ALLENTOWN, NJ–For the second straight summer, and third since the site came into existence, GMC Hoops covered the Summer Prime Time Shootout. This was the biggest Summer Prime Time ever with 72 games over three days involving 36 different teams. Sixteen contests were played on Friday while 28 were played on both Saturday and Sunday. The site saw 20 of those games including two that involved teams from the Greater Middlesex Conference. There were only two teams from the GMC competing this year as Piscataway and St. Joseph’s represented the conference in this event. Monroe was scheduled to play originally, but backed out since a number of key players were on vacation for the week.
There were a number of conferences represented in this event. Not only from the state of New Jersey, but also from Connecticut, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania. While the two teams from the GMC were a combined 2-6, they were both very competitive. St. Joseph’s had a 14 point lead at one point against Shabazz of Newark, and led 29-28 at the half before the Bulldogs rallied with a 35-18 showing in the second half to win 63-47. Meanwhile, P-Way lost three games by a combined total of 15 points including a 39-38 loss to Nazareth of New York, a 57-51 loss to Ridge, and a 39-31 defeat at the hands of Timber Creek.
There was also other talent from around Central Jersey that made an impact on GMC Hoops including Desmond Hubert of New Egypt, Jarrod Davis of Lakewood, and Ishaq Pitt of Ridge. In a losing effort against Rancocas Valley on Friday, Hubert had six blocked shots and two dunks in the time that GMC Hoops watched the action. On Sunday night, Jarrod Davis put on an explosive display in the first half of Lakewood’s 57-45 victory over Trenton Catholic. None of the Iron Mikes were able to stop Davis, who scored 24 points in the final 15:57 of the first half including five threes, three field goals, and 3 of 5 shooting from the foul line. His effort forced TCA head coach, Fred Falchi to call four timeouts within a span of 3:02 of the first half. Finally, back on Friday, Ishaq Pitt stood out for Ridge with 10 of 19 shooting from the floor, and 2 of 5 effort from the line for 22 points along with 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals in the Red Devils 40-39 loss to Ewing. Over the final 5:45 of the game, Pitt factored in all 11 of Ridge’s points including 7 points and 2 assists.
Plainfield also impressed by defeating Timber Creek (41-36) and Piscataway, and losing to Hyde of Connecticut in double-overtime by one (43-42). Despite losing the likes of Isiah Epps and Anthony Baskerville, the Cardinals still have the likes of Tyrone Johnson and Mike Price to pick up the scoring slack. There is also plenty of good competition coming from South Jersey in the form of Cherry Hill West, which surprised Lakewood on Friday night (69-57), Rancocas Valley, a team that defeated both Princeton and New Egypt, Paul VI (went 2-0 on the first day), Washington Township, and Timber Creek. Hoops in South Jersey often gets underrated, but if you look at the last two teams to win Group IV, both came from Burlington County and South as Rancocas Valley and Lenape won in 2008 and 2009 respectively.