SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–On Saturday, Cardinal McCarrick visited South Plainfield to make up for the postponed Freshmen/JV/Varsity tripleheader scheduled for Friday night, December 19th. Below are some notes from our SPHS GMC Hoops Volunteer.
Freshmen game– Two minutes into the third, SPHS was down by about 8 or 9. The Little Eagles big man was dominant. Most likely, he had 10 points in the quarter as the Little Tigers trailed by 13 going into the fourth. However, with McCarrick’s big man getting ready for the for the JV game, twins Brenden and Colin Wilson of South Plainfield controlled the court during the entire fourth quarter as South Plainfield rallied to win by about 8 or 9.
JV–The Junior Eagles of Cardinal McCarrick devastated the Junior Tigers from the perimeter all game. Sophomore Troy McNair, and Junior Carlos Ruiz of South Plainfield were able to get to the hoop all game, but couldn’t finish strong. Cardy Mac got a fine performance from a freshman, who grabbed about 10 boards and 10 points. The game got out of hand, and McCarrick won easily by about 15 to 20 points
Varsity–Talk about excitement for a home opener. 2008 GMC Champs Cardinal McCarrick had their hands full against a South Plainfield team who has something to prove. Eagle seniors Julio Rosario and Branten Widgeon couldn’t shine as they were expected to against the Tiger defense. South Plainfield entered the half with the momentum and a two point lead. However, within the first two minutes of the third, Cardinal McCarrick had rallied to go out in front by nine.
Scrappy defense from the Tigers allowed them to claw their way back into it, with Darren Campbell sinking a highly contested 3 pointer from the baseline to send it into overtime. That’s when the Eagles experience in big games took over with a 5-1 showing to win in the extra session. As South Plainfield struggled to score without Mike Burton, who fouled out in the fourth after scoring 24 points, Cardy Mac, which got four of Rosario’s game high 25 points in overtime, came up with timely shots and built a four point lead and held on for the 64-60 victory. With the win, the Eagles, which also got 15 points, 18 rebounds, and 4 blocks from senior center, Dominic Appiah, start off at 1-0 in both division and overall play while the Tigers drop to 0-1.