EDISON, NJ–On Tuesday night, GMC Hoops traveled over to the Physical Education Center on the Edison Campus of Middlesex County College to take in the semifinal rounds of the playoffs in the 2009 Middlesex County College Summer League. For ten straight summers, the web site has been covering this league through its ups and downs. There were two games on the docket on Tuesday night, and both involved GMC teams. Take a look at all of the playoff results from the first two rounds of action as well as the tourney bracket.
In an earlier matchup, East Brunswick, which was the fifth seed in this year’s tourney, upended top seeded, and previously unbeaten, Keyport to earn a date in the finals. The question was, which team were the Bears going to play, South Plainfield or South River. In the nightcap of the semifinal doubleheader, the Tigers and Rams got entangled in a rematch of a game played on the second night of the season, which South River won. The second seeded Rams reached this point thanks to a 52-27 victory over tenth seeded St. Joseph’s in the Quarterfinals while sixth seeded South Plainfield defeated third seeded Timothy Christian in the Elite Eight by a score of 29-28.
Walsh And Fenton Team Up To Lead Rams To Championship, 47-33
In a game that was fairly close for much of the first half, the South River Rams took a five point halftime lead, and then outscored South Plainfield by a margin of 18-6 over the first 13:30 of the second half to take a 41-24 lead with approximately 6:30 remaining to go on to win by a final score of 47-33 in the second semifinal of the 2009 MCC Summer League Playoffs. Soon to be senior, Brandon Walsh, led the way with a team high 25 points for the Rams while teammate Shawn Fenton chipped in with 17. GMC Hoops arrived at the game with 4:11 remaining in the first half, and South River leading, 16-11. South Plainfield got on the board moments later with a layup to pull within three at 16-13 with 4:03 to play in the half. The Tigers then added one of two from the line at the 3:11 mark for a two point, South River lead, 16-14.
A little more than a half minute later, Walsh passed to Fenton for a three pointer from the right wing, and a 19-14 lead at the 2:29 mark. South Plainfield countered with an offensive rebound and follow off a miss to close the gap to three again at 19-16 with two minutes to go before halftime. South River went back up by five on a drive into the paint for a layin, and a 21-16 lead. The Tigers had a chance to pull within three, but traveled at the 1:03 mark. South River blew an opportunity as well when it misfired on two free throw attempts at the 38 second mark. South Plainifield then stole a pass near their bench, and went in for a layup while being fouled with 9.6 seconds to go. After the Tigers missed the bonus free throw, Walsh got the ball, and weaved his way through South Plainfield’s defense for a layup and a 23-18 lead with 1.2 seconds left in the half as the Rams led by five at the break.
In the second half, the Rams pulled away with a 24-15 showing over the final twenty minutes for the win. Walsh picked up right were he left off in the first half by swiping a steal, and handed out an assist on a Xavier Foster layup for a 25-18 lead with 19:25 to go. South Plainfield prevented the Rams from going further out in front when it rejected a Walsh shot attempt at the 17:56 mark. The Tigers then got a bucket to pull within five again before Fenton got an offensive rebound off a Walsh miss at the other end, and put in the follow for a 27-20 lead with 17:42 left. Over two minutes went by before there would be another score as South Plainfield’s Carlos Ruiz made two free throws to close the gap to five at 27-22 at the 15:37 mark. South River began to take over at this point as the Rams got on the board for the first time in 3:06 on a nice weave play between Foster, who sat out much of the first half, and Walsh that resulted in the latter getting fouled and going to the line for two foul shots, and a 29-22 lead.
There would be another lull in the scoring for about 2:38 before Walsh stole the ball, and drove in for a layup that drew a flagrant foul from Ruiz, and resulted in two free throws, and a 31-22 lead at the 11:58 mark. On the ensuing inbounds underneath the South Plainfield basket, Walsh lobbed the ball to Fenton, who tipped the pass in for a 33-22 lead. The Rams then added another score to go up by the score of 35-22 when the Tigers called for time with 10:35 left. Following the timeout, Fenton made one of two at the line for a 36-22 lead, and South Plainfield countered with a layup from Troy McNair for a 36-24 score at the 7:49 mark. On the Rams next possession, Foster passed to Walsh on the right side for a three pointer, and a 39-24 lead. South River added another basket for its largest lead of the game before South Plainfield closed with a 9-6 run that included a score from Malcolm Austin. The Rams put an exclamation point on the win when Fenton was fouled on a reverse layup for a three point play at the 1:04 mark. With the 47-33 victory, South River improved to 10-1 overall while South Plainfield ended the summer at 6-4.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| South River (10-1) | 23 | 24 | 47 |
| South Plainfield (6-4) | 18 | 15 | 33 |
GMC Hoops was back out at Middlesex County College on Wednesday for the Championship Game between South River and East Brunswick.