SOMERVILLE, NJ–In addition to the two GMC games covered by GMC Hoops on Sunday evening at Immaculata, the site also took in two non-conference clashes involving teams from the Skyland Conference’s Delaware Division. Below are capsules on the two games:
Ridge vs. Immaculata
With Ridge and Immaculata competing at the Caldwell University team camp this weekend, both teams had their sub-varsity squads play in this one. Ridge jumped out to a 10-8 lead with 15 minutes left in the first half before Immaculata sank a three pointer from the top of the key at the 14:34 mark for an 11-10 edge.
The Spartans added another trey before getting a basket and a foul at the 11:26 mark and a putback at the 11:00 mark for a 18-10 lead. After a free throw by Ridge, Immaculata went up by ten when a player scored on a layup from the right side as he was fouled for a three point play and a 21-11 lead at the 7:21 mark.
Ridge would rally though with an 8-2 spurt over the next 6:28 to close the gap to 23-19. Immaculata halted the run briefly with a pair of free throws at the 43 second mark for a 25-19 lead, but Ridge sank a three from the left wing with time running out for a 25-22 Immaculata lead at the break.
After Immaculata opened the half with a layup from right side at the 19:47 mark for a 27-22 lead, Ridge scored the next five points including a basket at the 16:25 mark to tie the score at 27-27. Ridge then added another score for a 7-0 run and a 29-27 lead with about 15:35 to play.
Following a couple lead changes, Ridge used good passing to set up a layup for a 33-30 lead at the 12:05 mark. Immaculata would respond by scoring 4 of the next 5 points including a layup at the 9:10 mark to tie the game at 34-34. Ridge quickly replied by flipping in a layup from the right baseline at the 9:05 mark for a 36-34 lead.
Immaculata would score the next four points for a 38-36 lead before Ridge tied it up again with 7:18 to play. The Red Devils then scored 9 of the next 15 points over a 4:57 span including a three point play at the 2:21 mark for a 47-44 lead. Immaculata rallied to tie the game before Ridge scored on a putback with 1:21 left in regulation for a 49-47 lead.
The Red Devils added another score for a four point lead, but Immaculata stormed back with a layup at the 49 second mark and got a steal off a full court press for a layup attempt that resulted in a foul and one of two free throws with 45.92 seconds to go for a 51-50 Ridge lead. The Spartans then scored with 24 seconds left in regulation for a 52-51 lead.
Immaculata then made two foul shots with 9.29 seconds to go and Ridge traveled with 1.28 seconds left for the 54-51 Spartans win.
Franklin vs. Hillsborough
In this battle between old Somerset County rivals, Hillsborough jumped out to a 7-0 lead by the 16:08 mark and then added another score exactly a minute later before Franklin called time trailing 9-0 at the 15:08 mark. The Raiders early run included a layup, a three pointer, and a putback.
Joshua Gestosani got Franklin on the board with two free throws at the 14:23 mark before Hillsborough’s Ethan Griffin got the points back for the Raiders with two foul shots of his own at the 12:30 mark for an 11-2 lead. Hillsborough added a triple from the left corner for a 14-2 lead at the 9:33 mark before Franklin roared back with 8 straight points including two threes over a span of 1:37 to close the gap to 14-10 before a Hillsborough timeout with 7:56 remaining in the first half.
The Raiders scored 4 of the next 7 points including a layup by Griffin at the 4:14 mark for an 18-13 lead, but Franklin rallied back again by scoring 5 of the next seven including a three pointer to pull within two with under a minute to go. Hillsborough would close out the half on a good note with a layup at the 39 second mark and another layup with 9 seconds left for a 24-18 halftime lead.
Over the first 6:29 of the second half, Franklin chipped away at the deficit with an 8-4 run that included two threes one of which was by Gestosani to help close the gap to 28-26 with 13 and a half minutes to play. Franklin would eventually tie the game at 32-32 with a 6-4 run over the next 7 minutes including a layup and a foul at the 7:17 mark.
Hillsborough reasserted itself by scoring 6 of the next 8 points including a layup by Griffin for a 38-34 lead when Franklin called time with 3:32 to go. Following the timeout, the Raiders added a pair of foul shots at the two minute mark for a 40-34 lead. Gestosani scored by taking it to the hoop for a layup with 1:02 left to close the gap to 40-36.
Unfortunately, Franklin would get no closer as Hillsborough went to the line and made 4 of 6 over the last 40 seconds to round out a 44-38 victory.