BOUND BROOK, NJ–On Thursday evening, GMC Hoops made the journey out to Bound Brook High School for the second time this summer as the fifth night of games took place in the Bound Brook Summer League. This year, there is only one team from the Greater Middlesex Conference as Middlesex was back in action after taking a bye the previous week to participate in the team camp up at FDU Florham. The Jays were taking on undefeated Franklin in the 8:00 PM game after Bridgewater and Somerville went at it in the 7:00 PM game.
Bridgewater-Raritan Edges Somerville, 46-44
Prior to the game between Middlesex and Franklin at 8:00 PM, GMC Hoops had a chance to take in the majority of the second half between two old Mid-State Conference rivals, Bridgewater-Raritan and Somerville. Both of these teams have been long time members of the Skyland Conference, but the meeting between the two schools brought back the nostalgic days of the 1970s and 80s when these teams were in the Mid-State. Back then, Bridgewater-Raritan was split into two different high schools as Bridgewater-Raritan East and Bridgewater-Raritan West. The Somerville Pioneers continue to make annual playoff appearances under the guidance of long time head coach, Dave D’Alessandro. The past two seasons, Somerville has qualified for the North Jersey Section 2 Group III state tournament, where they lost to Fort Lee in 2009 and to Cinderella Carteret in 2010.
Meanwhile, Bridgewater-Raritan, which had been a dominant force in Somerset County hoops for the past decade prior to the departure of Tim Ortelli a couple years ago, have been trying to rebuild. Under the guidance of former Watchung Hills head coach, Gene McAteer, the Panthers are looking to make strides and get back into prominence in 2010-11. By the way, Ortelli has since resurfaced on the Somerset County hoops scene. Ortelli was briefly at Franklin before ending up at Rutgers Prep. During the course of this evening’s contest between the Panthers and the Pioneers, GMC Hoops had a chance to catch up with Middlesex head coach, Brian Feath. The site learned that the Jays had played over at the FDU-Florham team camp, where they played eight games. Middlesex went 4-4 against such opponents as Bloomfield, Delbarton, Hackettstown, Morristown, and Raritan. Although the Blue Jays lost the likes of Avery Barnes, Terrell Mayers, and Adam Wells, they still have five of their top players coming back this winter including John Santoro and Chris Winkleman.
The site picked up the action in this one with 13:25 remaining, and Bridgewater leading 32-26. The Panthers went up by eight at 34-26 on a nice move for a score at the 13:00 mark. Although the Pioneers got within seven on one of two from the foul line at the 12:30 mark, Bridgewater-Raritan took its biggest lead of the final 13:30 with two free throws at the 11:45 mark that made the score, 36-27. Over the next 9:06, Somerville rallied with a 15-4 tear to actually take a 42-40 lead with 2:39 to play. The run began with an offensive rebound and follow at the 10:49 mark for a 36-29 score. The Pioneers scored the next six points including a steal for a layup at the 7:58 mark for an 8-0 run that closed the gap to 36-35. After a lull in the scoring for 3:28, Andrew Ortelli gave Bridgewater some breathing room with a layup that made the score 38-35 with 4:30 to play.
Over the next 1:51, Somerville scored seven of the next nine points including a three pointer to tie things up at 40-40 with 3:40 left, and an offensive rebound and follow at the 2:39 mark for a 42-40 lead. Ortelli responded though with a three from the right wing that took a kind bounce at the 1:20 mark for a 43-42 Bridgewater lead. The Pioneers came right back down on its next possession to score a field goal for a 44-43 lead with about a minute to go. Ortelli factored again in the go ahead score as he drove and dished to a teammate for a layup, and a 45-44 lead with 40 seconds left. The Panthers then made one of two from the line with 7.8 seconds left, and after a Somerville rebound and timeout at the 7.3 second mark, the Pioneers got a good look on a jumper from the right side, but missed as time expired with Bridgewater-Raritan winning, 46-44. Both teams are now even at 2-2 on the season.
Middlesex Surprises Previously Unbeaten Franklin, 42-28
The second game produced one of the surprises of the night at Bound Brook. Franklin, which entered Thursday’s action with an unbeaten 4-0 record, fell behind by a dozen at the half, and couldn’t recover as Middlesex registered a 42-28 victory. The play of Dave Schenck was piovtal in the Blue Jays fortunes as the soon to be senior cleaned up underneath. Meanwhile, the Middlesex defense did the rest as it limited Franklin to just 9 of 33 shooting from the floor while making 15 of 37 shots. The Jays also did a solid job of taking care of the basketball with only seven turnovers while forcing fifteen. MHS also converted those Franklin miscues into 12 points. The Warriors tried to hang around with the three point shot as they made 6 of 18 attempts, but couldn’t penetrate for scores inside the arc.
