Pressure Helps Ramblers Surge Past Metuchen, 65-33
CARTERET, NJ–Despite the heavy losses to graduation from last year’s team, a squad that won 20 games for the school for the first time since they won the GMCT in 2002 when a guy named Dave Turco was coaching at the school, and Omar Alston was patrolling the paint, the 2012-13 edition of the Carteret Ramblers could still be in contention for the Blue Division crown. With the likes of guard Elijah Torres returning along with sophomores Jaquan Robertson and Brandon Gilder, and a number of new faces, the Ramblers look to be more athletic than they’ve been in years.
The athleticism was on full display in a late Friday afternoon contest against Blue Division rival, Metuchen, which still has a young squad, but with a lot of experience after enduring a 7-16 campaign last year. Carteret used full court pressure to help turn what had been a game deadlocked at 10-10 with 1:36 to go in the first period, into a 48-14 rout by the 5:41 mark of the third. Over a span of 11:34, the Ramblers outscored Metuchen 38-4 including a 28-0 shutout in the second period, and 32 unanswered points before the Bulldogs sophomore point guard, Thomas Chalker hit a runner to end the run a little more than two minutes into the second half.
From there, Carteret was in cruise control to a 65-33 win to improve to 3-1 overall including a 3-0 mark in the GMC Blue. Joe McRae led the Ramblers with 20 points while Tyrell Lockett added 14 and Robertson chipped in with 10. Torres contributed with not only 5 points, but also at least 5 assists in the contest. Younger brother, and sophomore Zach Torres also helped out with 7 points and 4 assists. Evan Collier led the Bulldogs in a losing cause with 12 points while sophomore Artie Flaherty chipped in with 8. Metuchen, which took Piscataway Tech into overtime before losing 57-51 on Monday night, still showed its youth and inexperience with its struggles against Carteret’s pressure.
The Ramblers were able to get a lot of their points off the press with easy baskets and transition scores. Metuchen fell behind 10-4 midway through the first period before getting three point plays by Collier and Chalker to tie the game with a little more than a half minute left in the period. CHS then reeled off six straight points for a 16-10 lead before Collier got another score and Hunter Clarke finished the first period scoring with two of his four points on the night. Those would be the final points for the next 10:51 for the Bulldogs as Carteret broke the game open in the second. The Ramblers had eight layups in the quarter, which were mostly manufactured off the press before Zach Torres knocked in a three to end the half for a 44-14 advantage. The trio of Lockley (14 points), McRae (12 points), and Robertson (8 points) combined for 77 percent of the Carteret first half scoring.
Finishing off the onslaught, the Ramblers opened the second half with another four points including a jumper from the right elbow by Robertson at the 6:02 mark for the 34 point lead. Carteret went on to lead by as many as 40 points in the fourth quarter before Collier helped Metuchen, which fell to 0-4 overall and in divisional play, finish on a positive note with a 8-0 run to forge the 65-33 final score. The game played by Carteret was a bit different than from Rambler teams in the past. Built on a foundation of tough and physical man-to-man defense, past Rambler teams had to grind wins out. This year, CHS looks to press more, and score in transition. Even with Gilder (played on CJ Group II champ football team) and perimeter threat Andrew Stam not in the lineup, the Ramblers still managed to win comfortably over a Metuchen squad that was looking to be a contender in the Blue this year despite its youth.
One player from last year’s Bulldog squad that didn’t return this year was Ryan O’Neill, who decided to sit out after having a number of injuries. The loss of O’Neill, who would have been the team’s only returning senior, hurts the Bulldogs since he would have helped stabilize this young squad, especially against Carteret’s pressure. However, head coach Jon Korellis believes his squad will begin to gel in January. There is a lot of good talent back in Bulldog Country with plenty of future left as well. Right now, MHS is still a work and progress, and continuing to learn and develop. Carteret has won by double digits in each of its three victories, and its lone loss was to Colonia from the GMC Red. In that contest, the Ramblers got two late third quarter threes to pull within four heading into the fourth, but couldn’t get any closer.
Having a solid perimeter game will also bolster the Ramblers chances. There wasn’t much three point shooting in this contest by Carteret, and there were some struggles hitting jumpers inside the arc as well. Having Stam, who hit for five threes and 22 points in a win over JFK earlier in the week, back in the lineup will help compliment the transition game and athleticism. After playing in the Gene Haley Memorial Tournament for many years, and winning last year’s tourney title, the Ramblers will be competing in the Hillsborough Holiday Tournament with a first round game against Hightstown on December 27th at 3:00 PM. Meanwhile, Metuchen will be having its own holiday tournament this year with a first round matchup against Keyport on December 27th at 4:00 PM.