SOUTH AMBOY, NJ–On Tuesday evening, GMC Hoops rambled over to South Amboy Middle/High School after work to take in the fifth night of action from the 2009 Raritan Bay Summer League. This is the sixth straight summer that the web site is covering this league, which has provided great competition as well as a glimpse of future stars in the Greater Middlesex Conference.
On this night, the site was only able to take in one of the three games on the schedule, but still managed the results from the three games played. There were still none of those World Famous Lange Dogs to enjoy while watching the nightcap contest between Freehold and East Brunswick in 7th and 8th Grade Division action, but there was still some refreshments on hand. After taking a 20-9 lead at one point in the first half on a 10-2 spurt, Freehold gave way to an East Brunswick charge that went to the tune of an 11-0 rally to knot things up at 20-20 going into the intermission. However, in the second half, Freehold outscored EB by a 22-16 margin thanks to a 19-9 start over the first 17:40 of the period. East Brunswick hung tough though as it tried to comeback by closing the contest with a 7-3 rally including a 4-0 run, but was hampered by missed free throws down the stretch in a 42-36 loss..
Freehold Hangs On To Defeat East Brunswick In 7th and 8th Grade Division Action, 42-36
In the nightcap of the tripleheader on Day Five of the 2009 Raritan Bay Summer League, two strong programs in Central Jersey went at it as Freehold took on East Brunswick. The Bears entered the contest with an 0-1 record thanks to a loss on opening night to Monroe. Meanwhile, Freehold, which lost to Metuchen on Monday night, was looking to even up its record on the summer at .500 with a win. Looking at the two teams, East Brunswick had a significant edge in size, but Freehold had plenty of quickness, and got shooting to combat that. After getting out of work at 7:30 PM, GMC Hoops arrived with 9:31 to go in the first half, and Freehold already leading by a 10-7 margin. Twenty seconds later, Freehold was on the board again with a layup that made the score 12-7 at the 9:11 mark.
The visitors from Monmouth County then continued to go to work on EB by forcing a turnover that was later converted into a score for a 14-7 lead at the 8:42 mark. Following an East Brunswick timeout at the 8:35 mark, the Bears closed the gap again to five with a score that made it 14-9 with 8:21 to go in the half. EB had a chance to close the gap even further, but missed on two free throw attempts with 7:45 to go in the half. Freehold reacted with a three pointer from the left corner to increase its lead to 17-9 at the 7:08 mark, and then made one of two from the line at the 4:33 mark to end a 2:35 scoring drought by both teams, and take an 18-9 lead. A minute later, Freehold then capped its run with a layup from the left side to go up, 20-9 at the 3:30 mark.
East Brunswick then began to creep back into the game with three straight points in a span of 1:40 to make the score, 20-12. Then, controversy struck as the Freehold coaching staff grew concerned over a discrepancy in the number of team fouls they had. The official scorers table had more than what the Freehold staff thought, and caused some tension, but it was diffused. Unaffected by all of this, EB continued to climb back into the contest with another score that not only trimmed the deficit to six at 20-14, but also coerced Freehold to call for time at the 1:20 mark. Following the timeout, the Bears showed great hustle that resulted in one of two from the foul line for a 20-15 score with 1:04 to go in the half. Then, after a thirty second timeout, East Brunswick scored on an offensive rebound and putback while being fouled, but missed the bonus free throw for a 20-17 score with 32.1 seconds to play in the half.
After missing the bonus foul shot for the traditional three point play, the Bears got the ball back, and produced another one of two showing at the charity stripe to pull within two points. East Brunswick then tied the game at the intermission as Freehold first missed two foul shots at the 16.3 second mark, and then the Bears got a layup as time expired for a 20-20 score at the break. In the second half, Freehold regained composure, and took control of the contest for good. EB took its first lead of the game since GMC Hoops arrived with one of two from the foul line, but then Freehold went ahead with a field goal that made it 22-21 at the 16:50 mark. Forty-nine seconds later, East Brunswick made one of two again at the line to knot the game at 22-22. Freehold then went back on top with a jumper from the left side that made the score, 24-22 at the fifteen minute mark. The Monmouth County squad then went up by four on a layup for a 26-22 lead with 14:42 left as East Brunswick called for time.
Following the timeout, the Bears, which were only 7 of 22 from the line over the last 29:31 of the contest, misfired on two free throws with 13:38 to go in the game. EB then called a 30 second timeout, in an effort to settle the squad, and regain some momentum. Freehold then scored a field goal before East Brunswick got its first field goal of the second half on a layup at the 9:18 mark to close the gap again to four at 28-24. On its very next possession, Freehold got a layup to go ahead by six once more at 30-24 with 8:50 remaining. Twenty-one seconds went by before the Bears came up with a big play on defense by drawing a charge to prevent Freehold from going up by eight with 8:29 left. Neither team scored for the next 1:12 after that before Freehold called for a full timeout at the 7:17 mark. After the stoppage, East Brunswick pulled within four again on a rebound and outlet pass for a layup that made the score, 30-26 at the 6:29 mark.
Both teams then exchanged three pointers with Freehold getting one from the right wing at the 5:12 mark only to be answered fifteen seconds later by an EB trey that made the score, 33-29 with 4:57 left. Freehold then came up with six straight points including a field goal, and one of two free throws by the three minute mark, and then another three pointer that put the Bears on the ropes as they trailed now 39-29 at the 2:20 mark. East Brunswick would close to within six after that with a 4-0 run, but missed 6 of 9 free throws down the stretch, which hampered their comeback efforts as Freehold went on to win 42-36. With the victory, Freehold improved to 1-1 while East Brunswick slipped to 0-2.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freehold (1-1) | 20 | 22 | 42 |
| East Brunswick (0-2) | 20 | 16 | 36 |
GMC Hoops was back out at the Raritan Bay Summer League on Wednesday night, and will return to see more games on Thursday evening.