SOUTH AMBOY, NJ–On Wednesday night, GMC Hoops headed over to South Amboy Middle/High School to take in a game from the thirteenth 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.
GMC Hoops headed over for the middle game of the Wednesday tripleheader after posting more articles to the blog, and saw the Monsignor Farrell of Staten Island take on Union Catholic in another game from the High School Division. In other games, St. Stan’s defeated East Brunswick in a contest from the 7th and 8th Grade Division, and St. Ambrose downed Franklin in a crossover game between the 7th and 8th Grade Division and the 5th and 6th Grade Division. See all the results from Wednesday night’s action.
Monsignor Farrell Rolls Into A First Place Tie With 61-18 Victory Over Union Catholic
So far this summer, the limited competition in the High School Division has been very good, especially when it has involved the Parlin Pride and the Sayreville Stars. However, on Wednesday night, Monsignor Farrell made quick work of the Young Vikings from Union Catholic High School with a 24-2 first half, and a 20-2 tear midway through the second half for an easy, 61-18 win. The Lions, which actually defeated St. Joseph’s-Green of Metuchen twice during the regular season (65-57 at Farrell and 57-55 at St. Joe’s), held the Vikings to no field goals in the first half and only two points. Then, in the second half, Monsignor Farrell outscored the Union County school, and Mountain Valley Conference Mountain Division member by a 37-16 margin over the game’s final 20 minutes for the lopsided win.
GMC Hoops arrived in the gym to see the Lions already ahead by a wide margin, 21-1 with just 1:21 to go in the first half. Monsignor Farrell, which defeated the Sayreville Stars earlier this season, then yielded its only other point of the period when the Vikings of UC made one of two at the foul line for a 21-2 score at the 1:17 mark. Farrell then connected on a three pointer from the left wing for a 24-2 lead with 53.2 seconds to go before the intermission. Neither team would get a score the rest of the way as Union Catholic prevented another score with a block of a Lions shot off the fast break with 7.9 seconds to go in the first half. In the second half, things didn’t really get much better for Union Catholic, which competed in the High School Division last summer. Although the Vikings got their first field goal of the game with 17:15 remaining, Monsignor Farrell continued to inflict major damage.
The Lions picked up right where they left off in the first with a steal at halfcourt for a driving layup attempt that drew a foul, and produced one of two free throws for a 25-2 lead at the 19:51 mark. Union Catholic then compounded their dilemma even further with a backcourt violation at the 18:59 mark. Farrell then converted the turnover with a layup at the 18:43 mark for a 27-2 advantage. The Vikings then got their first points of the second half on a free throw a the 18:06 mark, but then didn’t get the second one thanks to a lane violation committed by the shooter for a 27-3 score. There would be cause for brief celebration at the 17:15 mark when Union Catholic scored a layup for its first field goal of the game to close the gap to 22 points, but that seemed to make the Lions more determined as they embarked on a 20-3 tear over the next 9:36 for a 47-8 lead.
Union Catholic appeared to be gaining momentum when it made one of two free throws to cut the deficit to 21 at the 16:30 mark, but the tidal wave was gradually building, and Monsignor Farrell overwhelmed their opponent with ease over the next 8:39. It started with a one of two showing at the foul line, and then an offensive rebound and follow on the missed second shot for a 30-6 advantage at the 15:55 mark. Then, the Lions scored on an offensive rebound, and follow off a missed three point attempt at the 15:10 mark for a 32-6 lead. Twenty-five seconds later, Farrell was at it again with another layup for a 34-6 lead with 14:45 remaining. The Lions continued to pummel the Vikings with steals at halfcourt for back to back layups, and a 38-6 lead when mass substitutions were put in on both sides with 13:25 to play. Two more steals were then converted into fast break layups for a 42-6 lead with 12:04 left.
Farrell then closed out the rampage with five of the next seven points for a 47-8 lead when it called for a 30 second timeout at the 7:51 mark. Following the stoppage, the Lions outscored the Vikings by a 14-10 margin the rest of the way while running some time off the clock for the 61-18 victory. With the win, Monsignor Farrell improves to 2-0 and a first place tie with the Parlin Pride in the High School Division while Union Catholic starts the summer at 0-1.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monsignor Farrell (2-0) | 24 | 37 | 61 |
| Union Catholic (0-1) | 2 | 16 | 18 |
GMC Hoops will be out at the Raritan Bay Summer League next week to see more games.