PISCATAWAY, NJ–On Thursday afternoon, GMC Hoops traveled over to Piscataway High School for fourth quarter action from the Quarterfinal game of the 2016 East Brunswick/GMC JV Tournament between the 3rd seeded JV Chiefs and 6th seeded St. Joseph’s. Leading 40-34 with 5:40 remaining, St. Joe’s gradually pulled away with a 18-14 showing for a 58-48 victory. Sashank Sindhia led the way for the Junior Falcons with a game high 16 points while Ryan Granito chipped in with 15. Matthews led the way for the JV Chiefs in a losing cause with 15 while Washington chipped in with 12. Below are the game notes from the action:
First Quarter
Piscataway jumps out to a 17-14 lead after one period. The Junior Chiefs had four different players score and had 4 field goals, two threes, and 3 of 4 from the line. St. Joseph’s had five different players score in the quarter, and had 4 field goals and 2 threes in the period. Sashank Sindhia led the way with 5 points for the JV Falcons while Dajhaun Bennerman and Washington led the Junior Chiefs with 5 while Matthews chipped in with 4.
Second Quarter
St. Joseph’s clamped down defensively in the second period and put together a 9-4 edge in the frame For a 23-21 lead at the intermission. P-Way’s four points came on two field goals from Washington. St. Joe’s JV had only three different players score, and had a 3 pointer, a field goal, and went 4 of 4 from the line. Sindhia led the Junior Falcons again with 4 points while Ryan Granito added 3, and Simon Llaguno chipped in with 2. At the half, St. Joseph’s had 5 field goals, 3 treys, and went 4 of 4 from the charity stripe. Piscataway had 6 field goals, two threes, and went 3 of 4 from the line.
Third Quarter
St. Joe’s increased its lead to 34-30 after three periods with a 11-9 edge in the frame. Three different players scored for Joes including Sashank with 5, Granito with 4, and Danny Young with 2. P-Way also had three different players score including Matthews with 4, Terry with 3, and Delia with 2. The JV Falcons had its 11 points on 4 field goals and 3 of 5 from the line while P-Way had three field goals and a three pointer.
Fourth Quarter
5:40–Arrive with St. Joseph’s leading Piscataway 40-34 after scoring 6 of the first 10 points in the period.
5:03–Piscataway trails St. Joe’s 42-34 after the JV Falcons made a pair of free throws.
4:00–St. Joseph’s draws a foul, and makes 1 of 2 from the line for a 43-34 lead.
1:11 left in the game and PWay calls time after Matthews hit a three from the right wing to close within five at 49-44. JV Chiefs on a 10-6 run. Luke Valeriano and Josh Gestosani had scores for the JV Falcons while Gestosani added a pair of free throws.
1:05 left in the game and Joes JV calls a full timeout after making a couple free throws by Granito moments earlier for a 51-44 lead.
56.9 remaining and Matthews fouled on the drive for P-Way and made one of two from the line for a 53-45 St. Joe’s lead. Granito sank another pair of free throws for a 53-44 lead.
0:00–Game just ended here at Piscataway with the 3rd seeded JV Chiefs losing to 6th seeded Joes 58-48. Junior Falcons close out the game by scoring 7 of the last 11 points all coming from the line, and outscored the Junior Chiefs by a 24-18 margin in the fourth. St. Joseph’s went 9 of 10 from the charity stripe over the final 1:11 of the game, and 16 of 17 from the line in the fourth quarter. St. Joseph’s had 6 different players score in the fourth quarter including: Ryan Granito (6 points), Timmy Carroll (5 points), Luke Valeriano (4 points), Josh Gestosani (4 points), Danny Young (3 points), and Sashank Sindhia (2 points). Piscataway had five different players score including Matthews with 7 including two threes, Dread (4 points), Washington (3 points), and Delia and Dajhaun Bennerman with 2 points. St. Joseph’s had four field goals along with their 16 of 17 effort from the line in the period while Piscataway had 5 field goals, two threes, and went 2 of 5 from the line. For the game, the JV Falcons had 13 field goals and 23 of 26 from the line while Piscataway had 14 field goals, 5 threes, and went 5 of 9 from the line.