RAHWAY, NJ–On Tuesday night, GMC Hoops traveled out to Rahway High School to catch two of the quarterfinal games from playoff action at the 2010 Rahway Summer League. Both games involved teams from the Greater Middlesex Conference. In the first game, the host school, and second seeded Rahway and tenth seeded J.F. Kennedy went at it in a rematch of the regular season finale played on Friday. Then, in the nightcap, top seeded Cardinal McCarrick faced off against eighth seeded St. Joseph’s. Winners of both games advanced to play Piscataway and Woodbridge in the semifinals on Thursday.
Kennedy Falls Short In Upset Bid Against Rahway, 41-39
This game turned out to be a rematch of the regular season finale between these two schools that was played on Friday night. Rahway won the game easily 53-38, but this time, the Mustangs were determined to make a game of it. GMC Hoops arrived late to this game after getting out of work at 7:30 PM. By the time the site arrived to pick up the action, Rahway was already up 13-3 with nine minutes to go in the first half. Seconds later though, A.J. Pichalski started the Mustangs on the comeback trail with an offensive rebound and follow at the 8:56 mark for a 13-5 Rahway lead. The Indians got a basket for a ten point advantage again before Nick Spoganetz lobbed to Pichalski for a layup for a 15-7 score at the 7:39 mark. Dashion Robinson then followed that up with a score as he was fouled, and after a Rahway timeout at the 7:03 mark, Robinson completed the traditional three point play for a 15-10 Indians lead.
Over the next 3:38, Rahway went back up by double digits, and actually took its biggest lead of the game on a 6-0 run including a follow off of two offensive rebounds at the 5:33 mark, a steal and a drive for a layup with 5:14 to play in the half, and then two free throws at the 3:25 mark for a 21-10 lead. Kennedy fought back with a 9-0 rally over the next 2:55 to close within two points with just over a half minute to play in the half. Robinson sparked the rally with an offensive rebound and follow off a miss on a floater by Spoganetz for a 21-12 Rahway lead with 2:46 to go in the half. Robinson then scrapped for a loose ball on the next Indian possession, and alertly called timeout with 2:28 to play in the half. Following the stoppage, JFK took advantage of the turnover as Josh Kamenas drove to the basket and banked a shot in for a 21-14 Rahway lead with 2:15 to go in the half.
Kamenas followed that up with a turn around jumper from the left low block for a 21-16 Indians lead at the 1:32 mark. Robinson added one of two from the line with 1:01 to go in the half, and then Kamenas got an offensive rebound and follow off a miss by Pichalski for a 21-19 RHS lead with 30.7 seconds left before intermission. Kennedy then got a bad break when Rahway set up for a final play of the first half. An Indians player lost control of an offensive rebound, but the ball fell through the hoop for a 23-19 lead at the break. Rahway started the second half with a field goal before Kamenas made one of two free throws at the 18:27 mark for a 25-20 Indians lead.
Rahway then went up by seven at 27-20 on an offensive rebound and follow with 17:51 to play in the first half. Over the next 4:29, the Mustangs scored eight unanswered points to take their first lead of the game. Jordan Toczynski started the rally with an offensive rebound and follow off a missed jumper by Pichalski at the 17:20 mark for a 27-22 Rahway lead. JFK got a basket and a foul, and then on the missed bonus free throw, Robinson got the offensive board and put in the follow for a 27-26 Rahway lead at the 15:50 mark. Over a lull in the scoring for almost two and a half minutes, J.F. Kennedy took the lead as Kamenas dribbled and dish to Pichalski for a layup, and a 28-27 score with 13:22 remaining. The lead didn’t last long though as Rahway came right back down and nailed a three pointer for a 30-28 lead with 13:11 to play.
A little less than a minute and a half later, Rahway struck again for a three pointer to take a 33-28 lead with 11:49 to play, but Kennedy fought back with an 8-1 spurt to take a two point lead with just over six and a half minutes to go. Kamenas started the rally with a field goal at the 11:22 mark for a 33-30 Rahway lead. Robinson followed that up with two free throws at the 10:48 mark for a 33-32 RHS lead. The Indians made one of two from the line for a 34-32 edge with 9:26 to go, but Kennedy then scored the next four including a bank shot by Robinson at the 7:43 mark, and an offensive rebound and follow of a Spoganetz miss by Vik Pawar for a 36-34 edge with 6:34 to play.
Once again, the Indians responded quickly with a baseline jumper on its next possession to tie the game up at 36-36 with 6:20 left. Rahway then had a chance to take the lead, but Pawar drew a charge with 5:32 to go. Nevertheless, Rahway did take the lead after getting an offensive rebound and drawing a foul that resulted in a one of two showing from the line for a 37-36 edge at the 4:57 mark. Kennedy had a chance to get the go ahead score, but missed a layup underneath with 3:49 to go. Following a Mustangs timeout with 3:11 to go, Rahway went up by three with two free throws that made the score, 39-36. On the next JFK possession, Robinson got an offensive rebound of a Kamenas miss, drew a foul, and made one of two from the line for a 39-37 Rahway lead with 2:43 left.
