SOUTH AMBOY, NJ–After watching the game between Piscataway and Immaculata, and before returning to see Colonia take on the host school Ridge in the 2009 Len Sepanak Tournament, GMC Hoops took in some action from the 2009 Cardinal McCarrick JV and Freshmen Tournaments. The site saw three games, and got the result of one other. Colonia defeated J.F. Kennedy in both the Freshmen and JV tourneys while Edison defeated McCarrick in the Frosh tourney. Also in the Freshmen tournament, J.P. Stevens defeated St. Joseph’s-White in overtime.
Colonia Defeats Kennedy In Freshmen Tournament, 41-34
In this neighborhood rivalry battle, the Little Patriots jumped out to a 19-6 lead with 1:51 to go in the first half. The Little Mustangs responded with with two one of two showings from the foul line in the final minute of the second quarter, and then opened the third with a nice steal for a layup to draw within 19-10 at the 7:41 mark. However, Colonia went on a 14-7 run over the next 7:08 to take a 33-17 lead. The Little Pats were never really threatened after that although Kennedy closed the game with a 7-0 run to turn a 41-27 Colonia lead into a more respectable 41-34 victory.
Junior Patriots Roll Past Junior Mustangs In JV Tournament, 45-22
Manny Onukughu scored four field goals for eight points in the first half while Treay Barneys added two field goals and a three pointer for seven points to give Colonia a 24-11 lead at halftime. The Junior Pats then outscored their neighborhood rivals by a 10-2 count in the third including a breakaway layup by Barneys at the 1:45 mark for a commanding 34-13 lead heading into the fourth.
Onukughu, who ended up with a game high 13 points, put the icing on the cake with a three point play at the 7:46 mark of the final period to make the score, 37-14. From there, each team scored eight points to round out the final 45-22 decision in favor of Colonia. Barneys ended up with 9 points while Robert Flynn and Vik Pawar (left the game late in the first quarter with knee injury) tied for team high on JFK with 5 points.
Edison Survives Fight From McCarrick In Freshmen Tourney, 45-40
This game looked like a blowout early as the Little Edison Eagles jumped out to a 12-1 lead before Jason Williams, the younger brother of former McCarrick player, Sean Williams, got McCarrick’s first field goal of the game at the three minute mark of the first quarter. The bucket sparked a 6-0 Little Cardy Mac Eagles run to end the quarter for a 12-7 Edison lead heading into the second.
McCarrick, which got six points in the first half from Tavian Churrwuani, actually tied the game at 16-16 with a 9-4 run over the first 6:30 before Edison went on a 6-0 run to take a 22-16 lead. EHS went into halftime with a 24-18 lead, and increased that margin to eight at 28-20 with 4:20 left in the period on a 4-0 run after Cardinal McCarrick got the first bucket of the second half.
The Little Cardy Mac Eagles, which entered the contest at 0-3, kept battling though with an 8-5 run including two layups to close the gap to 33-28 after three. In the fourth, Edison let McCarrick get on the board first again before scoring four straight points to take a 37-29 lead before Williams connected on a three pointer from the right wing at the 5:23 mark to close the gap to 37-32.
EHS then increased the lead to nine on a 6-2 run over the next 1:04 including a nice back door play for a layup that made the score 43-34 with 4:19 left. McCarrick rallied though with six unanswered points over the next 2:16, and almost tied the game on a three pointer, but was unable to get any closer as Edison emerged victorious, 45-40.
Other Games
In the first game of the day, J.P. Stevens and St. Joseph’s-White, which combined for 40 team fouls, went to overtime before the Little Hawks came away with the 52-49 victory in the McCarrick Freshmen Tournament. In total, there were eight games played on Saturday. The site is still awaiting results from the other four games.