ALLENTOWN, NJ–On Friday afternoon and evening, the finale of the 2011 high school boys basketball summer league season got underway with the first night of action from the 2011 Summer Prime Time Summer League at Allentown High School in the Upper Freehold District of Monmouth County.
East Brunswick was the lone GMC team that was in action on Friday with a 6:00 PM game against Eastern from South Jersey in the West Gym followed by a contest against Trenton Catholic at 8:00 PM in the East Gym. In other action, Ridge faced off against Rancocas Valley, Plainfield squared off against St. Benedict’s and Lakewood, St. Peter’s Prep vs. Princeton Day School, and Robbinsville vs. Capital Prep.
Plainfield Rolls Past Lakewood, 51-35
The Cardinals began their weekend at the Summer Prime Time Shootout at Allentown with a matchup against Lakewood of the Shore Conference. The Piners no longer have Jarrod Davis, who graduated this past June, but they still have a very athletic squad that isn’t afraid to play up-tempo basketball. Lakewood cruised past Marlboro at the Hoop Group Headquarters team camp on Monday night.
Plainfield jumped out to a 27-16 halftime lead in this one. Lakewood battled back to within eight early on in the second half thanks to a three pointer, but the Cards, runners-up to St. Anthony’s in the 2011 Tournament of Champions after winning the Group III State Championship by defeating the likes of Mendham in the North Jersey Section 2 Group III title game, Teaneck in the Group III state semifinals, and Burlington Township (57-48) in the state title game, didn’t let the Piners get any closer.
The Cardinals went on a 17-6 surge including eight straight points in a span of just 2:44 to take a commanding 44-25 lead with 8:40 remaining. Justin Sears scored a layup at the 13:09 mark while Sekou Harris handed out an assist on a two handed dunk at the 9:45 mark to highlight the run. From there, Plainfield went on to win easily by the score of 51-35.
Eastern Downs East Brunswick On Late Scores, 42-41
For the first time since GMC Hoops began making the yearly trip to Allentown several years ago, the Bears of East Brunswick were competing in the Prime Time Shootout. Â Great move for the Bears, which are looking to take another step up in competition with a goal of advancing past the quarterfinal round of the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament in February and a the Elite Eight round of the Central Jersey Group IV Tournament in March.
After watching the 5:00 PM games between Plainfield and Lakewood in the West Gym and Ridge and Rancocas Valley in the East Gym, the site settled down to see Eastern in front by the score of 12-11 at the 12 minute mark. Â EB took the lead when Abu Bestawros sink a jumper at the 11:30 mark for a 13-12 lead. Â Eastern tied the game at 13-13 by making one of two from the line at the ten minute mark before the Bears sank a three pointer to take a 16-13 lead with under nine minutes left in the first half.
The South Jersey team, based in Voorhees, New Jersey outside of Philadelphia, then reeled off the next five points over a span of three and a half minutes including one of two from the line, and two layups for an 18-16 lead at the 5:43 mark. Â Eastern added another score for a 20-16 advantage at the 5:20 mark before Ethan Folz put EB back within two on a layup with 5:11 left in the half. Â The Bears then took the lead for a bit at 21-20 when Avi Oren sank a three from the top of the key at the 4:27 mark to cap a 5-0 run.
East Brunswick’s lead would be short lived as Eastern outworked the Bears for several offensive rebounds, and that led to a go ahead score with 4:14 to go in the period. Â Eastern then added seven of the next nine points to complete the half with a 9-2 run for a 29-23 lead at the intermission. Â EB started out solidly in the second half as Rob Ukawuba came up with strong drives for layins at the 19:30 and 18:15 marks respectively to close the gap to 29-27 in favor of Eastern before the Bears called for time at the 16:31 mark.
Following the timeout, Eastern picked up a steal, and converted it on a putback for a 31-27 lead at the 16:04 mark. Â On the next EB possession, Â the Bears got the ball again to Ukawuba, who picked up another basket while being fouled for a three point play, and a 31-30 Eastern lead with 15:21 left. Â After Eastern drew a foul, and made one of two from the foul line at the 13:28 mark, Ukawuba, who scored the first nine points for EB in the second half, got another basket to tie the score at 32-32, and then Amir Bell gave the Bears a 34-32 edge at the 12:04 mark with a layup.
