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Rosario
And Woodall Fire Friars Past Hun, 72-45 |
By Greg Machos
December 16, 2007SOUTH ORANGE, NJ—For the sixth straight year, GMC Hoops is covering action at the Hoop Group Tip-Off Classic, which is now sponsored by the Star-Ledger. For the first time though, the web site is devoting two days of coverage with a game on Saturday as well as the now traditional tripleheader on Sunday. In the nightcap of the final day of action at the 2007 Tip-Off Classic, the Hun School from Princeton, which sports 6'8" senior forward, Lance Goulbourne, who is bound for the Southeastern Conference and the University of Vanderbilt, took on perennial state powerhouse, St. Anthony's of Jersey City with two solid Division I prospects in Rutgers recruit, Mike Rosario, and Travon Woodall, who has committed to Pitt. This year marked the third straight appearance in the Tip-Off Classic for the Hun School, which lost to American Christian, and Tyreke "The Beast" Evans in last year's showcase. Meanwhile, St. Anthony's has played every year in this event, and entered the contest with the best all time record in the history of this event at 8-0.
And, in this game, the Friars would stay undefeated while raising their mark to 9-0. After a close first quarter with St. Anthony's leading by three at 13-10 entering the second, Woodall gave the 2007 Non-Public B North runner-up, a lift off the bench with 4 of 7 field goals including 2 of 3 threes, and 4 of 4 free throws in the first half for 14 of his 17 points on the game to keep the Friars ahead after one, and ignite a 21-12 showing including a 10-0 tear over a 3:29 span of the second for a 34-22 halftime lead. Rosario, who started off cold going roughly 1 of 6 before making two threes in the second quarter along with a pair of free throws for eight points in the frame. Then, in the second half, Rosario warmed up by making all four of his shots including a three for a 3 of 5 effort from two point range, and a 4 of 7 showing from beyond the arc for 7 of 12 overall from the field, and 2 of 2 from the line for an MVP worthy performance of 20 points along with six steals and five assists. Woodall went 2 of 4 from inside the arc, and 3 of 4 from downtown for a 5 of 8 shooting effort along with a perfect 4 of 4 from the line for his 17 while picking up four steals and four rebounds in a 72-45 rout of the Raiders. Goulbourne, who had 6 points and 7 rebounds in the first as well as a couple nice two handed slams off the alleyoop pass that wowed the crowd at Walsh Gymnasium on the South Orange campus of Seton Hall.
Goulbourne ended up going 6 of 7 from the floor including a 2 of 3 showing from three to show the folks that the big man had some shooting range. He also made 3 of 5 at the line for 17 points along with 9 rebounds, an assist, and a steal to earn MVP honors for Hun. Senior guard, Douglas Davis chipped in with 10 points on 4 of 7 shooting including a 2 of 5 effort from three along with a rebound, assist, and a steal. Sterling Melville, a 6'5" senior forward, also contributed in the losing effort with 3 of 4 shooting, and 1 of 2 at the line for 7 points while collecting 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and a blocked shot. Senior guard, Matt Florio made 2 of 3 from downtown for 6 points while handing out three assists including a couple on lob passes to Goulbourne for those alleyoop dunks. Fellow senior backcourt mate, Mike Auriemma, struggled from the floor making only one of seven three point attempts for 3 points while swiping two steals, grabbing a rebound, and handing out an assist. Junior 6'6" forward, Anthony LaLota made one of two off the bench late in the game for 2 points as well as a rebound and a steal to round out the Raider scoring. Also playing, but not getting into the scoring column were: Sophomore DeOliver Davis (a rebound and an assist), Connor McManimon (0 of 2 3 Pt. FG and a rebound), Junior forward Egheosa Edomwonyi (0 of 1 FG, three rebounds and two assists) and Pete Johnson (a steal). Meanwhile for St. Anthony's, senior forward, Tyshawn Taylor chipped in with a 5 of 7 shooting effort including a perfect 5 of 5 from inside the arc for 10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals.
