RAHWAY, NJ–On Monday night, GMC Hoops traveled out to Rahway High School to catch the final contest in the opening round of the playoffs from the 2010 Rahway Summer League. The contest games involved two teams from the Greater Middlesex Conference as 10th seeded J.F. Kennedy of Iselin took on seventh seeded South Plainfield with the winner to take on second seeded Rahway in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Tenth Seeded Kennedy Knocks Off South Plainfield, 35-28
For the second straight game, South Planfield was defeated by a double-digit seed in this tournament. However, this time, it counted more as the Tigers went home for the summer. J.F. Kennedy, the tenth seed in this tourney, limited the Tigers to just nine points in the first half, and edged SPHS in the second half for the 35-28 victory to advance to the quarterfinals against Rahway at 7:00 PM on Tuesday. The Tigers shot themselves in the foot in this loss with 18 turnovers, 9 of 25 shooting from the foul line, and 9 of 37 shooting from the floor for 24 percent including one of eight from three point range.
Kennedy was led by Daishon Robinson, who had 8 points on 3 of 4 shooting from the floor and 2 of 3 shooting from the line while collecting four rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Josh Kamenas chipped in with 6 points, 5 rebounds, and a steal while Nick Spoganetz added 6 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal, and a charge. As a team, JFK shot 14 of 41 from the floor for just under 33 percent including 2 of 10 from beyond the arc. The Mustangs went 5 of 9 from the foul line. Both teams had 18 turnovers on the game, but J.F. Kennedy made the most of their extra opportunities scoring nine points off Tiger turnovers while SP only had six points off Mustang miscues. SPHS did take advantage on the boards though.
The Tigers outrebounded JFK by a margin of 33-20 including a 13-7 edge on the offensive glass. South Plainfield also had more second chance points (7-4) and blocks (3-2). However, Kennedy had more assists (6-5), steals (9-8), and charges (1-0). Denzel Mensah had his share of struggles from both the floor and the line, but still managed to put together a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds along with three steals and an assist. Joe Skwiat chipped in with 5 points on 2 of 5 shooting and one of two from the line along with three rebounds and a block. Sharif Ross (2 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks, a steal, and an assist), Ray Perez (2 points, 2 rebounds, and an assist) and Troy McNair (2 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists) helped round out the scoring for SPHS while Connor Gillis (a steal) played, but didn’t score.
The Mustangs opened the game by scoring the first five points including a three pointer by Spoganetz and an offensive rebound and follow by Kamenas. South Plainfield got on the board when Mensah made one of two from the foul line for a 5-1 score with 18:30 to go in the first half. Kennedy then made another three pointer before Skwiat netted one of two from the line for an 8-2 Mustang lead with 16:33 to go in the half. The Tigers got their first field goal of the game at the 15:45 mark when Perez passed to Ross for a hook shot, and an 8-4 JFK lead. SPHS had a couple chances to get closer too. However, Mensah missed two free throws at the 13:55 mark, and Perez missed a pair from the line at the 12:01 mark. The Tigers eventually called timeout at the 10:24 mark with JFK still leading 8-4. Neither team was shooting well up to this point in the game as Kennedy was 3 of 10 while South Plainfield was 1 of 4.
Following the timeout, there would be no scoring for 1:41 before Perez stepped to the line, and made two foul shots at the 8:43 mark for an 8-6 Mustang lead. J.F. Kennedy went back up by three as Robinson made a nifty move on a drive from the left wing that drew a foul, and that resulted in one of two from the line for a 9-6 lead with 7:23 to go in the half. Kamenas followed that up by banking in a foul line jumper, and Spoganetz turned in a fine defensive play by drawing a charge at the 5:27 mark as Kennedy led 11-6. The Mustangs then went up by seven on a jumper from the left wing before Mensah made one of two from the free throw line for a 13-7 score at the 2:55 mark.
Again the Tigers had chances to get closer. Now in the bonus, South Plainfield missed the front end of a one and one with 1:40 to go in the first half. Mensah got the offensive rebound though, and drew another foul on the follow. Unfortunately, he missed the first foul shot, and then there was a violation on the second with 1:37 remaining in the half. JFK went up by eight at 15-7 with two free throws at the 1:23 mark. SPHS continued to struggle at the line. The Tigers, which were 5 of 17 from the line in the first half in addition to going 2 of 15 from the floor, missed on another chance for free points as Ross came up empty on two attempts from the charity stripe with 36.9 seconds to go in the half. Mensah rounded out the first half scoring with an offensive rebound and follow as time expired for a 15-9 Kennedy lead at the intermission.
As badly as they had played in the first half, the Tigers were not out of it. JFK was having its troubles scoring as well. The Mustangs were only 5 of 18 from the floor, but scored seven points off turnovers (South Plainfield had 11 in the first half). Kennedy also made two of five from three, and three of four from the foul line while making nine turnovers. The second half started out by scoring six of the first eight points for a 21-11 lead before Mensah connected on a couple of jumpers for a 21-15 Mustang lead at the 16:35 mark. The Mustangs got a basket for an eight point lead before McNair went to the line, and made one of two at the 15:03 mark for a 23-16 JFK lead. The free throw sparked an 8-0 run that included a layup by Mensah as he was fouled at the 13:05 mark, and then a three pointer from the left wing at the 10:48 mark to tie the score at 23-23.
Kennedy responded though by scoring the next six points over a span of 3:05 for a 29-23 lead. The burst began with a nice feed from Spoganetz to a cutting Robinson for a layup at the 10:27 mark. The Mustangs then forced a steal, which they converted into a layup at the 8:35 mark to go up by four. Robinson then capped the run with a jumper at the 7:43 mark for the six point edge. There was no scoring for the next 3:19 until McNair grabbed an offensive rebound off a Mensah miss, drew a foul, and made another one of two from the line for a 29-24 Mustang lead with 4:24 to go. Fifty-one seconds later, Mensah got another offensive rebound, and drew a foul that resulted in another one of two effort from the line for a 29-25 JFK lead with 3:33 remaining.
However, the final blow was dealt to the Tigers when Robinson drove past McNair on the right side of the court for a layup as he was fouled for a conventional three point play. South Plainfield was also assessed a technical, which Jordan Toczynski (3 points, 2 steals, and an assist) took advantage of with one of two effort from the line for a 33-25 lead. SPHS finished the game with three of the final five points, but it wasn’t enough as Kennedy came away with the 35-28 victory. With the win, the Mustangs improved to 3-7 on the summer, and advanced to play second seeded Rahway in the quarterfinals on Tuesday night. The Indians received a first round bye thanks to their 9-1 record in the regular season. South Plainfield finished the summer at 4-5.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| J.F. Kennedy (3-7) | 15 | 20 | 35 |
| South Plainfield (4-5) | 9 | 19 | 28 |
GMC Hoops was back out at Rahway on Tuesday for more playoff action, and will have summaries posted on that soon.