J.P. Stevens Defeats Keyport In The Championship Game
EDISON, NJ–On Thursday night, GMC Hoops traveled over to Middlesex County College to take in the Championship Game of the 2010 Middlesex County College Summer League at the Physical Education Center on the main campus of MCC. This contest involved a team from the Greater Middlesex Conference as J.P. Stevens took on Keyport on the main court. This was the fourth year in a row that Keyport had a team in at least the Final Four of this summer league. The last time the Red Raiders played for a championship, they lost to North Brunswick by a score of 51-45 in 2008. It was the first time that J.P. Stevens had played at MCC since 2002.
Balanced Attack Propels Stevens To Title, 32-27
After enduring a very difficult season in 2010-11, the J.P. Stevens Hawks, which had come off two very successful years prior with the likes of Kenny Bland, Myles Reuben, Nick Pol, and Tahir Swinton, are looking to build a new foundation for winning under soon to be second year head coach, Bob Jones. Jones had previously served as an assistant coach to Charlie Mohr over at Edison, and guided the 2005 Edison Boys Freshmen team to the quarterfinals of that year’s Perth Amboy Freshmen Tournament as the fourth seed before bowing out against divisional rival and Cinderella story that season, South Brunswick (12th seed). Before coaching at Edison, Jones was on the staff at South Plainfield when the Tigers won their first ever GMCT Championship in 2004.
Jones has a lot of young players including Marvin Crawford and Brandon Ahmed, but there are also a couple of holdovers from the two year run by the Hawks in 2008 and 2009. Mike Reuben, the younger brother of Myles Reuben, and Victor Quan, were reserves on the 2008-09 team. Both Reuben and Quan played key roles in Stevens run through the playoffs at MCC. Reuben earned MVP honors while Quan came up with some key steals in the second half of the Hawks win over Keyport for the Championship. Stevens trailed 15-14 at the half as they only converted one of eight Red Raider turnovers.
However, in the second half, Quan helped spark a pivotal 10-2 spurt that the Hawks used to pull away from a 21-21 tie to earn the title with a 32-27 victory. Quan factored in eight of those points with a baseline jumper from Reuben at the 12:20 mark, and three steals that set up the other three scores for the 31-23 lead late in the game. Both Quan and Rueben shared team high in scoring with 8 points, but got them in different ways. Quan had a better shooting day going 4 of 9 from the floor while collecting 5 steeals, 4 rebounds, an assist, and a charge. Reuben only made two shots from the field, but netted all three of his free throws while picking up three rebounds, three steals, two assists, and a block.
Crawford and Ahmed also had a hand in the victory. Crawford scored all seven of his points in the first half while collecting 6 steals, 3 assists, 3 blocks, and a rebound. Ahmed added 5 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. Kenny Arias (2 points, 2 steals, 2 rebounds, and an assist) and Rojing Rajkinarkar (2 of 2 FTs for 2 points and a rebound) rounded out the scoring for the Hawks. For the game, J.P. Stevens as a team shot only 12 of 37 from the floor for 32 percent, but limited Keyport to just 10 of 27 shooting for 37 percent while forcing 23 Red Raider turnovers. The Hawks converted those miscues into 15 points including thirteen in the decisive second half. Keyport, which advanced to the finals with victories over Roselle Park in the first round and South Hunterdon in the second round, also shot better from the perimeter by making 2 of 8 from three while Stevens was only one of five.
At the foul line, JPS was 7 of 14 from the charity stripe while Keyport was 5 of 8. In other statistical departments, Stevens won the turnover battle (10-23), points off turnovers (15-2), but Keyport won the battle overall on the boards (23-14) and in second chance points (4-2) while offensive rebounds were even (6-6). The Hawks did have more assists (9-6), steals (16-3), blocks (4-0), and charges (1-0). J.P. Stevens outscored Keyport by an 18-12 margin in the second half to secure the win. Following a theme that was prevalent throughout the first half, the Hawks had some early opportunities, but couldn’t cash them in. After he had given Stevens an early lead with an offensive rebound and follow, Quan drew a foul after getting an offensive rebound, and then trying to put in the follow, but couldn’t connected on two foul shots. The score remained tied at 2-2 with 18:50 to go in the opening half.
