ALLENTOWN, NJ–On Friday afternoon, GMC Hoops endured the traffic on the New Jersey Turnpike that was headed for mostly Jersey Shore destinations to arrive at Allentown High School for the first day of action in the three day Summer Prime Time Shootout. On this first day, the site saw 12 of the 16 games were played after arriving after 3:00 PM. See all 12 of the results obtained as well as capsules on these contests in the blog. The site’s featured matchup of the day was between Ridge and Ewing. There was somewhat of a GMC connection in this contest as Ridge is now coached by former St. Joseph’s head coach, Mark Taylor while Ewing replaced Monroe in the event after the Purple Birds decided not to play since four of their starters were going to be on vacation.
Ewing Prevails Over Ridge In Close One, 40-39
In a game that saw 11 lead changes and 2 ties while neither team had a lead bigger than 9 points, Ewing went on a 16-2 run to start the second half for a 34-28 lead with 8:42 to play, and after the game went back and forth down the stretch, prevailed by a final score of 40-39. The Ridge Red Devils, which played earlier in the day against New Egypt, and its prized big man, Desmond Hubert, went on a 10-1 run over a span of 5:59 for a 21-12 first half lead, and led 26-18 at the intermission. However, Ewing outscored the Skyland Conference’s Delaware West Division Champs, and two time Somerset County finalists by a margin of 22-13 in the second half as the Red Devils struggled from the field for much of the first 11 plus minutes of the period. Ishaq Pitt, who will be entering his second year at Ridge after being Our Savior New American in Long island, put in a solid performance to lead the Devils.
In the game, the 6’3″ 200 lb, point guard/small forward, went 10 of 19 overall from the floor, and 2 of 5 from the foul line for a team high 22 points along with 8 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Pitt accounted for 56.4 percent of Ridge’s offense. For the game, the Devils went 17 of 52 from the field for 32.7 percent including just 3 of 18 from three point range for a paltry 16.7 percent. Outside of Pitt, Ridge was only 7 of 33 from the floor for 21.2 percent. Meanwhile at the line, the Red Devils only had Pitt’s 2 of 5 effort to show. On the other side of the ledger, the Blue Devils of Ewing went 16 of 42 for 38.1 percent including 2 of 5 from long distance while going 6 of 9 from the foul line.
In other statistical areas, Ewing outrebounded Ridge by a 29-26 margin although offensive rebounding was even at 10-10. Ridge had more steals (9-4) and assists (11-9) while committing fewer turnovers (13-16). Ewing had more blocks (1-0). Each team won a half with the Red Devils winning the first 20 minutes by a 26-18 margin, and the Blue Devils winning the last 20 minutes by a 22-13 margin. The game went back and forth early on before Ridge put together its best run of the game to round out the first half. Then, the pendulum swung back in Ewing’s favor with the Blue Devils big second half run. Ridge then rallied to go ahead, but after the two teams went back and forth again, Ewing pulled out the close win. Ridge opened the game with a basket before Ewing scored the next three points for a 3-2 lead. Pitt put the Red Devils back on top with a bucket while being fouled, but he missed the bonus free throw for a 4-3 score at the 15:25 mark.
The Blue Devils responded though with the next four points including a coast to coast layup for a 7-4 lead at the 13:20 mark. Ridge had a chance to get closer when Pitt grabbed an offensive rebound, and drew a foul on the follow, but came up empty in two attempts at the line with 11:25 to go in the half. The Red Devils would pick Pitt up with a 7-1 run that included a jumper by Nick Cefalo, a three pointer by Andrew Madlinger, and a jumper by Pitt for a 9-8 lead at the 8:52 mark. After Ewing tied things up again at 11-11 with 8:30 left in the half, Ridge scored five of the next six points on a three pointer by Cefalo, and a layup by Pitt for a 16-12 lead at the 5:52 mark. The Red Devils then added five more points including a layup and foul for a three point play by Pitt at the 2:53 mark for a 21-12 lead. In a span of 10:27, Ridge had outscored Ewing by a margin of 17-5.
However, the game would soon turn against Ridge as the Blue Devils first closed the half with a 6-5 showing to trim the deficit to eight at the intermission, 26-18. Pitt scored 13 points in the first 20 minutes on 6 of 10 shooting and 1 of 2 from the line while grabbing 5 rebounds, and collecting an assist and a steal. Then, in the second half, Ewing got off to a strong start with a 16-2 tear for a six point lead. The Blue Devils got out of the gates early with the first seven points including a steal off Pitt for a layup and a foul to make a three point play, and close the gap to one, 26-25 with 15:30 to play. After Ridge got its first points of the half, Ewing connected on its second and final three pointer of the game to tie things up at 28-28 with 13:32 to go in the contest. The Blue Devils, which hail from the Patriot Division of the Colonial Valley Conference, then took the layup on a layup nearly two minutes later.
Ewing didn’t stop there either. Leading now 30-28 with 11:33 to play, the Blue Devils added an offensive rebound and follow at the 9:36 mark, and then an offensive rebound and putback at the 8:42 mark to cap the 16-2 tear for a 34-28 lead. Waking up after falling behind, Pitt and his Ridge teammates fought to get back in the game. Pitt factored in all of Ridge’s final 11 points of the game with 7 points and 2 assists. He first got Ridge to within four again on a layup at the 5:45 mark to end a scoring drought by the Red Devils that lasted for 8:30. Pitt then handed out an assist on a layup with 4:37 to go that closed the gap to two at 34-32. Ewing scored a basket before Ridge called for time trailing by four, 36-32 with 3:28 left. After the timeout, Pitt went back to work with a basket while being fouled for a three point play that pulled the Red Devils to within one, 36-35 at the 3:14 mark.
Ridge then took a 37-36 lead as Pitt handed out an assist on a short jumper with 2:20 to go. Ewing promptly replied on its next possession with a layup at the 2:02 mark for a 38-37 lead. Neither team scored for over a minute until Pitt grabbed an offensive board, and put in the follow for a 39-38 lead with 43 seconds left. The Blue Devils would prevail in this battle of Devils as they got a layup with 16 seconds to go, and Ridge turned the ball over in the final seconds for the 40-39 Ewing victory.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ewing | 18 | 22 | 40 |
| Ridge | 26 | 13 | 39 |
GMC Hoops came back out to Allentown on both Saturday and Sunday nights for four more contests each night. Summaries on that action will be up soon.