Coyle And Summers Lead Tigers To 12th Straight Win
PERTH AMBOY, NJ–Coming off Tuesday night’s victory over South River that clinched the school’s first ever division title in boys basketball, Timothy Christian looked to keep the momentum going on Friday evening when it visited Perth Amboy Tech in another GMC Gold Clash. Â The Tigers started off a bit slowly, but their combination of stifling defense, great teamwork, and double figure scoring from seniors Zach Coyle and Brandon Summers proved to be too much for the Patriots in a 52-38 victory.
Coyle, a Sayreville native, turned in a game high 22 point performance while teammate Summers chipped in with 15 points to account for 71 percent of Timothy Christian’s scoring. Â More importantly though, on the defensive side of the ball, TCS did a solid job of bottling up big man, Jordan Little, who didn’t score much until the fourth quarter when he got the bulk of his team high 18 points along with 20 boards for another monster double-double. Â Seven different players scored for TCS while only four did for Amboy Tech with Little getting almost half of the points for the Pats.
The Tigers outscored the Patriots in each of the first three quarters including a 16-4 outburst in the third period that turned a 26-18 halftime lead into a 42-22 advantage heading into the final period. Â Amboy Tech then finished the game on a 16-9 run to make the score more respectable. Â Coyle scored 7 of his points in the first period, and then three more in the second for 10 points at the half while Brandon Summers chipped in with 6 points in the first 16 minutes. Â Despite that, the Tigers had to withstand a couple runs by Amboy Tech. Â First, after TCS jumped out to a 4-0 lead at the 6:10 mark on scores by Coyle and Summers, the Patriots replied with 7 of the next 9 points to take a 7-6 lead before Summers scored again on a jumper at the 1:58 mark for an 8-7 lead.
The shot by Summers sparked a 6-0 run to end the period including another score by Coyle for a 12-7 lead heading into the second. Â The Tigers then built up a 9 point, 20-11 lead midway through the second before Amboy Tech rallied again with five straight points to pull within four. Â Timothy Christian then closed the half on a 6-2 run that included a score by Matt DiLeo (3 points), who scratched a clawed all game against the bigger Little, and a three from Josh Decker to give the Tigers the eight point cushion at the intermission. Â The third quarter proved to be the backbreaker as TCS’ team defense began to frustrate Amboy Tech, and the Tigers took advantage to break the game open. Â Timothy Christian began the second half on a 9-0 run that was sparked by a three from Coyle, and then capped by a jumper from Summers for a 35-18 advantage at the 3:56 mark of the third.
Over a span of about six minutes, TCS had outscored Perth Amboy Tech by a margin of 15-2 for its 17 point lead. Â The Tigers weren’t through either. Â They ended the quarter by scoring 7 of the last 11 points including a three by Jarret Locke from between the midcourt line and the three point line as time ran out for the 42-22 lead. Â Locke did almost the exact same thing against the Patriots at Amboy Tech last year in a game that Timothy Christian rallied to win from behind in overtime. Â From there, the Tigers coasted to the 52-38 victory to improve to 13-4 on the season including a 12-2 mark in the Greater Middlesex Conference, and an 11-0 record in the Gold Division. Â With the loss, Amboy Tech fell to 7-7 overall, 5-6 in conference, and 4-6 in divisional play. Â In the contest, TCS only had a slight 15-14 edge in two point field goals, but outscored Amboy Tech by a 12-6 margin from beyond the arc, and a 10-4 margin from the foul line.
GAME NOTES: Â Timothy Christian has now won 12 straight games since losing four in a row back in December. Â TCS is yet to lose in 2014. Â The Tigers will face Cardinal McCarrick in a key crossover game before the GMCT seeding meeting on Friday when the Tigers and Eagles will square off at TCS on Monday night at 6:30 PM. Â Prior to the varsity contest, the JV squads went at it with Perth Amboy Tech winning 41-28. Â Amboy Tech’s JV coach is Felix Romero, who coached the Manasquan HS girls basketball team to the T of C title two years ago. Â In three Amboy Tech games covered by GMC Hoops this season, Jordan Little has averaged 20.3 points and 26.7 rebounds per game.