Crawford put Stevens back in front with a jumper from Ahmed before Keyport pulled within one on one of two from the foul line at the 17:09 mark. The Red Raiders then went ahead 6-4 with a three pointer from the right side at the 15:35 mark, but the Hawks tied the game at 6-6 just under a minute and a half later as Crawford swiped a steal that led to an Ahmed field goal at the 14:08 mark. Crawford, who shot 3 of 5 from the floor in the first half, scored a basket while being fouled for a three point play that put JPS ahead again at 9-6 with 13:10 to go in the half. Keyport rallied back with four straight points including two free throws at the 10:56 mark for a 10-9 lead. The Red Raiders then added a layin off a nice pass for a 6-0 run, and a 12-9 lead at the 8:38 mark before Reuben got the only three of the game for Stevens with a jumper from the right wing to tie things up again at 12-12 with 7:46 to go in the half.
Crawford then got the final Hawk points of the half with a drive through the left side of the key for a layin that put JPS in front at 14-12 with 6:45 to go before halftime. The Hawks went cold after that, but so did Keyport as the Red Raiders made a three from the left wing at the 6:20 mark, and didn’t score for the balance of the half after that. Not to say that both teams didn’t have their chances. After a Quan steal, Ahmed drew a foul, but missed both free throws at the 4:48 mark. Keyport had its chance in the waning moments of the half. After calling a timeout with eight seconds to go, the Red Raiders set up for a final shot, but it was blocked by Reuben as time expired. Both teams had gone scoreless over the final 6:20 of the half, and only had one field goal each over the final 6:45 of the period. Stevens was 6 of 19 from the field including one of two from three while Keyport was 5 of 12 including two of four from long distance. There were five lead changes and three ties in the half while neither team had a lead bigger than three points.
The second half started out positively for J.P. Stevens as Quan forced a steal that got into the hands of Ahmed for a layup, and a 16-15 lead with 19:05 to go. Reuben then drew a foul on a three point attempt, and made all three foul shots for a 19-15 lead at the 17:25 mark. Keyport rallied though with a steal for a layup at the 15:23 mark, and then a layup off a nice cut to the basket at the 14:09 mark to tie things up again at 19-19. Rajkinarkar then got his only points of the contest on two free throws to put the Hawks back in front at 21-19 with 13:21 remaining. Keyport then tied things up again at 21-21 with a jumper from the left wing at the 12:38 mark. The Hawks then took over the game for good. On its very next possession, Reuben passed to Quan for a baseline jumper, and a 23-21 lead with 12:20 to go. The score remained that way through the 9:34 mark when Keyport misfired on two foul shots that would have tied the game again.
Quan then forced another steal that resulted in an Ahmed layup, and got another theft that produced a layup of his own from Arias as he was fouled for a 6-0 run, and a 27-21 lead at the 6:45 mark. Two minutes and fifteen seconds later, Quan was at it yet again with another steal that led to a layup by Reuben off a dish from Crawford for a 29-23 lead with 4:30 to go. Following a Hawks timeout at the 4:03 mark, Stevens capped its run when Reuben made a nice skip pass to Arias, who was all alone on the right low block for a layup, and a 31-23 lead at the 3:36 mark. Keyport did make things interesting with a layup at about the 40 second mark, and an offensive rebound and follow at the eight second mark. JPS also made things a bit difficult for itself as it missed some free throws, but Ahmed helped seal the 32-27 victory with a one of two showing from the line with one second left.
With the victory, J.P. Stevens, which also played at the East Brunswick Team Camp, and has a JV team playing in the Colonia JV Summer League, finished the summer at MCC with a 9-3 record while Keyport closed out its summer at 10-2.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| J.P. Stevens (9-3) | 14 | 18 | 32 |
| Keyport (10-2) | 15 | 12 | 27 |
GMC Hoops thanks Chris Tarver, and the staff at Middlesex for their assistance and hospitality this summer.