GMC Hoops Blogosphere

Linden Summer League–July 23, 2008

LINDEN, NJ–On Wednesday evening, GMC Hoops headed over to Linden High School to take in one of the four quarterfinal games in the 2008 Linden Summer Summer League playoffs. This game so happened to feature two teams from the Greater Middlesex Conference in Cardinal McCarrick and St. Joseph’s, and the Falcons looked very good despite being shorthanded. Leading by six at the half, St. Joe’s, which was without the services of soon to be junior guard, Steve Rennard, senior forward Gerard Lewis, and sophomore Robbie Ashamole, outscored McCarrick by six in the third to go up, 42-30, and never really looked back after that in a 56-46 victory to advance to the semifinals.

Nikko Vastola played a prominent role in not only this victory, but also the later win over Sayreville at the Elizabeth Summer League playoffs on Wednesday night at the Dunn Center. Following a three pointer by McCarrick’s Taylor Snider to pull his team to within two at the 5:01 mark, the Falcons closed out the third with a 12-2 tear for the dozen point lead heading into the fourth. GMC Hoops had quite a trip over to Linden on this Wednesday. There were numerous severe thunderstorms in the area that produced vivid lightning, and torrential rain. As a matter of fact, on the way back from the playoffs at the Elizabeth Summer League, the site ran into a lightning display with lightning flashes occurring about every 3 to 4 seconds. Flooding along the Route 1/9 corridor wasn’t too bad until you got into Route 1 by Ford Ave in Edison and Woodbridge.

The stormy weather coupled with the tasks of writing articles, forced GMC Hoops to end up arriving with 7:49 to go in the third quarter. Former Linden assistant coach, Marty Luc, was at the gym, and promptly introduced Greg Machos to new Linden assistant coach, Danny DelValle, who had recently played hoops at Kean University. St. Joseph’s was leading at this point, 28-22, and McCarrick would close the gap a bit with a 3-2 showing over the next 49 seconds to make the score, 30-25 at the seven minute mark. Eric Peterson then came up with a fine defensive play by stopping Branten Widgeon on the drive from the left side with a block at the 5:51 mark. Seven seconds later, the Falcons had a chance to go up by seven or more, but soon to be sophomore, Matt Wagner, misfired on a jumper from the right wing.

On a subsequent McCarrick possession, soon to be sophomore, Jeremy Cruz handed out an assist when he passed the ball back up top to Snider for a three pointer that cut the deficit to two at 30-28 with just over five minutes left in the third. Vastola then got going for the Falcons when he made a nice dish to Gagan Dhaliwal for a layup that made the score, 32-28 at the 4:32 mark. Dhaliwal then followed that up with a drive from the right side for a layup and a six point, 34-28 lead with 3:33 remaining. Dhaliwal then fed Vastola, who came off a nice screen on the inbounds, for a scoring chance that drew a foul, and produced two free throws for a 36-28 advantage with 2:13 remaining in the period. Three quarters of a minute later, Vastola, featuring his Mad Max Mohawk, grabbed a rebound on the defensive end, and proceeded down court for a pull-up jumper from the foul line for a ten point, 38-28 edge at the 1:28 mark.

The Falcons then added another layup for a 40-28 lead at the 1:01 mark before McCarrick soon to be junior guard, Craig Thomas drove through the middle for a layin that got a kind bounce for a 40-30 score with 49 seconds left in the third. However, St. Joseph’s would enter the fourth with a twelve point lead after Slay Sudah netted a pair of free throws for the 42-30 advantage. In the fourth, McCarrick got a field goal early to close the gap to ten again at 42-32 with nine minutes remaining. Neither team would score for about a minute, and a half before Wagner, the younger brother of St. Joe’s coach, Kevin Wagner, and former Colonia reserve, Brendan Wagner, drove to his right from the left wing for a layup as he was fouled. Although, the Falcon guard missed the bonus free throw for the conventional three point play, he still gave St. Joe’s its twelve point lead again at 44-32 with 7:34 to go.

