White Leads Eagles to Opening Weekend Win Over Crusaders
SOUTH AMBOY, NJ—With Sayreville pulling out of the 2021 Friends of South Amboy Charity Basketball Games showcase due to COVID protocols, A.L. Johnson, which actually was a replacement for South River, had to face No. 5 Edison. The Eagles, which were scheduled to face Woodbridge on opening day before the Barrons backed out due to COVID, wound up defeating the Crusaders, 61-50.
The Eagles were led by the efforts of senior forward, Elisha White, who turned in a terrific performance in front of the fans in South Amboy Middle/High School Gym. White, the younger brother of Malachi White, a member of the 2019-20 GMC White champion and 2020 GMCT Final Four Eagles, led all scorers with a team high 29 points including three second half dunks, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.
Teammate Niko Barnes chipped in with 18 points, 9 boards, 4 assists, and a steal. Brian Hobson scrapped his way to adding 6 points, 4 steals, 3 rebounds, and an assist. Meanwhile, A.L. Johnson, which fell behind early 17-2, but never gave up until the very end, was led by senior forward, Joseph Carney, who led all scorers with a game high 30 points along with 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks.
Edison held a 44-24 advantage on points scored inside the arc while Johnson held a 15-6 edge in points scored from long distance. Both teams scored 11 points at the foul line. The Eagles held a 30-18 advantage in total rebounds and an 11-9 edge in assists while the Crusaders held a 9-7 edge in steals and a 4-2 edge in blocked shots.
White did it all on offense for the Eagles. He not only had his three dunks, but he also scored in the paint, in transition, on turnaround jumpers, and even from three point range. Edison jumped out on the Crusaders early with the first 17 points of the contest including a steal for a score by Hobson at the 5:19 mark, and a turnaround jumper from the right baseline by White at the 3:19 mark.
Johnson Regional didn’t get on the bound until about a minute left in the opening period, but used that little bit of momentum toward the end of the frame to put together a 13-4 spurt including 11 of the first 15 points of the second over a span of 3:25 to close the gap to 21-13 when the Eagles called for time at the 4:35 mark.
Out of the timeout, Edison regained control of the contest by scoring 7 of the last 10 points of the first half including a transition layup from the right side by Barnes with 1:10 left in the 2nd for a 28-16 lead at the intermission. The Eagles then increased the lead to fourteen at 39-25 when White capped an 11-9 start to the third with a steal that he proceeded to take down to the other end for his first dunk of the game at the 3:08 mark.
The Eagles finished the third by scoring 4 of the last 6 points including a putback by White for a 43-27 advantage heading into the final period. Edison began the fourth by scoring 5 of the first 7 points including White’s second jam of the game off an alleyoop pass from Barnes for a 48-29 advantage with 6:20 remaining in the contest.
Refusing to quit, the Crusaders kept battling as they rallied with a 12-5 spurt over a span of 4:21 before Hobson forced a steal and passed ahead to White who went in for his third flush of the game and a 55-41 lead with two minutes to play. Johnson continued to fight though, and knocked down back to back threes, and ended the game with a 9-6 run despite a late layup from Hobson to round out the final score.
With the victory, Edison starts the year at 1-0, and will be looking to resume play next week with a huge early season showdown versus GMC White rival, Colonia at Cangelosi Gymnasium on Tuesday, December 21st at 7:00 PM. Then, the Eagles will travel over to Iselin to take on J.F. Kennedy in an afternoon game on December 23rd. A.L. Johnson, which lost its opener at Roselle (57-46) on Friday, fell to 0-2 overall on the season.