NEPTUNE, NJ–On Monday night, GMC Hoops ventured down to Rebounds again to take in the fifth week of action from the 2009 Hoop Group Headquarters High School Boys Spring League. The site took in two contests including the first one between Monroe and Neptune at 8:00 PM, and G-Force Gold taking on St. John Vianney of Holmdel. Both contests took place on the Knicks Court.
Monroe Surges Past Neptune For Win, 60-46
GMC Hoops was plenty prepared to get to Rebounds earlier than it has been to see more of this one, and got to see 24 minutes of action. The site arrived with four minutes left in the first half with Monroe leading by a six point, 24-18 margin. A minute and a half went by before the Scarlet Fliers, the defending Group III State Champions, made one of two from the foul line for a 24-19 lead at the 2:31 mark. Forty-five seconds later, Kenny Pace netted two free throws at the 1:46 mark to give the Falcons a 26-19 lead. On Neptune’s next possession, the Fliers got three offensive rebounds for a putback to close to within five again at 26-21 with 1:20 remaining in the first half. However, that would be as close as they would get for the rest of the game as Monroe first closed the half with two points on a jumper by Timmy Brix from the right wing off an assist from Pace for a 28-21 lead at the intermission.
Then, in the second half, the Purple Birds took flight against their Shore Conference foe. After outscoring Neptune 4-3 over the final four minutes of the opening half, Monroe opened the second half with a 12-0 run over the first 4:04 before Neptune netted a pair of free throws at the 15:56 mark to make the score 38-23 in favor of the Falcons. Some great ball movement on the opening possession led to a Travis Dufner kick out to Pace for a three pointer from the right wing that ignited the spurt at the 19:33 mark. Dufner then followed that up with a layup for a 33-21 lead at the 19:03 mark. Neither team scored for over a minute until Timmy Brix grabbed an offensive rebound, and put it back in for a 35-21 lead. Thirty-four seconds later, Ahmid Williams came down to fire a three point attempt that was off the mark, but Pace grabbed the offensive board, tried to put it back in, and missed. However, Dufner was there to clean up with an offensive rebound and putback while being fouled for a three point play, and a 38-21 lead with 17:08 remaining.
There was a lull in the scoring until just under 16 minutes to play when Neptune got on the board for the first time in 5:24 with their two free throws. However, the Scarlet Fliers’ scoring drought resumed as the Falcons put the game away with a 10-0 run for a commanding, 48-23 lead. Pace and Dufner kicked things off again as the son of former Colonia head coach, Ken Pace, drove the baseline, and dished to Dufner for a layin that made the score, 40-23 at the 15:23 mark. The Purple Birds then got a three pointer with 14:30 to play to take a twenty point, 43-23 lead. Dufner then got an offensive rebound, and fired an outlet pass to Brix for a layup, and a 45-23 lead with 13:09 left as Neptune called for time. The Purple Birds then finally capped the run with another three pointer to take a 48-23 lead before the Fliers scored on an offensive rebound and follow for its first field goal in 12:24 to slightly trim the deficit to 48-25 with 8:56 remaining.
The basket sparked a 12-4 rally by Neptune in just a span of 2:34 to close the gap to 52-35. The Scarlet Fliers used their full court pressure to force turnovers, and create opportunities. Following a 30 second timeout Neptune got another basket to pull within 15, but with 3:27 to go came the final blow. Timmy Brix came down for a scoring chance, and a Neptune player tried to draw a charge, but was called for a blocking foul instead. Another Neptune player protested the call by slamming the ball into the court, which drew a technical foul. Brix made 3 of 4 from the line, and the score was now 55-37 in favor of Monroe as the Falcons took the ball out. From there, the Purple Birds were never threatened despite a 9-5 finish by the Scarlet Fliers to close out the 60-46 Monroe victory. The win was Monroe’s best performance of the spring. It was their biggest margin of victory yet, and it gave the Falcons two straight wins heading into the Memorial Day Holiday.
