EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ–On Thursday night, GMC Hoops followed up his visit to the Middlesex County College Summer League with a trip out to the Hammarskjold Middle School in East Brunswick to catch some action from the final day of play in the 2011 East Brunswick Team Camp. The site saw four games including two games at 7:30 PM and two more at 8:30 PM. South Brunswick rolled past Edison and North Brunswick edged Perth Amboy in games played at 7:30 PM while New Brunswick rallied to beat McCarrick and J.F. Kennedy defeated Freehold Boro.
South Brunswick Routs Edison, 50-24
The Edison Eagles got out to the early 1-0 lead when they drew a foul, but they missed the second free throw, and two subsequent layup attempts. Â Meanwhile, South Brunswick took the lead with an offensive rebound and putback off a Mike Green miss, and then a drive through the Edison defense for a layup, and a 4-1 lead as the Eagles called for time at the 16:58 mark.
EHS scored the next four points including two free throws by Marcus Cudjoe, and then a basket by Qassim Bass-Ali for a 5-4 lead before SBHS drew a foul, and made two free throws for a 6-5 edge at the 11:31 mark. Â The Vikings then added two breakaway layups including one off a steal from Jordan Westbrook at halfcourt for a 10-5 lead as the Eagles called for time at the 9:33 mark.Â
The Vikings then took off on a 10-4 run over the next 9:08 for a 20-9 lead after two free throws with 25 seconds to go in the first half. Â The Eagles then quickly got a score as Westbrook put back a miss by Dennis Amuzo. Â Green replied with a one of two showing from the foul line in the waning moments of the half for a 21-11 lead at the intermission.
South Brunswick continued to stay in control as Green pulled up for a three pointer from the left side early on for a 24-11 lead. Â The Vikings then outscored the Eagles by a 2-1 margin the rest of the way for a 50-24 victory. Â SBHS outscored EHS by a 29-13 margin in the final 20 minutes.
Raiders Find A Way To Defeat Perth Amboy, 39-34
For the second night in a row, GMC Hoops got to watch Perth Amboy play, and the Panthers continued to impress even in defeat. North Brunswick had its hands full in this contest, particularly in the second half before finding a way to pull out a hard fought, 39-34 win. Amboy’s zone defense focused on clamping down on the Raider backcourt duo of Iverson Fleming and Dion Rogers while surrounding big man, Chance Gadsden.
The Raiders of North Brunswick had a 15-13 edge against a pesky and scrappy Perth Amboy team before Fleming hit two jumpers from the right side for a 19-13 lead as the Panthers called for time. Â The Raiders pressure defense in the half court, especially from Fleming made it difficult for Amboy to establish its offense.
Perth Amboy would draw to within four again on a floater, but couldn’t cash in on a few other opportunities before NBTHS was able to draw a foul, and make two free throws for a 21-15 lead. Â The Raiders then held out for a last second shot, and settled for a Shaliek Short jumper that hit the rim. Â Gadsden got the offensive rebound, and put it back in, but the buzzer had sounded, and the points didn’t count.
The Panthers then opened the second half with a 4-2 run to close the gap to 23-19 with 15:15 to go in the game before Gadsden drew a foul, and made one of two from the line for a 24-19 lead. Â Amboy then responded with two free throws to close the gap some more to 25-21. Â On defense, the Panthers utilized a 2-3 zone to push the Raiders out onto the perimeter.
North Brunswick was able to break through though as Dion Rogers got into the act with a drive to his left through the key for a floater, and a 27-21 advantage as the Raiders called for time at the 12:20 mark. Â Following the timeout, Amboy’s David Rogers connected on a short jumper in the paint to narrow the deficit to 27-23. Â The Panthers then pulled to within a field goal at 27-25 on a putback of a David Rogers miss.
Perth Amboy capped a 6-0 run to tie the game at 27-27 with two free throws at the 10:43 mark. Â NBTHS went back on top when Rogers scored a layup off a drive in from the left side at the 9:13 mark for a 29-27 lead. Â Despite trailing, Amboy battled hard with tenacious defense out of the zone that seemed to have the Raiders paralyzed offensively. Â The Panthers then tied things up at 29-29 with a steal off Short after he got a rebound in the Raider backcourt.
The Raiders took the lead again as Gadsden was fouled underneath, and made one of two free throws with 5:30 remaining for a 30-29 edge.  Perth Amboy had two chances to take the lead, but failed to score while North Brunswick continued to look tentative in its half court offense.  Dion Rogers tried to get the Raiders on the board again by pushing the ball into  the Raider frontcourt for a layin, but he missed it off the front of the rim at about the 4:30 mark.
Amboy finally went ahead after Short missed a three point attempt from the left wing, and the Panthers poked away a steal from Fleming for a layup, but Gadsden quickly put the Raiders ahead again at 32-31 with 2:45 remaining by throwing down a flush as he was fouled. Â Perth Amboy had a chance to retake the lead, but they missed a couple of shot attempts including a follow by David Rogers. Â North Brunswick went up by three as Short drew a foul, and made both free throws for a 34-31 advantage
The Panthers then lost a bit of composure when they were called for a backcourt violation, and a subsequent technical at the 0:59 second mark. Â Dion Rogers made the technical free throw for a 35-31 Raiders lead. Â On the next NBTHS possession, Short scored underneath for a 37-31 edge with 34 seconds to play as Amboy called for time. Â After Amboy missed a three and a jumper on the follow, Dion Rogers finished the victory off with two free throws at the 15 second mark. Â PAHS then hit a three from deep on the right wing as time was running out for the 39-34 NBTHS win.
