SOUTH AMBOY, NJ–On Tuesday night, GMC Hoops headed over to South Amboy Middle/High School to take in a game from the twenty-seventh night of action at 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 final game of the Tuesday tripleheader after work, and before heading over to Middlesex County College and Bound Brook for action in the summer leagues there. The site saw a unscheduled crossover game between Freehold of the 7th and 8th Grade Division and the Jersey Shoreshots of the 5th and 6th Grade Division. See all the results from Tuesday night’s action.
Freehold Defeats Jersey Shoreshots In Unscheduled Crossover Game
It was a tough day for league co-director, Gary Lange. When the GMC Hoops site arrived to greet him, he looked like he had been through a war. It was then that the site learned that the apparent deal to bring back some 8:30 PM games over the final weeks of this year’s league fell through. In addition, Lange was also dour over the fact that the Franklin Heat did not show up for their scheduled game against the Jersey Shoreshots from the 5th and 6th Grade Division. Lucky for him and the fans in attendance, Freehold of the 7th and 8th Grade Division was willing to stay, and play another game after losing in the final seconds to Monroe. GMC Hoops joined the action with 11:30 to go in the first half and Freehold up by seven, 15-8.
One minute later, Freehold got on the board again with a field goal at the 10:30 mark for a 17-8 lead. Thirty-nine seconds after that, Freehold scored once more for a 19-8 lead. There would be a brief lull in the scoring before the Jersey Shoreshots got a bucket, and Freehold got a turnaround jumper from the right low block to go in for a 21-10 lead. The Shoreshots then followed that up with a three pointer from the top of the key to close the gap to eight at 21-13 with 7:02 to go in the first half. Over the final seven plus minutes of the opening period, Freehold scored six of the last eight points including a running bank shot from the right side at the 6:17 mark, a fast break layup at the 5:36 mark, and a bucket in the waning moments for a 27-15 lead at the intermission.
In the second half, Freehold led by as many as twenty before taking time off the clock by walking the ball upcourt. Nevertheless, the 7th and 8th Grade squad was still able to outscore the Shoreshots by a 20-14 margin. The Shoreshots, which are an AAU based team from Neptune, got the first points of the second half with a baseline drive and kick to the left side for a jumper that made the score, 27-17. Freehold then outscored the Shoreshots by a 6-3 margin over the next couple of minutes for a 33-20 lead at the 16:41 mark. A little more than a half minute later, Freehold put together a fast break opportunity that was finished off by a nice dish for a layup from the right side for a 35-20 lead with 16:09 to go. The Jersey Shoreshots then got a bucket to close within thirteen again, but Freehold went up by a 38-22 margin on a three pointer from the right wing at the 12:50 mark.
Freehold added a free throw for a 39-22 lead before the Shoreshots scored four straight points to pull within thirteen again. However, Freehold would never be threatened as it scored on a runner at the 5:55 mark, and then outscored the Shoreshots by a 6-3 margin the rest of the way for the 47-29 victory. This game did not count in the overall standings for Freehold as the Shoreshots got a forfeit victory from the Franklin Heat. After losing to Monroe, Freehold dropped to 2-4 on the summer while the Jersey Shoreshots are 5-3.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freehold (2-4) | 27 | 20 | 47 |
| Jersey Shoreshots (5-3) | 15 | 14 | 29 |
GMC Hoops plans to be back out at Raritan Bay next week for more action.