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Second
Quarter Surge Propels St. Raymond's |
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. Of all four games covered by the web site in this year's Tip-Off Classic, the second game of Sunday's GMC Hoops tripleheader at Seton Hall between Paterson Catholic, and St. Raymond's of the Bronx in New York was perhaps the most faced paced, back and forth game. To give you an idea of how back and forth, think about this: In the first quarter, there were eleven lead changes and three ties with the Cougars from PCHS taking a one point, 16-15 lead into the second. To give you an idea how fast paced, think about this: The two teams combined for the highest point total of any of the five games played on Sunday with 152. The next closest was 121 by St. Benedict's and Bloomfield in a 83-38 rout by the Grey Bees from Newark. Moreover, the Ravens of St. Raymond's had the second highest point total of the five winning teams with 82 right behind St. Benedict's.
Although the game didn't go down to the last minute like Linden's did against St. Joseph's of Montvale before the Tigers won, 51-49, or go into overtime like Don Bosco Prep's did in the Ironmen's victory over Bridgewater on Saturday, it was still a relatively even game with the only one point first quarter lead by the Cougars while the third and fourth quarters were even as both teams scored 18 and 23 points respectively in the frames. The difference in this one was the second period with the Ravens outscoring the Cougars by a two to one margin, 26-13 for a 41-29 halftime lead. A key component of the second quarter surge by the New York City Catholic League team was a 10-0 half ending spurt that including a a couple scores by Omari Lawrence, a one handed dunk by West Virginia bound, Daryl Bryant, and a three pointer from the right wing as time expired in the first half by Harold McBride for a twelve point lead at the intermission. From there, Paterson Catholic would start the second half with a 14-7 spurt over the first 3:17 of the second half to pull within five at 48-43 at the 4:43 mark, but then St. Ray's embarked on an 11-4 tear to end the third with a 59-47 lead. In the fourth, the Cougars rallied again with a 15-4 tear over the first 3:27 of the fourth to close within one at 63-62, but couldn't take the lead as Bryant made two foul shots at the 4:29 mark to ignite a 19-8 surge to finish the game for the 82-70 victory.
For the game, St. Raymond's shot well overall by going 29 of 55 for 52.7 percent including 6 of 16 from beyond the arc for 37.5 percent. At the line the Ravens fared pretty well to by making 18 of 25 attempts for exactly 72 percent. On the other side of the ledger, Paterson Catholic didn't do that badly either going 28 of 64 overall for 43.8 percent including 6 of 22 from three point range for 27.3 percent. However, at the line was the big difference in the game as not only did the Cougars have fewer attempts, they also had far fewer makes by going just 8 of 16 for 50 percent. In other statistical areas, St. Ray's held edges in assists (19-18), steals (5-2), charges (3-2), and turnovers (7-13). Meanwhile, Paterson Catholic, led by team MVP, Fuquan Edwin, had the advantage on the boards with a 37-25 edge in rebounding, and a 4-1 edge in blocked shots. Individually speaking, the Ravens were led by their game MVP, Bryant, who made 6 of 11 shots overall including 2 of 4 from three, and connected on 8 of 10 from the line for a game high 22 points along with four assists, and a steal. Chipping in was junior guard, Omari Lawrence with 17 points on 8 of 16 shooting from the field, and 1 of 2 at the line while handing out 8 assists, grabbing 4 boards, and swiping a steal.
