Bears Balanced Attack Too Much for Determined Wardlaw, 70-57
EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ—Over the past two weeks, GMC Hoops has seen Wardlaw-Hartridge play four times, and each time the Rams didn’t disappoint. Although Wardlaw went 1-3 in those games, they showed plenty of fight and competitiveness that they haven’t had in much of the 11 years they’ve competed in GMC boys basketball.
Tuesday night’s GMCT Preliminary Round game against 11th seeded East Brunswick was the latest example. In past years, the Rams would have lost to such formidable opponents as they Bears of the GMC Red by 30, 40, and even 50 points. Not this time as Wardlaw battled to the end. Nevertheless, it still wasn’t enough as East Brunswick utilized a balanced attack led by junior Mike Mikulka to advance to the GMCT Round of 16.
Mikulka ended up with a team high 23 points including three treys to lead four EB players in double figures as the 11th seeded Bears managed to repel the determined 22nd seeded Rams of the GMC Gold by a score of 70-57. Senior guard, Justin Black chipped in with 16 points while junior Alani Ajigbotosho added 14 including five in the last 6:21 of the game. Senior Brett Motusesky also scored in double figures with 10 points.
Wardlaw was led by senior guard, Mehkai Huey, who had a game high 25 points including two threes to lead three Rams in double figures. Junior Harrison Kilpatrick, who has continued to step up his game offensively, chipped in with 13 while fellow classmate Evan Benson added 10 in the loss. EB had six players score including four in double figures while Wardlaw had five including three with double digits.
East Brunswick outscored Wardlaw-Hartridge by a 34-30 margin from within the arc and by a 24-12 margin from long distance. The Rams held a 15-12 advantage in points scored from the free throw stripe. The Bears seized control of the game by jumping out to a 19-10 first quarter lead, and extending it to 39-25 at the intermission with a 20-15 showing in the second.
The Rams managed to get within single digits by the start of the fourth quarter with a 19-13 effort in the third that trimmed the deficit to 52-44. However, Wardlaw wouldn’t get any closer as EB opened the fourth by scoring the first 7 points of the frame, and the Rams were only able to get within 11 points at most after that.
Zack McCue capped the fast East Brunswick start to the fourth with a free throw for a 59-44 advantage at the 6:21 mark. Following an Evan Benson layup off an offensive rebound that pulled the Rams back to within a baker’s dozen. Ajigbotosho took a pass from Black in the left corner and fired in a three pointer for a 62-46 advantage.
Wardlaw rallied with five straight points including an off-balance bucket from Huey to narrow the deficit to 62-50. Then, the visitors from North Edison had the first of two occasions in the fourth where they managed to pull within 11 of the Bears. Both teams would exchange scores for a 64-53 EB lead with 2:16 left as Mikulka made two from the line while Wardlaw got a free throw from Kilpatrick and a layup from Xavier Hinds (5 points).
On the ensuing EB offensive possession, Motusesky was fouled, and made both ends of the bonus for a 66-53 lead, but Wardlaw quickly replied as Kilpatrick scored on a floater from the left baseline to trim the deficit back down to 11 at 66-55 with just under two minutes to play. Black was then fouled, and subsequently made both ends of the bonus and Ajigbotosho added a layup off a Black assist for a 70-55 lead with 36 seconds left.
Wardlaw wrapped up the scoring as the Rams got a turnover in the EB backcourt, and converted it into a score on a layup by Benson with under 10 seconds to play. With the victory, East Brunswick improved to 10-9 overall and in conference with the victory, and advance to the GMCT Round of 16 against 6th seeded Edison at Cangelosi Gymnasium on Thursday afternoon at 5:30 PM.
With the loss Wardlaw-Hartridge dropped to 12-6 overall including a 12-3 mark in the GMC, and is scheduled to play Carteret in a regular season game on Thursday afternoon at Laidlaw Gym in North Edison at 4:30 PM. The Rams also have a game to play against Piscataway Tech to finish out its GMC Gold Division schedule as well as a first round game in the NJSIAA Non-Public B North playoffs in March.