Eagles Down Guvs In Overtime For 2nd Straight Year
SOUTH AMBOY, NJ–The rivalry between Cardinal McCarrick and South Amboy is back. Â True the Guvs have yet to win since the rivalry was renewed last year, but this has been the most competitive the two teams have played since the early days of the Joe Lewis era in the mid to late 1990s. Â For the second straight season, Cardinal McCarrick was pushed to overtime before finally slaying the pesky Guvs. Â The Eagles outscored South Amboy by a 9-5 margin in the extra session to win, 74-70.
Early on the game didn’t seem like it was destined for overtime. Â After a close first period with the Eagles taking a 15-13 lead, McCarrick took over the contest in the second by scoring 21 of the first 28 points to take a 36-20 lead with 1:35 remaining in the first half. Â Freshman, Ryan O’Leary was the catalyst during the frame as he scored all 10 of his points in the period including two threes. Â Following a timeout late in the second, South Amboy began to respond by scoring 5 of the last 7 points of the first half to narrow the deficit to 38-25 as both teams headed into the locker room at halftime.
Then, in the third quarter, the Guvs began to play like they were capable as they embarked on a 20-3 surge over the first 5:21 of the second half to take a 45-41 lead with 2:39 remaining in the period. Â With McCarrick’s senior center, Sky Harris saddled with foul trouble, South Amboy took advantage by pounding the ball inside to Joe Fruncillo for layups and three point plays. Â Fruncillo, who scored 11 points in the first half, ended up scoring 20 more in the final 16 minutes of regulation and overtime to end up with a game high 31 points. Â From the time South Amboy retook the lead late in the third, there were 8 lead changes and 5 ties with neither team having a lead bigger than 4 points.
Harris would return in the fourth though, and immediately, he made his presence felt by hitting a three pointer to close the gap to 51-49, and then converting a traditional three point play after a Governors score to pull the Eagles within one at 53-52 with about five minutes remaining in regulation. Â Harris, who scored a team high 24 points for the Eagles, scored 12 of his points in the fourth quarter and overtime. Â McCarrick would eventually tie the game at 55-55 only to have Fruncillo answer with a three point play to put the Guvs back up at 58-55 with under three minutes left. Â South Amboy couldn’t pull away though. Â Missed free throws throughout the second half plagued the Guvs, and would help bring about their demise in this contest.
Over the next couple minutes, Cardinal McCarrick rallied to tie the game, and then take the lead. Â Aaron Lewis hit a couple floaters while St. Joseph’s transfer, Keyshawn Roach converted a traditional three point play to highlight an 8-3 run for a 63-61 lead. Â South Amboy battled back with scores by Fruncillo and Dan Murphy to go back out in front, 65-63 with 45.9 seconds remaining. Â McCarrick would tie the game, but South Amboy had the ball with 15.2 seconds left in regulation. Â Unfortunately for Guv fans, SAHS was unable to take advantage as they missed several opportunities to score as time expired. Â In the overtime, Fruncillo, who scored all of South Amboy’s points in the extra session, got the Guvs going with the opening score for a 67-65 lead, but Harris and Manny Warren hit three pointers for a 71-68 lead.
Fruncillo would answer with a score to close the gap to 71-70, but Warren then salted the game away with three foul shots including a pair with 1.4 seconds remaining to wrap up the 74-70 victory. Â Although South Amboy had the game high scorer with Fruncillo, McCarrick had a more balanced attack. Â Not only did the Eagles have four players in double figures, but they also had two players with 9 points each. Â Roach ended up with 12 points while Aaron Lewis and O’Leary added 10. Â Freshman Pop Brown and Warren each chipped in with 9. Â Steve Herdman pitched in for South Amboy with 19 points while Nick Kales added 8 and Murphy chipped in with 6.
Statistically speaking, South Amboy had 29 field goals including only one three pointer. Â The Guvs were woeful at the line, going just 11 of 31 from the charity stripe. Â Meanwhile, McCarrick fared much better from both beyond the arc and at the foul line. Â The Eagles ended up with 25 field goals including 9 from downtown to outscore South Amboy by a margin of 27-3 from beyond the arc. Â In addition, Cardy Mac shot 15 of 22 from the line for 73 percent, and outscored the Guvs by four from the charity stripe. Â McCarrick outscored South Amboy in three of the five periods with the fourth ending in a 19-19 tie. Â The atmosphere was quite electric. Â Both schools had plenty of fans in attendance, and the teams fed off their energy.
Most importantly though, the game was for a good cause. Â After the tremendous success of the Hurricane Sandy benefit game between these two schools at South Amboy High during last season’s opening weekend, Tom Reilly, Gary Lange, and many other important people in South Amboy got together again this year to help out two residents of the town, Samantha Carey and Kaitlyn Kehoe. Â Raffles were run between the third and fourth quarter with sports momentos being given to winners as well as a nice amount of change for the 50/50 winner. Â Another great job by not only the two teams, but all the people involved with this event.