SOUTH AMBOY, NJ–On Thursday, GMC Hoops again traveled out to the air conditioned South Amboy Middle/High School gym to take in the first game of the usual quadrupleheader to round out the fourth week of action in the 2008 Raritan Bay Summer League. In this game, South Amboy was taking on the Scarlet Nets in a contest from the 3rd and 4th Grade Division.
One of the nice things about going to the Raritan Bay Summer League, is the always great hospitality from the people running the league: Gary Lange and Tom Reilly. Lange, who is one of the top scorers in the history of South Amboy High School Boys Basketball, always makes sure that I’m well fed whenever I stop by. Among the food that I will usually have at games is Raritan Bay’s World Famous Lange Dogs. As one official put it to me at the half of our featured game, “There’s Sabrett’s, there’s Nathan’s, and then there’s the World Famous Lange Dogs!” On this day, I came straight to the gym from work, and then afterwards, I took a trip down to Rebounds to watch the final night of action there. So, I had myself two of the famous Lange Dogs, and they helped keep me going with my busy schedule ahead.
Returning to the game, South Amboy’s squad appears to have a bright future ahead. Coached by the current mayor of the city, Jack O’Leary, this group played in 50 games this past season, and went 17-1 in the Raritan Bay League during the winter, and then added a 20-0 mark in another league. It was a pleasure to meet Mayor O’Leary, whose son Ryan is one of the players on the team. O’Leary is demanding of his kids, but they respond, and play well for him. A fine example of that was in the second half of this game. Trailing the Scarlet Nets by only five at the intermission, 15-10, South Amboy outscored its opponent by an 11-4 margin in the second half for a come from behind, 21-19 victory.
In the first half, the Scarlet Nets tabulated their 15 points on six field goals, and even a three pointer while South Amboy amassed its ten points on five field goals. In the second half, South Amboy pulled out the win with four field goals, and three free throws. Despite making only 3 of 14 from the line, the hometown team was able to withstand the Scarlet Nets, which only managed to connect on two field goals in the final 20 minutes. As stated earlier, the Scarlet Nets took a 15-10 lead at the half when I arrived. The second half began with neither team scoring for the first 1:50 when South Amboy called for time at the 18:10 mark. Another 2:40 passed before any team got on the board as South Amboy made one of two from the charity stripe for a 15-11 Scarlet Nets lead at the 15:30 mark.
Twenty-one seconds later, South Amboy swiped a steal, and drove up the left side of the court for a shot attempt that drew a foul, but couldn’t convert by missing two free throws. With the score still standing at 15-11, the Scarlet Nets called for time at the 13:22 mark. The timeout seemed to have a positive effect as the visitors made a pass from the left baseline to the left side for a short jumper that was true, and made the score, 17-11 with 13:05 to go. A little more than a minute and a half later, South Amboy tried to knife into its deficit with a drive from the left wing for a scoop shot on the left baseline, and drew a foul. Unfortunately, the home team couldn’t cash in as the player misfired on a couple free throws. Despite the fact that South Amboy would get the offensive rebound, and another following the missed follow, it was unable to get any points on the possession.
Nevertheless, South Amboy continued to battle. A little more than two minutes later, Ryan Leary swiped a steal, and then handed out an assist on a short shot by another player from the left side for a 17-13 Scarlet Net lead with 9:26 remaining. A minute and twenty seconds afterward, the Scarlet Nets had a chance to stem the growing tide, but was unable to thanks to two misfires from the charity stripe. Although they would grab the offensive board, the Scarlet Nets were unable to convert. About a minute and a half afterward, South Amboy pulled to within a field goal when a player grabbed a rebound on the defensive end, and proceeded to go coast to coast for a layup that made the score, 17-15. Forty-eight seconds later, the hometown squad had an opportunity to tie the game up, but after a nice dish down low by O’Leary, South Amboy was called for traveling with 5:40 left.
Following a full timeout by South Amboy with 5:11 to go, O’Leary closed the gap to one when he drove around the Scarlet Net basket before coming down on the right side of the key for a layup attempt that drew a foul, and resulted in one of two free throws for a 17-16 Scarlet Nets lead with 4:22 remaining. A bit more than a minute later, South Amboy took the lead for good as the team took advantage of a missed defensive assignment by the Scarlet Nets on an inbounds play that resulted in a layup that made the score, 18-17 with 3:19 to go. Twenty-seven seconds later, South Amboy padded its lead as O’Leary drove in for a layup to make the score, 20-17 with 2:52 to play. Both teams then added a score of some sort down the stretch with South Amboy getting theirs at the 1:21 mark following a timeout with 1:48 to play, and the Scarlet Nets getting a basket with 18.2 to go that made it a one possession game. However, South Amboy was able to hang on for the two point, 21-19 victory.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scarlet Nets | 15 | 4 | 19 |
| South Amboy | 10 | 11 | 21 |