NEPTUNE, NJ–After traveling to the Raritan Bay Summer League for the first game of the quadrupleheader on Thursday, GMC Hoops hopped back into the car, and traveled down Route 35 to the Rebounds facility in Neptune to take in the final night of action in the 2008 Rebounds Spring League. On this night, the league was having its annual Showcase round of games matching up teams in both divisions based upon record. Among the teams in action were Lakewood, 2nd Baptist Church, G-Force Gold, and East Brunswick.
Arriving at the gym around 7:45, GMC Hoops managed to take in the final three minutes of the game between 2nd Baptist Church and Lakewood, which was coming off a huge 47-41 upset of previously undefeated Neptune on Monday night in its final regular season game. The Piners were looking to complete the spring with a 7-1 record. Things didn’t look too good when the site picked up the action with three minutes remaining. At that point, 2nd Baptist was ahead by five at 44-39. However, Lakewood closed the game with a 9-0 run to come away with the four point, 48-44 victory. The Piners embarked on their decisive run with 2:30 to play when a player came up with two free throws that closed the gap to 44-41. Lakewood then had a chance to close the gap even further, but misfired on two charity shots with two minutes left, and the deficit remained at three.
Eight seconds later though, Lakewood got the ball back with another chance to score, and when it drew a foul at the 1:52 mark, it made good on its free throws with a pair to close within one at 44-43. The Piners then had a chance to take the lead when they got the ball, and eventually fought for two offensive rebounds off missed shots, but couldn’t put the ball in the basket, and the score remained 44-43 with 1:25 left. Lakewood, which is based on Ocean County, then stepped up the defense, and got a steal that led to a layup attempt, which was missed. However, the Piners got the offensive board, and drew a foul on the follow that resulted in a one of two showing for a 44-44 tie with just inside a minute remaining. Lakewood then took the lead for good despite missing a wide open layup following a great feed. On that play, the Piners managed to draw a foul, and cashed in with two from the charity stripe for a 46-44 lead.
Lakewood then sealed the win with a blocked shot in the waning moments, and following a timeout by 2nd Baptist with 16.6 to play, Lakewood drew another foul that resulted in two insurance free throws that rounded out the final 48-44 score. The Piners, which recently competed in the Rutgers Elite Team Camp last weekend, finished up at 7-1 on the spring while 2nd Baptist Church ended their season at 4-4.
East Brunswick Pulls Away In 2nd Half, 62-51
Coming into play on Thursday night, the Bears of East Brunswick were finally getting some positive results from its scrappy, spirited play all spring. EB had won two straight games after losing four in a row, and had an opportunity to finish up the season at .500 with a win over G-Force Gold in a Showcase crossover matchup. G-Force, which had several players from the GMC on the roster for this one including Perth Amboy Tech’s double-double making machine, Anthony Patterson, St. Joseph’s JV talents, Rob Gomulka, and Jonathan Lee. Patterson came out firing in the first half to pace G-Force as it stayed close with EB through much of the game. However, a pivotal 14-0 run over a 6:11 span midway through the second half put the game away for EB in a 62-51 victory.
In a game that saw a decent amount of scoring for a contest with a running clock, there were a total of 9 lead changes and 4 ties. After firing away like a madman in the first half, Patterson was quiet in the second half, and actually was on the bench during the final five minutes of the contest. The Perth Amboy Tech product, who will be returning next season for his senior year, opened the game up with a three pointer from the right wing that made it 3-0 at the 18:56 mark. Ten seconds later, the Bears pulled to within one on a kickout to the right wing for a jumper that made the score, 3-2 at the 18:46 mark. East Brunswick then took the lead on a baseline drive for a reverse layup that made the score, 4-3 in the Bears favor at the 18:03 mark. A little more than a minute and a half rolled by before the next score, which occurred when Mike Weber made an inbounds pass to Mike Kvidahl, who was playing his second game after spending much of the spring playing volleyball for EBHS, for a layup that made the score, 6-3 with 16:27 to go in the first half.
Twenty-five seconds later, Nick Navara swiped a steal, and drove in from near half court on the left side for a layup attempt that drew a foul, and resulted in two free throws for an 8-3 lead. On G-Force’s next possession, the team turned it over at the 15:25 mark prompting coach, Bob Gomulka to call for time at the 15:09 mark. Following the stoppage, G-Force got going again with a short jumper from the right side to cut the deficit down to three at 8-5. On a subsequent Bear possession though, EB would get on the board again on a nice kickout to Mauro Tucci for a three pointer from the left wing for an 11-5 advantage at the 14:09 mark. G-Force would then get another score that would compel veteran East Brunswick head coach, Bo Henning to call a timeout with 13:51 left before the intermission, and the scoreboard reading, 11-7 in favor of East Brunswick.
