EDISON, NJ–On Tuesday night, GMC Hoops traveled over to Middlesex County College after work to take in all three 8:00 PM round of games from the first night of action at the 2010 Middlesex County College Summer League at the Physical Education Center on the main campus of MCC. All three contests involved teams from the Greater Middlesex Conference as Sayreville played Keyport on Court #2, J.P. Stevens took on South Hunterdon on Court #1, and in perhaps the best game of the evening, South River battled Timothy Christian in a preview of what things could be like in the GMC Gold Division next season.
Keyport Rolls Past Sayreville In Opener, 66-37
Sayreville has its Junior Varsity playing in this league, and while they showed some positives playing against St. Patrick’s and Point Pleasant Beach last Thursday in the Linden Team Camp, they are still going to go through their fair share of growing pains before getting up to the varsity level. Keyport, a program that has come a long way in the past several years, certainly knows what that is like. After winning the Central Jersey Group I Championship in 2004 over then defending champ, Piscataway Tech, the Red Raiders suffered several losing campaigns. However, by consistently participating in the Middlesex County College Summer League each year for the past five years, Keyport has been able to improve to the point where it qualified for the state tournament in each of the past three years, and reached the semifinals of the 2008 tourney.
Most of the bigger schools in this league such as Sayreville, Monroe, and Bishop Ahr have JV squads while smaller schools such as Keyport, South River, Roselle Park, and South Hunterdon have their varsity squads. Keyport took advantage of its talent and experience in this one by jumping out to a 32-17 first half lead, and then starting the second half with a 14-9 run for a 46-26 advantage en route to a 34-20 showing in the period, and a 66-37 victory. GMC Hoops first joined the action with 15:06 to go in the first half, and Keyport already leading by a 9-6 score. The Red Raiders then scored on its next offensive possession for an 11-6 lead at the 14:45 mark. Keyport got a stop on the defensive end, and took the ball back downcourt for another basket, and a 13-6 lead at the 14:20 mark.
Sayreville took a timeout with 14:15 to go in the half, and GMC Hoops went over to watch some of the game between Timothy Christian and South River over on a nearby court. The site rejoined the action with 8:43 to go in the half and Keyport now leading 23-13 after a 10-7 run. Both teams exchanged scores over the next 1:56 for a 25-15 Keyport lead with 6:41 to go in the first half. The Raiders then added one of two from the foul line at the 3:40 mark for a 26-15 lead, and two more charity shots at the 1:59 mark for a 28-15 lead. Keyport followed that up with a nice stop on the defensive end, and a pass upcourt for an easy layup, and a 30-15 advantage with 1:45 remaining in the half.
Sayreville quickly replied with a score, but the Red Raiders had their own prompt response on a nice entry pass for a layup, and a 32-17 lead, at the 1:17 mark. The Bombers prevented Keyport from going up any further as E.J. Perez drew a charge with 55 seconds left in the period. Keyport picked up right where it left off at halftime with a 14-9 showing over the first 5:54 of the second half for a 46-26 lead. Keyport then added another score over the ensuing 2:29 for a 48-26 lead with 11:37 to go. Scoring four of the next six points, the Raiders expanded their lead to two dozen at 52-28 at the 8:30 mark. Keyport led 56-30 at the 5:04 mark before Sayreville scored four straight points in perhaps their best flurry of the half to close the gap to 56-34 with three minutes to play. The Red Raiders then closed out the win with an 10-3 run for a 66-37 verdict. With the victory, Keyport starts the year at 1-0 while Sayreville begins the summer at 0-1.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keyport (1-0) | 32 | 34 | 66 |
| Sayreville (0-1) | 17 | 20 | 37 |
Second Half Surge Helps Stevens Pull Away From South Hunterdon, 59-40
In this game, the Hawks had big starts in each of the halves, but it was their 22-9 surge over the first 13:13 of the second half that put the game out of reach. Stevens actually built up a 22-12 lead over the first 15:46 of the opening half, but South Hunterdon used the three point play of both conventional and unconventional methods to get back into the game with a 14-7 spurt to close out the period. The Eagles, which reached the Championship Game of the Central Jersey Group I State Tournament by knocking off GMC squads, Dunellen and Metuchen along the way, splashed in a three pointer from the top of the key at the 3:15 mark to pull within seven at 22-15.
After JPS came down and scored on a nice drive and dish for the layup, and a 24-15 lead at the 2:45 mark, South Hunterdon, which competes in the Skyland Conference’s Valley Division along with the likes of Bound Brook, hit another three pointer from the right wing for a 24-18 Stevens lead wtih 2:15 to go in the half. The Hawks, which are rebuilding after having two successful seasons with their last head coach, James Cardillo, got a foul line jumper at the 1:35 mark, and a three pointer from the right side at the 1:14 mark for a 29-18 lead. South Hunterdon wouldn’t go away though. The Eagles made a three pointer from the right corner at the 56 second mark, two foul shots with 16 seconds to play in the half, and got a steal, drove in for a layup, and drew a foul for a three point play that capped an 8-0 burst, and closed the gap to 29-26 at halftime.
