NEPTUNE, NJ–On Monday night, GMC Hoops traveled down to the Hoop Group Headquarters, formerly known as Rebounds to take in the sixth night of action from the 2009 Hoop Group Headquarters High School Boys Fall League. This is the fourth straight year that the site is covering this league. Six teams from the Greater Middlesex Conference are competing in this league, and the site was able to see three of them in some sort of action. South Brunswick was in our featured game at 9:00 PM. Check out the results of the three games covered by the site with the rest of the contests, and the latest standings.
The web site saw three contests involving teams from the Shore Conference versus the Greater Middlesex Conference including unbeaten South Amboy taking on Toms River East in a battle of David and Goliath from Division B, and East Brunswick battling Brick Township at 8:00 PM. The third contest was our featured matchup as South Brunswick looked to win its second game of the fall as it took on winless Asbury Park. Cardinal McCarrick, South River, and Spotswood all played their games before 8:00 PM so the site wasn’t able to see them in action.
Toms River East Crushes South Amboy, 61-30
In the first game of our Monday night tripleheader from the Hoop Group Headquarters, South Amboy was looking for its first win of the fall as it took on Toms River East, which only had one win on the season. The Raiders, a Group IV school, looked tough to beat though on this night as the Guvs weren’t getting any luv. Without Joe Charmello in the lineup, South Amboy, a Group I school, is having a tough time with its opponents in this fall league. Charmello suffered an injury in an opening night loss to Lacey on September 21st. Charmello, a senior who had an injury during AAU season, suffered the injury to his other foot.
The Raiders, which finished first in Division B in the 2009 Hoop Group Headquarters Spring League, jumped out to a 23-8 lead with five minutes remaining in the first half. After South Amboy got a basket, Toms River East resumed its onslaught with a 13-0 tear over the final four minutes to take what would be an insurmountable 36-10 lead into the brief intermission. Highlighting the late first half run was a field goal at the 3:28 mark for a 27-10 lead, and a layup with two seconds left for the 26 point advantage at halftime. The Governors, led by Luke O’Connor fought valiantly in the second half, and at times looked more competitive, but it didn’t make a difference.
Toms River East began the second half with a 7-5 run over the first 2:57 for a 43-17 lead at the 17:03 mark. O’Connor then made a layup at the 16:35 mark for a 43-19 lead. After a field goal by the Raiders, the Guvs got on the board again with a one of two showing from the foul line for a 45-18 TRE lead with 13:11 left. Immediately coming down the floor, the Raiders put in a fast break layup for a 47-18 lead with exactly thirteen minutes remaining. Toms River East then scored five more points including a three pointer at the 11:18 mark to take a 52-18 lead as South Amboy’s coach, John Zammit, called timeout.
Following the stoppage, the Guvs played better as they outscored the Raiders by a 12-9 margin the rest of the way, but the damage had already been done as Toms River East won, 61-30. With the victory, the Raiders improved to 2-4 on the fall while the Guvs remained winless at 0-6. Both teams will be back in action next Monday night as South Amboy faces Ocean Township at 8:00 PM on the Knicks Court while Toms River East will battle another GMC foe in South River on the Nets Court at 6:00 PM.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toms River East (2-4) | 36 | 25 | 61 |
| South Amboy (0-6) | 10 | 20 | 30 |
Strong Second Half Propels East Brunswick Again, 48-34
For the second straight week, GMC Hoops got to see the Bears in action, and they continue to play well with their third straight win. Once again, EB pulled away in the second half from what had been a fairly taut game. Over the final 20 minutes of the contest, East Brunswick outscored Brick Township of Ocean County by a 20-10 margin to secure the 48-34 victory. Over the final 10:19 of the first half, there was only one lead change and one tie, but the Bears were unable to blow it open despite an 11-2 spurt over a span of 7:45. Trailing 26-17 with 2:34 to go in the half, the Green Dragons rallied with a 7-2 burst to close to within four again at 28-24 going into the brief intermission.
Leading 13-12 with a little more than 10 minutes to play, East Brunswick got on the board thanks to a Joe Ross layup off an assist by John Genco for a 15-12 lead. However, Brick Township came right down, and scored a layup while being fouled for a three point play, and a 15-15 tie at the 10:01 mark. The Bears went back out in front for good though when sophomore Mike Summerer passed to Genco on the left wing for a three pointer, and an 18-15 advantage with 9:12 remaining in the frame. A little over two minutes later, Summerer handed out another assist on a layup by Dan Sclafani that made the score, 20-15 in favor of EB with 7:05 to go in the half.
Genco then handed an assist out on a layup down low for a 7-0 spurt and a 22-15 lead with 6:49 to play in the half. East Brunswick then scored four of the next six points including a tip in by Summerer at the 2:34 mark for a 26-17 lead. After the Green Dragons scored to close to within seven, Summerer got the final EB points of the period with a short hook from the left low block for a 28-19 advantage. Brick Township then closed out the first half scoring with an offensive rebound off an own miss with 54 seconds to go, and then a three pointer from the left wing with a half minute left for a 28-24 EB edge at the intermission. GMC Hoops then went over to watch some of the game between South Amboy and Toms River East, which was occurring over on an adjacent court.
