J.P. Stevens Advances To Face Keyport In The Championship Game
EDISON, NJ–On Tuesday night, GMC Hoops traveled over to Middlesex County College after work to take in both semifinal games from the playoff round of action at the 2010 Middlesex County College Summer League at the Physical Education Center on the main campus of MCC. One of the semifinal contests involved teams from the Greater Middlesex Conference as J.P. Stevens took on South River on Court #1 at 8:00 PM. Prior to that game, Keyport battled South Hunterdon on Court #1 in a battle of two 9-1 teams. View all the playoff results and brackets from Tuesday night.
Late Tear Propels Keyport Into Championship Game, 47-42
After gaining first round wins, both third seeded South Hunterdon and second seeded Keyport were not only looking to reach the Championship Game of the MCC Summer League playoffs, but also gain an inside track to winning it all after top seeded and defending champion, East Brunswick, was knocked off by eighth seeded South River in the opening round. The Rams were taking on fifth seeded J.P. Stevens in the other semifinal after the Hawks upended fourth seeded Amboy Tech in the first round. South Hunterdon, which defeated sixth seeded Keansburg in round one earlier in the day traded blows with Keyport in a back and forth first half that saw the Eagles take a 24-22 lead.
However, in the second half, Keyport used four traditional three point plays early on, and a 10-0 run late to outscore South Hunterdon by a 25-18 margin to gain the berth in the finals with a 47-42 victory. The Eagles had taken a 33-32 lead with 6:54 to go thanks to a 7-0 run, but the Red Raiders got a kind bounce on a three point play at the 6:34 mark, and another traditional trifecta at the 5:54 mark to spark the decisive 10-0 run for a 42-33 lead. Keyport, which defeated seventh seeded Roselle Park in the opening round, went to work right away with a three point play for a 25-24 lead with 18:47 to play in the game. The Raiders then prevented a score with a blocked shot at the 17:45 mark, and got a fortuitous bounced on a three point play at the 16:41 mark for a 28-24 lead.
South Hunterdon finally broke a scoring drought of 4:22 with a layin underneath that closed the gap to 28-26 with 15:38 to go. There would be a lull in the scoring for a little more than a minute and a half before Keyport connected on a field goal for a 30-26 edge. The Red Raiders added another score for a 32-26 lead with 12:58 remaining as South Hunterdon called for time. The Eagles, which made its deepest run at MCC in the three summers that they’ve played there, then scored the next seven points over a span of 6:04 to take a one point lead. The Lambertville based school got a field goal and then an offensive rebound and putback at the 9:33 mark to pull within two at 32-30. The Eagles then scored on a spin move for a layup underneath for a 6-0 run that tied the score at 32-32 with 8:26 left.
South Hunterdon then briefly took the lead when it drew a foul and made one of two at the line to cap the 7-0 run for a 33-32 edge with 6:54 to play. However, Keyport took the lead for good with a three point play thanks to another kind bounce at the 6:34 mark. The Red Raiders got another three point play at the 5:54 mark for a 38-33 lead. The Eagles had a chance to close within three, but misfired on two free throws at the 4:20 mark. South Hunterdon did come up with a big defensive play in the form of a charge at the 3:56 mark to prevent Keyport from going up further, but it was only temporary. The Red Raiders picked up a steal off an errant Eagle pass, and converted it into a layup for a 40-33 lead. Keyport then added two free throws at the 1:29 mark that capped the 10-0 run for a 42-33 advantage.
South Hunterdon didn’t give up though. To their credit, the Eagles rallied to make things interesting in the final minute with three treys to pull within three at 45-42, but the Red Raiders netted two free throws with 4.1 seconds left for the 47-42 win. With the victory, Keyport improved to 10-1 on the summer, and advanced to the Championship game to play J.P. Stevens, a winner over South River in the other semifinal on Thursday. South Hunterdon, which has qualified for the state tournament in each of the past two seasons after not making the tourney for 20 years, and reached the CJ Group I final in 2010, finished its summer at 9-2.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keyport (10-1) | 22 | 25 | 47 |
| South Hunterdon (9-2) | 24 | 18 | 42 |
Reuben Helps Hawks Down South River For Finals Berth, 50-37
Both of these teams pulled off upsets in the first round as South River shot well in its victory over top seeded East Brunswick while J.P. Stevens downed fourth seeded Amboy Tech. These two teams had played earlier in the summer with the Hawks coming away with the easy victory. This time though, South River provided a more formidable challenge. With the likes of Nick Boyler, Tim Huff, and Craig Huff returning to the lineup after playing baseball for much of the summer, South River was looking for another upset. Unfortunately, the Rams struggled from the floor, and J.P. Stevens took advantage of its offensive rebounds to come up with the 50-37 victory to advance to the Championship Game against Keyport.
For the game, South River shot only 15 of 45 from the floor including 3 of 21 from three point range for 14 percent. The Rams also struggled at the foul line by going only 4 of 11 for 36 percent. Meanwhile, J.P. Stevens shot 20 of 37 from the floor for 54 percent including 2 of 6 from three point range. The Hawks also went 8 of 13 from the charity stripe for 62 percent. In other statistical departments, South River had more offensive rebounds (10-9), but JPS had more total rebounds (25-19), second chance points (14-8), and blocks (2-1). The Hawks committed more turnovers, but did a better job taking advantage of miscues. South River held the edge in turnovers (10-13), but only edged Stevens in points off of turnovers (11-10). The Hawks had more assists (8-6), but the Rams had more steals (8-7).
