ELIZABETH, NJ–On Thursday afternoon, GMC Hoops traveled over to the Dunn Center in Elizabeth for the first time this summer to see action from the second day of the Tuesday/Thursday division of the 2010 Elizabeth Summer League. On this day, the site saw two games involving three different teams from the Greater Middlesex Conference as St. Joseph’s took on Monsignor Farrell at 5:00 PM while Monroe and Sayreville followed with their game at 6:00 PM. St. Joe’s got off to a fast start, and finished even stronger against Farrell while Monroe got solid games from Ahmid Williams, Danny Brix, and Mike Walp to lead it past Sayreville.
Fast Start And Strong Finish Propels St. Joseph’s To Rout Of Monsignor Farrell, 61-30
On Wednesday night, GMC Hoops saw a Monsignor Farrell squad take advantage of turnovers to go on to an easy win, the Lions fell prey to the very same fate against St. Joseph’s. The Falcons jumped out to a 25-8 lead with under three minutes to go in the first half, and then scored 24 points off 16 second half turnovers by Farrell to go on to a 61-30 rout. St. Joe’s jumped out to a 17-5 first quarter lead, and led 30-15 at halftime, but poured it on in the second half by making 12 of 23 shots from the floor overall including 11 of 14 inside the arc while limiting Farrell to 4 of 12 shooting from the floor in the final 20 minutes. The Falcons made 6 of 7 from the line in the second half versus 4 of 6 by the Lions.
However, a 13-3 disparity in steals set up plenty of transition opportunities for St. Joe’s, which it gladly cashed in on. Kevin Mayce led the Falcons in the second half with 9 points on 4 of 5 shots from the floor along with a free throw. Mayce also had five steals in the final 20 minutes of action. Greg Patton also chipped in with 7 points on 3 of 4 shooting from the floor along with 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal in the second half while Quenton DeCosey pitched in with 5 points, 2 rebounds, and a steal. GMC Hoops joined the action with 2:46 to go in the second half, and St. Joseph’s leading by a 25-8 margin. About forty-five seconds later, Monsignor Farrell converted a three point play to close the gap to 25-11, but St. Joe’s responded with a jumper from the right side at the 1:46 mark, and a three pointer from the left corner by Ace Sudah at the 1:15 mark for a 30-11 lead.
Monsignor Farrell netted two foul shots for a 30-13 Falcon lead with 54 seconds left in the half, and then the Lions got an offensive rebound and follow at the 25 second mark for a 30-15 St. Joe’s lead at the intermission. In the third quarter, St. Joseph’s made 4 of 9 shots along with 3 of 3 from the line while limiting Farrell to just 2 of 7 from the floor. DeCosey scored all five of his second half points in the third while Slay Sudah added all four of his second half points in the frame. Farrell opened the second half scoring with one of two from the line at the 8:03 mark, but DeCosey prevented another potential score with a steal, and then drove upcourt for a layup, and foul at the 4:43 mark. Following a St. Joe’s timeout with 4:39 left in the period, DeCosey sank the bonus free throw for a 33-16 lead.
St. Joseph’s made it a 7-0 run as Jimbo Long swiped a steal and handed out an assist on a Mayce layup, and Slay Sudah followed with a steal and a layup of his own for a 37-16 lead at the 3:24 mark. Monsignor Farrell scored the next five points before DeCosey got an offensive rebound off his own miss, and drew a foul on the follow that resulted in two free throws for a 39-21 lead. The Falcons maintained the 18 point cushion at 41-23 heading into the fourth period. St. Joseph’s then put the game well out of reach with a 9-0 start to the fourth capped by a steal by Mayce that he converted into a three point play at the 7:25 mark for a 50-23 lead. The Falcons expanded the spurt to a 20-3 tear as Patton swiped a steal, and drove in for a layup as he was fouled for another three point play, and a 61-26 lead with 4:05 to play.
Farrell scored the final four points of the contest to round out the 61-30 score.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Joseph’s | 17 | 13 | 11 | 20 | 61 |
| Monsignor Farrell | 5 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 30 |
Williams Blazes As He Fires Monroe Past Sayreville, 73-49
Whenever Monroe and Sayreville get together, it is usually a downybrook. Many people look back on this year’s semifinal game as a classic example. The Bombers almost made a memorable comeback, but the Falcons came away with the hard fought win to advance to its first ever GMCT final. However, that wasn’t the only close game these two teams have had. Monroe defeated Sayreville in overtime, 68-62 back on December 21st. Back in 2007-08, Monroe defeated the Bombers on the road (57-53), and then in 2008-09, the Purple Birds won at Sayreville again (43-34). So over the past five years, these two teams have went hard at each other, even in the off-season.
