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Vikings
Down Warriors For Second Time This Season, 60-53 |
By Greg Machos
January 19, 2008MONMOUTH JUNCTION, NJ—GMC Hoops capped its tripleheader of games on Saturday with a trip down Route 1 down Ridge Road in Monmouth Junction to watch the South Brunswick Vikings battle the Franklin Warriors from the Delaware East Division of the Skyland Conference and Somerset County in non-conference action. The Vikes enter the contest in search for a much needed win after suffering two straight losses at the hands of top five teams in Cardinal McCarrick (56-44) and J.P. Stevens (46-45). The defeat to the Hawks was particularly bitter as SBHS was in control for much of the game before falling in overtime by one. To date, the Vikings have lost their five games by a combined margin of 38 points with the defeat to McCarrick being the biggest single game margin at 12 points. Meanwhile, on the other side of the ledger, Franklin has had a very difficult season. With third year head coach, and former New Brunswick varsity head coach, Odie Page at the helm, the Warriors have lost nine of their first eleven games on the season including a loss to South Brunswick back in Decmeber in the semifinal round of the 2007 Buc Classic at Red Bank Regional High School in Little Silver.
Things wouldn't get any easier for the Warriors in this one. Not only did the South Brunswick Vikings made life more miserable for them, but some questionable calls also weighed down on the Somerset County team. Neverthless, Franklin didn't give in until the final minute of play when Viking senior point guard, Troy Confessore, who ended up with 15 points in the game on six field goals, and 3 of 4 at the line along with 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals, and a block, netted two free throws with 58 seconds remaining for a 57-51 lead. From there, the Vikes scored three of the final five points for the 60-53 win to improve to two games over .500. Senior forward, Jordan Teicher, led the way for South Brunswick with 4 of 9 shooting from the floor including 2 of 3 from beyond the arc, and made all six of his foul shot attempts for a team high 16 points. Teicher also added 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. Arman Wilson also chipped in with 12 points on 5 of 12 shooting from the floor including a three pointer in two attempts, and netted one of two at the line while collecting 8 rebounds and a steal. On the other side of the scorebook, Isiah Livingston, the diminutive senior guard for the Warriors, produced a game high 19 points on 7 of 13 shooting from the floor overall including a 4 of 9 effort from long distance, and made one of two at the line while handing out two assists in the losing cause. Senior forward, Gavin Roberts chipped in with 14 points on five field goals including 2 of 4 from three point range while making both his charity shot attempts. Roberts also picked up 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and a block. You can view the complete breakdown of individual stats on the contest's stat page in the GMC Hoops Game Stats section.
Comparing the team statistics from the game, South Brunswick made 21 of 55 shots for 38.2 percent including 3 of 13 from three point range for 23.1 percent. At three free throw line is where the home team made the difference as it made 15 of 18 foul shot attempts for 83.3 percent. Meanwhile, Franklin connected on 21 of 52 shots for 40.4 percent including 7 of 20 from downtown for 35 percent. However, the Warriors made only 4 of 8 free throws for 50 percent. In other statistical areas, the Vikes held a slight edge in turnovers (20-22) and overall rebounds (31-28). On the offensive glass, SBHS had a more substantial margin at 15-10, but assists (11-10), and steals (10-9) were close while charges were competitve with the Vikes having a 3-1 edge. Franklin had their only advantage in blocked shots (4-2). The Warriors actually scored in double figures in each of the four quarters while South Brunswick only did that in three. However, the Vikes were only outscored in one of the four periods (11-9 in the second). The major difference was in the first when the Vikings scored 18 of the 30 combined points in the frame for a six point lead. Over the first 3:04 of the period, both teams were only able to muster up four points each until Teicher struck for the first of his two threes on a wide open jumper from the left wing for a 7-4 edge at the 4:56 mark. Roberts countered with a jumper that pulled the visitors to within one at 7-6 before Brett Pinnix was assessed a five second call by the officiating crew at the 3:37 mark
A little more than thirty seconds later, and after the Vikings got a stop on the defensive end, Arman Wilson connected for a three pointer of his own from the left wing for a 10-6 advantage with just a bit over three minutes to play in the opening frame. Roberts would get on the board again a short time later with a baseline jumper from the left side, but the Vikes would answer with a nice look down low by Teicher on the right wing to Sean Lease for a layup attempt that drew a foul, and resulted in two free throws by the 6'5" senior forward for a 12-8 edge at the 2:30 mark of the first. Roberts retaliated once more with yet another baseline jumper to trim the deficit to two again, but the Red Division school would take commadn of the contest with a 6-0 run that included a jumper from the left wing by Mohammed Sanu, and a short jumper by Confessore for an 18-10 lead. Livingston then got a score to end the quarter with SBHS leading by six at 18-12. The start of the second quarter saw Franklin battle back thanks to Livingston, who connected on three pointers at the 7:33 mark and 6:18 mark to knot the contest again at 18-18 before South Brunswick first year head coach, Joe Hoehman called a timeout with just under six minutes remaining before intermission. Following the stoppage, Franklin took the lead for the first time in the game as Roberts passed to 6'6" sophomore center, Barry Wilson for a score, and a 20-18 edge with 5:17 left before halftime.