However, East Brunswick hurt themselves by giving up numerous offensive rebounds to Eastern that led to a tying score at the eleven minute mark. Â The South Jersey team then went in front after swiping a steal off an EB inbounds following a Bears timeout at the 9:06 mark. Â Eastern then added another basket at the 7:34 mark to make it a 6-0 run, and a 38-34 lead. Â The Bears almost fell behind even further, but forced a jump ball at the 6:32 mark. Â Building of the defensive stop, East Brunswick scored the next five over a span of three minutes to retake the lead.
First, Folz drew a foul on a three point attempt, and made two of three from the foul line with 4:05 left for a 38-36 Eastern lead. Â Then, after getting a stop on the defensive end, the Bears went in front for the first time since late in the first half when they connected on a three pointer from the right side at the 3:30 mark for a 39-38 edge. Â The Bears maintained that lead until calling timeout with two minutes left. Â Following the timeout, EB went up by three when Ukawuba drew a foul on a layup attempt, and sank both free throws for a 41-38 lead with 1:31 left.
Eastern battled back to go in front when they scored on a floater off a baseline drive from the right side at the 40 second mark, and then scored again when they poked away a steal from Mike Summerer, and converted it with a transition layup at the 18.9 second mark for a 41-40 lead. Â The Voorhees school then got a stop with 9 seconds to go, and after a couple timeouts and a number of fouls on the floor off inbounds by EB, Eastern went into the bonus with 1.41 seconds left. Â
Eastern missed the front end of the one and one, and the Bears got the rebound and called for time with 1.37 seconds to go. Â However, on the ensuing inbounds, Joe Ross’ heave from just beyond midcourt was a bit wide and short, and the Bears lost by the score of 42-41.
Trenton Catholic Defeats East Brunswick, 49-37
In the 8:00 PM game in the East Gym, the Bears of East Brunswick were taking on the Iron Mikes of Trenton Catholic. Â The last time we saw the Iron Mikes in action was in the semifinal round of the Non-Public B South state tournament, where they lost to another GMC squad in Cardinal McCarrick. The Eagles also downed the Bears in the quarterfinals of the GMC Tournament this past winter.
The Bears, which had their season ended by another Burlington County Scholastic League team in Rancocas Valley last year in the CJ Group IV state playoffs, were coming off a tough 42-41 loss earlier in the day to Eastern of Voorhees in which the South Jersey school scored four points in the final 40 seconds for the win. Â This game would be an even tougher challenge for the Bears. Â Early on, they appeared up for the task. Â EB jumped out to a 5-4 lead at the 13:25 mark, and went in front by the score of 9-8 with eleven minutes kto go in the opening half.
However, TCA began to assert itself with five unanswered points before Joe Ross struck for a triple at the 9:06 mark for a 13-12 TCA lead. Â The Iron Mikes scored ten straight points including a three pointer by Ronnie Paden and two free throws by Brandon Taylor for a 22-13 lead before Amir Bell netted two free throws at the 3:09 mark for a 22-15 Trenton Catholic lead.
The Iron Mikes scored another four points before the Bears got a much needed three to end the half for a 26-18 TCA lead at the intermission. Â Trenton Catholic ended the half with an 18-9 spurt over the last eleven minutes and change. Â Starting out the second half with a 15-11 run over the first 13 minutes, TCA took a 41-29 lead. Â From there, East Brunswick was not able to get any closer than ten points the rest of the way.
Not to say that the Bears didn’t have chances. Â Garry Baumer drew an intentional foul and made one of two free throws. Â After getting the side out, EB was able to get closer with another one of two showing from the line by Rob Ukawuba for a 41-31 TCA lead with less than five minutes to play. Â However, Trenton Catholic scored the next four points including a two handed breakaway jam by Taylor for a 14 point lead before Abu Bestawros pulled up for a jumper from the left wing to close the gap to 45-33 with 3:09 left.
The Iron Mikes, which enjoyed a height advantage down low, cruised to the 49-37 victory from there. Â East Brunswick ended up going 0-2 on the day. However, the Bears played well enough to win one of the games, and in the other contest, they battled and competed well against one of the top programs in the state over the past five years. EB will be back in action on Saturday with games against Cherry Hill East at 9:00 AM and Pennsylvania powerhouse, Plymouth-Whitemarsh at 11:00 AM. Both contests will be in the West Gym.
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