OLD BRIDGE, NJ—GMC Hoops began this tripleheader Saturday with a trip down to Old Bridge for a late morning game against South Brunswick. The last time these two teams met, the Vikings won by 18 points so Old Bridge had retribution on its mind. And, the Knights got it. Behind the double-double effort from sophomore Isaiah Velez (20 points and 10 rebounds), Old Bridge defeated South Brunswick, 64-54.
Velez made 8 of 11 shots from the floor and four of six from the foul line. Senior forward, Tyler Abad, who has since gone down with an injury, chipped in with 12 points while handing out seven assists. Jevon Tyree led all scorers with a game high 21 points for South Brunswick. Old Bridge outscored SBHS in three of the four quarters played including an 18-10 showing in the second quarter to take a 31-21 lead at halftime. The Knights went on an 18-6 tear over the first six minutes or so of the period before South Brunswick ended the half with the final four points.
The Vikings got a three pointer from Nick Muha to start the second half, but couldn’t get any closer than seven in the frame as the Knights went up by as many as thirteen points before SBHS scored the final five points to trail, 48-40 after three. The Vikes opened the fourth with a 6-4 run including a three pointer by Moses Railey, two free throws by Josh Varughese, and one of two from the line by Jevon Tyree to pull within six at 52-46 with 4:19 to play, but Old Bridge came away with the victory with a 12-8 showing the rest of the way including a three pointer by Femi Adeleye and two free throws by Velez to wrap up the 64-54 win. See details in the summary.
Both of these teams have been surprises this year. Since this game, they have both come down to earth a bit. However, there are some good young players on each squad. South Brunswick has more younger talent than Old Bridge. The Knights are more of a veteran team with the likes of Abad, Adeleye, Jimmy Gaffigan, and reserves such as McCarrick transfer Rob Olivieri. However, Old Bridge still has youngsters such as sophomores Julian Daley and Velez along with freshman forward, Sultan Aminu. OBHS has three sophomores and a freshman on their roster. The Vikes, on the other hand, have only one senior while there are six juniors, four sophomores, and two freshmen on their roster.
Tyree has picked up the scoring slack in the absence of top junior, Kory Sanders. However, South Brunswick still misses the leadership presence that Sanders brings to the table. The Vikings still did a solid job of continuing to fight regardless of how far they were down. SBHS outperformed OBHS from beyond the arc with a 27-12 edge in points (9 of 22 vs. 4 of 17). Tyree had three treys while fellow sophomore Michael Green added two. Railey also had three treys. Both teams shot the ball well from the perimeter with Old Bridge getting the edge (53 percent to 46 percent). The Knights were also better at the line going 14 of 22 vs. 9 of 18 for the Vikes. Each team kept the turnovers down for the most part with Old Bridge having a slight edge (15-16).
Besides Tyree and Green, South Brunswick has forwards, Nick Muha and Danny Strickland, which also have a lot of potential. Strickland stood out in a loss to New Brunswick back over the holidays in the Brunswick Classic tournament while Muha (10 rebounds) grabbed his share of rebounds in a recent loss at home against East Brunswick. The Old Bridge tandem of Velez and Aminu have improved significantly since the first time I saw them over the holidays against Randolph. Both are playing with more confidence.
It will be really interesting to see how these teams do next season. However, both teams could pose some trouble this season in the GMCT and the states. Old Bridge, especially if Abad gets healthy again.