DUNELLEN, NJ–On Saturday night, GMC Hoops traveled over to The Faber in Dunellen after work to take in a contest between the Dunellen Destroyers and the Sayreville Bombers. The site only saw the second half of action after getting to the gym at halftime. However, the Destroyers made a better account for themselves in this one after losing last Saturday night to Carteret (59-31) in another GMC White/Gold Crossover.
After falling behind by a score of 19-14 in the first period, Dunellen edged Sayreville by a 10-9 margin in the second to only trail, 28-24 at halftime. However, the Bombers, which outgunned the Destroyers from three point range (11-1), put together a 26-8 surge in the third to put the game away. Mark Keir, who I learned is the brother of Cardinal McCarrick’s Chrissy Keir, scored eight of his team high 16 points in the third including two threes while freshman, Joe Saitta added 15 points in the victory including a three of his own during the third. Sayreville actually had four players in double figures as Tarif Jackson added 12 and Daryl Stephenson chipped in with 10.
The Bombers, which outscored New Brunswick by a 40-27 margin in the second half in a 66-52 victory on Wednesday night, put on a shooting clinic in the second half. It seemed almost every time they got the ball on offense in the second half against DHS, the Bombers made a three, or a jumper for two. Keir has had the ability to hit the three. He hit several in the thrilling victory at home over Cardinal McCarrick on January 6th. With the likes of Jarrell Smith and Jackson, he is sometimes forgotten. However, Keir reminded us that he can strike for the perimeter jumper. Saitta has turned into a great addition for the Bombers. Playing for the Sayreville Stars last summer, Saitta played along side Danny Wojcik at the Raritan Bay Summer League.
In the win over New Brunswick on Wednesday night, Saitta hit a three pointer to cap an unconventional four point play to give the Bombers their biggest lead of the game (59-38) early in the fourth quarter. The freshman hit a three more on Saturday night, and has shown a lot of poise for a youngster so far this season. Chris Piniero, who played for the Parlin Pride, an arch rival of the Sayreville Stars in the Raritan Bay Summer League, also plays for the Bombers. Sayreville did lose a lot to graduation last year, but with the likes of Smith, Jackson, Keir, and Saitta filling it up from the outside while interior players Dave Milewski, Daryl Stephenson, and Syd Holt battling for rebounds and points, the Bombers are still hanging around in the GMC Hoops Top Ten.
This was the third time in the past two seasons that Dunellen has taken on Sayreville. The first time was during the regular season last year at Sayreville (51-38) while the second time was in the Round of 16 in the 2009 GMCT at The Faber (74-54). The Bombers have won all three games by a combined margin of 193-140. Jonard Hall continues to make a good case for himself as one of the top players in the conference this season. He turned in another double-double performance with 17 points and 11 rebounds in the defeat. Luke Francisco added 13 points while freshman Dylan Hoski, the younger brother of former DHS standout, Dean Hoski, scored in double figures with 11 points.
Despite suffering losses to graduation, and having a team with two sophomores and a freshman in the starting lineup, Dunellen is not making excuses, and continues to play up outside its GMC Gold schedule. All the conference losses that the Destroyers have suffered this season has been to teams outside the Gold Division. The Destroyers recently won its second straight division title, and fourth in the past five seasons. Give credit to head coach, Bernie Buniak for pushing DHS to the limits as far as its schedule is concerned. Read the summary on this game in our summaries section.