SOMERVILLE, NJ–On Sunday night, GMC Hoops returned to Immaculata High School for the eighth and final week of action from the second annual Immaculata Fall League. The site got to see the tail end of the fourth game between St. Joseph’s and Hillsborough that started at 7:00 PM. The Falcons defeated the Raiders by nine to snap Hillsborough’s five game winning streak, and finish the fall at 4-4. Then, in the final game of the night being held at 8:00 PM, Franklin took on Middlesex in a rematch of a summer league game won by the Blue Jays in the Bound Brook Summer League. Chris Winkleman made four of his first five shots from three point range to keep the Jays close for a while, but the Warriors eventually took over the game en route to a 59-38 victory. See all of the results from week eight as well as the final standings and team stats from the league.
Falcons Pull Away Late To Knock Off Hillsborough, 50-41
The Falcons of St. Joseph’s-White were looking to win their second game in three weeks to finish out the fall at .500. However, they had a tough task with Hillsborough in front of them. After starting the fall at 0-2, the Raiders won five straight entering action on Sunday night. GMC Hoops caught the tail end of this matchup as St. Joe’s led 41-39 with 1:42 remaining. From there, the Green Birds pulled away with a 9-2 spurt to close the game with the 50-41 victory. Senior forward, Kevin Waitikovich sparked the decisive late run with a layup at the 1:30 mark for a 43-39 lead.
St. Joe’s got another layup down low with 1:10 to play for a 45-39 lead. Hillsborough then turned the ball over before calling timeout at the 1:01 mark. The Falcons then avoided a turnover by calling for time with 43 seconds left. Following the timeout, St. Joe’s-White got the ball inbounded to DeCosey, who was fouled, and made two free throws for a 47-39 lead with 41 seconds to go. The Raiders got their only points down the stretch on a foul line jumper with 35 seconds left for a 47-41 St. Joe’s lead. The Falcons then closed the game with one of two from the line by James Ziemba at the 25 second mark, and two foul shots by Jimbo Long with 13 seconds to go for the 50-41 victory.
With the win, St. Joe’s-White ended the fall at 4-4. Combined with the 7-1 finish by St. Joseph’s-Green, the Falcons were 11-5 at Immaculata this fall. Hillsborough ended the fall season at 5-3.
Franklin First Half Surge Too Much For Middlesex, 59-38
The nightcap and final game of the second annual Immaculata Fall League was between Franklin and Middlesex. The Warriors were looking to finish strong at 5-3 while the Jays were still searching for their first victory of the season. Middlesex was also without the services of John Santoro, who had been a bright spot for the Blue Jays this entire offseason with solid efforts at the Bound Brook Summer League earlier this year as well as here during the fall. Chris Winkleman would pick up the slack though with his best performance of the offseason, but it wouldn’t be enough as Franklin closed the first half with a 15-4 tear, and opened the second half with a 6-1 spurt for a 34-19 lead en route to a 59-38 victory.
Winkleman had a team high 17 points on 6 of 11 shooting from the floor, and also picked up two rebounds and swiped a steal in the loss. David Schenck chipped in with 8 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and an assist while Connor Bogus added 2 points, 3 rebounds, and a block. The tandem of Winkleman and Schenck combined for 66 percent of the Blue Jays scoring in the contest. The difference in this game were turnovers and rebounds. Franklin got the edge in both categories as the Warriors had fewer miscues (15-17) and won the battle on the boards decisively with a 41-24 edge including a 19-11 advantage on the offensive glass. Consequently, FHS had 20 points off turnovers and 15 second chance points for the victory. Middlesex had 13 points off of Franklin turnovers, and only six second chance points.
For the game, the Warriors only shot 25 of 64 from the floor for 33 percent including just 4 of 18 from beyond the arc while making 5 of 9 from the charity stripe. However, Franklin limited Middlesex to just 14 of 52 shooting for 27 percent overall including a 6 of 23 showing from three. Outside of Winkleman, the Jays were only 1 of 15 from long distance. MHS was also 4 of 10 from the foul line. In other statistical departments, Franklin had more assists (12-10, steals (10-5), and blocks (7-1). Neither team drew a charge. Over the final 30:50 of the contest, the Warriors outscored the Jays by a margin of 46-24. Middlesex outscored Franklin by a margin of 18-12 from downtown.
