EDISON, NJ–On Tuesday night, GMC Hoops traveled over to Middlesex County College after work to take in all three 8:00 PM round of games from the seventh night of action at the 2010 Middlesex County College Summer League at the Physical Education Center on the main campus of MCC. The site also captured a little bit of action from all three of the 7:00 PM games, which ended late. All six contests involved teams from the Greater Middlesex Conference including South Hunterdon played Bishop Ahr on Court #1, South Amboy battled Roselle Park on Court #2, and Perth Amboy Tech took on East Brunswick Tech on Court #3 at 7:00 PM. Then, at 8:00 PM, J.P. Stevens took on Keansburg on Court #1, Keyport battled East Brunswick on Court #2 in a battle for first place, and in perhaps the best game of the evening, Sayreville faced off against Timothy Christian on Court #3.
South Hunterdon Edges Bishop Ahr For Eighth Straight Win, 29-22
South Hunterdon continued its winning ways by edging Bishop Ahr in a 7:00 PM game on Court #1. The Eagles, which dropped their opening day game against J.P. Stevens, has since won eight straight. South Hunterdon had a 26-14 lead with 10:29 to go. Bishop Ahr went on an 8-3 run the rest of the way, but the Eagles wouldn’t let the Trojans get any closer in a 29-22 victory. South Hunterdon is now 8-1 on the summer, and will likely lock up the third seed while Bishop Ahr drops to 2-7.
Roselle Park Downs South Amboy, 36-31
Roselle Park enhanced their chances to getting the sixth seed in the playoffs with a hard fought win over a South Amboy team that was playing with renewed confidence after defeating Timothy Christian on Thursday night (36-34). The Panthers were leading by a 30-27 score with 3:04 left, and increased that lead to four with two of the next three points for a 32-28 score at the 1:06 mark. South Amboy made a free throw, and then Mike Zammit scored on a layup at the 29 second mark to pull within one at 32-31. However, the Guvs weren’t able to get any closer as Roselle Park made two foul shots with 20 seconds to go, and then another two foul shots with eight seconds left after South Amboy turned the ball over at the 10 second mark.
Perth Amboy Tech Locks Up Fourth Seed By Defeating E.B. Tech, 51-39
Perth Amboy Tech most likely locked up the fourth seed in the playoffs thanks to a 51-39 victory over East Brunswick Tech in a battle between two Gold Division teams. The Patriots led 44-33 with 7:15 left, and East Brunswick Tech got the deficit down to single digits less a minute later with a three pointer from the right corner to make the score, 44-36 at the 6:16 mark. The Pats then got field goals at the six minute and four minute marks for a 48-36 lead before Mike Hardy drew a foul underneath, and made one of two from the charity stripe for a 48-37 Amboy Tech lead with 3:19 to go. Rashad Adams got that point back by making one of two from the charity stripe for a 49-37 lead with 1:24 left. The Tigers then made two free throws at the 1:03 mark, but couldn’t get any closer as the Patriots won 51-39. Amboy Tech won its fourth straight to improve to 7-2 on the summer at MCC while E.B. Tech dropped to 2-7. .
J.P. Stevens Defeats Keansburg In Low Scoring Affair, 24-16
The Hawks of J.P. Stevens likely locked up the fifth seed when the playoffs begin on July 20th as they defeated the Titans of Keansburg by the score of 24-16 in a low scoring affair played on Court #1 at 8:00 PM on Tuesday night. Stevens limited Keansburg to only three points in the entire first half, and withstood a rally by the Titans in the second half that closed the gap to six points on two occasions. JPS jumped out to a 7-0 lead over the first 4:07 of the first half before a timeout was called. Following the stoppage, the Hawks scored seven of the last ten points of the half for a 14-3 lead at the intermisson.
In the second half, the offenses remained dormant for the first nine minutes as Stevens scored the only three points of the stretch for a 17-3 lead. The Hawks made one of two foul shots for a 18-3 lead at the 10:42 mark. Keansburg then went on a 9-0 run over the next 4:08 to pull within six. The Titans made a three pointer at the 8:46 mark to spark the run, and despite a block on a layup attempt by Stevens at the 8:01 mark, they got closer with another three from the left corner at the 7:21 mark, and a traditional three point play at the 6:34 mark to pull within 18-12.
J.P. Stevens turned to one of its veteran players as Mike Reuben came up with two huge scores to help preserve the lead. Reuben came up with a steal for a layin at the 4:26 mark for a 20-12 lead. Then, after Keansburg netted two free throws with just under four minutes to play, Reuben scored on a tip-in off his own miss at the 2:38 mark for a 22-14 lead. Both teams scored a basket the rest of the way for the 24-16 final. With the victory, Stevens improved to 6-3 on the summer while Keansburg dropped to 4-5.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| J.P. Stevens (6-3) | 14 | 10 | 24 |
| Keansburg (4-5) | 3 | 13 | 16 |
East Brunswick Prevails In Battle Of Unbeatens, 32-29
This was the battle between the two goliaths as unbeaten East Brunswick took on undefeated Keyport in a battle that would determine the top seed in next week’s playoffs at MCC. East Brunswick, the defending champion of the MCC Summer League battled tooth and nail with Keyport, and ultimately prevailed. Guided by varsity head coach, Bo Henning, the Bears fell behind at the half by one point, but outscored the Red Raiders by four points over the final 20 minutes to pull out the three point victory.
