Barrons Trio of Bailey, Pearson, and Harris Lead Woodbridge Past Sayreville, Â 74-63
SAYREVILLE, NJ–In what could have been a trap game for Woodbridge heading into their GMC White showdown with division leader Norh Brunswick on Thursday night, the Barrons refused to let down against a Sayreville team determined to make a better showing than in the 59-40 defeat suffered at WHS in the first week of the 2012-13 season. Â Woodbridge got a game high 24 points from Jared Pearson, 22 points from point guard, Duquan Bailey, and 11 points in the second half by Eddie Harris to pull away from Sayreville, 74-63 at the Bomb Shelter.
The Barrons only had one three in the contest, but outscored Sayreville by a margin of 21-3 from the foul line. Â Woodbridge only had a 25-24 edge in two point baskets while Sayreville outscored the Barrons by a 12-3 margin from beyond the arc. Â Woodbridge scored in double figures in each period while Sayreville scored in double digits in three of the four periods. Â The Barrons had four different players score in double figures while the Bombers only had three. Jason Saldiveri led Sayreville with 16 points while Jon Bracero chipped in with 15, and Corey Taite added 10.
Trailing 46-35 with 5:19 to go in the third, Sayreville rallied back with a 16-8 spurt over a span of 4:32 to pull within three at 54-51 with 47 seconds left in the period. Â The Bombers got four points each from Saldiveri and Brian Gay, who later added a three point play to close the gap again to three at the end of the period. Â Bracero and Donald Johnson also got scores during the run. Â Gay scored 9 of his points in the third along with two steals and an assist. Â Leading 57-54 at the start of the fourth, Woodbridge put the game away with a 13-5 run over the first 6:19 of the fourth including a three point play by Pearson at the 6:39 mark, and a pull-up jumper by Harris at the 5:45 mark. Â
Sayreville could only get as close as six points after that as Bailey made two free throws for a 67-59 lead  at the 2:03 mark, and Harris converted a three point play to put the Barrons up by 11 with 1:41 left.  Sayreville led by two after the first period (16-14) before Bailey scored 14 in the second to spearhead a 24-17 showing by the Barrons in the frame for a 38-33 lead at the intermission.  Woodbridge then opened the second half with an 8-2 spurt including two free throws by Bailey at the 7:39 mark, a transition layup by Bailey at the 7:13 mark, a foul line jumper by Pearson at the 5:45 mark, and then a missed dunk by Harris that got a kind bounce and went in for a 46-35 lead with 5:19 left in the third.
Woodbridge’s overall size and length along with its athleticism made things very difficult for Sayreville, especially from the perimeter. The Bombers had no threes in the second half while Taite was limited to just four points in the final two periods. With the victory, Woodbridge improved to 12-1 overall on the season, its best start in three decades. Â A win on Thursday against North Brunswick would clinch the school’s first winning season since the 1988-89 campaign when the 1,000 point scoring duo of Buck Jenkins and Adam McLaughlin led the Barrons to a 17-9 season. Â The last time Woodbridge won a division title was when it was in the Middlesex County Athletic Conference in 1981-82. Â Finally, Woodbridge has a Barrons team that they can be proud of.