We've just archived the summaries on several scrimmages that we covered in the pre-season, the Freshmen and JV Games of the Week, and Freshmen and JV Roundups.

GMC Hoops Summaries--December 27, 2007
Holiday Tournaments--Brothers of the Sacred Heart Tournament

Colonia Pulls Away In Fourth To Defeat Moore Catholic, 59-46

By Greg Machos
December 27, 2007

METUCHEN, NJ—Last year, when these two teams met in the inaugural Brothers of the Sacred Heart Tournament at St. Joseph's, Colonia had a lead in the second half only to get shut down by the Staten Island team that competes in the Staten Island Division of the New York Catholic League. In that contest, the Mavericks held the Patriots to just one field goal in the final quarter, and came up with a 10-2 showing for the 36-28 victory. After Colonia had taken a 32-25 halftime lead, and expanded it to 41-30 with a 9-5 run over the first 4:32 of the third period, shades of last season's game started to take effect as Moore Catholic rallied with nine straight points over the next 2:54 to pull within two at 41-39. However, starting with two free throws by the always dependable senior guard, Brandon Hall to end the third with a 43-39 lead, Colonia outscored the Staten Island school by an 18-7 margin the rest of the way for a 59-46 victory to remain undefeated at 5-0 overall. Hall led the way with a game high 22 points on three field goals, three trifectas, and a perfect 7 of 7 at the foul line. As a matter of fact, the entire Colonia team was perfect at the charity stripe going 13 of 13 while Moore Catholic went just 10 of 19 for 52.6 percent.

Junior guard, J.J. D'Amico chipped in with three field goals, and two threes for 12 points while Mike Nweme stepped up in the absence of Nnamdi Usuwa with a field goal, and a perfect 4 of 4 from the foul line for 6 points. Jeff Mentzel also contributed with three field goals and a foul shot. Also helping out was Jordan Edmonds with a field goal, and 2 of 2 showing at the charity stripe for 4 points while Mike Karabin also had 4 points on two field goals. Xavier Coleman and Gray rounded out the Colonia scoring with 2 points each. Meanwhile for Moore Catholic, Victor Schettino led the way in a losing effort with 21 points on 8 of 19 shooting including 4 of 12 from long distance, and 1 of 3 effort at the line to go along with a steal. Mikhial Bradshaw chipped in with 12 points on 4 of 13 shooting from the field and a 4 of 10 effort at the line to go along with 9 rebounds, 4 blocks, and a steal. John Simonetti (4 points, 2 rebounds, and a steal) and Dillon McNamara (4 points and 3 rebounds) each added 4 points while Tyler Stradford (2 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a steal), Sadick Sammy (2 points and 2 rebounds), and Charles Fall (a point and 4 rebounds) rounded out the Mavericks scoring. For the game, Moore Catholic shot 16 of 46 from the floor for 34.8 percent including 4 of 14 from downtown for 28.6 percent. Meanwhile, the Patriots made 15 field goals, five three pointers, and 14 foul shots to win the game. The Mavericks as a team collected 27 rebounds including 13 on the offensive glass, blocked six shots, swiped five steals, and committed just 15 turnovers and 12 fouls on the game. Despite their scoring efforts, Schettino (5 turnovers) and Bradshaw (3 turnovers) combined for over half of the Mavericks miscues on the game (53.3 percent).

The game was tightly played in the first half, particularly in the opening quarter when the Patriots took a 16-15 lead. In the second, Colonia outscored its opponent from New York by a 16-10 margin to lead by seven at the half, 32-25. Arriving just as the third quarter was about to begin, GMC Hoops took in the final two quarters of action. The Pats didn't take long to get going in the second half as Brandon Hall drove hard to the basket, and drew contact, which not only didn't get a call from the officials, but also jarred the ball loose. Mike Nweme then picked up the loose ball, and scored on the follow to make it a 34-25 lead with 7:12 to go in the third. On the very next Moore Catholic possession, Charles Fall drew a foul, and made one of two at the line for his only point of the game to make the score, 34-26 at the 6:53 mark. A little more than twenty seconds later, Jon Simonetti got a steal, and went in for a layup, but couldn't convert. However, Bradshaw was there for the putback to trim the deficit to six at 34-28 with 6:30 to go in the third. A little more than a minute went by before we would get our next score, and it would come from Colonia as Nweme grabbed an offensive rebound off of a J.J. D'Amico missed layup, and attempted to put it back in when he drew a foul at the 5:24 mark. Nweme, a reserve junior forward, who was a member of the 2006 Little Patriots team that reached the Final Four of the Perth Amboy/GMC Tournament before losing to eventual champion, J.P. Stevens in the semifinals, and then to North Brunswick in the consolation, made both free throws for a 36-28 lead.