The two teams went back and forth over the first 5:43 as the game was tied at 7-7. A little over a minute later, Keyport netted a three pointer for a 10-7 lead at the 13:10 mark. Over the next 2:58, East Brunswick scored five of the next seven points to tie the score at 12-12 with 10:12 to play in the first half. The Score remained tied for the next four minutes as neither team was able to score. Both teams eventually got on the board over the next 3:28 for a 14-14 tie at the 2:44 mark. EB then took the lead on a basket while being fouled, but missed the bonus free throw for a traditional three point play at the 1:55 mark. Keyport then took the one point lead at the half with a three pointer at the 35 second mark that made the score, 17-16 at the intermission.
In the second half, East Brunswick outscored Keyport by a 12-10 margin over the first 18 minutes of the period for a tenuous 28-27 lead. The Bears then had a chance to go up further, but misfired on two foul shots at the 1:26 mark. However, Keyport couldn’t take advantage thanks to the EB defense, which drew a charge at the 1:18 mark. East Brunswick then made one of two from the line with 53 seconds remaining for a 29-27 lead. The Red Raiders still had a chance to tie, but failed to score thanks to a three second violation with 28 seconds to go. The Bears then added a foul shot for a 30-27 before a timeout was called with 19 seconds to go.
Keyport made two foul shots with seven seconds to go to pull within one again at 30-29, but the Bears got those points back with two foul shots at the four second mark for a 32-29 lead. The Raiders were unable to tie the game as East Brunswick remained unbeatean at 9-0 with the hard fought, 32-29 victory. Keyport, likely the two seed when the playoffs begin on Tuesday, dropped to 8-1.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Brunswick (9-0) | 16 | 16 | 32 |
| Keyport (8-1) | 17 | 12 | 29 |
Wojcik’s Jumper At Buzzer Lifts Sayreville Past Timothy Christian, 42-39
As usual, we saved the best for last as Sayreville and Timothy Christian went at it in a very competitive game between two teams at the bottom of the standings at MCC. Both teams entered this game at 1-7 with Sayreville defeating South Amboy for its only win while Timothy Christian lost to the Guvs last week. Both of those games were decided by two points. TCS took a 20-13 lead at the half before Sayreville rallied in the second half behind the play of Danny Wojcik, Justin Luna, and E.J. Perez for a 42-39 victory. Wojcik connected on a three pointer at the buzzer for the victory.
The Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead, and had a chance to go up by more, but Wojcik came up with a block on a layup attempt at the 18:32 mark. TCS did evenutally score though to go up 4-0 with 17:53 to play in the first half. Luna got the Bombers going with a score in the low post for a 4-2 TCS lead. Timothy Christian then netted two free throws at the 15:15 mark, and got a field goal at the 14:40 mark for a 8-2 lead. On the ropes early, Sayreville rallied with a three by Wojcik from the left wing at the 13:55 mark for a 8-5 TCS lead. Wojcik then made a nice entry pass to Luna in the left low block for a hook shot, and a 8-7 Tigers lead with 13:01 left.
Timothy Christian scored the next five points including a layup underneath at the 11:23 mark, and a three pointer at the 10:35 mark for a 13-7 lead. Luna then scored on an offensive rebound and follow at the 9:21 mark for a 13-9 TCS lead before Dan Decker drove by Wojcik for a layup, and a 15-9 lead with 8:20 left in the first half. The Tigers and Bombers exchanged scores for a 17-11 TCS lead at the 3:04 mark. Decker put TCS up by eight at 19-11 with two free throws at the 2:31 mark, and the Tigers made one of two from the line with 10 seconds to go for a 20-11 lead. In a harbinger of things to come though, Wojcik connected on a pull-up jumper to end the half after E.J. Perez picked up a steal to set up the score for a 20-13 Timothy Christian lead at the intermission.
The second half started with the Tigers still in control. Over the first 12 minutes of the second period, Timothy Christian outscored Sayreville by a 12-9 margin for a 32-22 lead. The Bombers began to chip away at the deficit though. First with a short jumper from the right low block at the 6:24 mark, and then with a runner that banked in at the 4:55 mark for a 32-26 score. After a TCS timeout with 4:52 left, the Tigers got a layup off an inbounds play for a 34-26 lead. Almost a minute and a half later, the Tigers got a layup underneath for a seemingly commanding 36-26 lead with under three and a half minutes to play, but the Bombers fought back with a 13-0 spurt to actually take the lead with 24 seconds left.
Wojcik sparked the rally with a three point play at the 2:49 mark for a 36-29 TCS lead. Luna then followed that with a steal for a layup at the two minute mark for a 36-31 Timothy Christian lead. The Bombers continued to fight back with fullcourt pressure, and tight defense that created more opportunities including a three pointer from the right wing at the 1:31 mark to close the gap to two at 36-34. Perez then tied the game up at 36-36 with a steal for a layup with 1:28 to play. Following a Timothy Christian timeout with 1:22 left, the Tigers turned the ball over with an offensive foul at the 1:13 mark. Luna then put the Bombers in front with one of two from the foul line at the 54 second mark. Following a Sayreville timeout with 31 seconds left, the Bombers went up by three as they capped the run with two more free throws for a 39-36 advantage.
Timothy Christian woke up from its 3:18 scoring drought though with a three pointer by Decker at the eight second mark to tie the score at 39-39. However, Wojcik connected on a three pointer from the left wing as time ran out for the 42-39 win. With the victory, Sayreville enters its final game of the summer with a 2-7 record while Timothy Christian drops to 1-8.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sayreville (2-7) | 13 | 29 | 42 |
| Timothy Christian (1-8) | 20 | 19 | 39 |
GMC Hoops plans to be back out at Middlesex County College next Tuesday night for the semifinal round of the playoffs.