BOUND BROOK, NJ–On Thursday evening, GMC Hoops made the journey out to Bound Brook High School for the first time this summer as the opening night of games took place in the Bound Brook Summer League. This year, there is only one team from the Greater Middlesex Conference participating in the league after Piscataway and J.F. Kennedy jumped to the Rahway Summer League, and New Brunswick decided to take a step up by playing in the Linden Summer League.
Middlesex is coming off a solid campaign in 2009-10. The Blue Jays finished third in the GMC Blue with a 7-5 record as well as a 17-8 mark overall. Middlesex, which upset Spotswood on the road on February 2nd, earned the tenth seed in the 2010 GMCT, and lost in the Round of 16 to seventh seeded New Brunswick (47-31). The Blue Jays then played in the Central Jersey Group II State Tournament, where it won in the opening round over Matawan (39-35), and lost to defending champion, Manasquan, in the quarterfinals (46-24). MHS had lost to Manasquan in the Championship Game of the 2009 CJ Group II Tourney. It was the third straight season that Middlesex had qualified for the state playoffs, and in each of those years, the Jays reached the Elite Eight.
However, like last summer, Middlesex is looking to rebuild after losing several key players. In the summer of 2009, the Blue Jays had to deal with the graduations of its entire starting five. This summer, MHS has to deal with the losses of Avery Barnes, Terrell Mayers, Adam Wells, and Mike Lester. The losses of Barnes and Mayers will particularly hurt because both brought a lot of size down low for the Jays. The bright spot for Middlesex is that they still do have a lot of players returning including John Santoro and Chris Winkleman. The Blue Jays will have six juniors, two sophomores, and a freshman all coming back in 2010-11. That’s plenty for Middlesex head coach, Brian Feath to work with, and he’s already proven that he can do a lot despite losing a lot of talent.
On opening night of the Bound Brook Summer League, Middlesex took on Hunterdon Central of the Skyland Conference. The Red Devils are one of the top teams in West Jersey year in and year out. Long time head coach, Brian Glennon, has consistently placed the Devils in contention for the Championship of the now Hunterdon, Warren, and Sussex Tournament. Last year in this league, he led HCHS to the semifinals including an opening round win over New Brunswick. The Red Devils and Blue Jays were entangled in a close battle for the first 33:36 of the contest. When GMC Hoops arrived on the scene, Hunterdon Central had a tenuous lead of three points at 27-24, but the Devils went on a 14-5 run to take a ten point lead en route to a 41-32 decision.
Hunterdon Central’s size, defensive pressure, and Middlesex’s inability to knock down a shot from the perimeter helped the Group IV school from Flemington and the Skyland’s Delaware West Division pull away for the victory. The Red Devils led 27-24 with 13:24 to go before Middlesex scored at the 12:23 mark to close the gap to 27-26. Nearly a minute later, HCHS got on the board again with a field goal for a 29-26 lead with 11:27 remaining. On the ensuing inbounds, Middlesex caught Hunterdon Central off balance, and it resulted in a transition layup at the 11:19 mark for a 29-28 Devils lead. Neither team would score for the next two plus minutes before Hunterdon Central called for time at the 8:56 mark.
Following the stoppage, the Red Devils took command with a 12-3 spurt over the next 7:44 to put the game out of reach. First, HCHS scored on a baseline drive from the let side for a right handed layup, and a 31-28 lead at the 7:55 mark. After Middlesex made one of two from the line, Hunterdon Central put together another score on a nice drive into the paint, and dish to the right for a layup, and a 33-29 lead with 7:26 to go. MHS stayed within striking distance with a drive through the middle for a left handed layup, and a 33-31 Red Devils lead at the 5:50 mark. Unfortunately, that was the final field goal of the game for the Jays. Nine seconds later, HCHS connected on a three pointer from the top of the key at the 5:41 mark for a 36-31 lead. Just over a half minute later, Hunterdon Central scored again on a layup at the 5:10 mark for a 38-31 lead.
Neither team would score for almost two minutes before the Devils connected on a floater for a 40-31 lead with 3:19 to play. Both teams then exchanged free throws down the stretch as the Red Devils went one of two from the line after being fouled on an offensive rebound and follow at the 1:12 mark while the Jays closed out their scoring with a one of two effort from the charity strip after being fouled on a scoring attempt in transition with 23.2 seconds to go. With the 41-32 victory, Hunterdon Central begins its summer at 1-0 while Middlesex starts off at 0-1.