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Phair and Piniero Lead Sayreville Past North Brunswick, 54-39 |
By Greg Machos
December 14, 2007SAYREVILLE, NJ--On Friday afternoon, the Little Bombers of Sayreville set the tone for what would be a big night at the Bomb Shelter on the campus of Sayreville War Memorial High School. After trailing early on, 7-4, Sayreville went on an 11-0 run to take a 15-7 first quarter lead before North Brunswick scored the final points of the frame on a Mike Mangiapane layup to make it 15-9 going into the second. Then, in the second period, the home team put together a 22-9 showing to take a commanding 37-18 halftime lead, and despite being outscored in each of the last two periods, went on to win by a score of 54-39 in the GMC Hoops Freshmen Game of the Week. The win by Sayreville's freshmen was the first in a clean sweep at all levels as both the JV and Varsity went on to beat North Brunswick as well. Last season, the Little Bombers of Sayreville started the season strong before several players were dismissed from the team due to disciplinary reasons. Consequently, the team, which was 4-5 at that point, dropped four straight before defeating Woodbridge on January 22nd at home. Unable to keep the momentum going though, Sayreville lost two days later at the Bomb Shelter to Monroe, which ultimately earned the top seed in the 2007 Perth Amboy Freshmen Tournament, and reached the Elite Eight before losing to eventual finalist Perth Amboy.
Leading the charge for Sayreville, which other than last year, has been a perennial contender in the GMC at the Freshmen level, was forward Mike Phair, who connected on 5 of 9 shots from the floor, and 4 of 6 at the line for 14 points along with 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals, and an assist. Coming off the bench to chip in was guard, Chris Piniero, who made 5 of his 11 shots from inside the arc, and his only free throw attempt for 11 points as well as 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Sid Holt also contributed with 3 of 6 shooting for 6 points while collecting 8 rebounds, 2 steals, and a block. Like Piniero, Ryan Smith came off the bench to register 8 points on 3 of 5 shooting from the floor, and a perfect 2 of 2 at the line while grabbing 5 rebounds, dishing 3 assists, and swiping 3 steals. Starting point guard, Mark Keir did a solid job running things with six points on 2 of 5 shooting including 50 percent from beyond the arc while collecting 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. Rounding out the scoring for the Little Bombers were Sbeah Ousama (1 of 5 FGs for 2 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal, and a block), Mike Bowidowicz (1 of 4 FGs for 2 points, 4 rebounds, an assist, and a block), T.J. Bangura (1 of 1 FG for 2 points and a rebound), and Kanish Patel (1 of 1 FG for 2 points and a rebound). Also playing, but not scoring were Terrance Webb (0 of 3 FG), Jarrid Jones, and Tyron Bethea (two rebounds and a steal).
Meanwhile, for North Brunswick, Ross Kutz led the way for the Little Raiders with 4 of 8 shooting including a three pointer as well as 4 of 5 from the line for 13 points along with 4 rebounds, and 2 steals. Jake Rosenberg did struggle from the floor, but still managed to make three field goals including a trey as well as a perfect 2 of 2 at the line for 9 points, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 2 rebounds. Mike Mangiapane, who is the younger brother of JV starter, and varsity reserve, Dan Mangiapane, chipped in with 2 of 4 shooting for 4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. George Chacko came off the bench to go 1 of 2 from the floor on a three pointer for his only points of the game along with a steal. Rounding out the scoring for NBTHS were Kevin Kania (1 of 2 FGs for 2 points, a rebound, and an assist), Sean Farrell (1 of 1 FG for 2 points), Nazir Webb (0 of 1 FG and 2 of 2 FTs for 2 points, 5 rebounds, and a block), Mike Barone (1 of 2 FGs for 2 points and 2 assists), and Nirav Patel (1 of 3 FG of 0 of 2 FTs for 2 points, 2 steals, and a rebound). Also playing, but not scoring were Matt DeLuca (0 of 2 FG and a block), Brandon Williams (a rebound), Luis David (0 of 1 FG and 0 of 2 FT along with 2 rebounds), and Matt Goggin. Like the two games afterward in this GMC Hoops Tripleheader, the story would be turnovers and offensive rebounds as North Brunswick turned the ball over 24 times, which resulted in 15 Sayreville points while the Little Bombers grabbed 17 offensive boards for 13 second chance points.
For the game, Sayreville shot 22 of 54 from the floor for 40.7 percent including 2 of 9 from beyond the arc for 22.2 percent while at the line, the Little Bombers sank 7 of 11 foul shots for 63.6 percent. On the other side of the ledger, North Brunswick was limited to just 14 of 39 from the floor for 35.9 percent including 3 of 9 from three point range for 33.3 percent. The Little Raiders also connected on 8 of 13 free throws for 61.5 percent. In other statistical areas, Sayreville had advantages in just about every other category including rebounds (38-19), offensive rebounds (17-4), assists (13-7), steals (14-9), blocks (5-2), and turnovers (16-24). Neither team drew a charge in the contest. In the first quarter, the home team made 6 of 12 shots including a three pointer while making 2 of 4 at the line for its 14 points. Meanwhile, the visitors struggled as they made only 2 of 10 attempts from the floor including 1 of 4 from downtown, and committing four turnovers. The two bright spots for the Little Raiders was the fact that they were 4 of 5 from from the charity stripe, and that Sayreville made five turnovers. Things started off on the right foot for NBTHS as they jumped out to a 7-4 lead as it scored 7 of 9 points after the Little Bombers got a bucket by Phair off an assist by Bowidowicz right off the opening tip. Kutz first tied the contest at the 6:41 mark with 2 of 3 free throws after being fouled on a three point attempt. Kutz then followed that up with a three pointer from the left corner off an assist by Mangiapane after Bowidowicz scored on a hook shoot off the glass set up by an assist from Keir to make it a 5-4 game.
