Raritan Bay Summer League–May 29, 2008

SOUTH AMBOY, NJ–On Thursday night, GMC Hoops stopped over again at South Amboy Middle/High School to take in the final night of action in week two of the 2008 Raritan Bay Summer League. Once again, the site came down for the final two games of the evening, but still managed to get the results of the first two games. In the first game played at 5:30 PM, Colts edged South Amboy in a nailbiter from the 3rd and 4th Grade Division, 23-20 while in the second game played at 6:30 PM, Monroe handed South Amboy a 31-24 defeat in a contest from the 5th and 6th Grade Division. Soon to be South Amboy graduate, Steve Poltrictzky was doing the scoreboard at the scorer’s table so the site had an opportunity to talk to him, and see how he was doing.

For those of you who may not be aware, Poltrictzky played on the baseball team also at South Amboy High School. During the season, the South Amboy senior did quite well on the baseball diamond hitting over .500 as the Guvs qualified for the state tournament. Despite losing 16-1 in its opening round game, South Amboy did a nice job getting back to the states in light of the fact that this was supposed to be a rebuilding year. Poltrictzky also added that his fellow partner in crime, Larry Lenahan, who is attending Centenary in the fall, is spending this summer on becoming a major business mogul in South Amboy with two jobs including a landscaping business his uncle gave to him. So, Lenahan, who was a fixture as well at the scorers table in the Raritan Bay Summer League these past few years will not be back this summer. Returning to the action, GMC Hoops entered the gym with 14:15 to go in the second of the the game between Sayreville and Roselle from the 7th and 8th Grade, and stayed for the rest of the night including the High School Division nightcap between the same two schools: Sayreville and Roselle.

Sayreville Bombers Defeat Roselle Thanks To Strong First Half, 33-25

In the first half, Sayreville jumped out to a 20-10 lead going into the intermission, and then withstood a second half charge from Roselle to eke out a eight point, 33-25 victory in play from the 7th and 8th Grade Division. Over the first 5:45 of the second half, Roselle closed to within seven thanks to a 5-2 run that made the score, 22-15 with 14:15 left in regulation. The Runnin’ Rams attempted to use its quickness along with some pressure to try and climb back into the matchup. Almost two minutes later, Roselle got another field goal that made it a five point game at 22-17 with 12:25 left, and had an opportunity moments later to get even closer. With 12:18 to go in the game, Roselle was able to draw a foul on a scoring attempt, but misfired on the two charity shot attempts, and Sayreville remained in front by a five point margin. A little more than a half minute after that, Roselle got a stop on the defensive end, grabbed the rebound, and made an outlet pass upcourt to an open man, but the pass was too far, and went out of bounds with 10:40 to play.

Despite these two missed chances, the Runnin’ Rams still managed to pull within two on a three pointer from the top of the key that made it 22-20 with 9:22 left. Following a Sayreville timeout several seconds later, the Bombers replied with a trey of its own from the left side that pushed its advantage back up to five points at 25-20 with 6:39 left. The Bombers then had a chance to get more points, but the same player, who hit the three, missed a front end of a one and one with 4:53 left, and despite getting the offensive rebound, Sayreville turned the ball over. The turnover came in the form of a Roselle steal that was converted into points on a layup at the 4:19 mark to close the gap to three at 25-22. Roselle then made another layin almost exactly a minute later to pull within one at 25-24 with 3:18 to go. On its next offensive possession, Sayreville scored a layup of its own to go back up by three at 27-24 with 3:06 remaining.

The Runnin’ Rams could not get any closer as they could only manage to get a point on one of two from the foul line with 1:46 to play that made it a two point game at 27-25. Sayreville then closed out the game with six straight points including two free throws at the 55 second mark, a layup at the 28.6 second mark, and a final score on a layup with just under three seconds left to close out the 33-25 victory, and even its record on the summer at 1-1. Roselle falls to 0-2.

Team 1 2 Total
Sayreville Bombers (1-1) 20 13 33
Roselle (0-2) 10 25 24

Sayreville Overcomes Early Deficit To Stun Roselle, 37-36 In High School Division

Team 1 2 Total
Sayreville (1-1) 23 14 37
Roselle (1-1) 16 20 36