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Estupendo! Rosario Leads McCarrick Past Hun, 71-61 |
By Greg Machos
December 28, 2008HILLSIDE, NJ—Didn't Vince Rosario graduate from Cardinal McCarrick two years ago? Well, for those, who happened to be in attendance at Hillside High School on Sunday night when the Eagles faced off against the Hun School of Princeton, and the Mid-Atlantic Prep League, you had to wonder though. Julio Rosario, the younger brother of the all time leading scorer at the South Amboy school, put on a show that was reminiscent of the elder Rosario.
The younger Rosario registered a game high 34 points including 22 in the second half as McCarrick boosted its overall record to 4-0 with a 71-61 victory over the Raiders. Rosario compiled his 34 points on three field goals, five threes, and 13 foul shots. Fellow senior, Branten Widgeon also chipped in with 12 points on three field goals and six free throws while Dominic Appiah recorded another double-double with 11 points and 15 rebounds. Taylor Snider chipped in with two threes and a free throw for 7 points while Craig Thomas (a field goal and a foul shot for 3 points), Mo Isaac (a field goal for 2 points), and Rob Olivieri (a field goal for two points) rounded out the scoring for the Eagles.
Meanwhile, for Hun, which began the last week or so with a 64-56 victory over St. Joseph's of Montvale on the first day of action at the 2008 Tip-Off Classic at Union High School, was led by Myles Melville, a freshman, who had 19 points on eight field goals and three foul shots. R.J. Griffin chipped in with 13 points on five field goals and three foul shots despite having some foul trouble that included two offensive fouls. Jonathan Lee, a point guard from Flint, Michigan, who poured in 30 points against St. Joe's-Montvale last week, only put in 11 against McCarrick on four field goals, and three free throws. Forward Ryan Adams pitched in with 8 points on three field goals, and two foul shots.
Rounding out the scoring for the Raiders were Mike Laurent (two field goals for 4 points), DeOliver Davis (a field goal and a free throw for 3 points), Mehmet Onen (a field goal for 2 points), and Julian Copeland (a free throw for a point). Egheosa Edomwonyi, a standout player headed to Rice in the Fall of 2009, did not play. In a very physical, but still up and down game, McCarrick outscored Hun in every period except the third when both teams combined for their lowest period output of the game with 21 points. After finding its way to Hillside, and then trying to find an opening to the school to get into the gym, GMC Hoops sat down with 2:38 to go in the first quarter, and the Eagles leading 12-8.
A little more than a half minute after the site's arrival, Dominic Appiah knocked in a field goal to put McCarrick up by six, 14-8 with 2:05 remaining in the first. On the next Hun possession, the Raiders netted a pair of free throws to pull within four again, and start a 6-0 burst that would tie the game. With the score now 14-10 at the 1:42 mark, Hun continued to chip away at the lead with two moe free throws by Jonathan Lee at the 1:16 mark for a 14-12 Eagle edge, and then Lee passed to Melville for a layup that tied the contest at 14-14 with 32 seconds to go in the stanza. Widgeon then closed out the opening period scoring with a pull up jumper from the left wing with 18.8 seconds remaining for a 16-14 advantage going into the second.
Despite the physical play, Hun was getting some of the breaks early with a decisive edge in fouls including a foul call on Olivieri, who appeared to have taken the brunt of the contact, at the 7:53 mark. However, the Raiders couldn't take advantage as junior DeOliver Davis failed to connect on the front end of the one and one. Twenty-two seconds though, Hun tied the game as Melville drove along he left side for a layup, and a 16-16 score at the 7:31 mark. The Raiders had an opportunity to go ahead, but Appiah drew a pivotal foul on Griffin at the 6:39 mark to keep the score tied up. Next time the Eagles came down the floor, Appiah went in for a dunk, and drew a foul that produced a one of two showing at the line for a 17-16 lead with 6:28 left in the opening half.
Nearly forty-five seconds after that, Rosario went to work when he dribbled in on the right side, and let a three point shot fly for a 20-16 lead at the 5:45 mark. Moments later, Rosario struck again on the defensive end by drawing a charge on Lee with 5:38 to go in the half. Subsequently, Rosario drew a foul on the offensive side of the ball, and netted a pair of free throws with 5:07 remaining before intermission that made the score, 22-16. The next time Hun had the ball, Ryan Adams clicked on a turnaround jumper to close the gap to four again at 22-18 with 4:49 to go in the second. Taylor Snider then countered with a three pointer that put the Eagles on top by seven, 25-18 at the 4:30 mark.
Twenty-five seconds after that, Rosario stepped up again following a Hun score with two from the line at the 4:05 mark for a 27-20 lead. Adams promptly responded on the next Raider possession with a jumper from the right wing that trimmed the deficit to five at 27-22 with 3:50 left in the half. Snider then got his second and final three pointer of the game from the left corner off an assist by Thomas at the 3:24 mark for a 30-20 score. Rosario added two more foul shots at the 3:11 mark for a 32-22 lead. Hun tried to come down for a score a little while later, but Appiah came up with a blocked shot, which was rebounded by Snider, who then passed upcourt to Rosario for a layup attempt that was goaltended by the Raiders for a 34-22 score with 2:40 to go in the second.
