St. Patrick’s Defeats St. Joe’s For Championship Despite Double-Double From DeCosey
LINDEN, NJ–On Thursday afternoon, the Championship Game of the 2010 Linden Summer League was played, and for the second year in a row, one of the participants was a team from the Greater Middlesex Conference. St. Joseph’s faced off against St. Patrick’s of Elizabeth in the final. The Falcons punched their ticket to the final by defeating Linden in the semifinals on Wednesday while St. Pat’s defeated another GMC school, East Brunswick, in the other semi. It was the first time since GMC Hoops began covering this league in the summer of 2003 that there were two teams in the final four of the playoffs. Colonia reached the title game before losing to Linden last summer.
With the likes of incoming sophomore James Ziemba (back) and incoming freshman Jake Dadika (foot) out with injuries, the Falcons were barely able to assemble a team at game time. As tip-off approached, there were more coaches (six) than players (five). However, two players did show up to help out as St. Joe’s ended up playing with six guys. Two of those players were Jimbo Long and Quenton DeCosey. DeCosey ended up with a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds along with two blocks and an assist. However, St. Patrick’s came away with the 54-38 victory as it outscored the Falcons in each of the final three periods to break away from a 7-7 tie. DeCosey was 6 of 14 from the floor including one of three from long distance while Long chipped in with 8 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal.
As a team, the Green Birds shot 14 of 44 from the floor for 32 percent including 4 of 14 from the beyond the arc while making 6 of 12 from the line. Meanwhile, the Celtics were 21 of 55 from the floor for 38 percent including 5 of 16 from downtown. St. Pat’s was 7 of 15 from the line, but also scored 20 points off of 18 Falcon turnovers. The Elizabeth school also had 12 second chance points off of 17 offensive rebounds. The Celts won the battle of the turnovers (14-18), grabbed more rebounds (36-28) including a 17-10 edge on the offensive glass, had more assists (12-6), steals (10-9), and charges (1-0). St. Joe’s had more blocks (5-1). The decisive run came in the third quarter when St. Patrick’s embarked on an 11-0 run including six points off St. Joe’s turnovers for a 37-23 lead. From there, the Falcons got no closer than 11 points.
The opening quarter started positively for St. Joseph’s, which went 3 of 7 from the floor while St. Pat’s went 1 of 9. The Falcons actually jumped out to a 7-3 lead, but then went scoreless over the final 5:30 as the Celtics, which stayed in the game thanks to their free throw shooting (4 of 6 FTs), scored the final four points to tie things at 7-7 heading into the second. The Green Birds began the game with a 5-0 run including a three pointer and a layup before the Celts drew a foul on a drive to the hoop, and made one of two from the charity stripe for a 5-1 St. Joe’s lead at the 8:23 mark. St. Patrick’s got another two free throws at the 6:45 mark when it grabbed two offensive boards, and drew a foul on the follow for a 5-3 Falcon lead. Jordan Tapia (2 points, 3 steals, and 2 rebounds) then got the final St. Joe’s points of the period with a drive from the right wing for a layup, and a 7-3 lead.
St. Pat’s then got their only field goal of the quarter on a three pointer from the top of the key for a 7-6 score with 5:11 to go in the frame. Both teams then went scoreless for the next 2:56 before a timeout was called at the 2:15 mark. Following the timeout, the Celtics got the final point of the period by drawing a foul from DeCosey, and making one of two from the foul line at the 1:54 mark for a 7-7 tie after one period. The second started right where it left off with St. Joe’s unable to score while St. Pat’s got five unanswered points on a three pointer and layup off of turnovers. With 6:32 left in the first half, St. Joseph’s had six turnovers, and trailed by a score of 12-7. The Falcons finally broke a scoring drought of 10 minutes when DeCosey got a score prior to a timeout at the 5:07 mark for a 12-9 Celts lead.
Following the stoppage, DeCosey scored again as he dribbled in for a jumper that pulled the Falcons within one at 12-11 at the 4:40 mark. St. Patrick’s then scored the next five points including a layin and a three pointer before DeCosey made his only three of the game on a shot from the right side at the 2:56 mark to make the score 17-14 in favor of the Celtics. The Green Birds then scored four of the next six points including an offensive rebound and follow off his own miss, drew a foul, and made two free throws that closed the gap to one again at 19-18 with 1:33 to play in the half. St. Pat’s closed the half with a 5-3 run as DeCosey converted a traditional three point play with 17 seconds left in the second quarter for a 24-21 Celtics lead at the intermission. At the break, St. Joe’s was 8 of 19 from the floor including 2 of 8 from three point range, and made all three of its foul shots. Meanwhile, St. Patrick’s improved in the second quarter, but still was 8 of 26 overall although 4 of 9 from three.
The Falcons, which had nine turnovers in the half, committed none over the final 6:32 of the half while forcing the Celtics to commit seven miscues. DeCosey had 10 points and 6 rebounds in the first half as he made 4 of 6 shots including one of two from three. However, St. Joseph’s went 3 of 9 from the free throw line in the second half including two misses by DeCosey at the 9:22 mark of the third. Meanwhile, St. Patrick’s was in the midst of their key 11-0 run as the forced five Falcon turnovers over the first 5:51 of the period. The Celtics converted three of those miscues for a little more than half the points in the run. DeCosey finally put a halt to the run with an offensive rebound and follow at the 4:09 mark, and then both teams scored five points each to end the quarter with St. Patrick’s leading 42-28.
Long began the fourth with a three pointer from the right corner that pulled St. Joe’s within eleven at 42-31, but St. Patrick’s scored the next four points including a jam at the 6:26 mark for a 46-31 lead. The Celtics made it a 6-0 run with another score for a 48-31 advantage before DeCosey scored on a drive and flip shot that went in as he was fouled for a traditonal three point play, and a 48-34 St. Pat’s lead with 3:23 left. Unfortunately, St. Joe’s couldn’t get closer though as the Celtics won the Championship by a final score of 54-38.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Patrick’s | 7 | 17 | 18 | 12 | 54 |
| St. Joseph’s | 7 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 38 |
GMC Hoops would like to thank Marty Luc, and the folks at Linden for providing information on this league.