SOUTH AMBOY, NJ–On Friday night, GMC Hoops made a stop over at South Amboy Middle-High School to take in the nightcap game of the final day of week two action at the 2016 Raritan Bay Summer League. The contest featured two teams from the 7th and 8th Grade Division, the Central Jersey Jayhawks and Our Lady of Victory from Sayreville.
Both teams got off to a little bit of a slow start offensively, but eventually picked things up in what turned out to be a very entertaining contest. The Central Jersey Jayhawks had a 15-10 lead with about 8 minutes to play in the first half and then after both teams struggled for a few minutes to get the ball in the basket, the Jayhawks finished the half on an 8-3 run including two scores in the final minute before the intermission to take a 23-13 lead.
However, OLV came out blazing to start the second half. Over the first 7:30 of the second half, Our Lady of Victory put together a decisive 20-4 surge that turned the 10 point halftime deficit into a 33-27 lead with 12:30 remaining. The Jayhawks responded by scoring 6 of the next 8 points to close the gap to 35-33 with just under seven minutes to play, but couldn’t get any closer as OLV grew the lead back to ten on a couple of occasions before winning 52-45.
Below are game notes from the last 28:01 of the action:
First Half
8:01–Arrive with Central Jersey Jayhawks leading Our Lady of Victory, 15-10.
4:00–Both teams struggling to score as the Jayhawks still lead 15-10.
0:00–Jayhawks finish the half on an 8-3 run including two scores in the final minute by Rodriguez for a 23-13 lead at the intermission.
Second Half
12:30–OLV leads 33-27 after a 20-4 surge to open the half.
6:45–CJH–on a 6-2 run to pull within two at 35-33.
3:01–OLV–calls timeout after getting a loose ball. On an 8-0 run for a 43-33 lead.
2:44–CJH–basket and foul by Rodriguez, but he misses bonus FT for a 43-35 OLV lead.
2:20–CJH–gets another score from Dieguez to close gap to 43-37.
1:00–OLV–gets score to cap an 8-4 run for a 51-41 lead.
0:00–CJH finishes the game with two layups in the final 30 seconds, but OLV wins 52-45.