BOUND BROOK, NJ–On Thursday night, GMC Hoops traveled over to Bound Brook High School to catch the finale of the opening round of playoff games in the 2008 Bound Brook Summer League. In the nightcap of this first round quadrupleheader, third seeded Piscataway was taking on sixth seeded J.F. Kennedy. Once more the Chiefs of P-Way had a large showing of players including a good deal of freshmen, who were getting their feet wet. This strategy deployed by Piscataway is a good way of keeping the program going in the right direction since it gives an opportunity for the youngsters to play hard without worrying about making mistakes. And, when they have a bit of difficulty, coaches Jeff Adkins and Dennis Wells put in the more experienced players to get the Chiefs back into the contest.
Kennedy on the other hand, is a smaller school, and has to work with what it has. However, soon to be second year head coach, Chris Banos, is beginning to make strides. In just his first year alone, the Mustangs reached a plateau it had not been at in five years with double digit wins. Banos also has a good deal of young promising talent that knows how to play defense. This summer, JFK has been quite competitive despite only managing to get a 4-4 record entering the playoff round. With the departure of Cardinal McCarrick to the GMC White, and two more open dates on the schedule for the Mustangs to work with in 2008-09, there is a good chance that Kennedy could finally break through with its first state tourney berth in six seasons. Both Piscataway and J.F. Kennedy make up the only two teams from the GMC in this year’s league.
In this contest, P-Way took a five point, 26-21 lead into the brief intermission. Over the first 10:05 of the second half, the Chiefs outscored the Mustangs by an 8-7 margin for a 34-28 lead at the 9:55 mark when GMC Hoops entered the gym. The web site spent some time talking to Bound Brook head coach, Anthony Melesurgo, and then got into the action. Thomas Bennett scored on layup from the right side to follow a one of two showing from the free throw line that gave the Chiefs a 37-28 lead at 9:33 mark. Kennedy pulled to within six again with a three pointer that made the score, 37-31 with 8:54 to play. A minute and sixteen seconds later, Jeff Adkins then drove to the basket like he has a number of times this summer for a layin as he was fouled for a traditional three point play, and a 40-31 lead with 7:38 remaining.
The Mustangs would pull to within eight on a one of two showing from the foul line at the 6:55 mark for a 40-32 score. Piscataway then went up by double digits on a Bennett field goal at the 5:51 mark that made the score, 42-32. Adkins then made a nifty athletic move for a layup to put the Chiefs up by an even dozen and compel Banos to call a timeout with 5:22 remaining with the scoreboard reading P-Way 44 and J.F. Kennedy 32. Following the stoppage, the Mustangs began to make inroads again on the Chiefs with eight straight points including a kickout to the right corner for a 44-35 P-Way lead at the 5:04 mark. A minute and twenty-seven seconds later, JFK closed to within six on a nice dribble penetration and kickout for a three pointer from the right wing that made the score, 44-38 at the 3:37 mark. After the Chiefs called for time two seconds later, Kennedy forced a turnover with pressure in the P-Way backcourt, and then capitalized on the turnover with a pair of free throws at the 3:02 mark for a 44-40 Piscataway lead.
However, Piscataway closed out the win when a youngster was fouled on a three point attempt that resulted in a perfect 3 of 3 at the charity stripe, and a 47-40 final score. With the victory, the Chiefs advance to the semifinals on Tuesday night, where they will face Somerville in a rematch of an earlier season loss on July 3rd.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piscataway (7-2) | 26 | 21 | 47 |
| J.F. Kennedy (4-5) | 21 | 19 | 40 |