Coming off the bench, junior guard, Tyreak Johnson had a superb game with 4 of 4 field goals from inside the arc, and 1 of 2 from downtown for a 5 of 6 shooting day along with 1 of 2 at the line for 12 points while also collecting 5 assists, 2 rebounds, and a steal. Junior, 6'6" forward, Kevin Parrom, contributed with a nice game down low as he made 3 of 7 shots from the floor, and 4 of 7 from the line for 10 points along with 8 rebounds. Fellow frontcourt mate, Delroy Daley also helped out with 3 of 6 shooting for 6 points as well as 4 boards, 2 charges, and a block. Starting guard, Justin Alston also made 3 of 7 shots including 2 of 4 from beyond the arc for 8 points as wll as 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a charge. Harold McBride only got three points on the game along with a rebound, but his points were fairly huge thanks to a first half ending trifecta that capped the late second period run for the New York school that gave it plenty of momentum going into the intermission. Rounding out the scoring for St. Ray's was 6'9" freshman reserve, Joe De LaRosa with two points on a couple free throws along with two rebounds. Meanwhile, for Paterson Catholic, Edwin was the man with 19 points on 8 of 17 shooting, and 1 of 2 from the foul line while picking up 14 rebounds, 3 blocks, and a steal. Chipping in for the Cougars was junior guard, Lance Brown, who connected on four field goals, and 5 of 8 at the line for 13 points. Also contributing was Seton Hall bound, Jordan Theodore, who made 4 of 10 shots from the field, and 2 of 4 at the line for 12 points along with 8 assists, and 2 rebounds.
Jermaine Peart came off the bench, and really gave the Cougars a spark, particuarly in the second half. Peart ended up going 5 of 6 from the field including 1 of 2 from downtown for 11 points along with 2 rebounds, and an assist. Sophomore reserve, Shaquille Thomas had a perfect first half going 4 of 4 from the floor including two threes for 10 points, but went 0 of 5 in the second half to finish 4 of 9 for those same 10 points while collecting 5 rebounds. Freshman reserve guard, Myles Mack came off the bench in the first half, and drained a three in two attempts for his only points of the matchup along with an assist while 7'0" senior center, Ian Chiles rounded out the scoring with a field goal for two points along with three rebounds, and a block. Also playing, but not scoring for the Cougars 6'5" sophomore, Jayon James (0 of 6 FGs and 0 of 2 FTs, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 2 charges, and a block) was The Ravens drew first blood by taking a 2-0 lead in the period before Theodore struck from long distance to put the Cougars on top 3-2. St. Ray's then got another field goal for a 4-3 lead before Edwin scored on an offensive rebound and putback to put Paterson Catholic back out in front, 5-4. Bryant then tied things up at 5-5 with 4:50 remaining on a one of two showing at the line to cap a frentically paced and back and forth opening 3:10 of the contest. Paterson Catholic took the lead at 7-5 with a score by Thomas, and could have increased its lead even more if it wasn't for a charge draw by Daley on Theodore at the 4:11 mark.
Then, St. Raymond's scored six of the next ten points thanks to Alston, who made a three pointer at the 3:48 mark for a 10-9 lead, and then another from the top of the key that followed a score by Brown for a 13-11 Raven advantage at the 2:10 mark. Peart then tied the game for Paterson Catholic with a field goal, but Bryant then handed out an assist on a layup by Lawrence at the 30 second mark for a 15-13 lead. The Cougars would have the last say scoring wise in the opening stanza as James, who did a nice job passing the ball despite his struggles from the field, kicked out to Mack for a three pointer that represented his only points of the contest for a 16-15 Paterson Catholic edge going into the second. The second quarter continued to have both teams go back and forth as the Ravens scored the first four points of the frame on two scores by Johnson, who scored seven of his points in the period for a 19-16 lead before Brown made one of two free throws to pull the Cougars within a deuce at 19-17 with 6:46 left in the half. Johnson then scored again on a three pointer for a five point, 22-17 lead at the 6:19 mark before Thomas made back to back threes in a little over a minute's time for a 23-22 Paterson Catholic lead at the 5:15 mark. St. Raymond's replied back though with seven straight points including another trey at the 3:36 mark for a 29-23 lead. This would be the last time the teams would trade leads though after there were 14 lead changes and 3 ties in about the first quarter and a half of the game.