This game was the exception to the rule though. Monroe took the first two quarters by small margins, but then really blew the game wide open in the third with a 13-2 tear over the first 5:15 for a 46-26 lead. From there, the Purple Birds never looked back in a 73-49 victory. Ahmid Williams put on a show in this one. The soon to be junior guard connected on 10 of 15 shots from the floor including 5 of 7 from beyond the arc, and also made all four of his free throw attempts for a game high 29 points. At times, it seemed like anything he put up would fall in. Williams had three treys alone in the third including one high arching shot that splashed through the net for a 49-26 lead.
Danny Brix and Mike Walp also chipped in for the Purple Birds. Walp made 8 of 14 shots including a three pointer, and one of two from the line for 18 points along with 5 assists, 5 rebounds, and a steal. Brix made 7 of 16 shots and all three of his free throws for 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal. Nick Isola (5 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and a block) and Ryan Stolte (4 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals) rounded out the scoring for Monroe, which only had five players for the game. On the other side of the ledger, Sayreville was led by soon to be sophomore, Joe Saitta, who had 9 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, a steal and a block while soon to be senior, Michael Phair chipped in with 8 points on 4 of 5 shooting, 3 rebounds, and an assist.
For the game, Monroe shot 27 of 52 from the floor overall for 52 percent including 6 of 13 from long distance while Sayreville was only 19 of 46 from the floor for 41 percent including 4 of 16 from three point land. At the line, the Falcons made 13 of 15 for 87 percent while Sayreville was 7 of 10. Neither team really had problems handling the basketball as the Bombers committed 12 turnovers while Monroe had only eight. However, the Purple Birds took advantage of the Sayreville miscues by scoring 12 points off of them while the Bombers only got four points off of Monroe turnovers. In other statistical areas, Monroe outrebounded Sayreville 24-18 including a 9-4 edge on the offensive glass. The Falcons also had more assists (14-10), steals (7-3), and blocks (3-1). Neither team drew a charge in the contest.
The first quarter went to Monroe, which connected on 7 of 10 shots in the period including a three pointer while Sayreville made 6 of 12 from the field. Both teams committed four turnovers, but the Falcons had a nice effort by two of its players as Williams scored seven while Brix added six. Saitta led the Bombers with five points in the frame. The game was a bit back and forth though in this peroid. The Purple Birds jumped out to a 7-2 lead before the Bombers answered with a 5-0 run including a three pointer by Saitta to tie the game at 7-7. Isola then netted two free throws at the 6:06 mark to give Monroe a 9-7 lead. A little more than a half minute later, Walp picked up a steal, passed to Brix, and dished back to Walp for a layup, and an 11-7 lead at the 5:30 mark. Each team scored six points the rest of the way for a 17-13 MTHS lead after one.
In the second quarter, Monroe was just 6 of 16 from the field, but limited Sayreville to just 3 of 9 from the floor while also making 4 of 5 from the line. Stolte started the second period scoring with two from the foul line for a 19-13 lead at the 9:03 mark. Mark Keir (8 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists) made two of his own from the foul line for a 19-15 score at the 7:46 mark. Walp, who was 5 of 7 from the floor in the first half, came back down the floor, drove the right side for a layup, and a 21-15 lead with 7:27 to go in the half. Over the next 2:37 the Falcons added five more points on another drive for a layup by Walp, and a three point play by Brix that made the score, 26-15 at the 5:50 mark. The Bombers then closed out the first half with a 9-7 run including two free throws with 20 seconds to go in the period for a 33-24 Monroe lead. Brix went 5 of 10 from the floor and made a free throw for a team high 11 points at the break.
In the third, the Falcons put the game away with a 21-10 showing. The Purple Birds scored 13 of the first 15 points as Williams netted three treys while Walp added one of his own. Williams was also fouled on another three point attempt, which yielded three foul shots for a 54-31 lead with a minute to play in the period. Sayreville got three points to end the period with Monroe leading 54-34, but the Falcons opened the fourth with a 7-0 run over the first few minutes for a 61-34 lead. From there, the Bombers outscored the Purple Birds by a 15-12 margin, but MTHS came away with a 73-49 win to improve to 2-0 on the summer.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monroe (2-0) | 17 | 16 | 21 | 19 | 73 |
| Sayreville | 13 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 49 |
GMC Hoops plans to be back out at Elizabeth next week for some more action from this league