Summer Prime Time Shootout–August 9, 2009

ALLENTOWN, NJ–On Sunday night, GMC Hoops headed down the New Jersey Turnpike again after work to Allentown High School for the third and final day of action in the three day Summer Prime Time Shootout. On this third day, the site saw four of the 28 games were played, and got results of three others. See all 7 of the results obtained as well as capsules on these contests in the blog. The site had two featured matchups including a contest between Lakewood and Trenton Catholic, and a nightcap game between Timber Creek and Piscataway. GMC Hoops wrapped up its summer coverage with these two games.

Davis Erupts To Lead Lakewood Past Trenton Catholic, 57-45

The first of two games covered by the site involved two teams from outside the Greater Middlesex Conference. Trenton Catholic, which was coming off a superb season that included a Non-Public B South Championship over Cardinal McCarrick, and from the Burlington County Scholastic League, was taking on a Lakewood team that qualified for the Central Jersey Group III state playoffs, where the Piners lost in the Quarterfinals to Freehold Boro. Lakewood played on Friday night, and lost to Cherry Hill West in somewhat of a surprise (69-57), and then defeated Burlington Township (52-46).

Trenton Catholic got off to a fast start, but succumbed to a strong surge by the Piners, which closed the half with a 33-13 showing to take a 34-26 lead at the intermission. Then, in the second half, Lakewood increased its lead to nine with an 11-10 showing over a 11:00 span before the Iron Mikes responded with a 5-2 spurt to close within six at 47-41 with 4:45 left. However, the Piners prevailed with a 10-4 game ending run that included two dunks to wrap up the 57-45 victory. The star of the game particularly in the first half was Lakewood’s Jarrod Davis, who put on a shooting display that not only spurred the Piner rally, but also coerced TCA’s head coach, Fred Falchi, to call four timeouts over a span of 3:02. Davis ended up scoring a total of 24 first half points on five three pointers, three field goals, and 3 of 5 from the foul line.

Over the first 4:03 though, it appeared as if the Iron Mikes of Trenton Catholic Academy was going to run Lakewood out of the gym. TCA scored 13 of the first 14 points of the contest when GMC Hoops walked into the gym. However, right away, Davis went to work with a three pointer from the left side to make it 13-4. Trenton Catholic added a bucket to go back up by double digits at 15-4, but Davis struck again for a three pointer to make it 15-7, and then added a field goal to close the gap to 15-9. The Iron Mikes then scored five points in a row to go back up by eleven at 20-9 with 11:51 to go in the first half. Over the next 1:05 though, the momentum began to change as Davis struck for two more three pointers while a teammate added a dunk to pull the Piners to within five at 22-17 as TCA called for time at the 10:46 mark.

A little over a minute after that, Lakewood continued to gain momentum with another score to close to within three at 22-19 as Trenton Catholic called another timeout at the 9:37 mark. Following the stoppage, Davis picked up right where he left off with a free throw, and then a steal for a layup while being fouled to convert a traditional three point play, and give Lakewood a 23-22 lead with 8:31 left in the half as TCA called for time again. The timeouts still weren’t the tonic as Davis struck again for a three pointer from the left side for a 26-22 lead at the 7:44 mark as the Iron Mikes called their fourth and final timeout of the half. After the stoppage, the Piners ended the opening period with an 8-4 spurt including a layup and one of two free throws by Davis to take a 34-26 lead into the intermission. Trenton Catholic did its best to stay competitive, but a late spurt by Lakewood put the game away in the second half.

Over the first eleven minutes of the second half, the Piners were only able to increase their lead by a point with an 11-10 showing that made the score, 45-36. The Iron Mikes then scored five of the next seven points over a span of 4:15 to close the gap to six at 47-41 with 4:45 left. However, that would be as close as TCA would get as Lakewood closed the game with a 10-4 spurt that included two dunks for a 57-45 victory.

Team 1 2 Total
Lakewood 34 23 57
Trenton Catholic 26 19 45

Timber Creek Surges In Second Half To Defeat P-Way, 39-31

After watching the ending to the contest between Lakewood and Trenton Catholic, GMC Hoops caught up with one of the two teams from the Greater Middlesex Conference that was in action at the Shootout as Piscataway took on Timber Creek of South Jersey. Competing in the Patriot Division of the Olympic Conference, the Chargers of Timber Creek went 17-11 in 2008-09 including a 7-3 mark in divisional play. Timber Creek defeated Patriot Division rival, Winslow Township in the opening round of the South Jersey Group III Tournament before losing to another division foe in Shawnee in the Quarterfinals.

Piscataway, on the other hand, won the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament as well as appeared in the North Jersey Section 2 Group IV Championship for the second straight year. It also won its second consecutive GMC Hoops Trophy. However, the Chiefs are only going to have three players returning this year including Wayne Newsome and Malcolm Griggs. “We’re very young,” said Newsome after the game. However, these Chiefs have played competitively all summer long. They’ve just about been in every game. Despite losing all four of their contests here at the Summer Prime Time Shootout, and not making the playoffs at both the Elizabeth and Bound Brook Summer Leagues, the Chiefs were just about in every game.

This contest would be no exception. The Chiefs, which lost three of the four games played at the Summer Prime Time by a combined total of just 15 points, went toe to toe with Timber Creek. The game was tied early on at 5-5 when the site picked up the action with 11 minutes to go in the first half. Even after the Chargers took the lead with a 5-0 run that included one of two from the free throw line at the 9:56 mark, a field goal at the 9:04 mark, and another bucket with eight minutes left in the half, P-Way was resilient. Piscataway responded with eight unanswered points that included a steal and assist by Julius Nadarajah on a basket at the 7:06 mark, two free throws by Justin Kirkland at the 4:48 mark, and then a pull-up jumper that got a kind bounce at the 3:21 mark. Timber Creek ended the 8-0 run with a fast break layup at the 1:57 mark to close within one, and had a chance to take the lead after Nadarajah missed two foul shots with 42.69 left. However, the Chiefs went back up by three before the Chargers got an offensive rebound and put in the follow to end the first half scoring, and trail 15-14 at the intermission.

After watching Trenton and Shabazz go at it in the first half of their contest, the site returned to pick up the action with Timber Creek leading P-Way by a 25-22 score. The Chargers had outscored the Chiefs by an 11-7 margin over the first 8:52 of the second half. The South Jersey school then added a score down low at the 9:30 mark for a 27-22 lead. Piscataway finally got going again when Kirkland was fouled on a layup attempt that produced one of two from the foul line for a 27-23 Charger lead at the 7:53 mark. However, Timber Creek promptly responded on its next possession with the first of two critical three point plays for a 30-23 lead at the 7:09 mark. The second conventional trifecta came at the 5:40 mark for a 33-24 lead. Brandon Williamson helped P-Way close the gap to seven on a jumper with 5:17 to play, but the Chiefs couldn’t get any close as they were outscored 6-5 the rest of the way in the 39-31 loss.

Team 1 2 Total
Timber Creek 14 25 39
Piscataway 15 16 31

GMC Hoops thanks Jeff Hewitson and his staff at the Summer Prime Time Shootout for their assistance and hospitality over the three days of this event.