MONROE, NJ–After being at the Elizabeth Summer League on Tuesday afternoon, GMC Hoops hustled over to the Monroe Sports Center to see the final games of the summer at the 2011 MSC Summer League including the championship and third place consolation. Three GMC teams were in action as Monroe faced Steinert and South River battled Freehold Boro in consolations at the 7:40 PM hour. Then, in the 8:40 PM hour, Colts Neck took on Manalapan in the third place game while Spotswood squared off against Notre Dame in a thrilling championship.
Monroe Tops Steinert, 50-40
The Falcons jumped out to a 19-12 lead late in the first half, and then scored three of the final five points for a 22-14 edge at the intermission. Â In the second half, Monroe scored 8 of the first 14 points including two free throws by Ryan Genevieve at the 14:15 mark for a 30-20 lead.
Over the next 3:52, the Purple Birds scored 6 of the next 10 points to take a 36-24 lead when a timeout was called with 10:23 remaining in the game. Â Over the next three minutes both teams had trouble finding the basket before Ryan Stolte, who recorded a blocked shot earlier, connected on a three pointer from the right wing at the 7:28 mark for a 39-24 lead.
Steinert wouldn’t give up though with seven of the next nine points over a span of 3:13 including a steal for a layup at the 5:28 mark for a 41-31 Monroe lead with 4:15 left. Â The Spartans continued to pressure Monroe, and forced several turnovers resulting in five more points for a 41-36 Falcons lead with less than two minutes to go.
Genevieve then made one of two from the line with 1:28 left, and then the Purple Birds scored on a putback for a 44-36 lead. Â Monroe added a transition layup with about a minute remaining for a 46-36 lead. Â MTHS then got four of the next five points including two free throws by Genevieve with less than 30 seconds left to help wrap up the 50-40 win.
Freehold Boro Shuts Down South River, 46-31
The Rams trailed 16-13 with 1:30 to go in the first half when Freehold scored five straight points for a 21-13 lead with less than a minute to go in the half. Â South River then scored four of the last six points for a 23-17 edge at the intermission.
The second half began with Freehold scoring the  first four points including a basket while being fouled at the 14:00 mark after making a huge block at the other end for a 27-17 lead.  The Rams got on the board about a half minute later, and then got a stop on the defensive end.  However, South River turned the ball over when Tim Darrar dribbled the ball off his foot, and the Colonials got the steal for a layup, and a 29-19 lead
Over the next 2:30, the Rams tried to battle back with one of two free throws, and then a layup by Tyler Harris at the 10:28 mark for a 29-22 Freehold lead.  South River scored four of the next six over a span of 1:30 after that including a layup by Erick Gomez at the 9:00 mark for a 31-26 Freehold lead before the  Colonials called for time at the 8:52 mark.
Freehold Boro wouldn’t let the Rams get closer though. Â South River went into a scoring drought while the Colonials scored six straight points for a 37-26 lead with 3:10 to go. Â The Rams, which went scoreless for almost eight and a half minutes, didn’t score again until the final 30 seconds as the Colonials closed the game with a 15-5 run for the 46-31 win.
Colts Neck Surges Past Manalapan To Win Third Place, 59-39
The Cougars, which were knocked off by Notre Dame in the semifinals on Thursday, trailed early by the score of 4-2 before putting together a 9-4 run to take an 11-8 lead with 13 minutes to go in the first half.
Over the next 3:30, Manalapan bounced back with the six of the next seven points for a 14-12 lead before COlts Neck scored four unanswered including a steal for a layup at the 6:50 mark for a 16-14 lead.
Colts Neck then closed the half with 10 of the last 17 points to take a five point, 26-21 advantage into the intermission. Â The Cougars opened up the second half with a scoop shot layup at the 19:22 mark for a 28-21 lead. Â CNHS tried to add to its lead when it forced a turnover, but then was called for traveling on the ensuing transition opportunity with 18:30 left.
The Cougars continued to add to its lead with four more points including a layup, and had a chance to go up by 14, but hit rim on a three point attempt from the right corner before Manalapan score at the 16:31 mark on a three for a 32-24 Cougars lead.
From there, Colts Neck pulled away with a 15-5 surge over the next 10:31 to take a commanding 47-29 lead with six minutes to play. Â The Cougars cruised from there by outscoring the Braves by a 12-10 margin the rest of the way for the 59-39 victory.
Notre Dame Sinks Spotswood For Title On Jackson Three With 1.3 Left, 55-53
It was quite a finish to the inaugural season of the Monroe Sports Center Summer League. Coming off upset wins in the semifinals, both third seeded Spotswood and fourth seeded Notre Dame of Lawrenceville put on a heck of a show in the Championship Game. On top of all that, Spotswood brought its student section in full force for this game to make it a true playoff atmosphere for this contest.
For the entire first half, the Chargers were buoyed by their fan support. Spotswood went to work right away to take the lead, and carried it all the way to the intermission with a 33-23 advantage over a Notre Dame squad that had soundly defeated top seeded Colts Neck in the semifinals (62-32), and then cruised past South Brunswick in the semifinal of the Mercer County CYO Summer League at West Windsor-Plainsboro South High School on Monday night. However, the Irish played to their true form by outscoring Spotswood by a 32-20 margin in the second half including the game winning three pointer with 1.3 seconds left by junior Jabree Jackson for the 55-53 win.