Monroe improved to 3-2 overall while Neptune slipped from the ranks of the unbeaten at 4-1. GMC Hoops will next catch the Falcons in action on June 1st against G-Force Gold, which was the other team covered by the site on this night.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monroe (3-2) | 28 | 32 | 60 |
| Neptune (4-1) | 21 | 25 | 46 |
Vianney Edges G-Force Gold Despite Gomulka’s Efforts, 48-44
This game turned out to be the most competitive of the two covered by GMC Hoops. Both St. John Vianney of Holmdel, and G-Force Gold, a AAU team from Union County, entered the contest tied for sixth place at 1-3 on the Spring. G-Force had opened the season with a victory over Toms River North (45-28) while Vianney defeated Manasquan in Week Two. The Big Blue surged past G-Force Gold for its second straight win in Week Four. The Lancers had lost two straight including a defeat to Monroe last week while G-Force Gold had lost three in a row. Despite their records, both teams put on a fine show in a hard fought game that went down to the wire.
The star of the game was Bishop Ahr’s Rob Gomulka. The junior guard, netted three treys and a field goal for 11 points in just the first 7:15, and had 14 of his team’s 16 points as G-Force Gold jumped out to a 16-10 lead with 10:34 left in the first half. However, Vianney put the clamps down on Gomulka, holding him to just six points the rest of the way, and that played a key role in getting the 48-44 victory. Over a span of 19:07, St. John Vianney outscored G-Force by a margin of 28-14 to take a 38-30 lead with 11:27 left in the contest. Like their game against Manasquan though, the Stallions fought back with a 10-2 rally over the next 6:29 to knot the game up at 40-40 with 4:58 to play. The Lancers would take the lead for good though with five unanswered points over the next 3:20 for a 45-40 lead, but had to hold on as G-Force continued to threaten. The Stallions got to within a point with 38.5 seconds left, but couldn’t get any closer as Vianney finished off the win with a dunk.
Gomulka ended up with 22 points for the game on five three points, two field goals, and a perfect 3 of 3 from the line. However, with the game hanging in the balance, the Lancers set some screens on him that helped spring their big man free for the game clinching jam. The first half saw more scoring with both teams combining for 51 points while the second half saw the defenses step up a bit. As a matter of fact, Vianney’s defense went into overdrive, particularly on Gomulka after he and his team got off to a fast start. There were only five lead changes and two ties in the game, but neither team had a lead bigger than eight points in the contest.
The game started out innocently with neither team scoring in the first 1:47 until St. John Vianney got on the board with one of two from the foul line at the 18:13 mark. On the very next G-Force possession, the Stallions got a jumper from the left wing for a 2-1 lead with exactly 18 minutes to go in the opening half. A half minute later, Vianney got another one of two performance from the foul line to tie the game at 2-2. Then, Gomulka started to heat up. With 17:07 to go in the first half, the junior guard connected on a jumper to put his team on top, 4-2. Nearly a half minute later, Gomulka struck again for another three pointer from the left corner for a 7-2 lead at the 16:39 mark. The Lancers responded with a three pointer of their own to pull within two again, but then G-Force got a block that set up another three pointer from the left wing that made it a 10-5 lead with 14:11 to go in the half. St. John Vianney then closed to within three on a field goal, but then Gomulka retaliated with another three pointer from the left corner that made the score, 13-7.
The Lancers then called a timeout at the 12:45 mark with G-Force still leading by six. Up to this point in the game, the Stallions didn’t seem to miss a shot with three trifectas and two field goals for their 13 points while Vianney just had a three pointer, a field goal, and a 2 of 4 performance from the foul line. Following the timeout, the Lancers got a three pointer from the left wing to close within three again at the 11:28 mark, but nearly a minute later, Gomulka replied with a simple catch and shoot for another three pointer from the right wing for a 16-10 lead with 10:34 to go before the intermission. Over the next 5:20, SJV embarked on an 11-0 tear that gave them the lead. Following Gomulka’s final three of the first half, Vianney came down on its very next possession, and got a basket and a foul for a traditional three point play to pull within three again. A little over a minute later, St. John Vianney got a basket and a foul again, but missed the bonus free throw for a 16-15 G-Force lead with 8:59 left in the half.
