Piscataway Advances To League Championship To Face Rahway
RAHWAY, NJ–On Thursday evening, GMC Hoops traveled over to Rahway High School again after being at Linden for its championship earlier in the day. The inaugural Rahway Summer League was reaching its climax with two semifinal games. Both contests involved GMC teams as sixth seeded Woodbridge, an upset winner over third seeded Perth Amboy in the quarterfinals, was looking to knock off second seeded Rahway while the nightcap was a rematch of a regular season game that went to overtime as fourth seeded Piscataway was looking for revenge in its semi against Cardinal McCarrick. Only one of the two games turned out to be close as both Rahway and Piscataway advanced to the finals.
Rahway Smothers Woodbridge To Earn Berth In Final, 39-22
After being over at the Linden Summer League earlier in the afternoon to watch St. Joseph’s take on St. Patrick’s in the Championship, the site arrived at RHS with 14:21 remaining, and Woodbridge already trailing by a score of 24-16. The Indians, which defeated another Woodbridge Township school when it edged J.F. Kennedy in the quarterfinals on Tuesday night, got a field goal at the 13:50 mark for a 26-16 lead. The Barrons had a chance to trim the deficit back down to single digits, but Kyle Figueredo missed a pair of free throws at the 13:25 mark. Figueredo did help the Barrons get back on the board again when he teamed up with Keith Hughes on a give and go that resulted in a layup attempt by Hughes that drew a foul, and produced one of two from the foul line for a 26-17 Rahway lead the 11:58 mark.
WHS continued to try and peck into the lead with a steal for a layup attempt that drew another Rahway foul, and resulted in one of two from the line at the 11:26 mark for a 26-18 Rahway lead. The Barrons drew within six when Anthony Nyers grabbed an offensive rebound, and scored on a follow of a Kyle Pearson miss that made the score 26-20 in favor of Rahway at the 8:51 mark. Woodbridge was unable to get any closer though. The Indians went back up by eight at 28-20 on a floater with 8:13 left, and then scored a layup over Hughes at the 7:15 mark for a 30-20 lead. The Barrons then missed the front end of a one and one at the 6:12 mark before Rahway made it a 6-0 run on a nice pass for a layup from the left low block to take a 32-20 lead with 5:44 remaining.
The Indians, which closed the game with a 13-2 tear over the final 8:51, made one of two from the line at the 5:05 mark, and then scored six of the next eight points in a span of four minutes for a 39-22 lead. Rahway, which defeated Woodbridge by a similar margin earlier this summer, went on to win the game by the same score, and advanced to the finals to face Piscataway, a winner over Cardinal McCarrick. The Indians improved to 11-1 on the summer while Woodbridge closed out the season at 7-4.
Chiefs Overcome Early Deficit To Defeat McCarrick Behind Sharpe, Singh, Davis, And Smith
The other semifinal was much more compelling as Piscataway and McCarrick, two teams that went to overtime before McCarrick won the regular season meeting on July 2nd, put together another exciting game. This time the result was different although it didn’t look like it would be at first. Cardinal McCarrick hit 9 of its first 17 shots including five of its first six to take a 21-7 lead as Charlie Gorman and Marques Townes combined for 19 of the team’s 29 first half points as Townes connected on 5 of 10 shots in the first half, and made two free throws for 12 points and 5 rebounds. However, the Eagles gradually came down to earth, and Piscataway picked up its level of play over the final 27:20 to overtake McCarrick for a 55-52 victory.
Two players tied for team high for the Chiefs as Tajae Sharpe and Greg Davis both had 13 points on the game. Sharpe made 6 of 10 from the floor, and one of two from the line along with 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks. Davis made 6 of 12 shots, and his only free throw attempt while picking up an assist, and a block. Vik Singh chipped in with 11 points on 4 of 8 shooting from the field, and 3 of 4 from the foul line while also collecting 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. Devonte Smith turned in a solid effort as well with a 4 of 7 shooting performance for 8 points along with 9 rebounds, an assist, and a block. Townes still ended up with a game high 16 points despite scoring only four points in the final 20 minutes. He also grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double while also handing out an assist. Townes ended up going 7 of 15 from the floor, and 2 of 2 from the line.
Meanwhile, Gorman scored only six points in the second half on two threes as he ended up with 13 points along with 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. Dana Raysor also played and chipped in with 5 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and a block. For the game, McCarrick went 21 of 56 from the floor for 38 percent including 3 of 14 from beyond the arc. The Eagles, which were just 12 of 39 from the field over the final 27:20 of the contest, also went 6 of 11 from the charity stripe. On the other side of the ledger, Piscataway, which began the game shooting 3 of 13 from the floor over the first 10:24, ended up 23 of 54 for 43 percent including 2 of 10 from long distance. The Chiefs were 20 of 41 from the floor over the final 29:36 of the game while also making 7 of 11 from the foul line. Turnovers were even at 11-11, but P-Way converted more of McCarricks miscues with a 13-4 edge in points off turnovers.
