GMC Hoops Summary–South River Wins Clash of the Rams, 64-39
Freshmen Duo of Whitaker and DeSantis Help South River Turn Slow Start into Win
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| South River freshman, Derrick Whitaker puts up a jumper in the second half against Wardlaw. Whitaker finished with a game high 20 points to lead the Rams to a 64-39 win. |
SOUTH RIVER, NJ–Coming into the 2015-16 GMC Boys Basketball season, the expectations were not high for the South River Rams. With the graduation of Sean Darrar, the second leading scorer in SRHS history, and third Rams player in as many years to go over 1,000 points for his career, and only three players with any varsity experience coming back, it was hard to see South River reaching the same level it has been at over the past several years. However, as this season has begun to unfold, things have gradually changed.
First, South River raised some eyebrows on opening day by taking to the wire (72-69 loss) a South Amboy team that was picked to finish 2nd in the GMC Gold Division by GMC Hoops and gave Sayreville trouble a little more than 24 hours later at the Friends of South Amboy Showcase. Then, over the holidays, the Rams pulled out a thrilling last second victory over Keansburg in the opening round of the Keansburg Tourney. (see game notes, highlights, photos, and slideshow). South River has continued to play well at the start of 2016 with an overtime win over Amboy Tech on Saturday, and a win at Piscataway Tech on Monday.
Wardlaw has surprised some early on this season as well. Entering the Wednesday afternoon contest with South River, the Rams from North Edison scored Gold Division wins over Timothy Christian and Dunellen en route to a 3-1 start. In the beginning, it appeared that Wardlaw was going to be the one continuing on its good start to the season. The Rams of Wardlaw opened the game with the first 7 points in the initial 2:48 of the contest including a three pointer from the top of the key by freshman guard, Ryan Patela, a bucket by senior, Garrett Racz, and a baseline shot by senior Brendan O’Brien. Meanwhile, South River’s offense appeared to be stagnant against Wardlaw’s zone. However, South River turned the tables with a zone press that make the game’s style more up-tempo and helter-skelter, and freshmen Derrick Whitaker and Mike DeSantis took advantage.
Whitaker ended up with a game high 20 points while DeSantis chipped in with 17 as South River went on a 26-8 surge over a span of 11:13 to take a 26-15 lead on a three pointer by Antonio Martinez. Then, after Wardlaw ended the half with the final four points, all courtesy of Scott Hargrove, to pull within single digits at the intermission, South River opened the second half on an 11-0 run to take a 37-19 lead. Wardlaw made one last gasp attempt to get back into the contest by scoring seven unanswered points including a coast to coast layup by Jordan Rose to pull within 11 at 37-26, but South River didn’t let the visitors from North Edison get any closer than that the rest of the way by closing the game on a 27-12 surge that was sparked by threes from DeSantis (at the end of the third) and senior Mario Nigro (at the start of the fourth) and also included six free throws from Whitaker, and a couple more baskets by DeSantis for the 64-39 victory.
South River had eight different players get into the scorebook in this contest including three that scored in double figures: Whitaker, DeSantis, and Nigro, who added 11 points in the victory. Six different players scored for Wardlaw including Brendan O’Brien, who scored 7 of his team high 11 points in the second half to lead the visitors while Patela finished with 10 points for the Rams including two threes. Four freshmen combined played in the contest for both teams including three for South River: Whitaker, DeSantis, and Zac Raffano and Patela for Wardlaw. South River’s frosh trio accounted for 39 of the team’s 64 points. South River outscored Wardlaw by a margin of 15-6 from beyond the arc, and 13-7 from the foul line. South River was 13 of 17 from the charity stripe including 9 of 11 by Whitaker. Wardlaw was only 7 of 20. South River had 20 team fouls versus only 14 for Wardlaw. South River outscored Wardlaw in each period.
Wardlaw, which suffered its only loss of the season to the Princeton Day School over the holidays at the Ernie Vajda Tournament on December 30th, came out flying by playing a solid halfcourt game at both ends. It wasn’t until South River applied pressure that the game changed on its ear. Regardless of the personnel and relative inexperience, the South River Rams up and down style, has given them a chance to be in every game, and their frenetic style was the difference. South River’s pressure forced turnovers, which created transition opportunities for easy layups and open threes, and it took full advantage. Wardlaw, by contrast, struggle to get into a rhythm offensively the rest of the way. After Wardlaw’s 7-0 start to the game, the Rams rallied back by scoring 10 of the last 12 points of the first including two free throws by Whitaker, a layup by DeSantis, and a three from the right corner by Nigro to tie the game at 7-7 with 1:59 remaining in the first.
After a bucket by Garrett Racz put Wardlaw back up 9-7, South River scored the last three points of the opening frame including a layup by DeSantis and one of two from the line by Whitaker for a 10-9 lead. South River then opened up the second with 5 of the first six points including a three from the right wing by Whitaker for a 15-10 lead at the 5:15 mark. Wardlaw drew within four on a three from the right wing by Patela at the 3:38 mark, but South River then scored 9 of the next 11 points over a span of 1:39 to take a 26-15 lead. Hargrove then hit back to back floaters to end the half and put Wardlaw back within single digits at 26-19 at the break, but it would never get closer than that the rest of the way. South River scored the first 11 points of the second half in a span of 4:18 to take a commanding 37-19 lead. Whitaker highlighted the run with a conventional three point play at the 5:22 mark. Wardlaw then put together its best run of the second half by scoring 7 unanswered points over a span of 2:23 to close within 11 again at 37-26.
However, DeSantis and Nigro hit their threes, and South River went up by 20 at 46-26 with 6:54 remaining, and never looked back. DeSantis added a leaner at the 4:59 mark for a 52-29 lead, Whitaker went 6 of 6 from the line down the stretch, and Nigro added a putback to help wrap up South River’s win. With the victory, South River is now 5-2 overall on the season including a 3-1 mark in the GMC Gold. Wardlaw drops to 3-2 overall including a 2-1 mark in divisional play. Both teams will be back in action on Friday with division games. Wardlaw will be hosting East Brunswick Tech at 5:30 PM in North Edison while South River will travel to Timothy Christian, which knocked off South Amboy on the road on Wednesday night. TCS has won two straight after losing three in a row, and now stands at 4-3 overall on the year including a 4-1 mark in conference play, and a 3-1 record in division.