A little more than a half minute later, Dhaliwal got himself in the scorebook again with a floate that hit the back of the rim just right so that it would roll in the bucket for a 46-32 lead with 6:57 to go. Cardinal McCarrick rallied a bit with seven straight points over the next 3:36 including a jump hook by Taylor Snider at the 6:41 mark, two free throws by Widgeon at the 4:52 mark, and then a Thomas three pointer off a kickout by Dominic Appiah to pull the Eagles to within seven at 46-39 with 3:21 to play. However, the momentum gained was thrown away quickly when St. Joseph’s came down on its very next possession, and got a three pointer from Peterson for a 49-39 lead at the 3:11 mark. Forty-one seconds later, Appiah stretched as far as he could to tap in a missed shot by Rob Olivieri to trim the deficit to single digits again at 49-41 with 2:30 to play.

St. Joseph’s then put the game away with four straight points including a short jumper in the key by Slay Sudah at the 1:52 mark, and then a layup and a foul by Vastola with 1:27 left. Although Vastola missed the bonus free throw, the Falcons led again by a dozen at 53-41. McCarrick would get an unconventional three point play in the form of one of two free throws from Appiah, and then on the missed second shot, and offensive rebound and follow by Widgeon for a 53-44 Falcon lead with 1:15 to go. Reserve Rob Gomulka helped close out the victory for the Falcons with an offensive rebound and putback as St. Joe’s came away with the 56-46 victory to advance to the semifinals on Thursday against top seeded St. Patrick’s, which defeated Immaculata, 59-38.

Star-Ledger College Summer League–July 22, 2008

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ–On Tuesday night, the final week of regular season action continued in the 2008 Star-Ledger College Summer League over at the College Avenue Barn on the main campus of Rutgers University. Bignell Planning continued to stumble and tumble while the D’Annunzio & Sons Express came to a screeching halt. GMC Hoops was not in attendance on this day since it was over at both the Middlesex County College Summer League, and the Bound Brook College Summer League. However, Jay Gomes of NJ Hoops was nice enough to provide the results from the action on Tuesday.

In the first game, VP Builders ended a two game losing streak with a 101-95 victory over Bignell Planning, which has dropped four of its last five games after being in first place earlier in the season. St. Augustine Prep alum, Anthony Farmer, who now plays at Rutgers, came up with a team high 25 points for the victors while Colin Aldridge paced Bignell with a game high 31 points. In the rebounding department, Mark Tracy of VP, who currently plays at Middlesex County College, had a team high 8 rebounds while Eric Wilkins (26 points and 9 rebounds) of the University of Miami, pulled down a game high 9 rebounds for Bignell.

Farmer added to his scoring efforts by handing out 7 assists for the winners while former St. Benedicts and current NJIT standout, Jheryl Wilson (16 points and 5 rebounds) dished out seven as well to tie for the game high. Other notable performances including 23 points and 3 assists by Rashod Calloway of Tampa for VP Builders, and 18 points and 5 rebounds by Jonathan Jones of VP Builders. Meanwhile, in the nightcap game, AXA Advisors recorded a huge win in terms of momentum going into the playoffs, which begin on Sunday.

AXA, which entered the contest some two games behind D’Annunzio & Sons in the standings, and with no way of overcoming that, still managed to get a huge win under its belt by defeating D & S to end its eight game winning streak, 92-83. Despite a game high 32 points from Newark Eastside’s Corey Chandler, D’Annunzio gave way to an AXA team that is coming on strong entering the playoff round. Jonathan Mitchell came through again with yet another double-double of a game high 24 points and 14 rebounds. Hamady N’Diaye (13 points) did his best in the low blocks to help D & S with a team high 8 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough

Former St. Anthony’s standout, and future Rutgers hoops guard, Mike Rosario (also had 16 points and 11 rebounds) and teammate Mike Coburn of Mount Vernon handed out 4 assists each for AXA while Chandler (32 points and 5 rebounds) dished 5 in a losing cause for D & S. Earl Pettis chipped in for the winners with 19 points. With the victory, AXA Advisors clinched the second seed, and a first round bye in the playoffs.

Linden Summer League–July 23, 2008–Playoff Results

LINDEN, NJ–On Thursday afternoon, GMC Hoops received the full playoff results from the Linden Summer League courtesy of Danny DelValle, the new assistant coach over at Linden High School. These results were form the Quarterfinal round on Wednesday. GMC Hoops covered one of the games between St. Joseph’s and Cardinal McCarrick before heading over to the Elizabeth Summer League Playoffs being held at Dunn. In the meantime, here are the results from yesterday’s playoff action from Linden:

• #2 Linden 58–#7 Watchung Hills 29
• #1 St. Patrick’s 59–#8 Immaculata 38
• #4 St. Joseph’s 56–#13 Cardinal McCarrick 46
• #6 Seton Hall Prep 65–#3 Colonia 44

GMC Hoops plans to be out at Linden for the Semifinals and Championship today.

