ALLENTOWN, NJ–On Saturday night, GMC Hoops headed down the New Jersey Turnpike after work to Allentown High School for the second day of action in the three day Summer Prime Time Shootout. On this second day, the site saw four of the 28 games were played, and got results of four others. See all 8 of the results obtained as well as capsules on these contests in the blog. The site had two featured matchups including a contest between Piscataway and Nazareth of Brooklyn, and a nightcap game between Plainfield and Hyde of Connecticut. There was a GMC connection in the latter game as Plainfield head coach, Jeff Lubreski, was the former head coach at South Plainfield.
Nazareth Shuts Down Piscataway In Second Half To Win, 39-38
In an 8:00 PM game, GMC Hoops just got down to Allentown in time to see the Piscataway Chiefs in action against Nazareth of New York’s Catholic League. Competing in the Class A South Division of the CHSAA, the Kingsmen went 11-14 overall in 2008-09 including an 8-9 mark in league play. The Kingsmen, which used to compete in the Elizabeth Summer League, had won five of six during a stretch in January of this past season. The school competes against the likes of Monsignor McClancy, which lost to St. Joseph’s of Metuchen this past season, 64-49. During the season Nazareth played McClancy twice, losing on January 10th (59-55), and winning on January 30th (61-56). McClancy finished the season at 19-7 overall including a 12-5 mark in league. Bishop Ford won the league with a 15-2 record while recording a 20-6 mark overall. The Kingsmen lost to Ford twice by scores of 84-56 on December 9th, and 81-64 on December 20th.
The first half was rather high scoring as both teams combined for 51 points. However, in the second half, the defenses took over, particularly Nazareth’s. The Kingsmen outscored the Chiefs by only a 15-11 margin in the second half to get the 39-38 victory. It was the first time this summer that GMC Hoops saw Wayne Newsome in action as he didn’t disappoint. Over the first four minutes of the contest, Newsome scored all 9 of P-Way’s points to give his team a seven point lead. Newsome later added a two handed jam for a 17-14 lead while Justin Kirkland added a couple scores to help the Chiefs maintain the slim three point lead at the break. Nazareth got things going early with a steal for a layup at the 19:47 mark for a 2-0 lead. Newsome then took control as he scored the game’s next nine points.
First, the soon to be senior forward, and one of only several returning players from last year’s GMCT Championship team, tied the game with a layup of his own at the 19:35 mark. He then added a reverse layup for a 4-2 lead with just under 19 minutes to play in the first half. Newsome added a one of two showing from the foul line for a 5-2 lead with 18:09 to go in the half. After a lull in the scoring of over a minute, Newsome got out ahead of everyone on a fast break for a layup, and a 7-2 lead at the 17:00 mark. He then capped his personal scoring spurt with two free throws for a 9-2 lead with 16:00 left in the first half. Nazareth would respond though with a 6-4 run that was ignited by a layup at the 15:07 mark before Kirkland got on the board with an offensive rebound and follow to put the Chiefs back up by five at 15-10 with 10:10 to play in the first half.
Over the next 3:05, the Kingsmen scored four unanswered points to pull within one at 15-14 with 7:05 to go in the half, but Newsome responded with his two handed jam at the 6:35 mark for a 17-14 lead. Nazareth continued to fight back though with four of the next six points over a span of just 46 seconds for a 19-18 Piscataway lead with 5:49 to go before halftime. The Brooklyn school then took the lead with another 4-2 run before P-Way responded with four straight points including a bank shot by Kirkland in the left low block for a 25-22 lead at the 1:47 mark. Kirkland then took a pass from Brandon Williamson for a layup while being fouled at the 48.64 mark, but he missed the bonus foul shot, and the Chiefs only led by three, 27-24 going into the brief intermission. In the second half, Nazareth took the lead by scoring 10 of the first 14 points over a span of 10:30.
