NEPTUNE, NJ–On Monday night, the first one in November, GMC Hoops once again left work, and went on a trip down Route 35 South to Rebounds. This time it was for the Showcase Round of contests at the 2008 Rebounds Fall League, which was ending for the season. All three teams from the GMC were in action on this night, and South Brunswick came up a winner thanks to a 43-38 victory over Ocean Township. However, East Brunswick, which was without the services of Dustin Schuld and Mauro Tucci, who are both playing football, fell to previously winless Monsignor Donovan by nine, 57-48. The final round of games on this night included Spotswood taking on a very tall challenge in both a figurative, and literal sense in West Windsor-Plainsboro South.
Spotswood Ends Fall On Strong Note With
Impressive Win Over West Windsor-Plainsboro South, 47-38
It was a battle of two 5-2 teams from Division B to wrap up the fall at Rebounds as Spotswood’s Chargers went to battle against the Pirates of West Windsor-Plainsboro South. The last time the web site happened to see WWPS in action was on opening night against South Brunswick as the Pirates went on to a 44-36 victory. Coming into the matchup, West Windsor-Plainsboro South had only lost to Lacey (51-41) in Week #6, and Brick Memorial (65-33) last week. Meanwhile, the Chargers lost their two games by a combined total of just seven points including a 62-59 defeat at the hands of the AAU Shore Sharks from Middletown, and by four in overtime to South Brunswick (55-51).
Despite the fact that Spotswood was giving up a lot of size, and the tempo appeared to be too fast for them, the Chargers still managed to pull out the win. The Pirates helped out though with a very poor performance at the foul line going 6 of 17 from the charity stripe for just 35.3 percent. Once again, Spotswood got off to a very good start with a 13-4 tear over the first 5:56. The weapon of choice once more was the three pointer as the Chargers made three from beyond the arc including one by Cody Pace to start the game at the 19:42 mark, and back to back trifectas by Tyler Osofsky at the 14:31 and 14:04 marks respectively. Spotswood also added a layup set up by a Pareti steal at the 19;22 mark for a 5-0 lead, and then a jumper from the right side by Pat Dwyer off a skip pass by Pace at the 18 minute mark for a 7-2 edge.
However, the Pirates roared back with a 12-1 tear over the next 6:31 to actually take their first lead of the game at 16-14 with 7:33 to go in the first half. The spurt started with a short jumper in the paint that made the score, 13-6 at the 13:25 mark. West Windsor then followed that up with a drive and dish by their sophomore big man that led to a layup, and a foul for a conventional three point play and a 13-9 score at the 12:45 mark. Over a minute later, the Pirates, which could have made a game of it had they hit the majority of their foul shots, stepped up to the line, and clicked on only one of two for a 13-10 Spotswood lead with 11:28 to go. WWPS could have gotten a bit closer, but missed two free throws following a drive to the basket that drew a foul at the 10:31 mark. Meanwhile, Spotswood was unable to get on track offensively. The Pirates stepped up the defense, and it was beginning to look like it was going to be a long night for the Chargers.
First the big man for WWPS came up with a huge emphatic block at the 9:51 mark, and the Pirates cashed in at the other end with a nice dish to the right for a layin, and an 8-0 run for a 13-12 Charger lead at the 9:30 mark. Spotswood would get its only points during this dry spell when Osofsky grabbed a rebound, and made a nice lead pass to Pace upcourt for a layup attempt that drew a foul, and produced one of two at the foul line for a 14-12 edge with 8:50 to go in the half. Just under a minute later, the Pirates tied things up at 14-14 when their big man, who tried to demonstrate some versatility with some perimeter shooting during the contest, connected on a short jumper with 7:52 to go before the intermission. On the very next Spotswood possession, the Pirates stopped the Chargers to set up a very nicely executed fast break that was capped by a layup for a 16-14 lead at the 7:33 mark.
Following a Spotswood timeout at the 7:29 mark, the Pirates had a chance to go up by four when a player knifed into the key from the right wing for a scoop shot, and drew a foul at the seven minute mark. However, the free throw shooting woes were just beginning as the Pirates came up empty in two attempts from the charity stripe. The Chargers didn’t get on the board again until the 5:36 mark when Gerhart got a rebound, and passed upcourt to Pace for a score, the first field goal in 8:28 that tied the game at 16-16. The bucket then sparked an 8-0 Spotswood run that was highlighted by the hustle of the Pareti twins that led to a layup, and a 22-16 lead with 3:44 to go before the intermission. West Windsor-Plainsboro finally got on the board for the first time in 4:31 when its big man netted two from the foul line for a 22-18 Spotswood lead at the 3:02 mark.
On the very next Charger possession, the GMC Blue team came up with its final field goal of the half for a 24-18 lead with 2:43 to play before the brief break. The Pirates then closed out the half with a layin off a fast break at the 1:01 mark, and then a steal off a loose ball led to another well executed break, and a layup with 31.4 seconds to go in the half for a 24-22 Spotswood lead going into the intermission. In the second half, Spotswood came out strong with a three pointer from the left wing, and a jumper from the ring wing by Cody Pace at the 16:45 mark for a 30-22 lead, and then Dwyer flipped in a three from the right corner to answer a trey earlier by West Windsor-Plainsboro South for a 33-25 lead as the Pirates called for time with 16:20 to go. Following the timeout, James Pareti hustled to steal an errant pass, and proceeded to go in for a layup that made the score, 35-25 at the 14:49 mark.
After getting a stop on the defensive end, the Chargers scored again as Dwyer grabbed an offfensive rebound off a Gerhart miss, and put it back in for a 37-25 lead at the 14:16 mark. Forty seconds later, WWPS perpetuated its free throw shooting woes by coming up empty again on two attempts. By this point in the game, the 13:26 mark of the second half, the Pirates were only 4 of 15 from the charity stripe. However, the team from the Colonial Valley Conference got back on the board with a three pointer from the right wing to put an end to the 13-3 start by the Chargers, and close the gap to 37-28 with 11:27 to play. On a subsequent Spotswood possession, Pace kicked out to Tyler Osofsky for a drive along the left baseline for an up and under move and layup that made the score, 39-28 at the 10:53 mark. Fifty seconds after that, Osofsky dished to Pace for a layup that made it a 41-28 lead at the 10:03 mark. The Pirates big man continued to do his best to not only help his team at the line by making a pair of free throws, but keep it in the game with a 41-30 score at the 9:21 mark.
Spotswood would go up by as much as 15 points as Osofsky made one of two at the line for a 42-30 lead with 8:35 lead, a pick and roll play setup the Chargers for another score at the 5:42 mark, and then Gerhart made one of two from the line to make the score, 45-30 with less than five minutes to go. West-Windsor Plainsboro would close the game with an 8-2 spurt, but it wouldn’t be enough as the Spotswood Chargers finished up a very successful fall season with a 6-2 record overall thanks to the 47-38 victory. WWPS closed out its season with a 5-3 record. GMC Hoops would like to thank Joe Stein and his staff at Rebounds for all their assistance in getting results from all the games as well as letting us come down to cover the action. The site will be back in Neptune in the Spring of 2009 to cover the Spring League if there are GMC teams competing.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spotswood (6-2) | 24 | 23 | 47 |
| West Windsor-Plainsboro South (5-3) | 22 | 16 | 38 |