Raiders Defense Shuts Down High Scoring Rams in GMC Gold Clash
| Piscataway Tech’s Frank Howard skies for a rebound in the first half against South River. |
PISCATAWAY, NJ–Similar to its last encounter with South River, Piscataway Tech scored over 70 points, and there was plenty of up and down action from both sides. Â However, there was one big difference in this latest GMC Gold clash between the Raiders and Rams on Wednesday night, and that was P-Way Tech’s defense. Â The Raiders limited South River to just 55 points, and a good deal of that came in a 15-6 Rams tear over the final three minutes of Piscataway Tech’s 71-55 victory.
Sophomore Letrell West flourished in the Raiders run and gun attack with 25 points including 14 in the first half while senior Marc Fychok chipped in with 17 points. Â Kyle Wider added 8 points for the winners while Herman Pimetel contributed with 7 points and 11 rebounds and Hussein Hussein collected 12 boards. Â South River’s Sean Darrar, who has been leading the state in scoring with over 26 points per game, was limited to just 14 points, and didn’t get his first field goal until he hit a jumper with 2:29 remaining in the game. Â Zach Torres and Antonio Martinez chipped in with 9 each for the Rams.
After a three pointer by South River’s Patrick Genthe, Piscataway Tech broke away from an 11-7 late first quarter lead with an 18-9 spurt over a span of 6:01 to take a 29-16 advantage. Â West converted two three point plays during the run while Wider added two scores of his own including a pull-up jumper with just over three minutes to play in the first half to put the Raiders up by a baker’s dozen. Â The Rams battled back by ending the first half on a 7-4 run thanks to five points from Mario Nigro, and starting the second half with 6 of the first 8 points on a three from Cyrus Byrd and a three point play by Martinez that closed the gap to 35-29 with 6:24 to go in the third.
Piscataway Tech wouldn’t let South River get any closer though. Â Instead, the Raiders went on a 15-5 tear to end the third for a 50-34 advantage heading into the fourth. Â Fychok highlighted the early portion of the run with a layup following another trey by Byrd that closed the gap to seven. Â West then capped the run with two scores in the final minute of the frame. Â The Raiders continued to put the pedal to the medal in the fourth quarter by starting the stanza on a 15-6 tear for a 30-11 surge over a span of 10:27 to take a commanding 65-40 lead. Â The Rams actually started the fourth with the first four points including a layup by Zach Torres to close the gap to 50-38 with 7:24 remaining, but the Raiders took over from there.
P-Way Tech scored 15 of the next 16 points over a span of 3:27 as Fychok scored on a layup from the left side off a nice crosscourt pass from Wider at the 4:58 mark followed by a three pointer by West, and then a three point play by West with 3:57 remaining for the Raiders largest lead of the game. Â South River finished strong by scoring 15 of the last 21 points over the last half of the fourth as Darrar scored 6 points in the final 2:29 while Torres added a layup and a three from the right wing to help round out the scoring in the contest. Â Eight different players scored in the game for Piscataway Tech while all six players that got in the game for South River got into the scorebook. Â P-Way Tech enjoyed a 28-12 edge in two point field goals while South River outscored the Raiders by an 18-6 margin from beyond the arc. Â Both teams scored 9 points from the foul line.
With the victory, Piscataway Tech improved to 10-4 overall including a 9-2 mark in the GMC Gold. Â Meanwhile, South River, which lost its second straight game, fell to 7-7 overall including a 5-4 mark in conference play. Â Piscataway Tech will next face Perth Amboy Tech in a GMC Gold showdown on Friday evening at P-Way Tech. Â Amboy Tech leads the Gold Division with a 10-1 mark in league along with an 11-2 mark overall after defeating East Brunswick Tech on Wednesday night (65-53).