Brzozowski Lifts Owls Past Guvs in Play-In Round Contest
HIGHLAND PARK, NJ—The last time Highland Park had a .500 season in boys basketball, Mike Burwell was a sophomore, and current St. Thomas Aquinas girls assistant coach, Tom Sclafani has the Owls’ head coach. Entering their 2022 GMCT Play-In Round game with 26th seeded South Amboy, the 23rd seeded Owls hadn’t won a GMCT game since 2012.
History was made in the fourth quarter on Saturday afternoon for Highland Park. Trailing 30-29 entering the final frame, Highland Park outscored South Amboy by a margin of 13-5 for the 42-35 victory as senior guard Matt Brozowski scored the final 11 points by the Owls including a three pointer from the right wing for a 34-30 lead midway through the period.
Brozozowski finished with a game high 19 points including four threes while also collecting 4 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. Fellow classmate, Ewan Haley-Lock chipped in with 18 including 9 from the charity stripe as the Owls’ senior backcourt duo combined for 37 of the team’s 42 points in the win. Brandon Gasiewski, who scored all of the Guvs points in the fourth, finished with a team high 11 in a losing cause.
Josiah Floyd chipped in with 8 points while Jianny Caraballo scored all 7 of his points in the third including a three and a jumper from the right wing to help South Amboy overcome a 27-22 early third period deficit with an 8-2 finish to the frame for a one point lead heading into the fourth. Sophomore Gavin Pelkey added 6 points while Anthony Vella contributed with 3.
Skyler Mack (2 points and 2 rebounds), Faizon Morris (2 points, 4 rebounds, a block and a steal), and Michael Landis (1 point, 4 rebounds, a block and a steal) rounded out the scoring for the Owls while Robin Pestka also contributed with 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. As a team, Highland Park collected 23 rebounds, 10 steals, 8 assists, and 4 blocks in the contest.
South Amboy enjoyed a 14-12 edge in points scored from inside the arc while the two teams each scored 15 points from long distance. The outcome of the game was determined at the foul line as Highland Park, led by Haley-Lock and Brzozowski, outscored the Guvs by a margin of 15-6. The Owls backcourt duo combined for 14 from the charity stripe with Haley-Lock sinking two and Brozozowski making 5 of 6 down the stretch for the win.
The Governors jumped out to a 10-6 lead only to have the Owls respond with a 16-12 showing in the second period to knot the game at 22-22 going into the intermission. Highland Park then took a 27-22 lead early in the third as Brozozowski netted a triple from the right wing to open the second half scoring and Haley-Lock followed up with a steal for a layup.
Caraballo got the Guvs going with a long three from the right side at the 6:32 mark, and then after a Vella free throw, Floyd put South Amboy ahead at 28-27 with a putback from the left low block. Caraballo struck again with another jumper from the right wing off a crosscourt pass from Vella to cap the Guvs 8-0 spurt to take a 30-27 lead with 1:30 remaining in the third.
After Haley-Lock sank two free throws with 9 seconds left in the third to pull the Owls within one, Highland Park took the lead for good with a bucket at the start of the fourth. With the Owls taking time off the clock, and both teams struggling to get into a rhythm offensively, neither team scored until Brozozowski sank his fourth and final three of the game for a 34-30 edge with about 4:30 to play.
To their credit, the Governors didn’t quit. After Haley-Lock drew a foul, and made one of two from the line for the Owls, Gasiewski sank a three from the left wing that pulled South Amboy within two at 35-33 with 3:51 remaining. Gasiewski drew a foul on a loose ball, and made two free throws to tie the game at 35-35, but the Guvs were also assessed a technical, which resulted in two foul shots by Haley-Lock for a 37-35 lead with 1:10 left.
South Amboy had several chances to tie the game, or go ahead, but just couldn’t score while Highland Park got the ball in the hands of Brozozowski three times in the final minute, which resulted in five from the charity stripe to wrap up the 42-35 victory. With the win, Highland Park improved to 5-14 overall including a 5-10 mark in conference play.
Meanwhile, South Amboy, which had lost 5 straight to start the year before winning 4 in a row mid-season, fell to 6-11 overall and 6-9 in the GMC. Highland Park will face 10th seeded South River for the third time this season when it travels to Rams’ Country for its GMCT Preliminary Round Game at 5:30 PM on Tuesday.