Middlesex County College Summer League–July 15, 2008

EDISON, NJ–On Tuesday night, GMC Hoops headed over to Middlesex County College after work to get the results from Thursday night’s action as well as the latest standings. The site ended up with much more than it bargained for as it not only got the latest results and standings, but it also got the tournament seeds and brackets as well as a glimpse at some of the action from the nightcap round of games.

There were three games taking place during the 8:00 PM hour including: South Brunswick taking on South Hunterdon over on Court #1, Perth Amboy Tech battling Highland Park on Court #2, and perhaps the most significant game of the summer thus far as North Brunswick squared off against Keyport in a battle of two unbeaten teams on Court #3. For GMC Hoops, this occasion marked the first time the site had seen South Brunswick’s JV squad and North Brunswick’s varsity all summer so it wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. Unfortunately though, it couldn’t see everything since there was some action going on at TBSA too.

South Hunterdon Edges South Brunswick, 42-40

After jotting down all the information it needed, GMC Hoops headed over to Court #1 where the matchup between South Hunterdon and South Brunswick was taking place. The Eagles of South Hunterdon, which compete against the likes of Bound Brook and Manville in the Valley Division of the Skyland Conference, had defeated Highland Park earlier this summer at MCC thanks to a second half surge. While the Eagles entered the night at 5-2 overall, South Brunswick was trying to inch back to .500 with a 3-5 mark on the summer.

The site picked up the action with only 2:18 to go in the first half, and South Hunterdon leading by a slim five point margin, 21-16. Nearly twenty seconds later, the Eagles had a chance to increase their lead to seven, but misfired on two free throws at the 2:00 mark. Forty-four seconds later, South Brunswick got on the board with an offensive rebound and a reverse layup on the follow for a 21-18 score at the 1:16 mark. On South Hunterdon’s next possession, the Eagles fared much better at the charity stripe with a pair of free throws that made the score, 23-18 at the 53 second mark. Both teams then went into the brief intermission with the same score as South Brunswick missed a shot, and couldn’t score on the follow in the waning moments of the first half.

In the second half, South Hunterdon came out the stronger of the two teams early on with six of the first eight points to increase its edge to 29-20 with 13:31 to go. However, over the final 13:31, SBHS closed the gap significantly to pull within two at the end. A run of 20-13 over that stretch gave the young Vikings a chance to tie the game at the buzzer, but the shot was no good, and the Eagles of South Hunterdon came away with the victory to provide additional momentum to obtaining fifth seed in the upcoming playoff round. With the 42-40 victory, South Hunterdon improved to 6-2 on the summer while South Brunswick fell to 3-6. The Eagles will play the Tigers of Timothy Christian II while SBHS will face off against geographic rival Franklin in the opening round of the playoffs on Thursday.

Perth Amboy Tech Romps Past Highland Park

After the Patriots were stunned and knocked from the ranks of the unbeaten by East Brunswick’s JV last week, Amboy Tech head coach, Artie Wachtel was as fiery as ever on the sideline. The result was positive as the Pats came out strong to start this contest. Over the first 12:27 of the first half, Perth Amboy Vo-Tech jumped out to a 15-4 lead against Highland Park. Neither team would score for nearly the next two minutes until the Patriots got on the board with a deuce at the 5:40 mark. On its next possession, Highland Park got a score to narrow the margin to eleven again at 17-6 with 5:30 to play in the first half.

Another minute and a half would go by before there would be another score, and that would come in the form of a pair of foul shots by Perth Amboy Tech at the four minute mark for a 19-6 lead. A minute and a half after that, the Pats got a three pointer to expand its lead to 22-6 at the 2:30 mark. Highland Park would be the next team to score with a one of two showing at the foul line for a 22-7 Amboy Tech lead with 1:19 to go before halftime. Amboy Tech would come right back though with a field goal for a 24-7 lead at the 1:05 mark, and then moments later, Anthony Vidal came up with a steal for a fast break layup, and a 26-7 advantage with 49 seconds remaining in the first half. The Owls then closed out the first half with a three pointer from the top of the key for a 26-10 Amboy Tech lead at the break.

