First Quarter Outburst Lifts Warriors Past Chiefs in Neighborhood Rivalry Game
| Sophomore Mattias Arrindell elevates for a jumper in the first period against Franklin in the Hoops for Troops Jubilee. Franklin won, 54-45. |
SOMERSET, NJ–The Piscataway Chiefs are showing signs of jelling just at the right time. After losing eight in a row including a one point loss to Perth Amboy, P-Way has begun to turn things around. Within the past couple weeks P-Way has won four of five including GMC Red victories over North Brunswick and Amboy and crossover wins over a J.F. Kennedy team that has also been playing better of late and Edison. On Saturday night, the Chiefs had a chance to climb within two games of .500 with a victory over neighborhood rival, Franklin in the Hoops for Troops Jubilee.
Franklin, which has also improved this season, and defeated another neighborhood rival from the GMC in New Brunswick at the MLK Jamboree on January 16th, was determined to preventing P-Way from getting closer to .500. The Warriors jumped out to a 16-4 lead late in the first period, outscored the Chiefs by a 12-3 margin from beyond the arc in the opening frame en route to an 20-7 lead, and never let its long time rival get any closer than five points in a 54-45 victory in the nightcap of the Hoops for Troops quadrupleheader.
Tyler Linen and Dale Swindell led the charge for Franklin with 11 points each while Irv Callender, the game MVP against New Brunswick at the MLK Jamboree, chipped in with 8 points. Richard Hare added 7 points for the winners as well. Darius Gillon led all scorers with a game high 15 points for the Chiefs while D’Ondre Dent, who recently returned to the lineup, and scored 12 points in a win at Perth Amboy on Thursday, chipped in with 11 points in a losing cause. Franklin finished with a 15-12 edge in points scored from beyond the arc. P-Way had three of its four treys over the last three quarters including a trey by Cameron Saintil (5 points) to close the gap to 40-35 with 4:59 remaining.
Franklin enjoyed a 13-9 edge in points scored at the foul line. The Warriors had a number of those charity shots down the stretch including two in the final seconds to pull away with a 14-10 showing for the win. The home team also had a 26-24 edge in points scored within the arc as well. Ten different players got into the scorebook for the Warriors while only seven did for the Chiefs. Both teams had two players score in double figures. Each team outscored the other in two of the four periods, but Franklin’s huge first quarter turned out to be the difference. The Warriors scored 11 of the first 15 points over a span of 3:48 as they opened the game with three straight threes, and added a layup.
Over the next 1:48, Franklin scored five more points including a three by Gregory Williams for a 16-4 lead. Despite a three pointer from Deandre Scott late in the period, Piscataway fell behind by a baker’s dozen heading into the second, and had to battle its way back into the game. It didn’t get any easier either as Franklin opened the second on a 9-5 run for a 29-12 lead before Gillon scored with 1:14 to play in the half for a 29-14 Warriors lead. P-Way then added a three to close the half on a 5-0 run to pull within a dozen at 29-17 going into the intermission. The Chiefs opened the third much like it ended the second as they scored the first four points including a bucket by Gillon at the 5:30 mark to close the gap to 29-21.
The Chiefs weren’t able to get closer though as Franklin scored 6 of the next 8 points in a span of 2:30 to go back up by double digits at 35-23. Piscataway answered with a 5-3 burst to climb back within single digits before the Warriors drew a foul, and made one of two from the line after being fouled with 0.4 seconds left for a 38-28 lead heading into the fourth. P-Way then began the final period by scoring 7 of the first 9 points including Saintil’s three from the left corner with just under five minutes remaining to pull within five. Franklin then got a score from Callender and two free throws from Malachi Walker for a 4-1 run, and a 44-36 lead with three minutes to play. The Chiefs weren’t able to get closer than seven the rest of the way.
Dent came up with a couple scores down the stretch including a traditional three point play for a 52-45 Franklin lead with 29.6 seconds to play. The Chiefs had an opportunity to get closer after the Warriors missed both ends of the double bonus with 21.7 seconds remaining. However, on its next possession, Piscataway committed a turnover with 19.6 to go, and Franklin sank two free throws the rest of the way to wrap up the 54-45 victory. With the win, Franklin improved to 9-5 overall and 4-1 against teams from the GMC while Piscataway fell to 6-10 overall including a 1-4 mark versus non-conference foes. The GMC dropped to 5-22 against teams from the Skyland Conference on the season.