Winkleman, who was 4 of 7 from the floor for 12 points and a steal in the first half, combined with Schenck (4 points) for 89 percent of the Jays first half points. Franklin went to its bread and butter by forcing two steals that ended up for layups, and a 4-0 lead before Winkleman got the Jays on the board with a three at the 20:34 mark. Nearly two minutes later, the Warriors got on the board again with a pull-up jumper for a 6-3 advantage at the 18:43 mark. FHS could have even had a bigger lead, but made some mistakes. As a matter of fact, there were numerous turnovers on both sides. Both teams had five miscues in just the first 5:35. Winkleman, who scored the first 12 points of the game for Middlesex, took over the game with three treys over a span of 2:31 to highlight a 9-0 run for a 12-6 lead.
Winkleman started the personal run with a three from the left side to tie the contest at 6-6 with 17:05 to go in the half. The Middlesex guard then struck for another three from near the top of the key for a 9-6 lead at the 16:02 mark. He then capped the run with another trey at the 14:34 mark for a 12-6 lead. Franklin responded though with seven straight points including a layup and a steal that led to a jumper for a 13-12 lead. Middlesex would wrestle the lead back for the final time of the game as the Jays grabbed an offensive rebound that ended up with a foul line jumper by Schenck for a 14-13 lead with 10:50 to go in the first half. FHS then took the lead for good with five straight points including a layup, and a offensive rebound that led to a three pointer for an 18-14 lead.
The lead then grew to eight with two more scores for a 9-0 run for a 22-14 lead before Franklin called a 30 second timeout at the 6:30 mark. Up to this point in the game FHS had half of its points off of nine Middlesex turnovers. The Jays tried to rally with the next four points all with the help from Schenck, who first drove in for a floater at the 6:07 mark, and then swiped a steal, and handed out an assist on a layup to close the gap to four at 22-18 with 5:50 to go in the half. Despite missing two foul shots at the 5:01 mark, the Warriors ended the half with two threes at the 4:30 and 4:05 marks respectively to take a 28-18 lead at the intermission. Franklin shot only 12 of 28 from the floor, but made 4 of 9 shots from three, and scored 14 points off 10 MHS turnovers in the opening half. Middlesex, which had 11 points off 10 FHS turnovers in the first 20 minutes, only shot 7 of 26 from the floor.
The second half didn’t get much better for Middlesex as Franklin’s lead grew to 23 at one point late in the game. Schenck gave the Jays some hope early on with one of two from the line at the 21:39 mark, but the Warriors scored the next six points including a layup down low at the 20:40 mark, and a nice pass for another layup at the 19:04 mark for a 34-19 lead. Winkleman, who only had five points in the final 34:34 of the contest, connected on a jumper to close the gap to 37-23, but FHS continued to pull away with six unanswered points including two free throws at the 11:23 mark for a 43-23 lead. Sean Paul got the only other Middlesex three in the contest with a trey at the 9:45 mark for a 43-26 Franklin lead. Paul’s three sparked a 10-6 run by the Jays that included Winkleman’s final three of the game at the 8:06 mark for a 49-33 score as FHS called for time at the 8:06 mark.
Over the next 4:45, the Warriors wrapped up the easy victory with an 8-1 spurt including a drive for a layup from the right wing at the 3:21 mark for a 57-34 advantage. The Blue Jays scored four of the final six points for the 59-38 FHS victory. With the win, Franklin ended the season at 5-3 while Middlesex finished up at 0-8.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin (5-3) | 28 | 31 | 59 |
| Middlesex (0-8) | 18 | 20 | 38 |
GMC Hoops would again like to thank Chris Fox and Jim Dimino of the Immaculata Fall League for their help and hospitality this season.