Late Rally Lifts New Brunswick Over Cardinal McCarrick, 42-38
The Zebras and Eagles renewed their White Division rivalry in the off-season with a matchup in the E.B. Team Camp. Â McCarrick, which is playing this summer at the Linden Summer League, was a last minute substitution, but was able to still put a team on the floor. Â New Brunswick was able to jump out to a 4-3 lead with tough defense while the Eagles missed numerous layups.
Cardy Mac then got two transition layups from Jumanne McDaniel to take a 7-4 lead at the 17 minute mark. Â The NBHS defense stayed tough though with a block on a Robert Nunez layup attempt. Â Playing without Milton Pittman, who was on crutches, the Zebras took a 10-7 lead with a three pointer from the right wing before calling a timeout at the 13:48 mark.
The Zebras added a layup on a hard foul, and despite missing the bonus free throw, they had a 12-7 lead at the 13 minute mark. Â NBHS added another transition layup at the 12:03 mark for a 14-7 advantage. Â Showing tremendous tenacity on both sides of the ball, New Brunswick made it a 12-0 run over a span of 5:40 with another layup at the 11:20 mark for a 16-7 lead. Battling back, the Eagles closed out the first half of play with a 12-9 run to narrow the deficit to 25-19 at the half.
Over the first eleven minutes of the second half, the Eagles continued to surge with a 13-7 spurt for a 35-32 lead. Â McCarrick capped the rally with a transition basket by Nunez off a dish by Mohammed Alli at the nine minute mark. Â The Zebras drew within one on a steal off an errant pass by Alli for a layup, and a 35-34 score with five minutes to go.
McDaniel drew a foul, and made one of two from the line at the 4:30 mark for a 36-34 lead, but New Brunswick tied it up at 36-36 on its very next possession with a bank shot from the left side. Â NBHS then came up with a nice stop on defense with a blocked shot. Â The Eagles had trouble trying to get the ball into the low blocks for McDaniel, and when they attempted to get it to him, it was poked away by the Zebra defense.
New Brunswick wasn’t able to take advantage at the other end by missing a fast break layup attempt, and follow. Â The ball got into the hands of Alli, who pushed the ball through traffic into the McCarrick frontcourt. Â A short time later, the Eagles went on top again at 38-36 on a layup by Nunez with a little more than two minutes to play. Â
Following a stop on the defensive end, the Zebras were able to tie the contest up at 38-38 with two free throws at the 1:28 mark. Â New Brunswick then stepped up the intensity on defense with full court pressure, and forced McDaniel to turn the ball over in the Eagles frontcourt at the 1:06 mark. Â With a chance to go ahead, New Brunswick missed a shot, but got the offensive rebound, and called timeout with 51 seconds left.
After the stoppage, NBHS went ahead with a bank shot at the 45 second mark, and then got a steal off McCarrick at the 39 second mark. Â The Zebras missed the ensuing layup attempt, but put in the follow for a 42-38 lead as the Eagles called for time with 28 seconds to play. Â Despite not hanging on to the basketball over the last half minute, New Brunswick was able to survive three point attempts by Alli and McDaniel for the four point victory.
First Half Surge Propels Kennedy To Victory Over Freehold Boro, 55-47
J.F. Kennedy was in action at the Hammarskjold Middle School on Thursday night with a nightcap game against Freehold Boro. Kennedy continues to look very good despite the losses suffered to graduation. By the time we came over to cover this game, the Mustangs had their starters including Josh Kamenas, Steve Alvarez, Shabas Clarke, and Vik Pawar on the bench. Â JFK was leading by a 31-16 margin with 8:20 to go in the first half.
Kurt Lorentzen got Kennedy on the board with a drive to his left into the paint for a layup from the left side. Â The Colonials of Freehold Boro responded with a three pointer from the right wing. Â The starters returned for JFK, and got a defensive stop as Alvarez blocked a shot. A short time later, Pawar drained a three pointer from the top of the key for a 36-20 Mustang lead at the intermission.
J.F. Kennedy started the second half with a fine offensive possession capped by a feed from Alvarez to Kamenas for a bank shot from the left side, and a 38-20 lead. Â After both teams were unable to score on their subsequent possessions, the Colonials got their first points of the second half on a floater to make the score 38-22.
The Mustangs got a layup underneath to go up by 18 again at 40-22, but Freehold Boro got an easy basket that compelled Kennedy to call for time with a 40-24 lead at the 17:38 mark. Â Following the timeout, Shabas Clarke took a pass on the right side, dribbled down to baseline, and connected on a jumper. Â The Colonials responded with a trey from the left wing, but Pawar replied with a trifecta of his own for a 45-27 lead.
Relaxing a bit, JFK eased up a bit on defense, and didn’t get back after missing shots at the offensive end. Â The result was two breakaway scores by the Colonials to close the gap to 45-31 with 14:30 to go. Â Freehold Boro then forced a 10 second violation for another turnover a short time later. Â After an injury timeout, the Colonials continued to rally with a 16-10 run to pull within eight at 55-47 with 38 seconds to go.
Kennedy was content to spread the ball out, and take time off the clock. Â Forced to foul, Freehold Boro fouled Lorentzen with 20 seconds left, and called a timeout. Â However, the Shore Conference team wasn’t able to get the Mustangs to go the line, and JFK ran out the clock for the eight point win.