BRANCHBURG, NJ–On Sunday night, GMC Hoops traveled over to the Branchburg Sports Complex to take in action from Week 6 of the 2016 Immaculata Fall League. GMC Hoops took in the final three games of the evening including two non-conference games. Below are capsules on those two games:
Somerville vs. Bridgewater-Raritan
GMC Hoops arrived at the half of this game with Bridgewater-Raritan leading 22-20. Somerville opened the second half with a 6-0 run for a 26-22 lead before Bridgewater-Raritan sank a three from the left wing to close the gap to one.
The trey sparked a 10-6 spurt over the next several minutes that was capped by a three to tie the game at 32-32 as the Pioneers called for time at the 12:42 mark. The Ville emerged from the stoppage with a purpose and put together an 11-8 run that was topped off by an exchange of threes by both teams for a 43-40 Pioneer lead.
Somerville then added a three point play for a 46-40 advantage with 4:43 to play. After a Bridgewater-Raritan score and a timeout with 3:20 left, the Pioneers went up by six again with a bucket. Somerville led 50-44 with about a minute to play before Bridgewater rallied with an 8-4 run highlighted by two threes including one with 11 seconds left for a 54-52 Somerville lead.
The Pioneers would pull out the hard fought, 56-52 win though with two free throws at the six second mark.
Franklin vs. Watchung Hills
In this battle of two old Skyland Conference rivals that have battled each other going back to the days of the Mid-State Conference, Watchung Hills jumped out to an 11-3 lead before a Franklin timeout at the 15:18 mark.
The Warriors from Warren scored three of the next 5 points over a span of about five and a half minutes for a 14-5 lead at the 9:44 mark. Watchung Hills then added 8 of the next 12 points including a couple threes for a 22-9 lead with 5:03 remaining in the opening half.
Watchung Hills didn’t stop there in this battle of Warriors. Instead, it added seven more points including a three, a jumper, and a putback for a 29-9 lead as Franklin called for time with three minutes to go in the first half. Franklin tried to get something going down the stretch by scoring 5 of the last 7 points of the period, but still trailed, 31-14 at the break.
Watchung Hills went back to work to start the second half with a 10-3 spurt before Franklin drew a foul on a three pointer, and made two free throws for a 41-19 Watchung lead with 15:58 left. Franklin tried to climb back into the game again by scoring 7 of the next 10 points in just 3:18 to narrow the deficit to 44-26 with 12:40 to go. The Warriors from Somerset continued to battle.
Over the next 4:27, Franklin scored another four points on putbacks as it pounded the offensive boards to close the gap to 44-30 with 8:13 to play. Following a timeout, Watchung Hills reasserted itself by scoring 9 of the next 11 points for a 53-32 lead with 6 minutes to go. Franklin then scored 4 of the next 6 points before an intentional foul gave Watchung Hills one of two FTs from the line for a 56-36 lead with 3:47 left.
The Warriors from Warren then scored four more on two transition layups for a 60-36 lead at the 2:16 mark. Watchung Hills went on to win, 62-36.