Following the stoppage, Patterson came up with his second of three treys over the first 8:34 on a jumper from the right wing that pulled G-Force to within one at 11-10 with 12:19 to go in the first half. On the next EB possession, Mayo came up with two free throws at the 11:53 mark to put the Bears back up by three at 13-10, but G-Force quickly countered to tie it up at 13-13 as Patterson dialed long distance again from the left wing to knot the game at the 11:26 mark. Nearly thirty seconds later, Candelino put G-Force Gold in front with a pair of foul shots that made the score, 15-13 at the 10:55 mark. East Brunswick would come right back to tie it up again as Kevin Johnson made a nice entry pass to Tucci for a layup, and then after G-Force went ahead with a score, the Bears replied with five unanswered points including a three pointer by Alec Mayo, and a jumper by Dustin Schuld that made the score, 20-17 with 9:45 left. G-Force would trim the deficit to two though with a 3-2 showing over the next 1:14 despite the fact that Rob Gomulka went down hard on a drive to the basket with 8:31 left.
After a stoppage of considerable time for the injury timeout, Gomulka showed true grit by getting himself up, and gathering his thoughts together as best he could to make one of two at the foul line for a 22-20 East Brunswick lead. Over a minute after that, East Brunswick took a four point lead on a runner that took a nice bounce for a 24-20 score at the 7:25 mark. Neither team would score for over two minutes until, Patterson slashed his way through the middle for a driving layup that pulled G-Force Gold two within two again at 24-22 at the 5:20 mark. G-Force had a chance to tie but Weber swiped a steal off Lee, and went in for a fadeaway shot that was off target. However, Weber’s teammates picked up him by getting the offensive rebound, and drawing the foul on the follow. As a result, EB got one of two at the line for a 25-22 lead at the 4:47 mark. G-Force would then get a layup to pull within one again at 25-24 with 3:13 to go in the half.
East Brunswick then got two free throws from Schuld at the 2:11 mark for a 27-24 lead, and the Tucci followed suit with a three pointer from the right wing off a steal for a 30-24 advantage with 1:33 left before the brief break. G-Force Gold then closed out the half with four of the final six points including an offensive rebound and follow for a 30-26 with 30 seconds left in the half. G-Force then got another basket before Schuld swiped a steal, and handed out an assist on a Tucci drive from the right wing for a layup to make the score, 32-28 at halftime. The first ten minutes or so of the second half was as nip and tuck as the first half for the most part. Gomulka started things up for G-Force Gold with a pair of free throws after drawing a foul on the drive for a 32-30 East Brunswick lead just a minute into the first half. The Bears would get their first points of the second half a little more than two minutes in when they got an offensive rebound, and drew a foul on the putback attempt. The result was a one of two showing at the line for a 33-30 lead with 17:51 left in the game.
Jonathan Lee got G-Force to within one again with a short jumper at the 16:58 mark, and then Gomulka came up with a crossover move at half court to breakaway from EB defenders, and knocked in a jumper to put his team on top for the first time since about the 10 minute mark of the first half. East Brunswick would then outscore G-Force by a 5-3 margin as both teams would exchange threes including one by the Bears from the left wing at the 15:22 mark for the 38-37 edge. EB then got one of two from the charity stripe for a 39-37 lead with 14:56 remaining, and then Tucci drew a charge at the 13:57 mark. Following a G-Force timeout with 13:49 to play, Mayo followed Tucci’s example by going to the floor himself for a charge with 13:17 remaining. Kevin Johnson then got the Bears on the board again with a drive in from the left wing for a layup and the foul for a three point play that made it 42-37 at the 12:28 mark. G-Force finally ended the 7-0 Bear run with a score at the 11:40 mark that coerced an EB timeout.
Following the stoppage, G-Force Gold got five more points including a score by Gomulka at the 10:33 mark for a 44-42 lead. Unfortunately for the Union County based AAU squad, that would be the last time it would have the lead. East Brunswick finished the spring strong with a knockout blow of a run by scoring 14 unanswered points including a putback at the 9:45 mark to tie it up at 44-44, a steal by Weber that turned into a layup by Navara at the 9:29 mark, five straight free throws by Navara including two at the 8:37 mark, and three more at the 6:38 mark. G-Force tried to stem the tide by calling a timeout with just over six minutes to play, but with Patterson relegated to the bench, East Brunswick pounded away for three offensive rebounds that led to a putback for a 53-44 lead. Johnson then came up with his second three point play of the contest at the 4:22 mark to not only cap the run, but also put the icing on the cake for EB’s third straight win to close out the spring season.
With the 62-51 victory, East Brunswick closed out its third straight year at Rebounds with a 4-4 record. Last year, the Bears finished up in a similar way as they struggled through the early part of the spring only to finish up strong to end up at .500. G-Force dropped to 2-6.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Brunswick (4-4) | 32 | 30 | 62 |
| G-Force Gold (2-6) | 28 | 23 | 51 |