In the second half, the site returned to see that the Bears had taken control of the game. East Brunswick went on a 13-4 spurt over the initial 9:38 of the second half for a 41-28 lead with 10:22 remaining. The Bears defense tightened up, and continued to thwart the Green Dragons by drawing a charge at the nine minute mark. Brick Township got a three pointer to pull within ten, but EB didn’t let them get any closer. Thanks to one of two free throws at the 7:34 mark, a Sclafani offensive rebound and follow of a Bobby Fullem miss, and a Ross assist on a Summerer layup, East Brunswick was able to prevail 48-34. With the victory, the Bears improve to 4-2 while Brick falls to 2-4. Next Monday, both teams will be back in action as East Brunswick takes on Red Bank Catholic at 9:00 PM on the Nets Court while Brick Township takes on Shore Regional two hours earlier at 7:00 PM on the same court.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Brunswick (4-2) | 28 | 20 | 48 |
| Brick Township (2-4) | 24 | 10 | 34 |
Asbury Park Holds Off Furious South Brunswick Rally For First Win, 53-51
For the first time this fall, GMC Hoops was able to get a good look at the Vikings of South Brunswick. After winning their first game of the fall by defeating Freehold Township-White in the opener, the Vikes have fallen on hard times with four straight losses entering this evening’s play. Meanwhile, SBHS’s opponent, the Bishops of Asbury Park, were still looking for their first win of the fall. For much of the game, tempo dictated how things went as Asbury Park forced 28 Viking turnovers on the game while committing 21 itself. At one point, it appeared that the Bishops were going to blow the game wide open with a 42-26 lead with 14:57 remaining, but South Brunswick showed a lot of heart in almost coming all the way back in a 53-51 loss.
For the game, the Vikings went 21 of 51 from the floor for 41 percent including 5 of 11 from long range for 45 percent. On the other side of the scorebook, Asbury Park was 22 of 48 for 46 percent including 5 of 13 from beyond the arc. In the second half, however, SBHS was 13 of 31 from the floor including 3 of 6 from three while Asbury Park was only 9 of 24 including 2 of 6 from three. At the foul line, both teams struggled as the Vikes went only 2 of 6 while Asbury Park was only slightly better by going 3 of 7. In other statistical areas, the Bishops held edges in turnovers (21-28), assists (19-13), and steals (13-7) while the Vikings had more blocked shots (4-3) and offensive rebounds (8-7). Both teams were even in overall rebounds (25-25) and charges (1-1).
This game was a tale of two different halves as Asbury Park closed the first half with a 12-2 run for a 31-19 lead while South Brunswick rallied from a 42-26 deficit with a 25-11 surge over the final 14:57 to only lose by two. In the first half, the Vikings only went 8 of 20 overall, and 5 of 17 over the final 16:53 of the period after starting the game by making their first three shots. There were four lead changes and three ties over the first 6:50 of the contest. However, despite their being a lot of passion being displayed by both teams on the floor, there were a lot of turnovers (16 in just the first 12:38 alone), and the tempo favored Asbury. South Brunswick ended up with 17 turnovers alone in the first half while the Bishops only had 9.
The game was back and forth early though as South Brunswick did its best to compete. The Vikes connected on their first three shots including a layup while being fouled for a three point play, and a 7-5 lead with 16:53 remaining in the half. Asbury Park rallied though with seven of the next nine points in a span of 3:03 for a 12-9 lead. APHS then scored five of the next eight points for a 12-5 spurt before SBHS came up with a three point play at the 12:05 mark for a 17-15 Asbury lead. Both teams then exchanged scores as the Vikes were finding a way to keep up with the frenetic pace. South Brunswick finally wilted though as the Bishops went on a 23-9 surge over the next 15:49 to take its largest lead of the game.
The surge included a layup while being fouled (missed the bonus foul shot) at the 5:12 mark, and then a steal led to a three pointer at the 4:17 mark as Asbury Park took a 27-17 lead. The Bishops then closed the half with five of the final seven points for their 12 point halftime lead, and began the second half with a 11-7 run for a 42-26 advantage with just under 15 minutes to play. South Brunswick was just 8 of 20 from the floor overall in the first half including 2 of 5 from three while Asbury Park was 13 of 24 from the field including 3 of 7 from downtown. The Vikings didn’t stop playing though while the Bishops kept trying to score instead of running time off the clock.
After Asbury went up by 16, SBHS began to chip away at the deficit with a 9-4 run over a span of 8:23 before the Bishops got a much needed three at the 6:30 mark for a 49-35 edge. The Vikings continued to battle though with a a layup off the fast break while being fouled at the 4:20 mark (missed the bonus free throw), a steal for a another fast break layup at the 3:41 mark, and a three pointer from the left wing at the 2:05 mark for a 52-46 Bishop lead. Even after Asbury Park netted one of two from the line at the 1:26 mark, the Vikes kept coming with five straight points to close the game as the defending Central Jersey Group I Champions escaped with a two point, 53-51 win.
With the victory, Asbury Park improved to 1-5 while South Brunswick slipped to 1-5. Both teams will be back in action on Monday night as the Bishops will play Rumson Fair-Haven on the Sixers Court at 9:00 PM while the Vikings will take on Middletown North at 5:00 PM on the Nets Court.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asbury Park (1-5) | 31 | 22 | 53 |
| South Brunswick (1-5) | 19 | 32 | 51 |
GMC Hoops plans to be back out at the Hoop Group Headquarters on Monday night for the seventh week of action from this league. The site plans to see South Amboy take on Ocean Township at 8:00 PM, and East Brunswick going up against Red Bank Catholic at 9:00 PM.