EDISON, NJ–On Tuesday night, GMC Hoops traveled over to the Physical Education Center on the Edison Campus of Middlesex County College to take in the seventh night of games at the 2009 Middlesex County College Summer League. For ten straight summers, the web site has been covering this league through its ups and downs. There were eight games on the docket on Tuesday night including several contests that involved GMC teams. Take a look at all of the results from the third night of action as well as current standings.
There were three games that the site covered. All of them involved teams from the GMC. Over on Court #1, Roselle Park was taking on Somerset Tech while on Court #2, South River was battling with South Hunterdon in a battle of two of the leagues top teams. Finally, on Court #3, South Brunswick was facing off against East Brunswick Tech.
South Brunswick Hangs On To Beat East Brunswick Vo-Tech, 35-32
Over on Court #3, the matchup between East Brunswick Tech, and South Brunswick was very competitive. GMC Hoops picked up the action with five minutes left, and South Brunswick had a 25-24. Fifteen seconds later, East Brunswick Vo-Tech took the lead with two free throws for a 26-25 with 4:45 to go. Almost exactly a minute later, E.B. Tech had a chance to increase its tenuous lead, but was called for traveling. Taking advantage of the situation was South Brunswick, which fired in a three pointer from the right wing at the 3:23 mark for a 28-26 lead. The Tigers of EBVT responded to the Viking score with a pass to a cutting Homer James for a layup while being fouled, but the forward missed the bonus free throw, and the contest remained tied at 28-28 with 2:45 to go.
Neither team would score for the next 1:15 before James was at it again with a drive through the middle that drew some contact, but the officials did not call a foul as he made the layup for the 30-28 EBVT lead with 1:30 to play. South Brunswick responded though with two free throws at the 1:09 mark for a 30-30 tie. The Vikings then added a field goal at the 1:03 mark when it swiped a steal off of East Brunswick Tech on the ensuing inbounds, and converted it into a score. The Tigers then lost the ball again after getting tied up for a jump ball at the 1:03 mark. South Brunswick then made an inbounds pass underneath to draw a foul that produced one of two free throws for a 33-30 lead with 29 seconds remaining.
Homer James then got an offensive rebound off his own missed shot that actually had been blocked by South Brunswick, and put in the follow to close the gap to 33-32 with 12 seconds to play. East Brunswick Tech then fouled immediately and the Vikings made one of two at the line for a 34-32 lead at the 10 second mark. The Tigers then made another critical turnover as they lost the ball out of bounds. South Brunswick was fouled again, and made one of two from the line with 9 seconds to play for a 35-32 lead. East Brunswick Tech then made one last chance to tie, and force overtime, but Corey Ragland’s shot from three was off the mark, and the Vikings emerged victorious. With the victory, South Brunswick improved to 4-3 while East Brunswick Vo-Tech dropped to 1-4.
South River Downs South Hunterdon, 47-44
While South Brunswick was edging East Brunswick Vo-Tech on Court #3, two of the top teams in this year’s MCC Summer League were facing off on nearby Court #2. South River, which entered the contest at 5-1 was taking on South Hunterdon, which was also 5-1. The Rams lone loss on the summer was a 52-43 decision to currently undefeated Keyport while the Eagles only loss was at the hands of South Plainfield. Speaking of the Tigers, South River defeated South Plainfield head to head in the second game of the season for both squads. The Rams are having the best summer league season it had since 2004 when it defeated St. Joseph’s (48-34) in the Championship Game of that year’s league. It was a good omen because that following regular season, the first under former head coach, Mike DelAversano, South River reached the semifinals of the 2005 Central Jersey Group I State Tournament before losing to a Metuchen team it had defeated twice during the regular season.
The Rams have a new head coach. Rodney Harris was recently hired by the school to take over the program, which has seen some dark times since the 2004-05 campaign. Harris, a South River alum from 1987, was one of the top players in Middlesex County that season, and is a link from the Rams present to their more successful past. Harris, who also has helped run the successful Millennium Ballers program in the town, has re-energized the Rams with a different approach on both offense and defense including a tougher man to man defense, and a aggressive, up-tempo offense. Harris has not only reinvigorated the program, but has also renewed enthusiasm in the town. For example, our South River volunteer, who has followed the Rams going back to the days of the 1970s, has been very excited about how the team is playing, and looking forward to the coming season like never before.
Meanwhile, the Eagles have continued to build off of that solid foundation of success it generated this past season when it qualified for the Central Jersey Group I State Tournament for the first time in two decades. So far this summer, South Hunterdon has handled most challenges including two wins over Roselle Park, and a victory over Somerset Vo-Tech. The Eagles, which compete in the Valley Division of the Skyland Conference, will be battling for contention with Bound Brook and North Warren like it did this past season. In addition, today’s matchup could very well be a preview of what’s to come in March if both teams fulfill goals of improvement over the previous season. A reasonable expectation for South River this year would be to have a .500 record, which would be good enough to qualify for the state tournament.
The Rams would win in a squeaker, 47-44 despite the presence of GMC Hoops, which according to the South River volunteer, has been giving bad karma. In a tightly played game, South River took a 7-1 lead early, and it appeared that the Rams would win easily, but South Hunterdon rallied with a 18-16 showing the rest of the first half to only trail by four at the break, 23-19. GMC Hoops picked up the action late in the game with South River leading 44-42. The Eagles then tied the game at 44-44 with over two minutes left, but then Brandon Walsh came up with the go ahead score on two free throws that made the score 46-44. South River’s defense then withstood South Hunterdon’s attempts to tie, and pulled the game out by three. For more details, see the article written by the South River Rams Volunteer in the blog. With the victory, South River improved to 6-1 overall while South Hunterdon dropped to 5-2.
Roselle Park Prevails Over Somerset Tech In Overtime, 39-36
The third and final game the site watched Tuesday night was a non-conference battle between Roselle Park of Union County, and Somerset Tech of Bridgewater. GMC Hoops caught a brief glimpse of the contest when it first arrived, and saw the Panthers had an early 23-17 lead over the Jaguars. Somerset Tech got a bucket to pull within four at 23-19 at the 12:00 mark. When the site returned to the action, the Jaguars were at the foul line after being fouled on a three point attempt with just one second left in regulation. Somerset Tech then made one of three from the line to knot the game at 32-32, and after both teams called timeout, the Panthers ran out the clock to force overtime.
In the extra session, Somerset Tech jumped out on top first with a jumper from the foul line that made the score, 34-32. Roselle Park responded with a three pointer from the right wing on its next possession for a 35-34 lead with 2:01 to play. The Jaguars prevented the Panthers from going ahead even further by drawing a charge at the 1:30 mark, but couldn’t take advantage as Somerset Tech missed two free throws after being fouled on a offensive rebound and follow, and then missed the follow after getting an offensive rebound on the missed foul shot with 57 seconds left. Roselle Park sealed the victory with a field goal with 45 seconds left, and one of two from the line with 32 seconds to play for the 38-34 win. With the victory, Roselle Park improved to 3-4 overall while Somerset Tech dropped to 1-6.
GMC Hoops will return next week for more action from the MCC Summer League.