A little over two minutes later, Vianney took its first lead of the game on an offensive rebound and putback at the 6:55 mark. The Lancers then got a stop on the defensive end, and converted it into a fast break layup for a 19-16 lead at the 6:33 mark. Twenty-one seconds later, SJV got on the board again with a steal and a fast break layup for a 21-16 lead at the 6:12 mark. After that score, G-Force called a timeout, and following the stoppage, the Stallions closed out the half with a 9-5 run including two free throws by Gomulka with 5.4 seconds left for a 26-25 Vianney lead at the break. Gomulka had a huge first half with four threes, a field goal, and a perfect 2 of 2 from the line for 16 points. However, he only managed those two free throws at the end of the half for his only points in the final 10:34 of the opening period.
The second half started out with the Lancers going on a 12-5 spurt over the first 8:33 to take a 38-30 lead with 11:27 remaining. SJV started the new half off with a foul line jumper that got a kind bounce for a 28-25 score at the 19:45 mark. The Lancers then got a three pointer from the left corner for a 31-25 lead at the 18:55 mark. G-Force then got its first field goal and points of the second half on a layin that made the score, 31-27 with 18:30 to go in the contest. Vianney then got two free throws at the 16:55 mark for a 33-27 lead, and then neither team scored for over two and a half minutes. It wasn’t until G-Force Gold got a short floater from the right baseline to pull within four at 33-29 with 14:17 to play that the scoring picked up again. St. John Vianney then got a three pointer from the left wing for a 36-29 lead at the 12:51 mark. G-Force Gold made one of two at the line to close within six, but the Lancers then capped the run with a baseline jumper from the right side for a 38-30 lead with 11:27 left.
G-Fprce would fight back though with a 10-2 rally over the next 6:30 or so to tie the contest up. The Stallions scored five of seven points in a span of 4:37 including one of two from the foul line at the 6:50 mark for a 40-35 St. John Vianney lead. Gomulka then got his first points of the second half on a three pointer from the right wing to close the gap to two at 40-38 with 5:17 to go. G-Force Gold then got a stop, and came down on the fast break for a layin that tied the game up at 40-40 with 4:58 remaining in regulation. However, on its very next possession, Vianney went back up on a field goal for a 42-40 lead at the 4:43 mark. The Lancers then made one of two from the foul line at the 3:34 mark to make the score, 43-40. A little less than two minutes later, SJV came up with a key score that put G-Force in a precarious spot at 45-40 with 1:38 left. Moments later though, Gomulka came up with a loose ball, and scored a layup as he was fouled for a three point play that made the score, 45-43 with 1:24 left.
Following the traditional trifecta, St. John Vianney called for a timeout at the 57 second mark. The timeout didn’t seem to be the tonic as G-Force Gold got the ball back, and then made one of two at the line for a 45-44 score with 38.5 seconds to play. The Lancers then made one of two from the line to go ahead, 46-44. During this time, things got very contentious. Both teams battled for position. Every inbounds was tightly defended. The coaches shouted instructions to their players. It was almost like a very important regular season game. Vianney would get a rebound of a missed shot with 10.5 seconds left, and then after several fouls used by G-Force Gold, the Lancers set up a play that had their big man run off some screens to get a two handed jam as time expired for the 48-44 victory. With the win, St. John Vianney improved to 2-3 overall while G-Force Gold slipped to 1-4 in Division A.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. John Vianney (2-3) | 26 | 22 | 48 |
| G-Force Gold (1-4) | 25 | 19 | 44 |
There will be no games at Rebounds this coming Monday in honor of the Memorial Day Holiday. Play will resume again on the following Monday, June 1st, and GMC Hoops will be there to cover it.