MONROE, NJ–On Thursday night, GMC Hoops traveled back down to the Monroe Sports Center to take in action from six of the eight games on opening night in the 2011 MSC Sub-Varsity Fall League. Both East Brunswick teams were in action.
East Brunswick took on West Windsor at 6:45 PM while the E.B. Bears battled Elite Ballers in the 8:45 PM contest. In other action, the Farmingdale Fury squared off against the Holmdel Hornets and the West Jersey Rockets fought the Jersey Shore Wildcats. In one of the other finales, the Monmouth Ballers and Shoreshots squared off in a neighborhood rivalry game.
East Brunswick Downs West Windsor Hawks, 33-23
Managed to get down to MSC with a little more than two minutes to go in this one.  East Brunswick, one of three GMC teams in the league was out in front by a score of 30-21 with 2:12 remaining.  After the Hawks missed the front end of a one and one, the Bears drew a foul, and made one of two from the line with 1:39 left for a 31-21 lead.  EB then broke  West Windsor’s press with great teamwork for a layup with about 30 seconds left to wrap up the 33-23 victory.
Farmingdale Fury Rolls Past Holmdel, 56-36
After neither team scored for the first 2:03, Farmingdale jumped out to a 4-0 lead with 17 minutes to go in the first half. Â Holmdel battled its way back into the contest by attacking the offensive boards during a 7-0 run over a span of about four and a half minutes to take a 7-4 lead.
Over the next 7:50, Farmingdale roared back with nine unanswered points including a layup at the 5:41 mark for a 13-7 advantage. Â The Fury added two more scores including a transition layin at the 3:30 mark for a 17-7 lead before Holmdel got on the board for the first time in nearly ten minutes to close the gap to single digits again.
The basket by the Hornets sparked an 11-3 run to end the half including a three pointer at the buzzer to pull within two at 20-18 going into the brief break. Â Farmingdale opened up the second half with a 7-2 spurt over the first five minutes to take a 29-20 lead. Â The Fury then took its biggest lead of the game.
Farmingdale scored four of the next six points over a span of 4:04 to take a 33-22 lead before a timeout was called by Holmdel with just under 11 minutes to go in the game. Â The Fury continued to increase their lead with five of the next seven points to go up by 14 before the Hornets responded with five of the following seven points to close the gap to 40-29 with 8:03 to play.
Holmdel couldn’t get any closer though.  The Fury put together a  9-2 spurt over a bit more than four minutes to go up by 18 points.  Farmingdale then added a three pointer at the 3:09 mark for a 52-31 advantage.  The Fury went on to win from there despite a 5-4 finish by Holmdel to round out the 56-36 final.
West Jersey Rockets Pull Away In Second Half To Defeat Jersey Shore Wildcats, 61-54
The West Jersey Rockets got off to a fast start in this one by scoring the first eight points in the opening 5:30 of the game. Â The Rockets led 10-3 with 11:14 to go in the first half despite missing a number of other opportunities to score.
The Wildcats responded with 7 of the next 8 points over a span of a little more than four minutes to claw within one at 11-10 before the Rockets got a basket with 7:30 to go in the half for a 13-10 lead. Â Over the next minute, Jersey Shore scored four straight points including a layup at the 6:24 mark for its first lead of the game at 14-13.
Despite not possessing as much talent and size as their opponent, the Jersey Shore Wildcats scrapped to stay in the contest. Â Over a span of three and a half minutes, the two teams exchanged leads four times. Â Following a stoppage, there were three more lead changes before West Jersey banked in a follow at the 2:45 mark to take a 23-20 lead.
The Wildcats battled back again though with a 5-2 run to end the half including two free throws with 7.2 seconds to go in the period. Â West Jersey had a chance to take the lead going into the intermission, but after getting the ball downcourt for a good shot, they were unable to get the attempt to fall, and the score was tied at 25-25 after one half.
After eight lead changes over the final 6:24 of the first half, there was another lead change along with four ties in just the first 6:43 of the second half before Jersey Shore connected on a three pointer from the right wing for a 36-33 lead. Â Trailing 38-35 with a little more than 12 minutes to go, Â the Rockets went on an 8-2 scoring binge over a span of three and a half minutes including a layup at the 8:37 mark to take a 43-40 lead.
