw stripe.
In the second half, neither team got on the board until about the 14:30 mark when the home team connected on a field goal to go up by nine at 13-4. Two and a half minutes later, South Amboy padded its advantage with one of two from the free throw line for a 14-4 lead. Milltown got its first points of the second half when it registered a layup at the 9:12 mark to close within eight again at 14-6. Nearly two minutes later, Milltown closed to within five on a three pointer from the top of the key to make the score, 14-9 with 7:21 to play. Thirty-four seconds after that, Milltown was on the board once more with a field goal for a 14-11 South Amboy lead with 6:47 remaining. On the next South Amboy possession, Milltown’s defense came up with a big stop on a steal that turned into a fast break opportunity.
Pushing the ball quickly downcourt, Milltown was able to get a layup attempt, and draw a foul with 6:23 left. The visitors then only cashed in on one of the two free throws for a 14-12 score in favor of South Amboy. A little more than a minute later, South Amboy managed to draw a foul underneath, but couldn’t capitalize as it missed both free throw attempts with 5:22 to go. However, the home squad was able to give itself some breathing room when one of its players grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed jumper from the right wing, and put it back in for a 16-12 edge with 3:58 to play. South Amboy then had a chance to add to its lead, but after several offensive rebound attempts, it was unable to convert.
Milltown had its share of chances as well. Over the final 2:22 of the game, the visitors made only 2 of 8 from the foul line, and didn’t get a field goal. However, South Amboy wasn’t really able to put the game away until a little more than a minute remaining when a player connected on a bank shot from the left foul line extended for an 18-13 lead. Milltown was unable to get any points until 5.2 seconds left with one of two from the foul line. By then the visitors had run out of time in the 18-14 South Amboy win.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Amboy | 11 | 7 | 18 |
| Milltown | 4 | 10 | 14 |