Barrons Wear Down Spartans To Notch Quality Win, 66-62
SOMERVILLE, NJ–In the finale of games being played at Immaculata High School as part of the GMC-Skyland Challenge to benefit the Braden Carr Foundation, the Woodbridge Barrons took on the host school Spartans. Â Woodbridge trailed in the contest 52-45 with around five minutes remaining before putting together a decisive 21-10 surge for the 66-62 win.
The Barrons were led by the tandem of Jared Pearson and Eddie Harris, who combined for 40 of their team’s 66 points. Â Pearson scored a game high 21 points on 10 of 18 shooting from the floor while Harris was only 5 of 12 from the floor, but knocked down 9 of 12 from the foul line including 8 of 8 down the stretch. Â Duquan Bailey also chipped in for the winners with 13 points before fouling out.
Immaculata was led by Shane Stephens, who scored a team high 19 points while  Danny Reilly chipped in with 15 before leaving the game with an injury.  Asiah Avent also contributed in a losing cause with 11 points.  Reilly connected on 7 of 11 shots from the floor while Stephens made 7 of 15.  Avent, the son of former Shabazz HS and Seton Hall Prep standout, Anthony Avent, clicked on 5 of 10 shots.  As a team, the Spartans were 24 of 55 from the floor for 44 percent overall, but they were more efficient from inside the arc by going 19 of 32.
On the other hand, Woodbridge, struggled a bit more overall from the field by shooting 26 of 63 for 41 percent. Â The Barrons were only 3 of 13 from three point range versus 5 of 23 for Immaculata while shooting just below 50 percent inside the arc. Â At the line, the Spartans held a considerable edge as well perentage wise by going 9 of 10, but Woodbridge got more opportunities in going 11 of 18, and picked up things at the charity stripe in the second thanks to the efforts of Harris down the stretch. Â The Barrons scored in double figures in each of the four periods while Immaculata did that in only three.
Trailing 37-33 at the half, Woodbridge outscored Immaculata by a margin of 33-25 in the final 16 minutes. Â According to the shot chart, Woodbridge concentrated a lot of its shooting and scoring from within the arc. Â Pearson battled mostly in the paint while Harris shot from the foul line, wings, and elbows. Â Bailey (two threes) and Zahneer Shuler (7 points) accounted for all the three point baskets by the Barrons. Â Immaculata took almost half of its shots from three point range, especially in the second half when the Spartans were forced to try and catch up. Â Stephens sank 3 of 10 from long distance while Mike Frauenheim Jr. (8 points) and Tommy Haldeman (5 points) accounted for the other Spartan trifectas.
Woodbridge’s size and most importantly, its length, made it very difficult for Immaculata to find any success from three.  Couple that with the athleticism and leaping ability of the likes of Jaheem Jackson, and your team is going to have a tough time shooting over the top of the  Barrons defense.This was a very important victory for the Barrons.  While Immaculata is down a bit this year relative to recent standards, it is one of the top programs around, and one of the better teams in the Skyland year in and year out.  So for Woodbridge, this was quite a notch in the belt.  A much needed boost of confidence heading into two important games the following week against Sayreville and North Brunswick.
Coming into the season, GMC Hoops felt that the Barrons would be a tough team to beat with the ton of good talent coming up from the JV and Freshmen levels as well as the additions of Matt Gigliello as head coach and Eddie Harris, a transfer from Roselle Catholic. Â Gigliello brings a defense first philosophy that he learned from Bob Turco at Monroe, and later from Dave Turco at St. Joseph’s. Â This year’s Barrons appear to be buying into that philosophy.