PISCATAWAY, NJ–For the finale of its tripleheader, GMC Hoops traveled over to the Timothy Christian School in Piscataway for the first time since the 2000-01 season to see the Tigers take on the Governors of South Amboy. This game served as a preview of what things could be like next season when TCS as well as Wardlaw move into the conference, and compete in the GMC Gold Division.
Timothy Christian, which was coming off a loss the night before to J.F. Kennedy, was in control for the entire contest as it never relinquished the lead. However, South Amboy, which was coming off a surprising win at home over Academy Charter on Friday night, didn’t give up without a fight. Despite a tough game for Joe Charmello, who only scored 9 points against the box and one defense by TCS, and a one of nine shooting start by the team, South Amboy managed to pull within one early in the third quarter, and trail by just four early in the fourth before finally giving way.
The Tigers, which along with Wardlaw, currently compete in the Patriot Conference, had lost seven of nine coming into this game while South Amboy, which began the season at 0-3, had won eight of its last twelve. The size of Timothy Christian’s front line including T.J. Janho at 6’6″ and Kristian Svendsen at 6’5″ along with David Bonamo, Bjorn Svendsen, and Kyle Waldron presented a tough obstacle for South Amboy, which doesn’t have a player taller than 6’3″ on its roster. Janho picked up a double-double of 12 points and 15 rebounds while Kristian Svendsen had a game high 17 points along with 13 boards in the 54-42 victory.
The game was a physical one, and the officials didn’t do a very good job of maintaining order. This was becoming more apparent in the second half when the officials took several minutes to following a struggle for a loose ball between South Amboy’s Tim Simko and Bonamo at the 5:35 mark of the fourth. The Guvs, which went 11 of 33 in at the foul line in a victory over Perth Amboy Tech on January 21st, continued to struggle at the line with a 11 of 26 effort in this loss. The Guvs may have been a bit drained emotionally from Friday night’s win over Academy Charter, which was an impressive one against a school that has been one of the top teams in Central Jersey Group I over the past several years.
Dustin DeVoe led the Guvs in scoring with a team high 11 points, but struggled from the field especially from beyond the arc. He also had trouble at the foul line. Christian Geant played well as he got a hard fought 10 points as well as 6 rebounds, 3 steals, and an assist. Timothy Christian, which got good three point shooting from Dan Decker (11 points, 3 assists, and 2 rebounds), outscored South Amboy in three of the four quarters played. Timothy Christian will be a fine addition to the GMC Gold next year. They have a lot of size, and good young players with Decker and Kristian Svendsen. They also have some athletic ability with the likes of Julian Watson. The Gold will have eight teams including South River, which is moving down from the Blue. With the additions of TCS, Wardlaw, and South River, expect this division to be much more competitive.