ALLENTOWN, NJ–On Friday afternoon, GMC Hoops traveled down to Allentown High School in Monmouth County to take in the first day of action from the 2011 Summer Prime Time Shootout. There were 20 games on Friday afternoon and evening in two different gyms. Below are some capsules from the action:
Ridge vs. Rancocas Valley
In a battle of Red Devils, the team from Mount Holly and the Burlington County Scholastic League emerged victorious, but not without a fight from the Skyland Conference Delaware Division squad. Rancocas Valley, led by the duo of Tariq Jett and Dom Twitty. Jett had 9 points and 4 assists in the first half as the Devils took a 23-12 lead, and went into the intermission with a 23-14 advantage.
RVHS went on a 13-2 run over a span of 7:50 as Ridge went without a point for 7:01, and didn’t have a field goal for 7:56. Dylan Kerwin helped Ridge stay close with the team’s first 12 points of the half. In the second half, the Devils from Somerset County rallied with a 19-10 surge over the first 15:34 to tie the game at 33-33 with less than four and a half minutes to play. However, Rancocas closed the game with a 9-2 spurt including a Twitty layup with 41.3 seconds left, and a steal for a layup with 30.8 seconds left to seal the 42-35 victory.
Dylan Kerwin ended up with 20 points while twin brother Jack added 6 for Ridge in a losing cause. Jett ended up with 14 points and 5 assists while Twitty ended up with 6 points for Rancocas Valley, which went on to defeat Princeton Day School later in the day to go 2-0 on Friday.
Plainfield vs. Lakewood
The Cardinals, which eventually went 2-0 on the day, jumped out to a 27-16 halftime lead, and then after an early three by Lakewood closed the gap to single digits, they went on a 17-6 run including eight unanswered points to take a 44-25 lead with 8:40 left. From there, Plainfield cruised to a 51-35 victory. Lakewood, which defeated West Windsor-Plainsboro South earlier in the day, went 1-1 on Friday.
East Brunswick vs. Eastern
The Bears were the only GMC team in action on Friday with two contests including one against Eastern from South Jersey. The school from Voorhees, a suburb outside of Philadelphia, took advantage of a number of second chance opportunities to win this one. East Brunswick did jump out to a 13-12 lead early on, and led late in the first half by the score of 21-20, but Eastern closed the half with a 9-2 run for a 29-23 lead at the break.
However, EB clamped down defensively by holding the South Jersey squad to just nine points over the first 19:20 of the second half to take a 41-38 late with under a minute to go. Trailing 38-34 at the 6:32 mark, the Bears scored seven unanswered points over the next 5:01. EB got 2 of 3 free throws by Ethan Folz, who was fouled on a three point attempt at the 4:05 mark. Cole Lipman added a three pointer from the right wing at the 3:30 mark for a 39-38 lead. Rob Ukawuba capped the run by drawing a foul, and making both free throws with 1:31 left for a 41-38 advantage.
However, Eastern scored on a floater with 40 seconds left, and then poked away a steal that resulted in another layup with 18.9 seconds left for a 42-41 lead. Eastern was able to hang on after that for the one point victory. Eastern later lost to Hun by the score of 32-21 to end up 1-1 on the day.
Plainfield vs. St. Benedict’s
This was perhaps the most highly anticipated matchup of the day as the Grey Bees, coming off a 62-56 victory over Paul VI at 4:00 PM, took on Plainfield, which defeated Lakewood at 5:00 PM. The Cardinals played stifling defense in the first half limiting St. Benny’s to just five field goals and 5 of 8 from the foul line in the first half en route to a 25-15 lead at the intermission.
Plainfield led by as many as 13 in the opening half thanks to a 15-4 tear over a span of 10:59. However, the Grey Bees battled back with a 23-13 surge over the first 15:22 of the second half to tie the game at 38-38 with a bit more than four and a half minutes left. Plainfield wouldn’t be denied though as it came up with a decisive 8-0 run at the right time to take a 46-38 lead with 38.3 seconds left en route to a 47-42 victory.
Sekou Harris led the Cards with 16 points while Justin Sears chipped in with 10 points.
East Brunswick vs. Trenton Catholic
The Bears had a tall order both literally and figuratively as they took on state powerhouse, Trenton Catholic of the Burlington County Scholastic League. EB fought the good fight though, and actually led at several points in the first half before the Iron Mikes went on a 14-4 tear over a span of seven minutes to turn a 9-8 deficit into a 22-13 lead.
Ronnie Paden had a three pointer, and Brandon Taylor added a pair of free throws to highlight the run. TCA went on to lead at the intermission by the score of 26-18. In the second half, Trenton Catholic increased the lead to as many as 14 points en route to a 49-37 victory. After EB drew within ten points on free throws by Garry Baumer and Rob Ukawuba, the Iron Mikes scored four straight points including a two handed jam by Brandon Taylor to take its largest lead of the game.
Princeton Day School vs. St. Peter’s Prep
The Marauders, which lost to Paul VI of Haddonfield in its first game of the day on Friday, jumped out to a 9-1 lead, and then finished the half with a 10-2 tear to break away from a 17-11 lead for a 27-13 halftime advantage. Then, in the second half, St. Peter’s Prep rolled to an easy 54-22 victory with a 27-9 surge. Princeton Day School, which lost to Rancocas Valley (53-48) earlier in the evening, ended up 0-2 on the day while St. Peter’s Prep finished at 1-1.
Capital Prep vs. Robbinsville
The Ravens were playing their third game of the day when they finished the night against Capital Prep. Both teams fought tooth and nail for much of the first half before dueling to an 11-11 tie with a little over 11 minutes remaining in the half. Capital Prep then went on a 20-12 surge over the next 18 minutes for a 31-23 lead with 13 minutes to go. However, Robbinsville closed the game with a 19-5 tear for the 42-36 victory.