BOUND BROOK, NJ–After being away for exactly a month, GMC Hoops returned to Bound Brook High School for a full day of action from the eighth day of the 2011 Bound Brook Summer League. All four teams from the Greater Middlesex Conference were in action in the quadrupleheader. In the opener, Middlesex took on Bound Brook followed by New Brunswick battling Pingry in the 5:45 PM contest. At 6:45 PM, Timothy Christian squared off against Hunterdon Central while Piscataway faced off against Manville in the finale.
Crusaders Overcome Sluggish Start To Defeat Blue Jays, 53-33
In the first game of the Thursday quadrupleheader at Bound Brook, the hometown Crusaders took on neighborhood rival, Middlesex. Â The Crusaders coming off one of its best season’s ever with a 24-4 overall record, got some new faces, but they are quite familiar to those following the Middlesex County high school boys basketball scene.
Following this past season, both Hamilton Capellan of Perth Amboy and Tyjohn Young of Piscataway transferred to Bound Brook, giving the Crusaders two capable players to add to their lineup. Â They were both in action as Bound Brook hosted Middlesex, which is going through a transition period after the departure of former head coach, Brian Feath, who took over at Ridge last month.
Both Young and Capellan seemed to be getting along just fine as teammates after battling twice a year in Red Division action. Â As a matter of fact, the Bound Brook squad as a whole looked too comfortable at the start of the game. Â The Crusaders didn’t show a lot of intensity early on, especially on the defensive end, and head coach, Anthony Melesurgo wasn’t too happy about that. Â As a matter of fact, when guard, Kyle Capalbo hustled to get a steal in Middlesex’s backcourt, and appeared to be on his way to an easy basket, Melesurgo called for time at the 18:06 mark.
The timeout was the tonic, and the Crusaders came out much more aggressively on defense, especially with the fullcourt pressure. Â Capellan swiped four steals over a span of the first six minutes. Â Unfortunately, Bound Brook wasn’t taking advantage by putting the ball in the basket. Â Near the midway point of the first half, Bound Brook only had four field goals, and was leading by just five at 9-4. Â The last 10:16 would be much better for the Crusaders.
Bound Brook ended the half with an 18-11 surge including a three that beat the buzzer by Capellan to take a 27-15 lead at the break. Â Middlesex battled back to start the second half with six of the first seven points of the half in the initial 5:04 to close the gap to 28-21 with less than 15 minutes to go. Â However, despite the efforts of Connor Bogus, Tyreek Martin, Nick Hionis, and Blake Jackson the Jays couldn’t get any closer.
Over a span of 7:46, the Crusaders embarked on a 16-4 run that included an 11-0 spurt to take a 44-25 lead with 7:10 remaining. From there, Bound Brook edged Middlesex by a 9-8 margin to come away with a 53-33 victory. For the game, BBHS compiled its 53 points on 21 field goals including five threes, and 6 of 10 from the foul line. Meanwhile, Middlesex tallied up its 33 points on 13 field goals including a three pointer, and 6 of 10 from the charity stripe. Bound Brook outscored Middlesex in points from beyond the arc by a 15-3 margin. The Crusaders also scored 20 points off 18 Blue Jays turnovers while getting 9 second chance points off of 9 offensive rebounds.
Bogus stood tall in a losing effort for Middlesex. The soon to be junior, who scored the first six points for the Jays, led the way with a team high 12 points on four field goals and 4 of 7 from the foul line. Bogus also collected two steals, two deflections, and an assist. Tyreek Martin chipped in with 6 points including back to back baskets in the early second half to help close the gap to seven points. Meanwhile, for Bound Brook, Ricky Holliday helped lead a balanced attack with 13 points on five field goals and three of four from the line while also picking up four steals, four rebounds, and two assists. Holliday had a hand in all the scoring during the key 11-0 second half run by scoring nine points while handing out an assist.