Following a Sayreville timeout at the 5:45 mark, North Brunswick capped its run, and took its biggest lead of the game (7-4) on two free throws by Rosenberg at the 5:28 mark, but then Sayreville took the game over for good by scoring eleven unanswered points. Phair started the run with one of two at the line with 5:18 left in the period. Then, Keir canned the first of his two threes followed by an offensive rebound and putback by Holt, and then a nice dish by Keir to Phair for a layup that made it a 8-0 run for a 12-7 lead as North Brunswick called for a full timeout at the 3:06 mark. The stoppage didn't seem to be the tonic though as Sayreville continued to roll when play resumed. Patel got his only points of the game on a jumper from the left side off an assist by Ousama, and then Phair put together another one of two effort at the charity stripe to cap the 11-0 tear over a 4:22 span for a 15-7 lead. North Brunswick then closed out the first period scoring with a layup by Mangiapane off an inbounds by Barone to not only end the run, but also the quarter scoring as well as both teams went into the next frame with the Little Bombers on top, 15-9. In the second period, Sayreville was even hotter from the floor as it made 9 of 13 shots including 1 of 3 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 3 of 3 at the foul line while North Brunswick fared better as it made 4 of 8 shots including a three pointer, but didn't make a foul shot in two attempts. Moreover, the visiting team committed 11 turnovers while the home team made only three.
Over the first 4:36, Sayreville outscored its opponent by a 13-4 margin including a steal for a layup attempt that drew a foul, and resulted in two free throws by Ryan Smith at the 7:03 mark, and two layups by Phair off assists by Piniero and Keir on nice entry passes to make it a 6-0 run, and force North Brunswick to call a full timeout at the 5:25 mark. Piniero continued the run with a running jumper, and then Smith got another steal, and converted it into a layup before Keir capped the tear with his final three of the afternoon to make it a 28-13 lead at the 3:24 mark. North Brunswick continued to struggle as Patel missed both of his free throws at the 3:05 mark while Piniero registered a three point play a little more than a half minute later as he drove in for a layup, and drew the foul at the 2:32 mark to make it 31-13. Sayreville then scored 6 of the next 8 points for a 9-2 run, and a 37-15 lead before Chacko closed the opening half scoring with a three pointer with 21 seconds to go before the intermission. Looking at the halftime stats, the Little Bombers were a scorching 15 of 25 from the floor for 60 percent including 2 of 4 from three while making 5 of 7 from the line for 71.4 percent. Conversely, North Brunswick made only 6 of 18 shots from the field for 33.3 percent including 2 of 5 from three while netting 4 of 7 from the foul line for 57.1 percent. The home team dominated in rebounding (16-10), offensive rebounds (7-0), assists (9-6), steals (9-4), blocks (4-1), and turnovers (8-15). Most importantly though, Sayreville scored 13 points off North Brunswick miscues, and got seven second chance points of offensive rebounds.
As far as the first half scoring went, Phair led the way for Sayreville with 10 points as he made 4 of 6 field goals, and 2 of 4 at the foul line while also collecting two blocks, a steal, an assist, and a rebound. Meanwhile, Keir chipped in with six points on a perfect 2 of 2 from downtown while handing out three assists, swiping three steals, and grabbing two rebounds. Holt added 2 of 3 field goals for 4 points and picked up six boards as well. Meanwhile, for North Brunswick, the scoring was actually balanced with Kutz leading the charge on 5 points. Rosenberg and Mangiapane each added 4 while Chocka had 3 and Kania had two. In the second half, the Little Bombers picked up right where they left off with six straight points including two free throws by Phair at the 7:02 mark to start the run. Trailing now by a 43-18 margin, North Brunswick tried to climb back into the contest with a 19-6 outburst over a span of 10:05 to pull within 49-37 midway through the fourth quarter. Kutz ignited the rally with a running jumper as he was fouled for a three point play at the 6:05 mark of the third to make the score, 43-21. The home team then outscored the visitors by a 6-5 margin over the next 3:42 for a 49-26 run before the Little Raiders reeled off the final seven points of the third including another three point play by Kutz at the 1:56 mark, and two free throws by Webb with 33 seconds to go for a 49-33 Sayreville lead heading into the fourth and final period.
In the fourth, North Brunswick continued to creep closeer as they got another scored despite two missed free throws at the 6:30 mark by David to make it a 49-35 game. Holt missed a pair at the charity stripe himself after being fouled underneath at the 5:48 mark, and then the Little Raiders got another basket to trim the deficit to a dozen at 49-37 before Bowidowicz essentially put away the game with a score, and then one of two free throws after being fouled on a follow that resulted from two offensive rebounds at the 3:41 mark for a 52-37 lead. Smith then iced the game for good with a layup, and then a steal at the 1:40 mark as the Little Bombers let North Brunswick score the final points in a 54-39 victory. With the win, Sayreville moves up to 1-0 on the season while NBTHS drops to 0-1. In other action, the Junior Bombers of Sayreville took a 25-9 first half lead, and cruised from there in a 56-33 win that gave former Bomber standout, Samir Sanu, his first coaching victory while in the nightcap, the Sayreville varsity forced 30 turnovers, and scored half of their 60 points off the North Brunswick miscues for a 60-40 opening night win.
Team |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
Sayreville (1-0) |
15 | 22 | 12 | 5 | 54 |
North Brunswick (0-1) |
9 | 9 | 15 | 6 | 39 |
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