Over the next 1:51, South Brunswick wrestled the lead back with a 5-0 run that included a three pointer by Teicher, and then a jumper by Lease for a 23-20 lead lead with 3:26 to go in the half. The Vikes then added another score for a 7-0 run, and a 25-20 lead before Franklin replied with its final points of the half on a three pointer by Roberts for a 25-23 score. Then, South Brunswick closed out the half with a score from Wilson for a 27-23 lead at the break. Looking at the first half scoring, Teicher led the way with 8 points on 3 of 7 shooting from the floor, and 2 of 3 at the foul line while also collecting 2 rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Wilson chipped in with 7 points on three field goals including a three pointer while adding 6 rebounds. Meanwhile, for Franklin, Livingston paced the Warriors with 8 points on 3 of 6 shooting including 2 of 4 from beyond the arc while handing out an assist. Roberts contributed also with 7 points on 3 of 7 shooting from the field including one of two from three point land while picking up 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. Moving over to the halftime statistics, South Brunswick shot just 11 of 28 overall from the floor for 39.3 percent including 3 of 8 from long range for 37.5 percent. The Vikings were just 2 of 2 from the line while Franklin, which shot 10 of 24 from the field for 41.7 percent including 3 of 6 from downtown, didn't attempt a free throw.
In other statistical areas, turnovers and rebounds were fairly close with the Vikes having a slight edge in miscues (10-12) while the Warriors enjoyed a slight advantage on the boards (14-13). Offensive rebounds were even at 6-6. The Somerset County team enjoyed slight edges in assists (8-6) and steals (5-4) while the GMC team had more charges (3-1), and blocks were even (1-1). Returning to action in the third quarter, things grew more contentious, especially if you were sitting on the Franklin side of the bleachers. In the highest scoring period in the entire contest with both teams combining to score 32 points, South Brunswick garnered a slight edge to push their lead back to six. Twenty-seven seconds into the second half, Sanu swiped a steal, and later handed out an assist on a layup by Wilson for a 29-23 lead. A little more than a minute and fifteen seconds later, Lease scored on a jumper from Teicher for an eight point lead with 6:14 to go in the frame. El Hajj Muhammad then struck for a three pointer from the left wing that made it 31-26, but the gain was squandered somewhat when the Franklin bench was assessed a technical foul, and Teicher stepped up to the line for two free throws, and a 33-26 Viking lead at the 5:40 mark. Eight seconds later, Confessore scored on a drive for a layup off the ensuing side out that made the score, 35-26 with 5:32 left in the third.
Forty-five seconds later, and after another three pointer by Franklin, Arman Wilson was heading downcourt with the basketball when he was fouled hard by a Warrior player, which appeared from the web site's angle to be going for the ball, but the officials, who were much closer to the action, thought otherwise, and after Wilson was down for a few minutes, he attempted to take the foul shots, but couldn't. Kory Sanders entered the game, and made one of two from the charity stripe on Wilson's behalf for a 36-29 lead at the 4:47 mark. Over the next 2:24, SBHS scored six of the next seven points capped by another Confessore drive for a layup for a 42-31 advantage at the 2:23 mark. Showing a great deal of resiliency, which was quite commendable despite the fact that the team has been in the midst of a disappointing season, Franklin fought back again with a 7-2 spurt to close out the period. Highlighting the late quarter run was a three point play by senior forward, Cameron Brooks with 32 seconds left in the stanza for a 44-38 South Brunswick lead entering the fourth and final quarter of play. In the last frame, the Vikings ended up pulling out the seven point win with a 16-15 edge in the period. However, the quarter didn't start out that positively for SBHS as Franklin picked up right where it left off at the end of the third with seven of the first nine points of the stanza to pull within one at 46-45 at the 6:04 mark. After trailing by eleven late in the third, the Warriors had put together a 14-4 tear in a span of 4:19.
Highlighting the early fourth quarter rally was a Wilson offensive rebound and putback of a Muhammad miss at the 7:39 mark that made the score 44-40, and then a Roberts putback for another score at the 6:04 mark that closed the gap to a single point. But, the Vikings would keep the visitors at arm's length with four straight points for a 50-45 lead before Roberts netted his only two foul shots of the game at the 4:42 mark for a 50-47 SBHS edge. Enter some controversy. After several moments in the contest, where there questionable calls made by the officiating crew, came a huge blunder. Muhammad drew a foul on the floor with 4:11 mark, and went to the line for what should have been a double bonus since South Brunswick had ten team fouls. However, when the junior guard missed the first free throw, Teicher grabbed the rebound, and headed the other way, and was fouled himself. Realizing the mistake thanks to the outrage of the Franklin faithful in the stands, which were beside themselves, the officials tried to correct the situation, but Teicher still got to shoot his two foul shots before Muhammad was given his second free throw. Muhammad missed his second one while Teicher hit both, and the score now stood at 52-47. Showing true class though, the Warriors got right back down to business as Livingston nailed a three pointer from the top of the key to cut the Viking lead to two at 52-50 with 3:33 left. On the next SBHS possession though, Teicher went back to the line, and made two more charity shots for a 54-50 edge at the 3:19 mark.
Livingston got the Warriors one of those points back by making one of two free throws for a 54-51 score with 3:11 left in regulation. Arman Wilson then tried to give his team some breathing room with a drive from the right wing following his own rebound at the other end of the floor, but Barry Wilson was waiting for him, and swatted his shot, which drew a resounding roar for the Warrior crowd. South Brunswick then called timeout with 2:38 left, but after the stoppage, turned the ball over on a traveling violation. Franklin wasn't able to take advantage, and when the Vikings got the ball again, they got it into the hands of Wilson, who drew a foul, and made one of two foul shots for a four point, 55-51 lead with 1:52 remaining. Neither team scored for nearly a minute before Confessore netted his two free throws with just under a minute left to pretty much seal the win at 57-51. With the victory, South Brunswick improved to 7-5 overall on the season including a 3-1 mark against non-conference teams. Two of those wins out of conference have come against Franklin, which dropped to 2-10 overall.
Team |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
South Brunswick (7-5) |
18 | 9 | 17 | 16 | 60 |
Franklin (2-10) |
12 | 11 | 15 | 15 | 53 |
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