From there, Perth Amboy went on to win the game easily to improve to 8-1 on the summer at MCC, and seal the third seed in the playoffs that start on Thursday, July 17th. Amboy Tech’s first round opponent will be Bishop Ahr, which it defeated handily back on July 8th.

Keyport Trips North Brunswick To Win Battle Of Unbeatens, 42-34

In the featured matchup of the night, first place was at stake as the two lone undefeated teams in the league squared off. Keyport entered the evening at 7-0 while North Brunswick was a half game better at 8-0. The Raiders, which lost twice to Keyport in last year’s MCC Summer League including a defeat in the playoffs, already sowed up the top seed for the playoffs so it really didn’t have much to lose. However, Keyport had a lot to gain with a win in terms of having some momentum going into the tournament as well as the confidence in having beaten North Brunswick. The first half saw the Red Raiders jump out to a 24-20 halftime lead, and then after the intermission, they scored four of the first six points of the second half to take a 28-22 edge at the 17:30 mark.

North Brunswick would rally back over the next 4:30 with a 5-0 run to close within one just inside 13 minutes remaining. After making one of two free throws at the line with 16:51 to play, North Brunswick scored again on a drive from the right wing for a layin, and a 28-25 Keyport lead at the 14:35 mark. Keyport had a chance to inch its lead back up a couple points, but misfired on both of its free throw attempts with 14:08 to go. The Raiders then scored on an offensive rebound and putback to pull within one at the 12:59 mark, but Keyport retook control of the contest with a 7-0 run over the next 2:30 for a 35-27 lead. Highlighting the spurt was a three pointer from the right corner that made the score, 31-27 at the 12:45 mark, and then an offensive rebound and follow at the 10:29 mark to cap the run, and give the Red Raiders an eight point advantage.

Both teams would score seven points apiece down the stretch as Keyport maintained its eight point advantage in a 42-34 victory. With the win, Keyport improved to 8-0 on the summer while North Brunswick fell to 8-1. Seeds were already determined prior to this game so the result had no effect. North Brunswick is still the top seed while Keyport is the second seed.

Elizabeth Summer League–Playoff Seeds, Brackets, And Matchups

ELIZABETH, NJ–On Tuesday night, GMC Hoops received the seeds and first round pairings for the playoffs in the 2008 Elizabeth Summer League, which got underway on Wednesday night at the Dunn Center on the main campus of Elizabeth High School. The top four teams in both the Monday/Wednesday Division, and the Tuesday/Thursday Division qualified. Four of those teams were from the Greater Middlesex Conference including: Metuchen, Middlesex, Sayreville, and St. Joseph’s.

Two GMC teams that did not make the playoffs were: Carteret and Monroe. Below are the playoff seeds in the Monday/Wednesday Division and the Tuesday/Thursday Division, and opening round matchups. Note: This particular league did their seeding differently. The top four seeds in one division played off against the top four seeds in the other. Much like say when the SEC has their conference tournament in March for college basketball.

Playoff Seeds–Monday/Wednesday Division

1. Middlesex (8-1)
2. St. Joseph’s (7-2)
3. Westfield (5-4)
4. Metuchen (4-5)

Playoff Seeds–Tuesday/Thursday Division

1. Elizabeth (9-0)
2. St. Peter’s (7-2)
3. Sayreville (6-3)
4. New Dorp (6-3)

First Round Matchups

• #1 TTh Elizabeth vs. #4 MW Metuchen at 5:00 PM
• #2 TTh St. Peter’s (Staten Island) vs #3 MW Westfield at 6:00 PM
• #1 MW Middlesex vs #4 TTh New Dorp (Staten Island)
• #2 MW St. Joseph’s vs. #3 TTh Sayreville

To view the playoff brackets go to bracketmaker.com. GMC Hoops covered two playoff games on Wednesday night, and plans to cover another on Thursday if possible.