After watching a bit of the contest between Middle Township and Cherokee, the site picked up the action with the Kingsmen back out in front thanks to a 10-4 spurt for a 34-31 score at the 9:30 mark. Nazareth then added a layup for a 36-31 lead with nine minutes remaining. The Chiefs had a chance to get closer, but Kirkland missed two free throws at the 8:18 mark before picking himself up with a layup while being fouled for a three point play, and a 36-34 score with 7:07 left. Over the next 4:38, the Chiefs outscored the Kingsmen by a 4-0 margin to go back out in front, 38-36 with 2:29 left. Nazareth closed the gap to one by making one of two at the line before Kirkland misfired on another two foul shots at the one minute mark. Seconds later, Nazareth took the lead for good on a layup for the 39-38 victory.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nazareth | 24 | 15 | 39 |
| Piscataway | 27 | 11 | 38 |
Hyde Edges Plainfield In Double-Overtime, 43-42
The nightcap featured two very good teams as Hyde of Connecticut traveled down to the Shootout to take on Plainfield. The Cardinals did lose a lot to graduation after a very successful campaign under first year head coach, Jeff Lubreski, but the Cardinals showed with the likes of Mike Price and Tyrone Johnson, that they will still be very competitive. Hyde jumped out to a 23-17 lead with under a minute to go in the first half before Plainfield got two foul shots at the 13.7 second mark for a 23-19 Hyde lead at the break.
In the second half, Hyde started out strong with 8 of the first 12 points for a 31-23 lead, but the Cards responded with 14 unanswered points to take a 37-31 lead with about three minutes left. Hyde replied though with a 9-3 run to close out regulation, and force overtime with a 40-40 tie. After a scoreless first extra session period, Plainfield took the lead on a field goal before Hyde pulled out the 43-42 win with a three pointer at the 27.5 second mark. Hyde led originally 23-17 with 46.3 seconds to go in the first half. Plainfield got two free throws with 13.7 seconds left before the break, and Hyde misfired on both foul shots to keep the score at 23-19 going into the intermission. After watching Monsignor McClancy of Brooklyn take on Elizabeth in the other nightcap, GMC Hoops returned to see Hyde increase its lead to eight with 13:42 to play in regulation.
Plainfield then went to work. The Cards put together its best run of the game by scoring the next 14 points over a span of about 10 minutes to take a six point lead. Johnson ignited the rally with a steal for a layup at the 11:20 mark, and then the Cardinals got another steal for a layup at the 10:50 mark. Price got into the act with a steal for a layup himself for a 6-0 burst, and a 31-29 Hyde lead as the Connecticut team called for time with 10:36 remaining in the second half. Hyde had a chance to stem the tide a bit, but missed both free throws at the 9:36 mark before Plainfield tied it on a layup with 9:04 to go in regulation. A minute later, the Cards went ahead with a steal that drew an intentional foul, and resulted in one of two from the charity stripe for a 32-31 score. The Cardinals then added five more points for a 37-31 lead before Hyde rallied with a 5-1 run that included a field goal and a three pointer to make the score, 38-36 with 2:57 left in the period.
Following a Plainfield timeout, Hyde tied the game up at 38-38 with a score before the Cards went back out in front with a layup at the 1:02 mark. After Hyde had called timeout, it knotted the game again at 40-40 with a jumper at the 42.6 second mark. The Cardinals had a chance to pull out the game in regulation when it called for time with 8.3 seconds left to set up a final play, but the last second shot after the timeout hit the front of the rim, and the two teams went to overtime. The second session was scoreless although the Cards had their chances. Price missed on a three point attempt from the left corner, and then after a steal, the Cardinals last second shot hit the rim as time expired. In the second extra period, Plainfield went ahead by two on a field goal, but Hyde took the lead with 27.5 seconds to go on a three pointer. Following a timeout with 12.1 seconds to play, Plainfield was unable to get a last second shot off after Hyde missed the front end of a one and one as the Connecticut team came away with the 43-42 victory.
| Team | 1 | 2 | OT | 2OT | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hyde (CT) | 23 | 17 | 0 | 3 | 43 |
| Plainfield | 19 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 42 |
GMC Hoops came back out to Allentown on Sunday night for four more contests. Summaries on that action will be up soon.