Moore Catholic came back down the court for a scoring chance, but failed to convert. Julian Smith, another junior reserve forward for Colonia, grabbed the rebound, and tried to outlet the ball upcourt, when it was stolen by Schettino for a layup that pulled the Mavericks within six again at 36-30 at the 4:58 mark. The Pats then gave the Staten Island team another opportunity when Mike Karabin turned the ball over at the 4:34 mark, but the Mavericks couldn't cash in. On the missed shot by Moore Catholic, Nweme grabbed the rebound, and passed upcourt to Hall, who then drove the rest of the way for an acrobatic layup, and the foul that resulted in a traditional three point play, and a 39-30 lead with 4:15 to go in the third. The Mavericks tried to cut the lead back down to either six or seven when Bradshaw drew a foul at the 3:46 mark. However, the senior 6'5" forward misfired on both free throw attempts, and his team remained down by nine. On the subsequent Colonia possession, Jordan Edmonds gave a nice entry pass from the left wing down low to D'Amico for a layup that made the score, 41-30 at the 3:28 mark. With the Patriots now enjoying their biggest lead of the contest, Moore Catholic was compelled to call for time moments later at the 3:23 mark. After that time out though, the Mavericks rallied with nine straight points over a span of 3:20 to pull within two. Schettino started things off by firing in a three pointer from the left wing for a 41-33 CHS lead at the 3:12 mark. Simonetti then followed that up with two of his four points on the day n a drive in from the right wing for an acrobatic scoop shot that made the score, 41-35 at the 1:28 mark.

Continuing to climb back into the contest, the Mavericks then got another score on an offensive rebound and putback attempt by junior Dillon McNamara that resulted in a foul, and two free throws that made it a four point game at 41-37 with just under a minute remaining in the period. On the next Patriot possession, Maverick junior forward, Steven Fasano got a steal off of a deflected pass by Hall, and that eventualy led to a layup by Bradshaw as he was fouled, but the senior wing, who went just 4 of 10 at the line for the game, missed the bonus free throw, and the score stood at 41-39 with a little more than a half minute remaining in the third quarter. Colonia was able to get some momentum going into the fourth and final period of play as Hall was fouled with 3.4 to go in the frame, and made a pair at the charity stripe for a 43-39 lead. In the fourth quarter, neither team scored for the first 1:26 although the Pats had an opportunity as they grabbed three offensive rebounds in a possession including two by Jeff Mentzel, and one by Nweme, but couldn't convert. Meanwhile, Moore Catholic got on the board first in the frame with one of two at the line for a 43-40 Colonia lead with 6:34 to play. Then came the decisive run of the game as the Patriots reeled off eight consecutive points sparked by a short pull-up jumper from the left baseline by D'Amico at the 5:16 mark after the play was set up on the defensive end by a Nweme steal for a 45-40 lead. Exactly a minute later, Hall inbounded the bal to D'Amico on the right wing for a three pointer for an eight point, 48-40 advantage at the 4:16 mark. Then, after Moore Catholic missed the front end of a one and one at the 4:08 mark, Mentzel passed to Hall on the left wing for another three that made the score, 51-40 with 3:51 left. Several seconds later, the Mavericks called for time at the 3:48 mark.

Following the timeout, Colonia scored four of the next six points with all four coming after a short jumper off the drive by Simonetti from the right side for his final points of the game at the 3:26 mark. Hall made a pair of foul shots at the 2:19 mark, and then the senior point guard, swiped a steal that led to a fast break opportunity capped by a D'Amico dish to Karabin for a layup, and a commanding 55-42 lead with two minutes left. From there, both teams scored four more points as Colonia remained undefeated at 5-0 with a 59-46 victory. The win avenged last year's loss, and it also provided the Pats with some much needed confidence in its bench, especially Nweme. With the loss Moore Catholic dropped to 7-4 overall. This game was the first of three for the Patriots in the tournament. On Friday night, the Pats take on Staten Island Tech followed by a matchup against Memorial of West New York in Sunday's finale. Moore, which already won its first game at the 2007 Brothers of the Sacred Heart Tournament with a 56-48 win over Monroe, will complete its tourney play with a game against St. Joseph's on Saturday night.

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