Good morning again. During the off-season, GMC Hoops learned that Timothy Christian will be joining the Greater Middlesex Conference in the 2010-11 season, and the Tigers have demonstrated early on this 2008-09 season that they are ready to make the jump.
Set to become a part of the GMC Gold Division the next time the conference realigns, TCS, which resides in Piscataway has taken on two teams from the GMC already this season, and has been hugely successful. Outscoring South River and Perth Amboy by a combined margin of 117 to 77, the Tigers have already gotten off to a 2-0 start. In the victory over South River on Saturday, December 20th, Timothy Christian used its size, aggressiveness, and pressure defense to force the Rams to turnover the basketball, not really get comfortable in their offense, and pound the ball inside on offense for the 56-34 victory.
In the win over South River, TCS connected on 19 field goals and 18 foul shots while limiting the Rams to just 13 points in the first half, and 21 in the second half. Brandon Walsh, South River’s top perimeter threat was held to just four field goals, and no threes while coming up with his 10 points. Shawn Fenton led the Rams with 14, but 12 of those points came at the foul line as the Tigers plugged up the middle with their size advantage. T.J. Janho led the way for TCS with 16 points on eight field goals while Colin Robbie added 13 points on three field goals and seven foul shots, and David Bonamo got his 13 on four field goals and five free throws.
Two days later, on Monday afternoon, the Tigers took on a future Gold Division rival in Perth Amboy Tech, and won just as convincingly, 61-43. In this victory, TCS produced its 61 points on 20 field goals including four from beyond the arc, and 17 from the charity stripe while holding the Pats to just 18 field goals including three treys, and only four foul shots. Robbie led the charge in this victory with 18 points on five field goals and eight free throws while Francis Decker added 15 points on five field goals including three treys, and two foul shots. Amboy Tech’s top player, Joey Castro was limited to just 12 points on five field goals including a three, and a foul shot.
In the two games, Timothy Christian has compiled its 117 points with 39 field goals including four threes, and 35 free throws for an average of about 20 field goals, 2 threes, and 18 charity shots per contest. The Tigers are scheduled to take on quite a few GMC teams this season. As a matter of fact, their schedule reveals seven more contests against five more opponents from the conference including: Highland Park (twice), J.F. Kennedy, Spotswood, South Amboy, and East Brunswick Tech. Amboy Tech is going to have a rematch against the Tigers at PAVT on Februrary 17, 2009.