Elizabeth Summer League–Final Regular Season Standings

ELIZABETH, NJ–On Wednesday, GMC Hoops received the final standings from the 2008 Elizabeth Summer League courtesy of EHS head coach, and former South Brunswick head coach, Chris Balent. The playoffs got underway on Wednesday night with the top eight teams from both divisions combined qualifying. Below are the final standings for both the Monday/Wednesday Division and the Tuesday/Thursday Division:

Monday/Wednesday Division Standings

• Elizabeth A (8-1)
• Middlesex (8-1)
• St. Joseph’s (7-2)
• Westfield (5-4)
• Metuchen (4-5)
• Moore Catholic (SI)(4-5)
• Roselle Catholic (3-6)
• Roselle (3-6)
• Elizabeth B (3-6)
• Roselle Park (0-9)

Tuesday/Thursday Division Standings

• Elizabeth A (9-0)
• St. Peter’s (SI) (7-2)
• Sayreville (6-3)
• New Dorp (SI) (6-3)
• Monroe (4-5)
• Carteret (4-5)
• Summit (3-6)
• St. Mary’s (2-6)
• Cranford (1-8)
• Elizabeth B (1-8)

GMC Hoops was out at the Dunn Center on Wednesday night to cover a couple of the playoff games there, and plans to be back out at Elizabeth on Thursday night to catch action from the semifinal round of the tournament.

Colonia JV Summer League–July 23, 2008–Results

COLONIA, NJ–On Wednesday night, July 23rd, the fourth and final week of action began at the 2008 Colonia JV Summer League at Colonia High School. Once again, there was a full slate of contests starting at 5:00 PM, and continuing until the completion of the 8:00 PM finale. GMC Hoops was not in attendance on this night since it was over at both the Linden and Elizabeth Summer Leagues covering the playoffs there, but Brian O’Lone the JV head coach and varsity assistant at Colonia High School provided the complete results. Below are the scores from Monday night:

• Colonia II 41–Middlesex 21
• Colonia III 32–Cardinal McCarrick II 28
• Cardinal McCarrick 50–South Brunswick 45
• J.F. Kennedy 45–Edison 42

GMC Hoops plans to be out at Colonia High School on Friday night to catch some of the first round playoff action from this league.

Colonia JV Summer League–Latest Standings

COLONIA, NJ–With the completion of play on Monday night, teams in the 2008 Colonia JV Summer League have played up to 8 games so far this summer. Results from Friday, July 18th have been factored into the updated standings. Thanks to the efforts of Colonia JV head coach, and varsity assistant, Brian O’Lone, GMC Hoops has been able to obtain and compile the results from contests already played to produce the latest standings. Here’s how the league shapes up as of the end of play on July 21st.

• Perth Amboy (7-1)
• St. Joseph’s (6-1)
• St. Mary’s–Elizabeth (7-2)
• Edison (4-2)
• Colonia I (3-3)
• Cardinal McCarrick I (3-3)
• J.F. Kennedy (3-3)
• Colonia II (4-5)
• Cardinal McCarrick II (2-5)
• Middlesex (2-5)
• Colonia III (1-5)
• South Brunswick (0-5)
• *Metuchen (0-3)

Note: *Metuchen is no longer playing in this year’s league. GMC Hoops plans to be in attendance on Friday night for a couple of games from this league’s first round playoff action.

Colonia JV Summer League–July 21, 2008–Results

COLONIA, NJ–On Monday night, July 21st, the fourth and final week of action began at the 2008 Colonia JV Summer League at Colonia High School. Once again, there was a full slate of contests starting at 5:00 PM, and continuing until the completion of the 8:00 PM finale. GMC Hoops was not in attendance on this night since it was taking a break, but Brian O’Lone the JV head coach and varsity assistant at Colonia High School provided the complete results. Below are the scores from Monday night:

• Perth Amboy 40–Colonia II 20
• St. Joseph’s 38–South Brunswick 32
• St. Mary’s 50–Colonia I 44
• Edison 56–Cardinal McCarrick I 48

GMC Hoops plans to be out at Colonia High School on Friday night to catch some of the first round playoff action from this league.

Colonia JV Summer League–July 18, 2008–Other Results

COLONIA, NJ–On Friday night, July 18th, the third week of action concluded at the 2008 Colonia JV Summer League at Colonia High School. Once again, there was a full slate of contests starting at 5:00 PM, and continuing until the completion of the 8:00 PM finale. GMC Hoops was in attendance on this night to capture the action from the final two games of the evening, and Brian O’Lone the JV head coach and varsity assistant at Colonia High School provided the other two results. Below are the other two scores from Friday night:

• Colonia II 46–South Brunswick 36
• St. Joseph’s 35–Colonia I 25

GMC Hoops plans to be out at Colonia High School on Friday night to catch some of the first round playoff action from this league.