After a 30 second timeout by PCHS at the 3:14 mark, Thomas connected on a short jumper from the left baseline off another pass from James to trim the deficit to four at 29-25 with 2:55 to play in the half. The Cougars then got another score to pull within two at 29-27 before De LaRosa got his only points of the game on a pair from the charity stripe at the 2:17 mark for a 31-27 lead. On a subsequent Paterson Catholic possession, James passed to Chlies in the high post for a foul line extended shot that had the looks of a knuckleball, but went in for a 31-29 St. Ray's lead at the 1:45 mark. At that point, the Ravens took over with ten straight points to finish the half including a one of two showing at the line by Lawrence with 1:34 left, two field goals by Lawrence over the next 1:10 before a kicked ball by St. Ray's at the 24.3 mark, and then a one handed dunk by Bryant, and then the three by McBride to end the half with a 41-29 lead. The rapid-fire 10-0 run by the Ravens was a one-two combination thrown at Paterson Catholic that it had trouble recovering from despite a couple nice runs in the second half of play. At the half, Paterson Catholic shot 12 of 29 for 41.4 percent including 4 of 9 from three point range for 44.4 percent. The Cougars were also only one of two from the foul line while committing eight turnovers. Meanwhile, St. Raymond's was 16 of 29 from the field for 55.2 percent, and 6 of 13 from beyond the arc for 46.2 percent while making 3 of 4 at the line, and only making three miscues.
Leading the way for Paterson Catholic was Thomas with his perfect first half of 10 points along with a rebound while Lawrence led the charge for the Ravens with 6 of 10 shooting from the floor for 12 points as well as 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and a steal. The second half started positively for the Cougars as they score seven of the first eleven points of the third in the opening 1:39 of the frame to pull within nine at 45-36 at the 6:21 mark. Bryant then registered a three point play for a 48-36 lead at the 6:10 mark. However, PCHS rallied with seven straight points including six points by Edwin on two free throws at the 5:43 mark, a tap in by Edwin, and then after a charge drawn by James on Bryant at the five minute mark, another score by Edwin that forced, St. Ray's coach, Oliver Antigua, to call for time at the 4:43 mark with the score, 48-43 on what was a 14-7 spurt by the Cougars. Emerging from the timeout, the Ravens took control of the situation again with an 11-4 run the rest of the way. Starting things off was Parrom with one of two at the line after drawing a foul on Thomas at the 4:20 mark for a 49-43 lead. On the next Cougar possession, Edwin scored on an offensive rebound and follow off of a Thomas miss to close the gap to four again at 49-45 with 4:10 remaining in the stanza. St. Raymond's then got four straight points on two more scores from Johnson that coerced Paterson Catholic coach, Damon Wright, to call for time at the 3:05 of the third with the Ravens now leading, 53-45.
The timeout didn't seem to be the tonic as St. Ray's got another score at the two minute mark for a 55-45 lead, and then scored four of the last six points of the period on two field goals by Parrom for a 59-47 advantage entering the fourth. Seemingly down for the count, Paterson Catholic did what all Cougars would do, and that was scratch and claw their way back. The Non-Public B North power, which is the alma mater of NBA player, Tim Thomas, started the fourth at first by giving up a field goal to fall behind, 61-47, but responded with seven straight points thanks to Peart, who scored all seven on a three pointer, a two handed jam, and a layup all off assists by Theodore to for a 61-54 St. Ray's advantage at the 6:14 mark before Young got his only points on the evening with two foul shots for a 63-54 lead. Edwin then scored two straight field goals to close within five at 63-58 with 5:48 remaining. The Cougars made it an 8-0 run, and a 15-4 tear on two free throws by Brown at the 5:14 mark that made it 63-60, and another score by Peart at the 4:33 mark for a 63-62 St. Raymond's lead. However, Bryant netted two free throws for a 65-62 lead, and those foul shots sparked a 7-0 burst by St. Raymond's for a 70-62 lead at the 3:35 mark. Capping the run was a trey by Bryant from the left wing after an earlier score at the 4:11 mark for the eight point advantage. From there, St. Ray's outscored Paterson Catholic by a 12-8 margin to emerge victorious, 82-70. With the victory, the Ravens improved to 5-0 overall while the Cougars dropped to 1-1.
Team |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
St. Raymond's (5-0) |
15 | 26 | 18 | 23 | 82 |
Paterson Catholic (1-1) |
16 | 13 | 18 | 23 | 70 |
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