However, Stevens took over for much of the second half with its decisive run for a 51-35 advantage with 6:47 to play in the game. The Hawks then added two more scores over the next 1:25 for a 26-9 surge, and a 55-35 lead with 5:22 remaining. South Hunterdon tried to make the game more respectable with a 5-4 showing down the stretch, but it was too little, too late, as JPS won the game by a final score of 59-40. With the victory, J.P. Stevens begins the summer at 1-0 while South Hunterdon starts off at 0-1.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| J.P. Stevens (1-0) | 29 | 30 | 59 |
| South Hunterdon (0-1) | 26 | 14 | 40 |
South River Edges Timothy Christian On Last Second FG, 42-40
Prior to the start of the game between South River and Timothy Christian on Court #3, GMC Hoops took a look around the MCC gym, and noticed that there were winds of change in this year’s league. For the first time, MCC has fans being used to keep the environment cool. The Middlesex County College Summer League has been known for being played in one of the hottest and most uncomfortable gyms. However, those days are gone now. There were a total of six fans, two to each court, spaced around the gym.
Getting back to the game, this was a matchup that gave a really good preview of what the revamped Gold Division will look like next season when both South River and Timothy Christian will join Wardlaw in making the GMC Gold an eight team division. The Tigers and Rams battled back and forth, and the contest went down to the wire with TCS netting two free throws to tie things up at 40-40 with 30 seconds to play only to have South River hit the game winning shot in the waning moments for the hard fought, 42-40 victory. SRHS, which had competed in the Hoop Group Headquarters Spring League during late March, April, and May, looked strong in the early going, but Timothy Christian wouldn’t go away.
The Rams won the opening tip, but couldn’t take advantage as Foster stepped out of bounds at the 19:57 mark. Thirty seconds later though, Foster got the Rams on the board first by intercepting a pass on the right side, driving in for a layup attempt, and drawing a foul that produced a one of two showing from the foul line for a 1-0 lead. A little over a minute later, Foster lobbed to Larry Smith on the inbounds for a layin, and a 3-0 lead at the 18:26 mark. TCS got a score back for a 3-2 Rams lead, but Foster prevented another Tigers score, and got one for himself as he stole a pass for a layup, and a 5-2 lead at the 16:35 mark. Timothy Christian got a point back by making one of two from the line for a 5-3 South River lead.
The Rams then went up by four as Gavin Campbell got a rebound, and gave an outlet pass upcourt to Smith for a layin, and a 7-3 lead at the 15:27 mark. Timothy Christian fought back though with one of two from the line, and then an offensive rebound and follow on the missed foul shot for an unconventional three point play, and a 7-5 score at the 14:14 mark. South River then committed a backcourt violation, but the Tigers couldn’t take advantage before calling timeout with 13:19 to go in the half. On the next TCS possession after the stoppage, Smith swiped a steal for the Rams, and passed ahead to Foster, who dished back to Smith for a drive and layup attempt that drew a foul, and produced one of two from the line for an 8-5 lead with 12:51 to go in the half.
Neither team scored for the next two minutes or so before Timothy Christian connected on a field goal at the 10:31 mark for an 8-7 South River lead. Over the next 5:50, the Rams extended their lead with a 7-4 run for a 15-11 lead at the 4:41 mark, but TCS closed the half with a 10-8 run for a 23-21 Rams lead going into the intermission. In the second half, both teams played even, which was enough for the Rams to get the win. South River started out much like they did in the first half with Foster swiping a steal, and passing to Smith for a layup, and a 25-21 edge just 30 seconds into the half. The Rams then went up by seven at 28-21 with a three pointer at the 18:20 mark, but Timothy Christian fought back with four unanswered points over the next 3:17 to close the gap to three, and then got an offensive rebound and follow at the 14:34 mark for a 28-27 Rams lead.
The Tigers, which along with Wardlaw are coming into the GMC after being members of the Patriot Conference, had a chance to get even or take the lead, but Campbell stole an errant pass, and drove in for a layup, and a 30-27 lead with 13:33 to play. Smith then added one of two from the line at the eleven minute mark for a 31-27 lead, but TCS rallied with a 6-0 run over the next 1:45 to take a 33-31 lead. First, the Tigers scored on an offensive rebound and follow at the 10:30 mark. Then, Dan Decker scored on a follow of his own miss at the 9:40 mark for a 31-31 tie. Then, Decker hit a running jumper along the left baseline for a two point lead. South River had a chance to even things up at the 7:33 mark, but missed two foul shots.
Following a Rams timeout at the 5:44 mark, TCS outscored the Rams by a margin of 7-4 over a span of 3:32 for a 38-35 lead before Foster converted a three point play to tie things up at 38-38 at the 2:12 mark. Moments later, Smith picked up a steal, but was unable to score with two minutes to go in regulation. TCS was unable to go back out in front as it missed the front end of a one and one at the 1:53 mark. Campbell tried to put the Rams in front, but missed a jump shot. He redeemed himself by getting a steal, and drove to the basket for a layup attempt that missed, but was followed in by a teammate for a 40-38 lead with 1:21 to play.
Both teams then scrapped for a jump ball with 48 seconds to play that went to Timothy Christian on the alternate possession. The Tigers then tied the game with two free throws at the 30 second mark. South River setup for a final possession, which was cashed in on a field goal with about five seconds left. Timothy Christian tried to quickly get up the floor, but was only able to get off a long distance heave that was off as the Rams came away with the 42-40 win. With the victory, the Rams begin the summer at MCC at 1-0 while the Tigers start off at 0-1.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| South River (1-0) | 23 | 19 | 42 |
| Timothy Christian (0-1) | 21 | 19 | 40 |