The McCarrick defense continued to step it up as Thomas then drew a charge on Griffin with just under two minutes remaining in the first half. Undeterred, Hun scored the next five points to pull within seven again at 34-27 before Widgeon passed the ball down low to Isaac for a layin and the junior's only points of the game for a 36-27 lead at the 41 second mark. The Raiders then rounded out the opening half scoring with a one of two showing at the foul line at the 14 second mark for a 36-28 Cardy Mac lead. The second half started slowly as both teams increased the defensive pressure, and consequently kept the scoring low in the third. Hun gained a slight 11-10 edge in the third for their only period victory in the game.
Neither team scored in the first minute or so of the third as the Eagles were forced to take a 30 second timeout in order to avoid a 10 second violation with 7:26 remaining in the period. Hun then stole an errant Craig Thomas pass, and converted it into a layup with 6:50 left in the third to make the score, 36-30. Twenty seconds after that, the Raiders came up with another big defensive play as they drew a charge on Appiah at the 6:30 mark. Unfortunately for Hun, which competes against the likes of Blair, Peddie, and Lawrenceville Prep in the Mid-Atlantic Prep League, the Raiders couldn't convert as they blew a fast break opportunity with a backcourt violation at the 5:48 mark.
Hun then capped its 8-0 run with a three point play by Davis, who layed in a bucket as he was fouled at the 4:40 mark to make it a one point game, 36-35. However, the Raiders couldn't take the lead. Thomas then passed to Rosario for a three pointer from the left wing some eight seconds later to put the Eagles back up by four, 39-35 at the 4:32 mark. A minute and a half nearly went back before another score as Widgeon grabbed an offensive rebound, and tried to put it back in off an Appiah miss, and drew a foul that resulted in a one of two foul shots at the 3:03 mark for a 40-35 lead. Rosario then followed that up with a nifty move on the break to cap the 6-0 burst for a 42-35 lead at the 2:31 mark.
Continuing to put the clamps down defensively, McCarrick drew another charge as Appiah went to the floor at the 2:08 mark. The Eagles couldn't capitalize though, and as Rosario was down on the floor with a mild injury, Hun came down the floor, and got a score as Griffin registered two on a putback. Fouled on the play by Snider, Griffin had a chance to pull the Raiders closer, but missed the bonus free throw for the traditional three point play for a 42-37 Cardy Mac lead at the 1:54 mark. A short time later, McCarrick got on the board again when Snider made a nice skip pass to Widgeon for a layup, and a 44-37 lead with 1:33 to go in the third. Olivieri then capped the period scoring with a short jumper from the right wing for a 46-37 Eagle lead heading into the fourth and final period of play.
In the fourth, Cardinal McCarrick picked up right where it left off to end the third when Appiah grabbed an offensive board off a Thomas miss, and put it back in for a 12-4 spurt, and a 48-39 lead with 7:41 to play. Griffin then made one of two at the line to end the Eagle run, and trim the deficit to 48-40 with 7:32 left. Rosario then missed two free throws at the 7:18 mark, and Griffin took advantage by making two himself for a 48-42 McCarrick edge at the 7:08 mark. Thirty-two seconds later, Griffin scored again on a layup from the right side to pull the Raiders to within four at 48-44 with 6:36 to go. Then, Rosario took over as he netted a trey for a 51-44 lead at the 6:21 mark. Melville would score on a drive for a layin, and a 51-46 McCarrick lead, but then Rosario responded with a drive into traffic for a score, and a 53-46 lead with 5:10 to play.
Not too long after that, Rosario struck again with a trifecta from the right side for a ten point, 56-46 lead as Hun called for time at the 4:44 mark. Twenty-four seconds after that, Rosario went to the line, and made one of two for a 57-46 lead. On the missed second free throw, Appiah came up with the offensive rebound, drew a foul, and made one of two himself at the charity stripe to stretch the advantage to 12 at 58-46. Hun then scored four of the next six to close to within ten at 60-50 when Rosario made two free throws on a regular foul, and then stayed at the line for two more thanks to a technical foul on the Raiders for a 64-50 lead with 3:34 left in the game. Hun rallied with a 9-3 spurt over the next 2:22, but Thomas put the game away with his only field goal on a drive for a layup at the 1:12 mark to make the score, 69-59.
Winning the game, 71-61, the Eagles improved to 4-0 on the young season, and won its first two games at the 2008 Joe Silver Tournament. McCarrick will try to close out the tourney with wins in all three games when it takes on Lincoln of Jersey City on Tuesday, December 30th. Meanwhile, Hun falls to 4-6 on the year, and will play Hillside in the tourney finale on Tuesday night at 7:30 PM.
Team |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
Cardinal McCarrick (4-0) |
16 | 20 | 10 | 25 | 71 |
Hun (4-6) |
14 | 14 | 11 | 22 | 61 |
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