Veteran Duo Combine to Score 34 Points in Knights, 60-42 Win
OLD BRIDGE, NJ—Two years ago, junior Ryan Witte and senior Jayden St. Rose were bright spots in games were Old Bridge struggled. On January 11, 2020, the Knights trailed Monroe 39-15 at halftime as everything that possibly could gone wrong that day did. However, inspired by the scrappy, energetic, and determined play of Witte, then a freshman, the Knights rallied to make a game of it before losing to the Falcons, 69-60.
Two weeks later, on January 26, 2020, in the Aliyah Outscores Diabetes Classic at Marist High School in Bayonne, St. Rose joined forces with classmate Miles Sala to combine for 18 second half points on six three pointers to turn what had been a 36-4 North Bergen halftime lead into a much more respectable 54-36 defeat.
On Tuesday, in the 2022 GMCT Boys Preliminary Round at Old Bridge High School, both showed the same characteristics from those two contests two years earlier to inspire 13th seeded Old Bridge to a 60-42 victory over an improved 20th seeded Woodbridge squad. Witte and St. Rose ended up sharing game high with 17 points, but both went about it in ways befitting their style of play.
Witte garnered his 17 points with numerous putbacks along with a coast to coast drive to the hoop for an and one that sparked a decisive 16-1 Knights tear for a 28-17 second quarter lead. Meanwhile, St. Rose used his athleticism, ball handling, and playmaking ability to end up with his 17. Both tallied their game high on 7 field goals and 3 foul shots.
Junior football standout, Brady Cavallaro and freshman sharpshooter Krish Patel both chipped in with 8 points including two three pointers while junior guard, Adam Scire added a three and a layup for 5 points. Anthony Rahner contributed with a three pointer from the right corner in the second half while freshman Brandon Medel chipped in with a field goal to round out the Knights scoring.
Woodbridge was led by senior forward, Nick Hilenski, who scored a team high 8 points. Classmate Jake Serrano and freshman Derek Anderson added 7 points while sophomores Kendall Pala, Micah Eason, and Jayce Green chipped in with 6, 5, and 4 points respectively. Senior guard Asad Lane rounded out the scoring with a three pointer from the right wing with 21 seconds left and Bryan Anderson added a field goal to round out the Barron scoring.
The Knights defense did a tremendous job shutting down the sophomore guard tandem of Eason and Green. Entering the contest, the duo was averaging a combined 23.3 points per game, or approximately 44 percent of Woodbridge’s scoring on the season, but were held to just a total of 9 points, or about 21 percent of the Barrons output in the contest.
Eight different players scored for Woodbridge while seven got in the books for Old Bridge including two in double figures. Old Bridge scored 36 points from within the arc, 18 from long distance, and six from the foul line. Four different players connected on threes including two by Cavallaro and Patel. The Knights outscored the Barrons in each of the four quarters.
Things didn’t start out that way though. After Old Bridge opened the game with a 12-10 first quarter lead, Woodbridge started out fast in the second with a 6-0 run that consisted of scores from Hilenski, Pala, and Derek Anderson for a 16-12 lead at the 5:43 mark. The Knights responded quickly and effectively by scoring 16 of the next 17 points over a span of about 4 minutes to take an 11 point lead late in the period.
Sparking the run was Witte, who pulled down a rebound at his own end, dribbled his way past defenders down court along the sideline adjacent to the team benches, and then drove across the paint for a layup as he was fouled at the 5:22 mark. A short time later, St. Rose followed up with a putback off a missed three before Patel netted a trey from the right wing to give Old Bridge a 19-16 lead with 3:53 left in the 2nd.
Old Bridge didn’t stop there as they scored 8 of the next 9 points including a turnaround shot from the right low block by Witte, a layup by Medel off a feed from Scire at the 2:09 mark of the 2nd, and then a three by Scire himself to cap the spurt. Trailing 28-17, the Barrons scored the last five points of the first half including a three from the left corner by Serrano to narrow the deficit to six at the intermission.
Outscoring the Barrons by a margin of 32-20 in the second half, Old Bridge essentially put the game away with a 17-7 showing in the third quarter for a 45-29 lead entering the final period. Sparking the third period surge was a three from the right side from Patel off a penetrate and kick by St. Rose at the 5:54 mark for a 33-22 lead.
Then, Cavallaro struck for a triple from the right corner off another penetrate and dish by Scire for a 41-26 lead at the 3:11 mark of the third. Witte then capped the frame with a putback off a missed three point attempt for a 16 point lead going into the fourth. The Knights eventually led by as many as 23 at 54-31 with 5:43 left following a 9-2 start to the final frame as St. Rose dribbled into the paint for two scores.
Woodbridge closed out the game on a positive note by scoring 11 of the last 17 points including a high arching three from the left wing by Derek Anderson with 2:03 remaining for a 58-39 Old Bridge lead, and then Lane’s trey in the final half minute to close out the Knights 60-42 victory. With the win, Old Bridge improved to 8-13 overall and 7-11 in conference while Woodbridge concluded its season at 8-13 including an 8-10 mark in the GMC.
Advancing to the GMCT Round of 16 on Thursday, Old Bridge travels to face GMC Red, neighborhood rival, and 4th seeded Monroe at 7:00 PM. The two schools played twice during the regular season with Monroe winning both times on December 23rd (59-44) and January 25th (56-50). The Knights and Falcons are also slated to meet in the opening round of the 2022 NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 4 playoffs on February 28th.