Kennedy then had a chance to tie, but committed a backcourt violation with 1:28 left. Rahway got a big score on a drive for a layup that made the score, 41-37 with 1:16 to go. The Indians had a chance to put the game away, but missed the front end of a one and one with 41 seconds left. Spoganetz made two foul shots with 28.7 seconds to play to close the gap to two at 41-39. The Mustangs then got a break as Kamenas picked up a steal and Kennedy called for time with 21.1 seconds left. Following the timeout, JFK set up for a tying score, but Rahway forced a turnover in the closing seconds, and came away with the hard fought, 41-39 win. With the victory, Rahway improved to 10-1 on the summer, and advanced to the semifinals to play sixth seeded Woodbridge, which upset third seeded Perth Amboy in an earlier quarterfinal. J.F. Kennedy finished its summer at 3-8.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rahway (10-1) | 23 | 18 | 41 |
| J.F. Kennedy (3-8) | 19 | 20 | 39 |
Gorman And Townes Help McCarrick Cruise Past St. Joseph’s, 48-36
In the nightcap game, top seeded Cardinal McCarrick, which got a first round bye, took on eighth seeded St. Joseph’s, which defeated Edison in its opening round game on Monday. Charlie Gorman and Marques Townes, who combined for 10 of 46 shooting in a double overtime victory over Perth Amboy in the regular season finale on Friday, played much better in this game, and as a result, the Eagles breezed. Cardy Mac jumped out to a 17-6 lead with 9:16 to go in the first half, and led 30-12 at halftime as Gorman and Townes combined to go 8 of 12 from the floor for 20 points. McCarrick, which went 11 of 16 from the floor in the game’s first 20 minutes, began the second half with a 6-1 burst for a 36-13 lead. St. Joe’s finished the game with a 23-12 surge, but couldn’t overcome the huge deficit in a 48-36 loss.
For the game Gorman scored 16 points on 5 of 7 shooting from the floor including two of four from the foul line along with one of two from the line. Gorman also collected two rebounds, two charges, and a steal. Townes ended up with 9 points along with four rebounds, and two steals. John Appiah and Chris Peralta chipped in with six points each. Appiah went one of two from the floor and four of six from the line while grabbing six boards. Peralta made two of five from the field as well as both his free throws while picking up three rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Mike Lewis helped round out the scoring with a point, three rebounds, and a steal. On the other side of the ledger, Salman Hasan led the fight in a losing cause with 10 points on 4 of 8 shooting from the floor including two of four from beyond the arc.
Cardinal McCarrick went 16 of 35 from the floor for 46 percent including 2 of 6 from long distance while making 14 of 20 from the foul line. St. Joseph’s went 15 of 43 from the field including 3 of 13 from downtown, but only went one of two from the foul line. In other statistical areas, the Eagles won the turnover battle with 10-16 edge while scoring 15 points off St. Joe’s turnovers. Cardy Mac also had the edge in overall rebounding (23-20), but the Falcons drew even on the offensive boards (10-10) and had more second chance points (11-2). McCarrick had more assists (9-7), steals (9-5), blocks (3-0), and charges (2-0). The Eagles started the game by scoring the first six points including a drive for a layup by Gorman at the 17:51 mark.
St. Joe’s pulled within two on a couple of scores before Townes made one of two from the line at the 15:31 mark for a 7-4 lead. Mike Lewis got his only point of the contest when he swiped a steal, drove to the basket, and drew a foul on a layup attempt with 14:32 left in the first half that produced one of two from the line for an 8-4 lead. On the next St. Joe’s possession, Gorman picked up a steal and drove in for a layup that made the score, 10-4 at the 14:15 mark. Appiah followed up by going to the line for one of two, and an 11-4 lead. Over the next 3:38, McCarrick scored six of the next eight points including a score by Peralta, who dribbled in, spun, and hit a turnaround jumper at the 9:16 mark for a 17-6 lead. A little over a minute later, Albert Myers III put the Falcons on the board with a score underneath for a 17-8 Eagles lead at the 7:59 mark.
The next 3:43 saw Cardinal McCarrick increase its lead to 23-10 with 4:16 to go in the first half as Gorman made a three pointer, and one of two from the line in a 6-2 run. After a St. Joe’s score, Gorman made another three on a shot from the left wing for a 26-12 advantage at the 1:45 mark. McCarrick then closed the half with the final four points as Townes connected on a bank shot, and then picked up a steal for a layup that gave the Eagles a 30-12 lead at the intermission. The South Amboy school limited St. Joe’s to just 6 of 15 from the floor, and forced 12 turnovers, which they converted into 12 points. The first 4:53 of the second half brought more of the same as McCarrick scored six of the first seven points for a 36-13 lead with a little over fifteen minutes remaining. Peralta highlighted the run with two free throws.
St. Joseph’s, which also got contributions from Jalen Gilmore, Tom Cicalese, Mike Cintron, and Jake Dadika among others, made things more respectable with a 23-12 finish, but McCarrick advanced with the 48-36 win. With the victory, the Eagles improved to 10-1 on the summer, and will take on fourth seeded Piscataway in the semifinals. The Chiefs moved on after defeating fifth seeded Roselle in the quarterfinals. St. Joe’s finished its summer at Rahway with a 4-7 mark.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cardinal McCarrick (10-1) | 30 | 18 | 48 |
| St. Joseph’s (4-7) | 12 | 24 | 36 |
GMC Hoops plans to be back out at Rahway on Thursday for the semifinals.