LINDEN, NJ–On Thursday night, GMC Hoops traveled over to Linden High School to catch the nightcap game from the second day of action in the Tuesday/Thursday Division of the 2010 Linden Summer League. The site headed over to the gym after being at the Dunn Center in Elizabeth for the second day of action in the Tuesday/Thursday Division of the 2010 Elizabeth Summer League. After not seeing the Falcons at all over the first several weeks of the summer league season, GMC Hoops had a full entree of St. Joe’s basketball. GMC Hoops saw the Falcons at both Elizabeth and Rahway, and sandwiched in between, was this game at Linden between St. Joe’s and Hillsborough.
DeCosey Double-Double Leads St. Joe’s Past Hillsborough, 58-55
Both of these teams are coming off very solid seasons. Hillsborough reached the semifinals of the 2010 Somerset County Tournament before losing to Gill-St. Bernards, and made it to the Championship Game of the 2010 NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2 Group IV State Tournament before losing to Plainfield, finished 20-6 overall, and second place finish in the Delaware East Division of the Skyland Conference. Meanwhile, St. Joseph’s captured its fourth Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament championship along with a Red Division title. The Falcons, which ended up at 23-5 on the season before losing in the Non-Public A South semifinals against T of C finalist, Camden Catholic.
Despite some key departures such as Frank Mitchell for Hillsborough, and Steve Rennard for St. Joe’s, both teams figure to be tough again with the Falcons having arguably the best player in the conference in soon to be junior Quenton DeCosey while Hillsborough had a JV team that won the 2010 East Brunswick/GMC JV Tournament over Piscataway. After Linden handled another Somerset County and Skyland Conference squad, Immaculata (56-36) in the 6:30 PM game, the Falcons and Raiders went at it. St. Joe’s took the early lead, but fell behind at the half as Hillsborough put together a strong 22-15 showing in the second period. The Falcons inched back into the contest with a 10-8 effort in the fourth, and rallied from behind in the final period with a decisive 12-3 spurt to take a 56-52 lead late en route to a 58-55 victory.
Quenton DeCosey didn’t have a fantastic game shooting the ball like he did against Piscataway during the regular season on January 14th and versus Cardinal McCarrick in the Elite Eight round of the 2010 GMCT. However, he took over in other areas such as rebounding and shot blocking while getting to the line. The result was a double-double effort of 19 points and 11 rebounds. He also had three blocks, assists, and steals in the victory. Soon to be senior, Kevin Mayce chipped in with a 14 point, 4 rebound effort.
For the game, St. Joseph’s shot 17 of 42 from the floor for 40 percent including one of ten from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Hillsborough was 23 of 45 from the floor for an effecient 51 percent including a more proficient 5 of 11 from downtown. However, the big difference in the game was at the foul line with St. Joe’s making 23 of 29 free throws for 79 percent while Hillsborough was only 4 of 9 from the charity stripe. Both teams did a solid job of handling of the basketball with Hillsborough committing nine turnovers while St. Joe’s had eight. The Raiders did a better job converting their opponents miscues with 11 points off turnovers versus six by the Falcons. In other statistical areas, rebounding was close, but St. Joe’s got the 25-23 edge overall including an 8-7 advantage on the offensive boards. Both teams were even in second chance points with four, but the Falcons had more blocks (4-2).
Hillsborough had more assists (19-7), but St. Joe’s had more steals (7-6). Neither team drew a charge. The Falcons got out to the early lead as it got to the line early. St. Joseph’s was 7 of 8 from the charity stripe while Hillsborough was only one of two in a quarter where both teams shot evenly by going 5 of 10 from the floor. The Raiders got the only three in the period while each squad kept turnovers to a minimum. Mayce paced St. Joe’s with 6 points on a perfect 2 of 2 from the floor and the foul line including two three point plays at the 4:15 and 2:23 marks for a 15-10 Falcon lead. Jimbo Long netted two free throws and DeCosey had an offensive rebound and follow to give St. Joseph’s an 8-6 lead. DeCosey also made one of two from the line before Mayce, who had two rebounds as well in the period, made the first of two traditional three point plays.
Hillsborough opened the second with a 5-0 run to tie things up at 17-17 before Long (6 points, 2 assists, a steal, and a block) netted two free throws to put the Falcons back in front, 19-17 at the seven minute mark. A short time later, Greg Patton (2 points, 4 rebounds, and a steal) passed to Long for a layup, and a 21-17 lead at the 6:26 mark. The Raiders battled back with four straight points of their own before DeCosey stepped to the line to make one of two charity shots for a 22-21 lead midway through the period. Hillsborough then surged ahead with a 7-0 run including two layups and a three pointer for a 28-22 lead at the 2:36 mark. The Raiders had a chance to go up even further, but soon to be senior, Brandon Dolan (6 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals), who looks to play a bigger role with this coming year’s team, came up with a big steal and drive for a layup attempt that drew a foul, and produced two free throws for a 28-24 Hillsborough lead with two minutes remaining in the half.
A minute later, DeCosey followed up with a three pointer from the right side of the key to counter a three by Hillsborough for a 31-27 Raider lead. The Raiders then made one of two from the line at the 55 second mark for a 32-27 lead before St. Joe’s closed out the half with a 5-2 run including a three point play by DeCosey and a foul line jumper by Albert Myers III (4 points and 2 rebounds) for a 34-32 Hillsborough lead at the intermission. The scoring was a little bit few and far between in the third period relative to the first two frames, and the final quarter. However, St. Joseph’s got the edge in the period to tie the game up at 42-42. The Falcons opened up the frame with the first six points including a Mayce layup from DeCosey to start the second half, an offensive rebound and follow by Dolan, and then two foul shots by Mayce for a 38-34 lead with 8:15 remaining in the third.
Slay Sudah (6 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists) made it an 8-0 run with a layup at the 7:24 mark for a 40-34 lead. Over the next 4:05 though, Hillsborough tied things up at 40-40 at the 3:19 mark with a 6-0 run before DeCosey put the Falcons back in front with two free throws at the 2:06 mark. Hillsborough would tie things up again with a field goal for a 42-42 score heading into the fourth. Patton then gave St. Joe’s the lead at 44-42 with a rebound and drive upcourt for a bank shot at the 8:23 mark. However, the Raiders took control of the game again with a 7-1 run including a three pointer from the right corner off a double team at the 6:50 mark, and a layup at the 4:50 mark for a 49-45 lead. In a very important possession, Hillsborough appeared to get a clean block, but the officials saw contact on Quenton DeCosey, who then stepped to the line for two free throws for a 49-47 Raider lead with 3:13 left.
Buoyed by the free throws, the Falcons scored four of the next six points to tie the game at 51-51 before the Raiders made one of two from the line for a 52-51 lead with 1:09 left in regulation. St. Joe’s took the lead at 53-52 as DeCosey passed to Mayce for a baseline jumper from the left side that got a kind bounce with 55 seconds to play. DeCosey then swiped a steal for a layin and a 55-52 lead with 41 seconds to go as Hillsborough called for time. Following the timeout, DeCosey deflected a pass that was captured by Slay Sudah with 21 seconds left. After another timeout, DeCosey made one of two from the line for a 56-52 edge with 18 seconds to go. Needing to scores to tie, Hillsborough got the ball, went behind the arc, and connected on a three pointer from the left side to close within one at 56-55 with four seconds left. Dolan then sealed the 58-55 victory with two free throws.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Joseph’s | 17 | 15 | 10 | 16 | 58 |
| Hillsborough | 12 | 22 | 8 | 13 | 55 |
GMC Hoops plans to be back out at Linden next week.