ALLENTOWN, NJ–Two of the three days are in the books at the 2011 Summer Prime Time Shootout. All but one of the 28 games were played. The three GMC teams of East Brunswick, Piscataway, and St. Joseph’s all played well with a 5-1 combined record in the six games that they played. GMC Hoops arrived in time for the 7:00 PM round of games, and stayed for the rest of the evening. The site captured action from four of the six contests played in the final three hours. Below are the capsules from those games:
Franklin vs. Pennsbury
The Falcons only led by the score of 25-21 at the half, and actually trailed by the score of 31-30 after Franklin began the half with a 10-5 spurt. However, Pennsbury went on a 20-7 surge over a span of 12:16 to take a 50-38 led with just under three and a half minutes remaining. The Falcons went on to take a 13 point lead before winning the contest by the score of 55-43. Pennsbury ended up going 2-0 on the night after defeating Middle Township in quite a finale in the West Gym while Franklin, which lost to Windsor of Connecticut ended up 0-2 on the day.
St. Joseph’s vs. Ewing
St. Joe’s jumped out to a 10-2 lead, and led by as many as 23 in the second half before coming away with the 47-31 victory. Jimbo Long scored eight of the Falcons first ten points as he connect on a three to open the game, and then another trey at the 15:03 mark for the eight point lead. Danny Brix added another triple for a 14-6 advantage as the Green Birds went on to take a 26-12 halftime lead with Long, Brix, and Quenton DeCosey combining for 24 of the team’s 26 points.
The Falcons scored the first five points of the second half, and jumped out to a 43-20 lead before Ewing made the game more respectable down the stretch with an 11-4 closing that included a highlight reel alleyoop dunk, and a two handed jam to round out St. Joseph’s 16 point victory. Long, Brix, and DeCosey all scored 11 points each while James Ziemba added six points and Jake Dadika chipped in with four. Jalen Gilmore and Karim Awad contributed with two points. St. Joe’s had seven threes in the game including five in the first half.
William Allen (PA) vs. Monsignor Clancy (NY)
William Allen ended up going 2-0 on the day by jumping out to a 31-26 lead with less than fourteen minutes to go in the contest. The Pennsylvania school then expanded on that lead with a 20-14 run over the next 11:42 to have a 51-40 edge before Monsignor Clancy closed the game with four of the final six points for the 53-44 William Allen win.
Pennsbury vs. Middle Township
This was the game of the day. The best was saved for last as the Falcons dueled with the Panthers until the very end. There were eight lead changes and four ties with most of the ties coming in the first ten minutes of the game whie the majority of lead changes occurred in the final 16:24 of the battle. Middle Township enjoyed the biggest lead of the game at 14 while Pennsbury only led by three in the second half
Trailing 8-6 early on, the Panthers from the Cape Atlantic League went on a 29-13 surge to take a 35-21 advantage with less than two and a half minutes to go in the first half. Pennsbury scored the final four points of the first half, and then the first dozen points of the second half to take a 37-35 lead with less than sixteen and a half minutes to play. From there, it was a downybrook. Middle Township, which went scoreless for 7:37 and was held without a field goal for 15:15 tied the game at 37-37, but Pennsbury went back in front on one of two from the line at the 13:10 mark, and then a field goal at the 11:30 mark.
Showing great resiliency though, Middle Township fought back with a 6-2 run over a span of just under six minutes for a 43-42 lead. The lead changed hands five more times after that including twice in the final 3.3 seconds on threes by both teams including the game winner by Pennsbury from the right wing as time ran out for the 50-49 victory.