Early Start Lifts Hornets by Knights
NEPTUNE, NJ–Coming off a tough five point loss to a solid Red Bank Regional team in week six action at the 2014 Hoop Group Headquarters Fall League last Monday night, Old Bridge was looking to rebound in its week seven contest versus Holmdel. Unfortunately, the Knights were somewhat unlucky against the Hornets. After going back and forth with the Monmouth County school for the first 8:05 of the contest, and tying the game at 8-8 with a 4-0 run capped by a Kyle Parris basket from underneath, Old Bridge wasn’t able to get shots to fall. Instead, Holmdel’s game went into a higher gear, and the Hornets put together a decisive 12-0 tear over a span of 6:11 to take a 20-8 lead en route to a 46-41 victory.
If any play symbolized the kind of night it was for the Knights, it was the one at the 5:12 mark of the first half when junior guard, C.J. Santoro made a great back door cut for a layup, but his shot attempt rolled off the rim. Old Bridge did manage to score the last 8 points of the first half in spite of that to pull within four at the intermission (20-16). However, it was that kind of misfortune that plagued the Knights all night. Junior Luis Cruz did what he could to help the Knights cause with five points in the first half including a layup off a nice alleyoop feed from Parris to open the game with a 2-0 lead. Cruz then dished out a nice assist himself on a layup by Stephen Strom as he was fouled for a three point play, and a 20-13 Holmdel lead at the 1:24 mark of the first half.
Parris was also a contributor for OBHS in the opening half. Besides his nice alleyoop feed to Cruz for the game’s first points, he also sparked the late first half rally with a layup from the right low block at the 4:11 mark to close the gap to 20-10. Prior to that, Old Bridge had not scored in almost eight minutes. Cruz then had a hand in the final five points of the opening half for the Knights including a layup at the 34 second mark, and then one of two free throws with time expired for the four point Holmdel lead at the half. The Hornets then opened the second half with a 10-3 spurt including a five of the first 8 points over the initial 2:19 of the half, and then a pair of free throws followed by a three pointer at the 16:20 mark for a 30-19 lead.
Old Bridge didn’t give up though. Parris again got the Knights going again with a layup at the 15:34 mark, and then Connor Romano stroked a three pointer from the left side to close the gap to 30-24 with 14:45 remaining. Holmdel gave itself a little bit of breathing room with a three from about NBA range on the left wing for a 33-24 advantage at the 13:54 mark, but OBHS kept battling as Santoro caught a break this time with a kind roll on a floater at the 13:30 mark, and the Knights got another basket midway through the half to narrow the deficit to five at 33-28. After a bit of a scoring lull on both sides, Cruz got into the act again by drawing a foul on a three pointer, and making 2 of 3 from the foul line for a 33-30 Holmdel lead with 7:15 to go. Unfortunately, Old Bridge was unable to get any closer the rest of the way.
First, the Hornets struck for a three pointer from the right side of the key at the 6:37 mark for a 36-30 lead. Then, Holmdel added another score to go up by eight. The lead remained that way until Cruz, who had 13 points on the night, got a bucket with 2:33 to play to pull OBHS within six at 40-34. The Knights couldn’t find a way to get the deficit down to four or closer. Instead, the Hornets scored the next four points including a drive for a layup at the 2:24 mark, and after an OBHS timeout with 2:14 to play, they drew a foul that produced two free throws and a 44-34 lead at the 1:20 mark. Old Bridge scored 7 of the last 9 points including two free throws by Santoro at the 1:15 mark, a layup by Cruz with 0:47 to go, and then a three from the left side of the key with time running out by Romano for the final five point, 46-41 Holmdel victory.
After falling behind within the first 30 seconds of the game, Holmdel took the lead on a three pointer at the 17:05 mark. The Hornets then added a free throw at the 15:24 mark for a two point lead before Romano, who finished with 8 points, made two foul shots to tie the score at 4-4 with 14:55 remaining in the first half. Holmdel then scored the next four points including a layup at the 14:30 mark, and two free throws at the 13:53 mark for an 8-4 edge. Parris, who also scored 8 points in the contest for the Knights, then highlighted a 4-0 burst by OBHS with a layup that squared the game at 8-8 with under 12 minutes to play in the half. Holmdel then reeled off 12 unanswered points including a three pointer from the right corner at the 8:47 mark, a pull-up jumper from the right baseline at the 7:24 mark, and a three for a 19-8 lead with 6:45 to go in the half. From there, it was an uphill climb for Old Bridge, which fell to 5-2 on the fall with the loss. The Knights will finish out the season with a contest against another GMC team, South Amboy next Monday night (October 27th) at 6:00 PM on the Nets Court.