Also helping out for the Friars was junior 6'6" forward, Dominic Cheek, who made 4 of 7 shots including 3 of 5 from downtown as well as 1 of 4 at the line for 12 points, 6 rebounds, and an assist. Senior forward, A.J. Rogers also contributed with a perfect 3 of 3 from the floor, and a 2 of 5 showing at the line for 8 points as well as a rebound and a block. Senior point guard, Jiovanny Fontan did a splendid job orchestrating the offense with seven assists in addition to 2 of 6 shooting for 4 points along with a steal in the win. Rounding out the scoring for St. Anthony's was junior Willie Vaughn, who made one of two free throws late in the game for a point while senior reserves Alberto Eastwick (0 of 2 FG, a rebound, and a steal), Jonathan Bradley (0 of 1 FG and a rebound), and Glen Gaines as well as juniors Marlin Jean, Travis Conyers, Madut Bol, Noah McCoy, Devone McLeod, and Jamee Jackson all played, but didn't score. For the game, St. Anthony's shot a scorching 55.3 percent from the floor on 26 of 47 attempts including a remarkable 10 of 20 from beyond the arc for 50 percent. The Friars were more modest at the line going 10 of 17 for 58.8 percent. Meanwhile, the Hun school didn't shoot that badly either going 17 of 34 overall from the field for 50 percent including a respectable 7 of 21 from downtown for 33.3 percent. At the charity stripe, the Raiders only had eight attempts, and made four of them for 50 percent.
In other statistical areas, St. Anthony's, which outscored Hun in every period including a 23-18 showing in the third, and a 15-5 effort in the fourth to pull away for the lopsided victory, had more assists (16-12), steals (12-6), and fewer turnovers while the Raiders held a slight edge on the boards with more rebounds (20-19) and blocked shots (1-0). Neither team drew a charge. After the game was tied at 16-16 on a Douglas Davis three pointer at the 6:12 mark of the second quarter, the Friars outscored the Raiders by a 56-29 margin the rest of the way including a 41-23 showing in the second half. Early on though, things were interesting as the defending Prep A Champion gave the Friars fits. The beginning of the first quarter saw St. Anthony's jump out to a 2-0 lead before Hun got a three pointer to go up by one within the first 1:30 of the period. However, the Friars then took the lead 4-3 at the 5:12 mark on a Rogers layup off of a nice pass by Fontan following an offensive board by Taylor that saw him leap tall buildings in a single board after a missed jumper by Cheek. Twenty-five seconds later, St. Anthony's was on the board again as Woodall had entered the game after not starting, and went right to work with a three pointer from the right side off an assist by Fontan for a 7-3 lead at the 4:47 mark. Neither team would score for a little more than a minute and a half before Taylor grabbed an offensive rebound, and put it back in for a 9-3 Friar advantage at the 3:15 mark.
Twelve seconds later, Hun's coach, Jonathan Stone, called for a timeout as the Raiders managed to get only one field goal on a dunk by Goulbourne, and one of two from the line by Melville in the first 1:45 of the contest. The stoppage didn't seem to be the tonic as Woodall first got a layup off a steal and assist by Rosario, and then swiped a steal himself, gave it to Rosario, who dished back to the Pitt recruit for a layup attempt, and foul that resulted in a pair of free throws for a 13-3 lead at the 2:35 mark. With their backs to the wall, and looking as if they may be blown out of the gym by the end of the period, the Raiders showed some resiliency by rallying back with two free throws by Goulbourne at about the two minute mark, and a Florio lob off the inbound to the 6'8" senior forward for a tremenous alleyoop dunk that drew a roar from the crowd as well as closed the gap to 13-7 at the 1:09 mark. The Hun School had an opportunity to get even closer, but Goulbourne missed two free throws at the 46.6 mark, and the score remained, 13-7. About a half minute later, the Raiders had another chance to score, and when Melville missed the front end of a one and one, the Princeton school didn't let it get away as Goulbourne got the offensive board, and kicked out to Florio on the right side for a three pointer to close out the opening quarter scoring with St. Anthony's now clinging to a three point, 13-10 lead.