Another story was rebounding. Piscataway, led by Smith, garnered a 32-22 advantage overall on the boards including a 9-6 edge on the offensive glass. The Chiefs also had more second chance points with an 8-1 edge in that department. In other statistical areas, assists (13-13) and blocks (5-5) were even while P-Way had more steals (6-4) and charges (1-0). Over the final 27 plus minutes of the game, Piscataway outscored McCarrick by a margin of 48-31 to pull out the victory. McCarrick went to work early as Gorman forced a steal that led to a Townes layup as he was fouled for a three point play, and a 3-0 lead with just 33 seconds gone by in the contest. The Eagles then scored six of the next eight points in a span of just 2:12 including a layup by Townes and a layup by Gorman off a blocked shot for a 9-2 lead with 17:15 to go in the half.
After Singh made one of two from the line for a 9-3 lead at the 16:29 mark, Townes came up with a three pont play at the 15:44 mark for a 12-3 lead. The Eagles continued to play in overdrive by scoring five of the next seven points including a three by Gorman from the left wing at the 12:15 mark for a 17-5 lead. The Chiefs got a score, and was trying for another when McCarrick set up a double team near half court, and Gorman got a steal that led to a layup for a 19-7 lead. The Eagles eventually went up 21-7 before Piscataway began to fight back with a 6-2 run including a drive from the right wing for a layup by Davis at the 5:17 mark that made the score, 23-13. The Chiefs then made it a 12-4 run with six of the next eight points in a span of 1:46 including an offensive rebound and jumper on the follow by Devonte Smith at the 3:33 mark for a 25-19 McCarrick lead as the Eagles called for time.
Following the timeout, McCarrick scored four of the next seven points including one of two at the line by Mike Lewis (3 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds, and a steal) at the 2:51 mark, and a three point play before Jelani Jackson (a point, 2 rebounds, 2 assist, and a steal) made one of two of his own at the 42.7 second mark, and the Chiefs got another score for a 29-24 McCarrick lead at the intermission. At the break, Cardy Mac was shooting 12 of 25 from the floor, but was 3 of 8 from the floor in the final 7:20 of the period. Meanwhile, Piscataway was 11 of 28 from the field after going 8 of 15 in the final 9:36. The Chiefs also had six points off McCarrick turnovers, and four second chance points. The second half started out much like it had ended with P-Way continuing on what would become a 27-12 surge for a 32-30 lead. David White started the second half scoring with one of two from the foul line for a 29-25 Eagles lead with 19:21 to play.
Piscataway then scored seven of the next eight points in a span of 4:34 including a steal by Donovan Kirkland (4 rebounds, a steal, and a block) that led to a three pointer from deep on the right wing by Brian Wong (5 points and 3 rebounds) for the two point lead with 14:47 to go. McCarrick responded with a three pointer from the right side for a 33-32 lead at the 14:37 mark. Following a timeout, P-Way scored the next four points including an offensive rebound and follow by Sharpe, and a layup by Davis for a 36-33 edge at the 12:15 mark. Davis then added a conventional three point play at the 10:05 mark for a 39-35 lead, and McCarrick transfer, Galen Smith, connected on a three pointer from the right wing for a 42-35 advantage. The Eagles rallied back with five straight points, and had a chance to tie when Galen Smith drew a charge on a driving Dana Raysor to keep the Chiefs in front at 42-40 with 7:22 to go.
Devonte Smith then added another offensive rebound and jumper at the 6:10 mark for a 44-40 lead. The Chiefs scored four of the next seven points for a 48-43 lead with 3:52 remaining. Raysor, who had his struggles scoring in this game, didn’t get his first field goal until the 2:52 mark of the second half when he scored as he was fouled to draw McCarrick within three at 48-45. Sharpe then fed Devonte Smith for a layup, and a 50-45 lead with 1:20 to go, but Raysor passed to Gorman for a three pointer that closed the gap to two at 50-48 with 1:08 to go. Raysor then tied the game at 50-50 with a drive for a layin as he was fouled at the 58.6 second mark, but failed to make the bonus free throw that would have put the Eagles in front. Sharpe responded right away with a layup for a 52-50 P-Way lead with 48.8 seconds to go. Singh then made two free throws at the 24.6 second mark for a 54-50 lead.
Townes then scored a layup, and the Eagles forced a five second call before taking a timeout with 18.5 seconds to play, and Piscataway clinging to a 54-52 lead. However, McCarrick wasn’t able to score as Singh forced a turnover that eventually led to a one of two trip to the line for Sharpe to give the Chiefs a 55-52 lead with three seconds left, and then Townes last second shot was off the mark as time expired. With the victory, Piscataway improved to 8-3 on the summer, and advanced to play second seeded Rahway in the final on Friday. Cardinal McCarrick ended its summer at RHS with a 10-2 overall mark.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piscataway (8-3) | 24 | 31 | 55 |
| Cardinal McCarrick (10-2) | 29 | 23 | 52 |
GMC Hoops was back out at Rahway on Friday for the Championship Game between Rahway and Piscataway.