John Santoro scored just 7 points on two of six shooting from the floor, but Schenck added eight first half points to bolster the attack. Chris Winkleman added a three pointer off an assist by Santoro to put Middlesex up 35-22 with a little more seven minutes remaining. The Jays were only 3 of 10 from beyond the arc, but made 9 of 14 shots from the line while Franklin was 4 of 6. In other statistical departments, Middlesex was outrebounded 20-16 including a 10-8 Warriors edge on the offensive boards, but the Jays still had more second chance points (4-2). MHS had more assists (7-5), and steals (10-1) while FHS had more blocks (2-1). Middlesex’s defense had Franklin out of rhythm the entire game. Despite its athletic ability and talent, the Warriors couldn’t establish much of an offense as the Jays dictated the tempo and style of play.
Middlesex was 9 of 18 from the floor in the first half while Franklin was only 5 of 19. The Jays were only one of five from beyond the arc, but the Warriors were not much better at 2 of 10 from long range. The Jays were also 5 of 8 from the foul line while committing five turnovers. Franklin was 2 of 2 from the charity stripe in the first half, but committed seven turnovers. The Warriors, which were quite frustrtated had no field goals over the last twelve minutes of the first half while Middlesex put together an 11-0 run for a 24-12 lead. Over the first 4:41 of the game, Middlesex scored seven of the first ten points including a three pointer. Franklin countered with a 7-4 run to pull within one, but Schenck netted two free throws for a 13-10 lead at the 13:01 mark. The Warriors got another score to pull within one at 13-12, but wouldn’t score again until they got two free throws with four seconds to go in the half.
Meanwhile, Schenck went to work with an offensive rebound and follow at the 11:30 mark for a 15-12 lead. The Jays then got a stop on the defensive end, and came back down for another score as Schenck hit on a jumper from the left side to make the score 17-12 at the 10:58 mark. Up to this point in the game, Middlesex was 6 of 9 from the floor. After a Franklin timeout, the Blue Jays scored again for a 19-12 as Winkleman got an offensive rebound and follow at the 9:40 mark that prompted the Franklin coach to pull out the starter. The change wasn’t the tonic as Schenck drove in for a layup, and a 21-12 lead at the 8:46 mark. There would be a lull in the scoring for 2:30 before Santoro was fouled on a drive, and made one of two from the line for a 22-12 lead at the 6:16 mark. Almost a minute and a half later, Santoro was back at the line again for a one of two showing after being fouled on a drive from the left wing that made the score, 23-12 with just under five minutes to go in the half.
Middlesex would get another point at the line for a 24-12 lead before Franklin netted its two free throws in just seconds to go. However, the Warriors weren’t able to preserve the momentum going into the locker room as Santoro quickly came down the floor for a pull-up jumper at the buzzer, and a 26-14 lead going into the locker room. FHS, which limited Middlesex to just 3 of 9 shooting over the final eleven minutes or so of the first half, tried to change strategy early in the second half by deploying a zone defense, but the offense couldn’t take advantage. After the Warriors got a three that banked in, and then one of two from the line at the 17:10 mark to close the gap to 26-18, the Blue Jays had one of two showings from the line at the 15:42 and 13:48 marks, and a Santoro drive for a layup at the 13:00 mark for a 30-18 lead. Franklin scored four of the next six points to draw within ten, but the Jays struck again as Santoro kicked out to Winkleman for a three pointer, and a 35-22 lead with 7:10 to go.
Middlesex then got a steal by Santoro at the 6:57 mark, which eventually led to a three pointer off an assist by Winkleman at the 6:08 mark for a 38-22 lead. Franklin eventually got those points back with a three of its own, but couldn’t get any closer as Middlesex led 40-25 with only 1:54 remaining. The Jays went on to win 42-28 for its first victory of the summer while Franklin suffered its first loss.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middlesex (1-2) | 26 | 16 | 42 |
| Franklin (4-1) | 14 | 14 | 28 |
GMC Hoops will be back out at Bound Brook next week.