At the beginning of the second period, Hun continued to stay close despite a three pointer from the right side by Rosario at the 7:38 mark to increase the margin to 16-10 in favor of the Friars. The Raiders managed to do that thanks to a three pointer by Florio from the left wing off an assist by Edomwonyi at the 6:43 mark, and then Davis' trey from the top of the key at the 6:12 mark to tie things up at 16-16 as Hun was now on a 13-3 tear over the last 4:23. However, St. Anthony's would not only respond, but do so with authority as the Friars registered ten unanswered points over the next 3:29 to take the lead for good at 26-16. Highlighting the run was a pair of foul shots by Woodall at the 5:40 mark to go ahead, 18-16, a nifty move by the senior guard a little more than a minute later for a 20-16 lead, and a three point play by Rogers off a sharp entry pass to the right low block by Fontan to cap the run with 2:43 remaining in the half. Hun would finally get on the board after going scoreless for nearly four minutes with a field goal, but Rosario netted two foul shots at the 2:08 mark, and then he and Woodall connected from long distance over the final two plus minutes to have the Friars end the half with an 8-4 spurt for an 18-6 tear in the last 6:12 before halftime that made it 34-22 at the intermission. Looking at the halftime statistics, St. Anthony's shot just 11 of 26 from the floor including 5 of 14 from three point range for 42.3 percent while making all seven of its free throw attempts.
Meanwhile, the Hun school shot much better going 8 of 14 from the field including 3 of 8 from beyond the arc for 57.1 percent, but the Raiders only made 3 of 6 foul shots for 50 percent. Woodall and Rosario led the charge for the Friars combining to score 25 of the team's 34 points, or 73.5 percent of the Friar offense. Outside of the Division I guard tandem, St. Anthony's only made 4 of 11 shots including an 0 of 5 showing from long distance for 36.4 percent. On the other side of the ledger, Goulbourne led the charge for the Raiders with 8 points on 3 of 4 shooting, and 2 of 4 from the line while grabbing eight boards. Florio chipped in with all six of his point coming over the first two periods. In the second half though, St. Anthony's was torrid from the floor making an astounding 15 of 21 attempts for 71.4 percent including 5 of 6 from long distance for a boiling hot 83.3 percent. Meanwhile, the Hun school managed to cool off going only 9 of 20 in the final two periods for 45 percent including 4 of 13 from three point land for 30.8 percent. Cheek began the second half assault with a score in the first minute before Goulbourne replied with a three point play at the 6:48 mark for a 36-25 Friar lead. The Raiders then got another three points while St. Anthony's went 2 of 4 at the foul line including a one of two showing by Rogers at the 5:53 mark after being fouled by Melville as his shot was blocked by Goulbourne.
The Friars would score six of the next eleven points for a 44-33 lead before Goulbourne struck for a three pointer from the top of the key off a pass from Florio at the 3:18 mark for a 44-36 St. Anthony's advantage. However, on the very next possession, Rosario responded with a three of his own from the right corner that made the score, 47-36. The trifecta sparked a 7-0 run as Fontan got into the act with a steal for a layup, and then scored again after Rosario swiped a steal, and dished an assist to the point guard for a 51-36 lead with 2:30 left in the quarter as Stone and the Raiders called for time. Starting to put some more distance between themselves and the Hun School, the Friars then got a three by Cheek before the Raiders came up with two straight scores on a layup by Melville and a steal for a layup by Davis that pull within 14 at 54-40 as legendary coach, Bob Hurley, called a 30 second timeout at the 45.4 mark. Following the stoppage, St. Anthony's closed out the third quarter scoring with a rainbow three pointer at the buzzer by Woodall for a 57-40 edge going into the fourth and final period. Woodall's shot appeared to have demoralized the Raiders as the Princeton based prep school only managed to score five points in the final period. Over the first 2:55 of the fourth, the Friars scored seven of the first ten points including a jumper by Rosario, and a layup by Taylor to take a commanding, 64-43 lead.
From there, Hurley put in his reserves, and still managed to outscore the opponent by an 8-2 margin for the 72-45 win. With the victory, St. Anthony's, which is now 9-0 all time in the Tip-Off Classic, moved up to 2-0 on the season while Hun dropped to a game over .500 overall at 4-3.
Team |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
St. Anthony's (2-0) |
13 | 21 | 23 | 15 | 72 |
The Hun School (4-3) |
10 | 12 | 18 | 5 | 45 |
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