NEPTUNE, NJ–On Monday night, GMC Hoops traveled down to Rebounds to take in the third week of action in the 2008 Rebounds Fall League. On this night, the site sat down to watch the Spotswood Chargers in action for the third straight week. In addition, South Brunswick and East Brunswick were both also in action, and came up winners. SBHS was able to defeat Southern Regional of Manahawkin, and the Shore Conference’s Class A South Division by a score of 47-38 thanks to a strong first half. According to head coach, Joe Hoehman, the team lost a bit of momentum in the second half, but the Vikings were still able to get the victory. Meanwhile, East Brunswick came up with a 45-29 win over Egg Harbor Township. Spotswood was battling an AAU squad named the Shore Sharks. The Chargers fell behind by seven at the half, and despite a better performance in the second half, they weren’t able to overcome the halftime deficit in a 62-59 loss.
Shore Sharks Hands Spotswood First Defeat Of Fall, 62-59
On a night when conditions in the Rebounds gym were stifling, the play by both teams from an offensive standpoint was able to match it. Spotswood put together its highest point total of the season thus far, but it wasn’t good enough to win on this night. GMC Hoops arrived at the gym with the score tied at 2-2 with 18:32 to go in the half. Less than a half minute later, the Shore Sharks went out in front 3-2 with one of two from the foul line at the 18:06 mark. Fifteen seconds after that, the Shore Sharks got their hands on the ball again, and were able to convert their opportunity into points with a three pointer at the 17:51 mark. On the very next Spotswood possession, senior Ross Gerhart, who had more than his share of struggles from the perimeter in this contest, grabbed an offensive rebound off a Pat Dwyer miss, and put in the follow for a 6-4 Shore Sharks lead.
Nearly a minute later, the Shore Sharks went back to work from the perimeter with a three pointer from the right side of the top of the key for a 9-4 advantage with 16:40 to go in the half. Besides the shooting and scoring from the perimeter, the Sharks were able to get second chances on the offensive boards. For example, with 16:12 to go in the half, the Shore Sharks missed on the drive, but grabbed the offensive rebound, and drew a foul on the follow, which resulted in a make on the first, and a miss on the second free throw. Upon the missed second foul shot, the Monmouth County based AAU team got another offensive rebound, which eventually led to a floater that was good at the 15:30 mark for a 12-4 lead. Dwyer began to get revved up with its improved perimeter game as he struck for a trifecta from the left wing that cut the deficit to five at 12-7 with 15:18 to go in the first half.
Once again though, the Shore Sharks attacked the offensive boards, got a rebound, and drew a foul on the follow that resulted in a pair of foul shots at the 14:04 mark for a 14-7 lead. Neither team would score for over a minute until Gerhart stepped up to the charity stripe, and made two free throws to close the gap again to five at 14-9 with 12:52 to go before halftime. The Shore Sharks, which had six three pointers in the contest as a team, netted their third of five treys in the first half with a shot from the top of the key for a 17-9 lead at the 11:30 mark. Spotswood, which actually had more threes with nine on the night including six in half number two, got a trey itself when Dwyer passed to Tyler Osofsky for a trifecta at the 10:39 mark for a 17-12 score in favor of the Sharks. A minute and eighteen seconds later, after Spotswood got a steal, the Shore Sharks swiped the ball back, and turned it into a fast break layup at the 9:21 mark for a 19-12 edge.
Exactly a minute later, the Sharks canned a jumper from the left side for a 21-12 lead at the 8:21 mark. However, Spotswood came right back down for a score on a layup in the right low block for a 21-14 Shark lead at the 8:10 mark. A short time later, the Shore Sharks scored again on a drive in from the right wing for a layup at the 7:39 mark for a 23-14 lead. Once again though, Spotswood stayed within striking distance on a field goal at the 7:20 mark for a 23-16 score. Neither team scored after that for 1:35 before great hustle by Osofsky saved the ball inbounds to one of the Pareti twins, who dished to Gerhart for a layup, and a 23-18 score with 5:45 to go before the intermission. Almost another minute went by before another score, and that came in the form of the fourth three of the half by the Sharks for a 26-18 edge at the 4:49 mark. James Pareti promptly replied with a trey of his own from the top of the key to pull the Chargers within five again at 26-21 with 4:37 to go before the intermission.