Capellan had game high for the Crusaders with 14 points as he connected on five field goals including three treys while also collecting 5 steals, 2 assists, and a rebound. Young and Kyle Capalbo chipped in with 6 points each while Capalbo picked up four steals and handed out an assist while Young collected five rebounds, a steal, and an assist. After a scoreless tie for the first 2:37, and a Middesex lead that lasted for another 1:37, Bound Brook led the rest of the way by having a lead for the final 35:46.
With the victory, Bound Brook improved to an unblemished 7-0 on the summer while Middlesex dropped to 1-5.
Thomas And Pittman Help Zebras Roll Past Pingry, 77-17
The second game of the Thursday quadrupleheader at the 2011 Bound Brook Summer League was between New Brunswick and Pingry. Â The Zebras have impressed in the two previous times that we’ve seen them play this summer. Â This contest would be no exception. Â All the New Brunswick players got plenty of playing time in this one as they cruised past Pingry.
NBHS was just too athletic, too big, too strong, and simply too much for the Big Blue, which was still looking for its first win this summer at BBHS.  The Zebras jumped out to a 19-4 lead over the first 11:15 of the contest, and never looked back. Shammad  Thomas (transfer from Franklin) and Milton Pittman lead the charge early on for New Brunswick with 14 of the first 19 points.
Pingry only managed three field goals including a trey in the first half as New Brunswick stormed out to a 34-7 lead. Â The reserves got into the act as well by scoring 11 of the final 15 points of the first half. Â The second half saw more of the same as New Brunswick outscored its Somerset County foe by a margin of 43-10 to end up with a 77-17 victory. Â Thomas scored 10 points in each half for a game high 20 points while Pittman added 12 points in the win.
Thomas accumulated his 20 points on 9 field goals and a perfect 2 of 2 from the foul line. He also collected 9 rebounds including five offensive boards as well as 3 steals and 3 assists. Pittman, who was sidelined with an injury earlier this summer, tallied his 12 points on five field goals and a perfect 2 of 2 from the charity stripe. The soon to be senior also picked up a rebound and an assist. As a team, New Brunswick compiled its 77 points on 32 field goals including three treys and 10 of 21 from the foul line.
The Zebras also collected 32 rebounds including 13 on the offensive glass, 14 assists, and 12 steals. NBHS scored 23 points off of 20 Pingry turnovers while limiting the Big Blue to just seven field goals including three treys. Both teams had equal numbers of points from beyond the arc with 9, but all other statistics were solidly in New Brunswick’s favor. The Zebras also scored 19 second chance points. New Brunswick, which improved to 4-3 on the summer, led from start to finish. Pingry remained winless on the summer at 0-6.
Fast Start Lifts Hunterdon Central Past Timothy Christian, 37-25
The third game of the quadrupleheader on Thursday at Bound Brook High School was between another GMC team, Timothy Christian and Hunterdon Central of the Skyland Conference’s Delaware Division. Â The Tigers were playing without the services of both Kristian Svendsen and Dan “Triple” Decker, but they didn’t make any excuses.
Hunterdon Central limited their Middlesex County foe to just three field goals in the first half along with a free throw as it jumped out to a 23-8 lead. Â The Devils increased their lead to 17 points on one occasion, and 15 and 14 points on a couple of other occasions en route to a 37-25 victory. Â Soon to be junior, Jeff Parker did what he could to lead Timothy Christian. Parker scored a team high 13 points on five field goals including two threes along with a free throw. Brandon Summers chipped in with 6 points on two field goals as well as 2 of 4 from the foul line. Summers also picked up four steals and a block.
For the game, Hunterdon Central scored its 37 points on 13 field goals including five threes and 6 of 8 from the foul line. Timothy Christian was limited to 25 points on 9 field goals including three treys and 4 of 7 from the foul line. The Red Devils outscored the Tigers in points from beyond the arc by a 15-9 margin. HCHS also had more points from the foul line (6-4) while scoring 11 points off 20 TCS turnovers as well as 6 second chance points. The Tigers did have more charges though (2-1).
