RAHWAY, NJ–On Friday night, GMC Hoops dodged the raindrops and the lightning bolts from the severe weather that came through the area in the afternoon, and made it to Rahway High School to cover the second game of the Friday night quadrupleheader from day eight of the 2011 Rahway Summer League. In the contest, J.P. Stevens and Union Catholic got entangled in quite a basketball game. The two teams duked it out through two periods of regulation, and then overtime before the Vikings prevailed by the score of 50-47.
Union Catholic Rallies To Defeat J.P. Stevens In Overtime, 50-47
This contest was a GMC vs. Union County Conference matchup as J.P. Stevens was taking on Union Catholic. The Hawks were coming off a 49-46 defeat at the hands of Roselle last Friday after defeating South Plainfield in week one. Â Meanwhile, Union Catholic soundly defeated A.L. Johnson in a clash of old Mountain Valley Conference rivals. Â The Hawks as well as Edison and South Plainfield are rebuilding GMC teams that have played competitively in games at Rahway this summer. Tonight’s game would be no exception. It was a real barnburner.
Neither team had a lead bigger than seven points in the contest while there were 13 lead changes and four ties in the 44 minutes of play. However, trailing 41-34 with 5:54 remaining, Union Catholic found a way to pull out the win in overtime. First, the Vikings rallied with a 9-2 spurt as Stevens only had one field goal in the final six minutes of regulation on a jumper by Marvin Crawford at the 1:20 mark for a 43-40 lead. UC tied the game on a three pointer from the top of the key with 46.5 left in regulation, and then outscored the Hawks in overtime by a margin of 7-4 for the 50-47 win as JPS managed only one field goal and 2 of 4 shooting from the foul line in the extra period.
The game started with a basket by soon to be sophmore Sky Harris for a 2-0 Stevens lead at the 19:33 mark. Â Over the next 2:10, the Vikings scored seven of the next nine points including a three pointer to take a 7-2 lead. Â Harris, who scored the first six points for the Hawks, ended the UC run by drawing a foul, and making two free throws at the 17:23 mark.
Jalen Sorrell then got into the act with two layups as JPS scored four of the next six points for a 10-9 lead. Â Stevens increased that lead to three points by scoring four of the next six again for a 14-11 advantage with 11:13 to go in the first half. Â Following a Hawks timeout, J.P. Stevens added a free throw, and another basket for a 17-13 lead midway through the half.
After appearing to finally settle into the contest, the Hawks took a step backward by going scoreless for a span of 6:29 while the Vikings got a three pointer to pull within one at 17-16, another trey to go ahead, and then a layup to take a 21-17 lead before Marvin Crawford got himself, and his teammates going with a steal for a layup to close the gap to 21-19 with just over three and a half minutes to go in the opening half.
Both teams exchanged scores over the next 15 seconds or so for a 23-21 UC lead, and then the Vikes added a one of two showing from the line before the Hawks traveled just inside the midcourt line with 1:15 to go in the half. Â On the ensuing Union Catholic possession, the Vikings drew a foul, but missed the front end of the one and one. Â The Hawks then pulled within one on a putback off a missed jumper from the left corner by Brandon Ahmed with 20 seconds to go in the half.
Union Catholic had a chance to go back up by three or more before the intermission, but had to settle for a long three point attempt that hit back iron as time expired in the first half. Â The Vikings helped themselves get the 24-23 halftime edge with a 9-0 advantage in points from beyond the arc. Â The Hawks started the second half, much like they began the game with Harris scoring down low for a 25-24 lead. Â UC took the lead back with a baseline drive from the left side for a layin at the 19:10 mark to take a 26-25 lead.
Crawford then drew a foul, and made one of two from the foul line to square the game at 26-26 with 17:49 to play. Â On the next UC possession, Crawford intercepted a pass, and the Hawks eventually converted the turnover as Harris putback a Crawford miss for a 28-26 lead with 16:40 to go. Â The Vikes were able to draw a foul the next time down, and make one of two from the line for a 28-27 Hawks lead at the 16:20 mark. Â
After both teams stopped each other on the next two possessions, Crawford got his own rebound, and drew a foul on the follow only to misfire on both foul shots at the 14:37 mark. Â Union Catholic took advantage, and reclaimed a 29-28 lead on a jumper from the right side at the 13:36 mark. Â The game began to show a seesaw type of feel as Crawford putback a Harris miss for a 30-29 lead only to have the Vikings hit another three for a 32-30 edge at the 12:39 mark.
Undaunted, the Hawks responded by first getting a key stop at the defensive end, and then tying the game up at 32-32 when Crawford passed ahead to Harris for a layup at the 11:51 mark. Â Next time down, the Vikngs went back in front by drawing a foul, and making two free throws at the 11:20 mark, and then had a chance to score again by swiping a steal, and drawing a foul with 10:30 left. Â However, the Vikes misfired on both charity shots.
Over the next 3:28, Stevens scored five of the next seven points including a drive for layup and a foul by Ahmed, who then converted the traditional three point play by making the bonus free throw prior to a Hawks timeout with 7:02 left. Â Following the stoppage, JPS got drives from the right side for layups by Crawford at the 6:14 mark, and by Ahmed at the 5:54 mark for a 41-34 lead, but UC battled back with a baseline drive for a layup, and another layup to pull within three at 41-38 with 4:12 remaining.
The Vikings then capped the 6-0 run when they drew a foul, and make two free throws with 2:41 to play for a 41-40 score. Â J.P. Stevens was cited for a traveling violation to give Union Catholic another chance, but the Vikes couldn’t score, and Crawford hit a huge jumper with 1:40 to play for a 43-40 lead. Â UC had a chance to draw within one, but missed both free throws with 1:20 left. Â After a Hawks timeout at the 1:15 mark, Ahmed was fouled, and had a chance to put the game away, but missed the front end of a one and one.
Following a Union Catholic timeout with 56.2 seconds to go in regulation, the Vikings tied the game with a three pointer from the top of the key with 46.5 seconds left. Â The Hawks had trouble getting the ball into their frontcourt, but managed to get the ball there, and draw a foul. Â Unfortunately, Stevens missed the front end of the bonus with 20.5 seconds to go. Â The Vikings took the rebound, got the ball into their frontcourt, and called for time with 9.3 seconds left in regulation.
After the stoppage, UC had a couple of chances to pull out the win, but were unable to score as time ran out. Â We were going to overtime. Â In the extra session, the Hawks got on the board first as Crawford drew a foul line, and made one of two for a 44-43 lead. Â Union Catholic responded by drawing a foul at the other end, and making two free throws at the 1:48 mark for a 45-44 lead. Â Stevens came right back down to go ahead 46-45 on a layin by Harris at the 1:35 mark. Â
The Vikes managed to get back to the line and knot the score at 46-46 with 1:07 to play, but Crawford put the Hawks back on top at 47-46 by getting fouled again on the drive, and making one of two from the charity stripe with 44 seconds left. Â However, Union Catholic came back down the floor, and got a basket with 35 seconds left for a 48-47 lead. Â The Hawks got the ball, and called timeout with 10.7 seconds to go for a last second shot. Â
Following a timeout, the Hawks got the ball to Crawford, who drew contact, but didn’t get a foul call. Â Instead, the Vikings were fouled after getting the rebound with 0.8 seconds to go, and made two free throws to wrap up a thrilling 50-47 victory.