Eagles And Guvs Join Forces For Sandy Relief With Overtime Thriller
SOUTH AMBOY, NJ–One of several towns along Raritan Bay in Middlesex County that was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy, South Amboy showed why it is a small town with a huge heart. Demonstrating resiliency, community, and determination, the residents of the town led by the likes of Tom Reilly of the Raritan Bay Summer League, Dave Kales, Billy Lewis, and former mayor Bill O’ Leary were able to come together, and have a benefit boys basketball game featuring crosstown rivals, Cardinal McCarrick and South Amboy.
The two schools that are just about a mile apart, used to play each other twice a year when McCarrick was a member of the GMC Gold Division. Over the years though, the Eagles have moved up to the Blue, and now White Divisions, and hadn’t played the Guvs since the 2008 GMCT Elite Eight when eighth seeded South Amboy, with the likes of Mark Simko and Larry Lenahan, were coming off their first ever boys basketball division title, took on the top seeded Eagles. Cardinal McCarrick, which was led by the tandem of Mike Burwell and Julio Rosario, won the game and eventually became GMCT champions that year.
Since then, a lot has changed with the two schools. South Amboy has had three different head coaches since the retirement of George Krzyzanowski while McCarrick has endured a tumultuous off-season this past summer with the stepping down of long time head coach, Joe Lewis, and the transfers of talented players Marques Townes (St. Joseph’s), Alonzo Hamilton (Linden), and J.D. Rodriguez (Bound Brook). While McCarrick has a new coach in former Old Bridge standout, Eric Woroniecki, and a lot of new faces including transfers Sky Harris (J.P. Stevens) and Jacquante Madden (St. Patrick’s), South Amboy has developed a good young nucleus consisting of juniors Steve Herdman, Nick Kales, Dan Murphy, Matt Lavan, and Joe Fruncillo along with sophomore Tim Kales. So, the contest looked to be one of the closest between the two schools in years.
Much to the delight of the event organizers, who also arranged a spaghetti dinner prior to the game, the two teams put on a great contest as expected. After a nip and tuck first half that saw McCarrick take a 20-19 lead into the locker room, South Amboy responded with a 19-7 run to start the third quarter including a couple layups by Fruncillo off assists by Herdman, a baseline jumper by Nick Kales, and a floater and three pointer by Herdman to take a 38-27 lead late in the period. To make matters worse for the Eagles, Madden had his shoulder pop out when he battled Fruncillo for a rebound off a free throw at the 2:11 mark, and was taken off the court on a stretcher.
With tough odds stacked against it, Cardy Mac responded with a 19-8 rally over the final 8:40 of regulation to tie the game as Aaron Lewis and Harris sank three pointers while Harris also added a couple scores off the drive, and freshman, Michael Vick got himself to the line to make some free throws. The end result was overtime as the Eagles tied the game with under a minute to go, and then scored the first four points of the overtime as Sean McRae hit a baseline jumper and Vick added two free throws for a 50-46 lead. The Guvs refused to quit though as they fought back with a 5-1 run that included a one of two showing at the foul line by Nick Kales, a three by Lavan with 1:35 remaining in the extra session, and another one of two foul shots by Nick Kales with 1:09 left for a 51-50 lead.
McCarrick would pull out the win though as Vick made one of two at the line with 36.7 seconds left, and then Tavian Chukwuani converted a three point play with 21.3 seconds left to lift the Eagles past the Guvs to a 54-51 victory. The hard fought game by both teams typified the resolve of this community, and was an exclamation point on a tremendous night for the town, which raised $30,000 for residents affected by the devastating storm in late October. A total of 30 homes were severely damaged, and another home for six families was completely washed away by Sandy. I happened to travel over to Waterfront Park on the day of the storm, and a couple weeks after the storm and was amazed at the power and devastation of it. However, the storm didn’t break this town as many in the crowd chanted at the end of the game, “We Beat Sandy!”