Victory Over St. Anthony’s Is A Big Confidence Builder For The Falcons
LINDEN, NJ–When it comes to GMC boys basketball, St. Joseph’s is a big fish in a small pond. Since 1997, the Falcons have reached the finals ten times, and have claimed four championships including the last two years in a row. St. Joe’s has the most appearances of any school in MCT/GMCT Finals with 17, and have five titles overall. All five championships have come in the last 20 years.
However, when it comes to state tournament play, the Falcons are a smaller fish in a bigger pond. Competing in one of the state’s toughest brackets in Non-Public A South, St. Joseph’s have only claimed three sectional championships, 1992, 1998, and 1999. The Falcons have never won a state title. Under the guidance of current head coach, Dave Turco, St. Joe’s has reached the Non-Public A South Semifinals four times in six years, but have not been able to get any farther losing three times to CBA in the semis (2006, 2007, and 2009) and Camden Catholic in 2010. CBA has ended the Falcons season four times in the past six years.
So, when the Falcons embarked on its summer 2011 schedule this past week at the Linden Team Camp, they played very well, especially on Wednesday with victories over St. Anthony’s and Sayreville. The 48-44 win over St. Anthony’s was an impressive one registered by St. Joe’s. True, the Friars may have not had all of their weapons including Kyle Anderson, but they still fielded a formidable team led by forward, Jerome Frink. In addition, the Falcons overcame a sluggish start in the first few minutes to take what seemed to be a commanding 17-6 lead early in the second period.
Then, when St. Anthony’s rallied with a 31-17 surge over the next twenty-two plus minutes to take a 37-34 edge midway through the fourth, the Falcons didn’t fold. Instead, they showed a great deal of resiliency with a 14-7 rally to pull out the win. The run was highlighted by a Quenton DeCosey three point play on a dunk that he was fouled on for a 39-38 lead. St. Joseph’s then pulled out the win with fine shooting from the free throw line by both DeCosey and Jimbo Long down the stretch. Karim Awad also chipped in with 9 points, all coming in the first half including seven in the first period to help the Falcons jump out in front early.
St. Joseph’s had a similar signature win over Linden last year in the semifinal round of the 2010 Linden Summer League playoffs. Wins like this are important even though this is only summer. It gives the Falcons confidence heading into the regular season that they can compete with and do well against some of the state’s elite programs, which is a belief that they will need going into next year’s tough field in the Non-Public A South State Tournament. Perhaps St. Joe’s can become a bigger fish in that bigger pond.