PERTH AMBOY, NJ–After seeing some of the action in Colonia’s victory over J.P. Stevens in the quarterfinal round of the Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament at CHS, GMC Hoops traveled over to Perth Amboy Tech High School on Thursday night to take in the GMCT Round of 16 contest between 9th seeded Woodbridge and 8th seeded Perth Amboy Tech. Coming off a preliminary round game against 24th seeded Metuchen less than 24 hours earlier, the Woodbridge Barrons got off to a bit of a slow start as Amboy Tech jumped out to a 9-4 lead as big man Jordan Little scored 4 points, Lou Rodriguez added 3, and Kyrie Byers chipped in with a layup. From that point on, it was all Woodbridge though as the Barrons went on a 24-6 surge that lasted until about the midway point of the second quarter for a 28-15 lead, and they cruised from there to a 54-38 victory. Highlighting WHS’ decisive first half run was a thunderous one handed dunk by Zaire Robinson over Little for a 10-9 lead at the 2:35 mark of the first period, a three at the buzzer ending the first by Robinson, and two threes by Zahneer Shuler in the second. Shuler ended up with a game high 17 points including 3 treys while Robinson chipped in with 16 points and Quassim Glover added 10 for the Barrons. Little led Amboy Tech in a losing cause with 12 points while Noel Garay chipped in with 8. Below are game notes from the action:
First Quarter
6:16 left in the first quarter and Woodbridge calls a 30 sec timeout. Amboy Tech up 4-0 after a layup off a steal by Kyrie Byers. Jordan Little opened the scoring with a basket down low.
4:00–midway through the first and Amboy Tech leads 9-4 after another score by Little and three points by Lou Rodriguez. Packed house here at Amboy Tech.
2:35 left in the first quarter and Woodbridge takes a 10-9 lead on a posterizing dunk from the right baseline by Zaire Robinson.
2:11 left in the first quarter and Perth Amboy Tech calls timeout with Woodbridge still leading 10-9.
0:00–End of first quarter and Woodbridge leads 20-11 after a three by Zaire Robinson caps a 16-2 tear by Barrons. Woodbridge had a balanced scoring attack led by Robinson and Zahneer Shuler with 5 points while Charles Cole and Quassim Glover chipped in with 4 and Keshaun Henry added two.
Second Quarter
5:07 left in the first half and Woodbridge now leads 28-15 after two threes by Zahneer Shuler. Barrons open 2nd on an 8-4 run.
0:00–Game has gone to the half with Woodbridge leading 33-21 thanks in part to a three point play late in the second by Harry Rutkowski. Woodbridge first half scoring: Zahneer Shuler leads Barrons with 11 while Quassim Glover added 6. Perth Amboy Tech first half scoring: Jordan Little leads the Patriots with 6 first quarter points while Kyrie Byers and Noel Garay each chipped in with 4. Over the last 12 minutes of the first half, Woodbridge outscores Amboy Tech, 29-12.
Third Quarter
4:54 left in the third and despite 4 quick points by Amboy Tech’s Jordan Little and a layup by Noel Garay, Woodbridge leads 37-27. Barrons have scored 4 of the last 6 points.
0:00–End of the third quarter and Woodbridge leads 44-29 thanks to a layin by Zaire Robinson. Woodbridge finishes the quarter on a 7-2 spurt.
Fourth Quarter
5:30 left in the game and Amboy Tech calls timeout after Noel Garay scores on a layup to close the gap to 48-33. Patriots open 4th on a 6-4 run.
3:38 left in the game and Amboy Tech’s Kyrie Byers just fouled out with Woodbridge leading 49-35.
1:48 remaining and despite a three from the left wing by Amboy Tech’s Javon Fisher, Woodbridge leads 50-38.
0:00–Game just ended with Woodbridge winning 54-38. After trailing 9-4 at the start of the game, Woodbridge outscored Amboy Tech by a 50-29 margin over the last 28 minutes of action. Zahneer Shuler led the Barrons with 17 points including three treys during the middle two periods. Zaire Robinson chipped in with 16 and Quassim Glover added 10. Jordan Little led Amboy Tech with 12 points, but only had 8 points over the final three and a half quarters. Noel Garay chipped in with 8 for the Patriots. Woodbridge advances to the GMCT Elite Eight for the third straight year, and will take on top seeded St. Joseph’s, which defeated 17th seeded Piscataway Tech in another first round game, 70-52.