Hunterdon Central jumped out to a 5-0 lead as Timothy Christian didn’t score until the 15:45 mark on a layup by Summers. The Tigers then tied the game on a three from the right wing by Parker a little over a minute later. With the score tied at 5-5 with 14:42 to go in the second half, Hunterdon Central embarked on a decisive 18-0 tear over a span of 12:24 to take a 23-5 lead with 2:18 to play in the first half. TCS actually didn’t get on the board again until the 40 second mark, which ended a scoring drought of 14:02.
A three point play by Parker that got the Tigers back on the board with under a minute left in the first half actually sparked a 20-14 run to end the game. However, Hunterdon Central was never really threatened as it hit back to back threes at the 14:30 and 13:50 marks to not only end a 7-0 TCS run, but to increase its advantage back to 17 points at 29-12. The Devils did a great job anticipating passes to get steals. Several of them ended up being converted for breakaway layups.
Timothy Christian, led by the feistiness of Parker, refused to relent though by scoring 13 of the last 21 points to round out the 37-25 final score in the most competitive game of the day at Bound Brook. Unfortunately, the Devils just had too much depth and size for the Tigers. With the victory, Hunterdon Central improved to 5-1 on the summer while Timothy Christian fell to 3-2. The Tigers will be back in action on Monday when it faces Piscataway, and then on Tuesday, they face New Brunswick to complete a very tough stretch at Bound Brook.
Singh And White Lead Balanced Attack As Chiefs Cruise Past Manville, 70-8
The fourth and final game of the evening at Bound Brook was a classic battle of David versus Goliath as Manville of the Valley Division of the Skyland Conference took on Piscataway of the Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division. Â The game was no contest as P-Way’s size, athleticism, strength, depth, and pressure was just too much for Manville.
Piscataway led for the entire contest as it jumped out to a 23-0 lead over the initial 12:42. Manville didn’t get on the board until there was 4:12 remaining in the first half as the Chiefs took a 32-6 halftime lead. In the second half, P-Way limited the Mustangs to only two points on a field goal with 1:44 left in the game as it put together a 38-2 blitz to round up a 70-8 victory.
Manville was just overwhelmed by Piscataway’s relentless pressure as the Chiefs forced numerous turnovers that were converted into easy baskets. Soon to be seniors, Vik Singh and David White led the Chiefs with 12 points each while Marcus Freeney chipped in with 11 points. Donovan Kirkland added 8 points in the win. P-Way limited Manville to only four field goals in the contest while the Mustangs only went to the line once, going 0 of 3 from the charity stripe.
The Mustangs were unable to get into any sort of offensive rhythm throughout the entire contest. Piscataway forced many turnovers in the Manville backcourt. The Chiefs would score a basket, and then before you could blink an eye, they would swipe another steal that led to another quick score. When Manville was finally able to break the P-Way press, and get into its frontcourt, it would either shoot itself in the foot with a turnover, or take a rushed shot.
For the game, the Chiefs compiled their 70 points on 32 field goals including two three pointers, and 4 of 6 from the foul line. Piscataway got 40 of its points off Manville turnovers while also scoring 10 second chance points. P-Way had 18 steals in the contest. In addition to his 12 points, White collected four assists and three steals. Singh added three steals and an assist. Clarence Morris played well also with two points, three steals, and three assists. Byron Benjamin also contributed with 3 points and 3 assists as he displayed fine passing skills.
In addition to its scoring drought over the initial 15:48, Manville was scoreless for an additional 20:54 from the 2:38 mark of the first half to under two minutes to go in the game. Piscataway, which got its only two threes of the game from Freeney in the first half, put an exclamation point on the victory with steals for one handed slams by Singh at the 16:12 and 9:54 marks.
GMC Hoops plans to be back out at the Bound Brook Summer League next week.