Following a timeout by the Wildcats, the Rockets continued to increase their lead by converting on transition and second chance opportunities. Â West Jersey got putbacks at the 7:00 and 6:20 marks to take a 53-44 lead. After getting a stop on the defensive end, West Jersey connected on a jumper from the left wing at the 5:54 mark to complete a 20-6 surge in a little more than six minutes for a 55-44 lead.
Unable to recover, the Jersey Shore Wildcats only got as close as seven points on a couple of occasions in the final minute of play as West Jersey came away with the 61-54 victory.
First Half Tear Propels Elite Ballers Past E.B. Bears, 69-45
The E.B. Bears rounded out the first day of action at the Monroe Sports Center Sub-Varsity fall league with an 8:45 PM contest against the Elite Ballers. Â The Bears got off to a fast start as Ryan Schuld connected on a three pointer from the top of the key off an inbounds play underneath at the 19:40 mark, but Elite responded with an 18-4 rampage over the next 9:05 to take a 20-7 lead with 10:35 left in the first half.
EB tried to climb back into the contest with a 5-0 run over the next 5:59 including one of two from the line by Nick Gudali at the 5:51 mark. Â However, the Bears were unable to get closer than 20-12 as the Elite Ballers went on a 7-0 spurt over 1:52 of the final two minutes of the half before EB netted a three pointer from the left wing as time ran out for a 27-15 Elite lead at the intermission.
Elite Ballers went on to roll from there. The Burlington County squad had two big runs in the second half to overcome a tear by EB to post a 69-45 victory. John McHenry led the Bears in a losing cause with 12 points and two assists. McHenry had nine of those points in the second half including two threes. Nick Gudali chipped in with 7 points including six in the second half while Schuld added five points. Elite Ballers outscored EB by a margin of 42-30 in the second half to expand upon their halftime lead for the 24 point victory.
Elite Ballers had opened up the second half with a 16-7 tear over the first 7:29 to take a 43-21 lead, but the E.B. Bears fought back. Led by McHenry, the Bears went on a 15-4 spurt over the next 3:11 to pull within 11 at 47-36 with 9:20 to play. McHenry factored in 13 of the 15 points by scoring all nine of his second half points while handing out both his assists on layups by Gudali. Schuld also handed out an assist on a score that capped the run. Unfortunately, East Brunswick wasn’t able to get any closer.
For a period of 7:11 starting with just under nine minutes to play, the Elite Ballers put the game away with an 18-2 rampage that gave them their biggest lead at 65-38 with 1:47 left. Elite had eight second chance points and eight fast break points during the run while limiting EB to no field goals. The only points the Bears had during the span was two free throws at the 5:30 mark that closed the gap to 53-38.
This was a game that was decided by three big surges from Elite. Those three surges totaled a span of 23:45, and Elite Ballers outscored the E.B. Bears by a margin of 52-13. In the other 16:15 of the contest, East Brunswick actually held a 32-17 edge.
Fast Start Lifts Monmouth Bombers To Easy Victory, 54-28
Monmouth got off to a fast start against its Jersey Shore rival with 14 of the first 16 points before the Shoreshots called for a timeout at the 9:04 mark. Â The Shoreshots tried to show signs of life for the rest of the half, but Monmouth continued to pour it on with a 12-6 spurt including two free throws at the 1:38 mark for a 26-8 lead.
The Shoreshots started the second half with a 6-4 run before a Monmouth timeout at the 16:30 mark. Â The Bombers responded to the stoppage by scoring the next four points for a 34-14 lead with 13:16 remaining. Â The Shoreshots drew within 19 on a 5-4 run with seven minutes to play, but the Bombers continued to lead comfortably with 6 of the next 8 points for a 44-21 lead with 5:30 left.
Monmouth cruised from there with six unanswered points to take a 50-21 lead before the Shoreshots converted a three point play at the 3:27 mark for a 50-24 score. Â Monmouth Bombers went on to win by the final score of 54-28.
GMC Hoops plans to be back out at MSC next week for action in both the varsity and sub-varsity leagues.