Mike Reuben, one of the last remnants of the success Stevens enjoyed when his older brother Myles and teammates Kenny Bland, Nick Pol, and Tahir Swinton roamed the hallways of the school a little more than a year ago, helped lead the charge for the Hawks with 9 points on 4 of 7 shooting including one of two from three point range. Reuben also picked up four rebounds, a steal, and a block. The rest of the Hawks also contributed including Marvin Crawford, Brandon Ahmed, Victor Quan, and Kenny Arias. Meanwhile, for the Rams, Xavier Foster led the way with a team high 9 points, but he struggled shooting from the floor. Foster was only 3 of 12 from the field including 0 of 4 from beyond the arc. He made three of four from the foul line while collecting three steals, two assists, and two rebounds.
Larry Smith and Gavin Campbell chipped in with 8 points each, but also struggled from the field. Smith was the better of the two with 3 of 7 shooting from the floor including 2 of 4 from three point range while Campbell was 4 of 13 including an 0 of 8 effort from beyond the arc. Campbell did pick up some other numbers though as he collected 6 rebounds, 3 steals, an assist, and a block while Smith only had an offensive rebound. Tyler Harris contributed for the Rams with 3 of 5 shooting from the floor for 6 points along with 5 rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Boyler helped round out the South River scoring with 3 points, 2 rebounds, and a steal. Both teams had 10 players available for this contest, but Stevens talent and athletic ability gave it the slight edge.
The first half saw J.P. Stevens garner a 20-15 lead as it shot 8 of 20 from the floor including one of four from three point range. The Hawks made all three of their foul shots while committing seven turnovers. On the other side of the ledger, South River was 6 of 16 from the field including 2 of 9 from three point range. The Rams were only one of four from the foul line as well. SRHS only had five turnovers, but Stevens converted three of them for six points. The Rams only converted two of the seven Hawk turnovers for four points while JPS had eight second chance points. Reuben paced the balanced Hawk attack with five points along with three rebounds, a steal, and a block while Smith led South River with six points and a rebound and Campbell chipped in with four points and two steals.
The scoring was few and far between over the first 3:24 of the contest. Smith’s three pointer off an assist from Harris accounted for the only scoring, but then things began to pick up a bit as Campbell swiped a steal for a layin and a 5-0 lead at the 16:15 mark. The Rams had a chance to go up further, but Harris missed two foul shots with 12:45 to go in the first half. The Hawks woke up after that with six straight points over the next minute including a layin setup by a steal off a deflection by Reuben for a 6-5 lead with 11:45 left in the period. Victor Quan then added two free throws at the 10:37 mark for an 8-5 lead. Boyler then got his only field goal of the game with a layup, but JPS came back down for a score of its own as Crawford put in a follow off an offensive board at the 8:16 mark for a 10-7 lead.
Stevens then went up by six as Quan found Crawford with a nice pass from the right high post for a layup off a back door cut while being fouled that resulted in a three point play, and a 13-7 lead with seven minutes remaining in the half. Foster made one of two from the line to trim the deficit to 13-8, and the Rams were still in the game despite only shooting 3 of 10 from the floor. The Hawks were keeping South River in the game by not hitting their shots (5 of 15 FG at the 6:09 mark of the half). Reuben helped the Hawks stay in control though with an offensive rebound and follow at the 3:02 mark for a 15-8 lead, and then a three pointer from the right wing at the 1:32 mark for an 18-8 lead. The Rams responded with a 7-2 run the rest of the way including a three pointer by Smith for a 20-13 Hawks lead, and a steal off the inbounds for a layup by Campbell as time expired in the half for a 20-15 JPS lead.
The Rams picked up right where the left off in the first half as Harris scored on an offensive rebound and follow off a miss by Campbell at the 19:30 mark for a 20-17 Hawks lead. South River continued its 13-6 run as Foster swiped a steal, and drew a foul on a floater attempt that produced two free throws for a 24-21 Stevens lead with 14:49 to play. The Hawks kept the Rams at arm’s length though with a three pointer at the 13:24 mark for a 27-21 lead. Boyler had a chance to get South River closer after getting fouled on a follow attempt, but missed both free throws. Campbell picked up his teammate though with an offensive rebound and follow of his own for a 27-23 Hawk lead at the 12:26 mark. Ahmed then got a basket for Stevens that put the Hawks ahead again by six at 29-23 with 12:26 left.
The Rams then closed the gap to one with a 9-4 run over the next 3:57. First South River broke the JPS pressure for a layup by Campbell at the 12:18 mark for a 29-25 lead. The Rams then got a three pointer to pull within one at 33-32 before the Hawks got the next four points for a 37-32 lead with under eight and a half minutes to go. Quan then got an offensive rebound and follow for a 39-32 lead before Foster was shaken up prompting an injury timeout at the 6:58 mark. Foster was able to eventually walk off on his own power and return minutes later. Boyler made one of two from the line for a 39-33 score, but J.P. Stevens got four more points on buckets by Crawford and Ahmed that made it a 10-3 run for a 43-35 lead. The Hawks then finished the game with a 7-2 spurt for a 17-5 game closing surge for the 50-37 victory. With the win, Stevens improved to 8-3 overall while South River finished the summer at 6-5.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| J.P. Stevens (8-3) | 20 | 30 | 50 |
| South River (6-5) | 15 | 22 | 37 |
GMC Hoops was back out at Middlesex County College on Thursday for the Championship Game, and will have a full summary posted on the game soon.