While the Chargers were sluggish offensively for much of the second half, they did put together a spirited rally to get back into the game after Notre Dame had charged into the lead. After the Irish stepped up its defense, and played with much more urgency in putting together a 15-4 tear over the first 5:56 of the second half for a 38-37 lead, and led 42-39 with 8:57 to play, Spotswood battled to stay in the contest despite things working against it. There were a total of 7 lead changes and one tie over the final 14:04 of the game while neither team had a lead bigger than three points.
In the first half, Spotswood amassed its 33 points on 13 field goals including three treys and made 4 of 6 from the foul line. Meanwhile, the Chargers limited Notre Dame to nine field goals and 5 of 8 from the line for its 23 points. Tommy Soulias led the way for Spotswood in the first 20 minutes with 16 points on six field goals including two threes while also making two of four from the charity stripe. Soon to be junior, Jamal Lewis chipped in with 8 points on three field goals and made both his free throw attempts. The Chargers also did a solid job limiting the offensive output of Notre Dame’s Ryan Germano and Josh Williams in the first half.
The Chargers came out of the gates fast by scoring 8 of the first 10 points over a span of just 3:20 before the Irish battled back with six unanswered points in just a little over a minute to tie the game at 8-8. After Soulias got a basket as he was fouled at the 15:15 mark, Notre Dame tied the game again at 10-10 with a bucket 30 seconds later. Then, Spotswood took control for a while as it went on a 13-2 tear over a span of 5:14 for a 23-12 lead just past the midway point of the first half. Soulias scored seven points during the run including a basket at the 12:58 mark for a 14-10 lead, a three from the left wing at the 10:57 mark for a 19-12 edge, and a pair of free throws with 10:32 to go in the half for a 21-12 lead. He also handed an assist out on another score during the run.
The Chargers were able to maintain a double digit cushion going into the intermission. However, Notre Dame became much more aggressive at the start of the second half. The Irish turned up the heat defensively, and put together a rally to not only get back into the game, but also take the lead. Notre Dame used pressure and trapping to force turnovers that led to easy transition baskets. The Irish also locked down on Soulias as Germano limited the soon to be Charger senior to just seven points in the final twenty minutes on two field goals including a three as well as two free throws. Soulias, who also handed out an assist in the second half, didn’t score over the final 7:19 of the game.
Lewis was also shut down in the second half. The athletic forward was held to just four points in the final 20 minutes, and didn’t score a point for 18:16 before scoring a layup off a nice feed with 23.6 seconds to go for a 53-52 lead. Still, the Spotswood duo combined for 23 and 12 points respectively, or about 66 percent of the Charger scoring. Notre Dame scored 18 points off of turnovers in the game including 16 in the second half. Spotswood only had six points off of Irish miscues. Spotswood ended up with 21 field goals for the game including five three pointers while also making 6 of 8 from the foul line. The Chargers only attempted two free throws in the second half as well.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame ended up with 21 field goals including two threes, but also went 11 of 16 from the foul line. While Spotswood had a 15-6 edge in points from beyond the arc, the Irish enjoyed an 11-6 advantage in points scored from the free throw line. With the three ties in the first half, there were a total of 7 lead changes and 4 ties in the game. The Irish didn’t claim its first lead of the game until the 14:04 mark of the second half, and led for only 7:26 of the contest while the game was knotted for only 2:31. Spotswood led for the other 31:03 of the game.
After the Irish got back into the contest, and seemed to have Spotswood on the ropes, the Chargers showed some surprising resiliency. Perhaps, it was the fan support provided by the large student section at the game, but even without any offense from Soulias or Lewis, Spotswood still managed to stay in the game, and actually enjoy several leads. The role players came up with big plays. Ike Ejikeme didn’t factor much on the offense, but clogged up the middle well, and blocked a putback attempt by Germano at the 5:06 mark. Moments later, Soulias kicked out to a teammate on the left wing for a three pointer, and a 45-44 lead with just under five minutes to go.
The trey sparked a 7-2 spurt that included a putback at the 4:30 mark, and a follow with 4:05 to go for a 49-46 lead. Notre Dame fought back though with four straight points including its first three of the game on a shot from the right wing with 1:47 left for a 50-49 lead. The Irish then added another layup for a 52-49 edge with 1:25 to go as Spotswood called for time. Once again, the Charger role players came up big with a floater off the glass at the 1:17 mark for a 52-51 ND lead, and then after the Irish missed the front end of a one and one with 52.5 seconds left, Spotswood took the lead at 53-52 on a nice drive and dish to Lewis for a layup with just under 24 seconds remaining in regulation.
After a Notre Dame timeout with 23.2 remaining, the Irish held out for the final shot. The Chargers appeared a bit confused on defense as Soulias gave Germano plenty of space in the left corner as the clock was running down. Both Soulias and Lewis scrambled to cover an ND player just before Jackson netted his three from the left side of the key with 1.3 remaining for the 55-53 win. Both teams ended the summer at 6-4, but Notre Dame won six of its last seven at Monroe after starting the season at 0-3.