COLONIA, NJ–On Wednesday evening, GMC Hoops traveled out to Colonia High School for the third time this summer to see three games from the eleventh night of action in the 2010 Colonia JV Summer League. All three games involved GMC schools as Roselle I took on Colonia II in the first game, Colonia I squared off against St. Joseph’s in the second game, and in the final game of the evening, Piscataway played J.P. Stevens. All three contests were not that competitive as Roselle I, St. Joe’s, and Piscataway all came away with easy victories.
Roselle I Rolls Past Colonia II, 44-16
The Running Rams of Roselle I jumped out to a huge halftime lead, and led 30-10 with 17:40 to play in the contest. Roselle I then got two scores for a 34-10 lead with 14:56 to go. Things continued to get out of hand as Roselle swiped a steal for a layup, and a 36-11 lead with 14:43 left. Colonia II, which soundly defeated Cardinal McCarrick II the last time the site was out at CHS, finally got a field goal on a layup off a fast break that prompted Roselle I to call for time with 10:30 remaining, and the score 36-13.
Following the timeout, the Running Rams closed the game with an 8-3 run including an offensive rebound and follow midway through the second half, a layin off a lob pass on an inbounds play underneath for a 40-15 lead at the 5:57 mark, and an offensive rebound and follow with 1:19 left for a 42-15 lead. Colonia II managed to have some bright spots down the stretch with two free throws at the 8:31 mark, and a charge drawn on Roselle with 7:10 to go, but Roselle I came away with the easy 44-16 win. With the victory, Roselle I improved to 6-1 on the summer while Colonia II dropped to 4-2.
Balanced Attack Helps St. Joe’s Breeze Past Colonia I, 51-15
Coming into Wednesday night, GMC Hoops had not had a chance to see the St. Joseph’s Falcons in action. After seeing them play against Colonia I in the second game of the site’s tripleheader at CHS, we could see why the Falcons were undefeated in the league until very recently. The Junior Falcons, which fell from the ranks of the unbeaten last week in a 42-40 loss to the other Colonia squad, Colonia II, made sure that a similar thing wouldn’t take place against Colonia I. St. Joe’s forced 21 turnovers, and converted thirteen of them into 26 points as they took a 27-12 first half lead, and outscored the home team by a 24-3 margin in the second half for a 51-15 victory.
St. Joseph’s shot 23 of 52 from the floor for 44 percent while limiting Colonia I to just 5 of 30 shooting for 17 percent. The Junior Falcons also had only five turnovers in the contest. In other statistical areas, St. Joe’s only made 2 of 10 from beyond the arc, and 3 of 5 from the foul line, but had the edge in steals (14-3), assists (10-2), and charges (1-0). Colonia I had more blocks (2-0). The Junior Falcons had a slight edge in rebounding (27-26) including a 9-8 edge on the offensive glass, and a 5-3 edge in second chance points. Leading the way for St. Joe’s in the win was Salman Hasan, who connected on 6 of 10 from the floor including one of three from long range while making a foul shot for 14 points along with 4 steals, 3 assists, and 2 rebounds.
Tom Cicalese chipped in for the winners with 10 points on four of five shooting from the floor, and two of two from the line while pulling down three rebounds and swiping two steals. Brian Fitzpatrick also contributed with 8 points on four of seven shooting while grabbing four rebounds, handing out an assist, and drawing a charge. Incoming freshman, Jake Dadika, the son of former Rutgers standout, Rick Dadika, added seven points on two field goals and a three pointer while swiping two steals, handing out an assist, and collecting a rebound. Mike Cintron made two of four shots from the floor while grabbing six boards, picking up an assist and a steal while Matthew Greene (2 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal), Rob Ciragi (2 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals), Steve Taraska (2 points, 2 steals, 2 assists, and a rebound), and Mike Allen (2 points) rounded out the scoring for the Junior Falcons.
The first half saw St. Joseph’s dominate with 18 points off of 11 Colonia I turnovers. The Junior Falcons shot 13 of 30 from the floor while limiting the Junior Patriots to a 4 of 15 showing from the field. Fitzpatrick got all of his points in the first half as he made four of seven shots while collecting three rebounds. Cicalese and Hasan each added six in a well balanced attack. Hasan also picked up three steals, two assists, and two rebounds. St. Joe’s jumped out to an 8-4 lead as Allen scored on a layup from Greene at the 16:56 mark. The Junior Falcons then added eight more points as Hasan swiped a steal for a layup at the 15:01 mark for a 12-4 lead, Green picked up a steal for a layup with 14:35 to go in the half for a 14-4 lead, and Hasan picked another pocket for a steal and layup that made the score 16-4 with 14:10 to play in the period.
