Lancers Win To Spoil 31 Point Performance By McCarrick’s Harris, 66-57
SOUTH AMBOY, NJ–After watching the last of the GMCT Round of 16 contests at North Brunswick this afternoon, GMC Hoops took in one of only two regular season games on the schedule this Friday night. Â The site traveled over to Cardinal McCarrick to take in the Eagles contest against St. John Vianney of Holmdel. Â It was the first time this season, GMC Hoops took in a McCarrick home game.
The home team got off to a difficult start by falling behind 12-2 in the first six plus minutes of the game. Â However, behind the hot shooting of junior Sky Harris, the Eagles battled back to tie the game on several occasions late in the second period, and actually took the lead on several occasions in the early part of the third period. Â In the end though, McCarrick came up short as Vianney put together a decisive 11-0 spurt over a span of just 2:06 to turn a 37-34 deficit into a 45-37 lead. Â The Lancers didn’t let the Eagles get any closer than four points the rest of the way in a 66-57 win.
Harris was en fuego in this contest with a game high 31 points including seven threes. Â Five of those treys came in the first half alone. Â Harris also recorded a double-double by pulling down 14 boards. Â Fellow junior, Aaron Lewis chipped in with 11 points including three treys. Â Two of those threes came in the third quarter to give McCarrick a 32-30 and 35-34 lead. Â Jaquantee Madden came off the bench and added 9 points, 6 rebounds, an assist, steal, and 3 major league swats for shot blocks. Â Nick Krimin (2 points, 3 rebounds, and a block), Michael Vick (2 points and 3 assists), and Sean Mcrae (2 points and 2 rebounds) also got into the scorebook for the Eagles.
Anthony Manning, who played at McCarrick last year before transferring to Sayreville at the start of this school year, returned to South Amboy recently, and was in the lineup. Â Manning ended up with two rebounds and a steal. Â St. John Vianney had three players score in double figures including Vinny Facchio, who had a team high 24 points including six threes, Ray Gabeau, who added 14 points, and Julanee Prince, who chipped in with 13. Â Both teams combined for 18 three pointers in the game with McCarrick outscoring Vianney 30-24 from beyond the arc. Â The Lancers enjoyed an 8-3 edge at the line while also having more two point field goals (17-12).
There were 7 lead changes and 5 ties in the contest with neither team having a lead bigger than 13 points. Â Vianney’s biggest edge was 56-43 with 6:25 remaining in the game while McCarrick’s biggest lead was only three at 37-34 with 4:43 to go in the third. Â So, the Lancers actually outscored the Eagles by a margin of 22-6 over a span of 6:18 to take control of the game. Â Cardinal McCarrick tried to climb back into the game again with a 11-2 tear over a span of 3:12 as Harris, who had his last two threes of the game in the fourth, Â scored 7 points while Madden and Vick added two each. Â However, St. John Vianney sealed the win with seven unanswered points in just 1:23.
This game did live up to my expectations. Â I figured it would be a good game to see since both teams had comparable records. Â It was competitive throughout. Â Despite the difficult season at McCarrick, the Eagles battled until the end. Â With the win, Vianney improved to 10-13 on the season while McCarrick fell to 6-19. Â The Eagles will likely wrap up the season on Tuesday night with a contest at home against J.F. Kennedy. Â It will also be senior night at McCarrick.