LINDEN, NJ–In between the two games that GMC Hoops saw over at the 2008 Bound Brook Summer League, the web site took some time out to take a drive over to Linden High School to see what was going on in the last day of the 2008 Referee Camp portion of the Linden Summer League. And with much surprise, the site got lucky since Cardinal McCarrick was taking on St. Patrick’s of Elizabeth in a 7:00 PM contest over at McManus Middle School. By the time GMC Hoops got over to the gym, the game was already almost at the half with the Celtics leading by a score of 27-20 in the waning seconds.
Moments after arriving, the web site saw junior guard, Craig Thomas net a free throw for a 27-21 St. Pat’s lead with 19 seconds to play before the intermission. Mike Costello then came up with a huge defensive play by drawing a charge with eight seconds remaining, but St. Patrick’s still went into the brief break with a six point, 27-21 lead. Then, in the third quarter, the Celtics essentially put the game away by shutting down McCarrick. St. Patrick’s outscored the Eagles by a 12-5 margin to take a 39-26 lead into the fourth. Cardy Mac, which played with plenty of spirit and no fear, shot themselves in the foot by missing 19 free throws in the contest, and wasn’t able to overcome the deficit in a 53-36 defeat.
The second half scoring started just 12 seconds into the new period when St. Patrick’s, which lost its bid to win yet another Tournament of Champions title when it was knocked off by Mike Rosario and St. Anthony’s in the Non-Public B North Championship at Rutgers, connected on a jumper from well beyond the key that got both a kind roll, and bounce for a three pointer that made the score, 30-21. The Eagles would bring the deficit back down to seven again as Julio Rosario found Jack Giordano for a jumper from the left side that made the score, 30-23 at the 9:02 mark. St. Patrick’s then went back up by nine on its next possession with a layup at the 8:35 mark that made the score, 32-23. Returning the favor on its next possession, the Eagles got on the board again when Dominic Appiah grabbed an offensive rebound off a block by a St. Pat’s player on Giordano. Appiah was fouled on a follow attempt, and made one of two at the line for a 32-24 Celtic lead with 8:04 to go in the period.
Almost exactly a minute later, McCarrick head coach, Joe Lewis was called for a technical foul, and St. Patrick’s took advantage with two free throws for a 34-24 lead at the 7:06 mark. The Celtics then added another pair from the charity stripe with 5:42 left in the third for a 36-24 lead. Neither team would score over the next 2:53 before Celtic pressure took its toll on McCarrick. Double teaming Thomas in the Cardy Mac backcourt, St. Pat’s was able to force the soon to be junior guard to throw an errant pass that was stolen, and that set up a scoring attempt that drew a foul. The result was one of two from the free throw line for a 37-24 advantage with 2:49 to go in the period. A little more than a minute after that, the Celtics got the ball back, and capped their dominant period with a two handed stuff for a 39-24 lead with 1:47 remaining.
The Eagles would get a score to pull within 39-26, and had a chance to get closer, but Mo Isaac summed up the free throw story for the Eagles on this night by misfiring on a couple of attempts as the period closed. Moving on to the fourth, the Eagles got things going right away when Taylor Snider, who appears to have recovered quite well from his leg injury sustained in the loss to Bishop Ahr’s JV in the GMC Hoops JV Game of the Week back on January 26th, grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed shot by Isaac, and scored on the follow for a 39-28 St. Pat’s lead with 9:32 left. The Celtics quickly responded though with a layup that made the score, 41-28 at the 9:15 mark. Snider had a chance to get the Eagles on the board again when he followed his own missed shot for another offensive board, but was called for a charge at the 8:40 mark.
Isaac would pick up his teammate though when he stole a lob pass intended for a St. Patrick’s big man, dribbled up the court on the right side, and passed to Snider. The soon to be junior, who is the younger brother of recent McCarrick graduate, Wil Snider, missed the jumper from the wing, but Isaac was there for the offensive rebound and follow that made the score, 41-30 with 8:00 left. Once again though, St. Pat’s quickly replied with a field goal of its own to go back up by 13, 43-30. Moments later, the Celtic pressure worked its magic once again by forciing a turnover that led to a quick score, and a 45-30 lead with 7:41 to play. The Eagles finally got on the board again when Costello made one of two at the line to close the gap ever so slightly to 45-31 with exactly seven minutes to go in the game. There would be a lull in the scoring for a little over a minute before St. Patrick’s scored on a layup that made it 47-31 at the 5:52 mark.
After being scoreless for nearly two minutes, McCarrick would get on the board once again thanks to its defense, which forced a five second call at the 5:08 mark that led to an inbounds pass from soon to be sophomore Jeremy Cruz to Rob Olivieri for a layup in the left low block for a 47-33 Celtic lead with 4:56 left. St. Patrick’s would then go up by 17 with a three pointer at the 4:35 mark that made it a 50-33 game. Following a timeout at the 4:17 mark, the Eagles were able to get the ball back when Alvin Baptiste-Ousley got on the floor to get a loose ball, and call for time with 3:50 remaining. Twelve seconds later, Olivieri passed to Snider for a three pointer from the left wing that made the score, 50-36 with 3:38 left. Cardinal McCarrick would not score for the rest of the game while the Celtics closed the game out with a steal off a Snider pass on the left side for a drive from midcourt that led to a layup and the foul for a three point play to close out the 53-36 victory.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Patrick’s | 14 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 53 |
| Cardinal McCarrick | 10 | 11 | 5 | 10 | 36 |