Colonia I netted two free throws for its first points in 3:31, and a 16-6 St. Joe’s lead, but then the Junior Falcons scored the next four as Dadika picked up two steals, which he cashed in for a layup of his own, and an assist on a layup by Hasan for a 20-6 lead as Colonia called for time with 11:58 to go in the half. Following the timeout, Dadika struck for a three pointer from the right side that made the score, 23-6 with 10:50 to go in the half. Colonia I tried to make the score more respectable with a 6-4 showing the rest of the period, but St. Joseph’s rolled in the second half with a 24-3 showing to round out the 51-15 victory. With the win, St. Joe’s improved to 6-1 on the summer while Colonia I dropped to 2-5.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Joseph’s (6-1) | 27 | 24 | 51 |
| Colonia I (2-5) | 12 | 3 | 15 |
Piscataway Cruises Past J.P. Stevens, 48-15
Things didn’t start off well for the Junior Hawks of J.P. Stevens, and they got progressively worse. While Piscataway had 12 players for this contest, the game started as a four on four since Stevens only had four players at the start of the game. Three more players came a short time later, but it wasn’t enough to stop P-Way. Marcus Freeney was 4 of 8 from the floor including 2 of 3 from beyond the arc while making both his free throw attempts for 12 points along with three steals as the Junior Chiefs rolled to a 48-15 win. Turnovers and points off those miscues played a pivotal role again as Piscataway forced 20 turnovers by JPS, and converted 12 of them into 24 points. The Junior Chiefs also also picked up 16 offensive rebounds, which they converted into 10 second chance points.
For the game, P-Way shot 21 of 49 from the floor for 43 percent including two of seven from three point range while limiting Stevens to just 6 of 33 from the floor for 18 percent. In other statistical areas, Piscataway outrebounded the Junior Hawks by a margin of 29-18 on the boards, and had more assists (10-1), steals (14-5), and blocks (6-1). The Junior Chiefs also only committed six turnovers for the game, and JPS only converted one of those mistakes. P-Way jumped out to a 28-10 first half lead, and coasted to a 20-5 showing in the second half for the 33 point win. Piscataway started the second half with an 11-2 run for a 39-12 lead before easing up the rest of the way.
The first 4:16 of the contest saw Piscataway be very opportunistic in its 6-0 start as it scored all of its points off of Junior Hawk turnovers. Freeney then got into the act with a three pointer from the left corner for a 9-0 lead at the 15 minute mark, and another three from the left wing a minute later for a 12-0 lead. Meanwhile, Stevens offense was stuck in reverse with 11 turnovers by the 8:59 mark of the first half with P-Way now leading 16-2. The Junior Chiefs then scored six of the next eight points including a short rainbow jumper by Clarence Morris (4 points and 2 rebounds) for a 22-4 lead with 6:22 to play in the first half. Both teams then scored six points each the rest of the way as the Junior Chiefs led 28-10 at the intermission. P-Way shot 13 of 31 from the floor in the first 20 minutes for 42 percent while JPS was 5 of 19 for 26 percent.
Piscataway, led by Freeney who had 8 points and two steals, scored 16 points off of 14 J.P. Stevens turnovers, and had a 10-6 edge on the offensive glass while both teams had six second chance points. The second half started much like the first had ended with the Junior Chiefs scoring the first four points including two free throws by Freeney for a 32-10 lead with 18 minutes to go. After two free throws by the Junior Hawks made the score 33-12 with 14:35 left, P-Way went on a 6-0 run including a jumper by Freeney and a runner by Morris for a 39-12 advantage with 9:50 to go. From there, the Junior Chiefs outscored the Junior Hawks by a 9-3 margin for a 48-15 win. With the victory, Piscataway improved to 6-2 on the summer at CHS while Stevens fell to 3-4.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piscataway (6-2) | 28 | 20 | 48 |
| J.P. Stevens (3-4) | 10 | 5 | 15 |
GMC Hoops plans to be back out at Colonia High School next week for more action.