Junior Falcons Break Away From Three Point Halftime Lead With 26-14 Surge In Second Half For 52-37 Victory Over Hillside
COLONIA, NJ–On Tuesday night, the semifinals and championship took place at the 2010 Colonia JV Summer League. In the semifinals, fourth seeded Hillside knocked off top seeded Piscataway while second seeded St. Joseph’s defeated sixth seeded Perth Amboy. The Junior Panthers had upset third seeded Roselle I in the quarterfinal round. Then, in the Championship Game, St. Joseph’s took on the Junior Comets of Hillside. After a back and forth first half with St. Joe’s taking a 26-23 halftime lead, the Junior Falcons took over in the second half as they gradually pulled away with a 26-14 surge to claim the 52-37 victory. It was the second title in this league for St. Joseph’s in the past four years.
Tom Cicalese scored eight points in the second half while Salman Hasan added seven to help St. Joe’s get the victory. The Junior Falcons opened the final period with a 14-3 run over a span of 8:45 to take a 40-26 lead with 11:15 left. From there, Hillside was unable to get any closer than nine points on several occasions as the Junior Falcon defense prevented the Junior Comets from getting out in transition and score easy baskets, or pound the offensive glass for second chance points like they did in the victory over Colonia II in the quarterfinals. St. Joseph’s, the second seeded team in this year’s tourney, defeated tenth seeded Cardinal McCarrick I in the quarterfinals after a first round bye, then knocked off Amboy in the semis, and Hillside in the Championship.
The Junior Falcons finished the season with a record of 10-2 while Hillside closed out the summer with a 10-3 record. A more detailed summary on the Championship Game will be posted in the blog. Special thanks to Colonia JV and assistant varsity coach, Brian O’Lone for providing information on this league throughout the summer.