On a subsequent Shore Sharks possession, the team got a layup at the 4:10 mark for a 28-21 lead, but Spotswood once again quickly responded in the form of a Osofsky drive along the right baseline for a layup after he followed his own shot, and got the offensive rebound at the 3:47 mark for a 28-23 Shore Shark lead. A little more than a minute after that, the Shore Sharks scored on a short hook in the paint for a 30-23 lead with 2:45 to go before halftime. The Sharks then got a stop on the defensive end, and then connected on a three pointer from the right of the top of the key for a 33-23 advantage at the two minute mark. Spotswood then closed out the first half with four of the final five points including a Dwyer layup off a bounce pass by Osofsky at the 48.7 mark, and then a Pareti offensive rebound and putback of a Gerhart miss at the 4.2 second mark for a 34-27 score at the half. The Chargers could have gotten a bit more, but Pareti missed the bonus free throw for the conventional three point play after being fouled on the putback.
It was a wonder that some could withstand another half of basketball in a gym that felt like a sweatshop with every passing minute. GMC Hoops gave some thought of abandoning its post, but realized that there was still another half to go. The second half started off with neither team scoring for the first two minutes of play before Pareti connected on a jumper from the left side for a 34-29 Sharks lead at the 18 minute mark. On the very next Shore Sharks possession, the AAU team collected two offensive rebounds, and put in the follow for a 36-29 lead with 17:34 to play. Another minute went by before another score came from the Sharks on a drive to the right from the left side through the middle for a layin, and a 38-29 lead at the 16:32 mark. On a subsequent Spotswood possession, Pareti netted a three pointer from the left corner that made it 38-32 with 15:40 to go.
Almost a minute and a half after that, the Sharks made one of two at the line for a 39-32 lead, but then the Chargers came back as Dwyer passed to Gerhart down low on the right side for a layup as he was fouled. Although Gerhart missed the bonus free throw for the traditional three point play, the lead had shrunk to five at 39-34 at the 13:49 mark. Twenty-four seconds later though, the Shore Sharks scored on a layup to go back up by seven at 41-34. Spotswood had another chance at a three point play, but after making the field goal, the Chargers misfired once more on the bonus foul shot for a 41-36 score at the 12:58 mark. Promptly answering, the Shore Sharks got on the board just 15 seconds later with a layup that made the score, 43-36 at the 12:43 mark. Pareti kept the Chargers hanging in there with a three pointer from the left side at the 12:10 mark for a 43-39 score in favor of the Sharks.
Eleven seconds later though, the Middletown based AAU team responded once more with a three pointer from the left corner to take a 46-39 lead at the 11:59 mark. The Chargers then had a chance to get closer, but Gerhart missed both of his charity shots with 11:05 to go in the game. The senior swingman would make up for that though, and pick up his team with a trey from the right wing at the 9:37 mark that made the score, 46-42. Following a Shore Sharks timeout at the 8:31 mark, Spotswood got a layup off an inbounds play to close the gap to 46-44. Then, after a bucket by the Shore Sharks with about seven minutes to go, the Chargers got another huge three from Pareti at the 6:25 mark to pull within one, 48-47. Points would then become hard to come by for the next 1:42 as neither team scored, but the Sharks ended the brief dry spell with an offensive rebound that led to a layin off a scoop shot for a 50-47 score at the 4:43 mark.
Following a Spotswood timeout with 4:37 remaining, each team scored 12 points to finish the game. However, Spotswood could never get any closer than a point. With 4:14 to go, Gerhart dished to Dwyer for a layup that made it a one point contest again at 50-49. Unfortunately though for Charger fans, the Sharks caught a huge break with a layup that got a kind bounce, and went in to go along with a foul for a conventional three point play, and a 53-49 lead at the 3:22 mark. Gerhart then only made one of two at the line for a 53-50 score with 2:29 left. The Chargers would force a five second violation at the 1:37 mark, but couldn’t take advantage, and the Shore Sharks eventually went up by five on a short jumper in the key for a 55-50 score at the 1:16 mark.
Spotswood refused to give up despite falling behind by six after one of two at the line by the Sharks with 53.7 remaining. Gerhart clicked on a three pointer to cut the deficit in half at 56-53, and then after a Charger timeout at the 45.4 second mark, a missed one and one by the Sharks at the 44.2 second mark, and then two Shark foul shots at the 33.2 mark, Gerhart struck again from long distance to pull his team two within a bucket on a shot from the right corner that made the score, 58-56 with 19 seconds to play. The Chargers couldn’t get any closer though as they were outscored 4-3 down the stretch, and the Sharks came away with the 62-59 victory. With the win, the Shore Sharks improved to 3-0 while Spotswood fell to 2-1. The Sharks and Chargers will be back in action with games against Allentown and South Brunswick respectively at 9:00 PM next Monday night.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shore Sharks (3-0) | 34 | 28 | 62 |
| Spotswood (2-1) | 27 | 32 | 59 |