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Hawks
Shut Down Dougher And Surprise Scotch-Plains, 49-41 |
By Greg Machos
December 28, 2007RAHWAY, NJ—So much for doubting our up and coming Hawks of J.P. Stevens! After pulling away in the second half to defeat St. Joseph's at home a week earlier, 53-40, J.P. Stevens came up with another impressive win, but this time against a more highly touted team. Back in October during the course of the season at the HawksBasketball Fall-Ball Classic in Plainfield, I had the opportunity to ask Watchung Conference site runner, Terence Johnson, what team he thought was the one to beat in the conference this season. Without any hesitation, he stated Scotch Plains. Considering Plainfield and Linden were in what appeared to be seasons of transition after having solid runs the past couple years, and Elizabeth going through a coaching change with former South Brunswick head coach, Chris Balent taking the reins over there, it wasn't too much of a stretch since the Raiders reached the Quarterfinal round of the North Jersey Section 2 Group III state tournament last season, where it gave eventual champion, Colonia, all it could handle before bowing out. The prophecy became much more believeable after Scotch Plains defeated Neptune in overtime on Day One of the 2007 Tip-Off Classic at Seton Hall University.
The Hawks entered the contest with five straight wins after adding Wardlaw-Hartridge and Holmdel to its victims list. The latter victory came in the opening round of the 2007 John "Butch" Kowal Tournament, and set the stage for this strong test for the Hawks in the semifinal round. The winner would advance to the Championship Game of the Tournament, where they would face another formidable foe in Rahway of the Mountain Valley Conference, which was undefeated. What has been lost in the fine start by the Hawks has been their defense, which has actually been the foundation of the team's success. While the team now has talented players, and not just the ones from a strong junior class, but also the likes of senior point guard, Alex Cacoilo, and senior forward, Darnell Sorrell along with others such as Matt Margon and Conner Medler. However, after this contest, there would be no question that J.P. Stevens could play "D". The reason for that was simple, the Hawks shut down the vaunted offense of Scotch Plains-Fanwood, and their top player, Brian Dougher, who is headed to Division I Stony Brook University next fall to play hoops there for the Seawolves in the America East Conference. In the first half, J.P. Stevens otuscored Scotch Plains-Fanwood by a 24-14 margin as it held the Union County opponent to single digits in each of the first two periods. Then, after the Raiders tried to make inroads with a 15-9 showing in the third quarter that made it a 33-29 game heading into the fourth, the Hawks pulled away with a 16-12 effort for the 49-41 shocker of a win. For the game, Scotch Plains shot just 15 of 61 from the floor for 24.6 percent including a 4 of 27 showing from beyond the arc for 14.8 percent. The Raiders also committed 22 turnovers in the game versus 20 by the Hawks.
Stevens wasn't too impressive from the floor offensively, but it was enough since the defense more than did its job to hamper Scotch Plains-Fanwood. The Hawks ultimately went just 17 of 47 from the floor for 36.2 percent including 3 of 7 from three point range for 42.9 percent. The team also connected on 12 of 20 foul shots for 60 percent while Scotch Plains was a subpar 7 of 24 from the charity stripe for 29.2 percent. Dougher symbolized the plight of the Raiders on this night, and perhaps, rightfully so since he is the standout player on the squad. The senior guard ended up with 14 points on the night, but he was woeful to say the least from the field. Dougher made just 6 of 29 shots from the field including 1 of 13 from beyond the arc while also going just 1 of 4 at the foul line. Meanwhile, for Stevens, junior forward, Kenny Bland, led the charge with 15 points on just 6 of 16 shooting from the floor, and 3 of 6 from the line. Bland also picked up 7 rebounds, 2 steals, a block, and an assist. Myles Reuben helped out in the winning effort with 13 points on 5 of 10 shooting from the floor while also netting 3 of 4 at the foul line. Reuben, another junior forward, also grabbed eight rebounds while picking up a block, steal, and assist. The backcourt tanden of Cacoilo (11 points) and junior Nick Pol (10 points) came up big for the Hawks as well by teaming up for 21 points combined on 6 of 13 shooting from the floor, and a perfect 6 of 6 at the line. For the rest of the individual statistics for JPS, check out the contest's stat page in the GMC Hoops Game Stats section.
In the team stat department, J.P. Stevens had fewer turnovers (20-22), more assists (12-6), and blocks (3-1). However, while steals (8-8) and charges (1-1) were even, the Raiders had more rebounds (49-35) and offensive boards (13-11). Stevens scored in double figures in three of the four quarters in this contest while Scotch Plains only scored ten points or more in two of the frames. In the first period, the Hawks set the tone by going 4 of 10 from the floor including a perfect 2 of 2 from three point range while Scotch Plains-Fanwood could only manage to make 3 of 12 shots including a paltry 1 of 5 from beyond the arc while committing four turnovers. Dougher highlighted the team's troubles by making only 2 of 7 shots for five of his team's seven points in the period. Stevens did keep the Raiders within striking distance though by making seven miscues themselves. There wasn't much scoring by either team in the first 3:06 that preceeded a JPS timeout as Bland scored the first field goal of the game with a drive from the right wing for a layup that made the score 2-0 at the 6:19 mark. Dougher would tie things up later on with a nice spin move that led to a jumper. Following the Hawks timeout at the 4:54 mark, Reuben put JPS ahead with an offensive rebound and putback at the 4:34 mark for a 4-2 lead. The Raiders would respond though by scoring the next five points including a three pointer by Dougher, and a steal for a layup that made the score, 7-4 before Stevens responded.
The Hawks reply would be in the form of five consecutive points of its own as Bland got on the board with a layup, and Pol knocked down a three pointer off an assist by Tahir Swinton at the 2:27 mark for a 9-7 lead. Neither team would score for about a minute and a half before Cacoilo netted a trey from the left corner off an assist by Bland for a 12-7 lead at the 1:05 mark, and that is how the quarter ended. Dougher had an opportunity to get the Raiders closer, but missed on both of his foul shots with four seconds remaining as the Hawks soared to end the period with an 8-0 spurt despite the numerous turnovers. In the second period, JPS shot just 5 of 13 from the floor for 38.5, but SPF was much worse going only 3 of 15 from the field in the stanza while making eight turnovers. The Hawks, meanwhile, only had three miscues in the frame. Reuben opened the quarter with a jumper, and then a pair of free throws at the 7:13 mark to expand the run to a 12-0 tear, and giving Stevens a 16-7 lead. Compounding the struggles for Scotch Plains was two more missed free throws at the 6:49 mark followed by a missed front end of a one and one at the 4:51 mark. JPS then took a 20-7 lead with two more scores on a Reuben field goal, and a Cacoilo layup from Medler before head coach, James Cardillo, called for a 30 second timeout. The Hawks then added another two points with a score for a 22-7 lead before the Raiders got their first points and field goal since the midway point of the opening period as Dougher made a nice move for layup that made the score, 22-9 with 2:37 to go before halftime.
J.P. Stevens would go back up by fifteen as Cacoilo netted two free throws for a 24-9 advantage at the 2:14 mark. Meanwhile the tale of woe continued to be unveiled at the line for Scotch Plains as the Raiders missed another front end of a one and one with 1:08 to play in the half, but they would salvage something at the end of the second quarter by scoring the last five points for a 24-14 Hawk lead at the intermission. Sorrell had an opportunity to increase the lead to a dozen going into the break, but missed a pair of foul shots at the 53 second mark. Looking at the first half scoring, Reuben led the charge for Stevens with 10 points on 4 of 8 shooting from the floor, and a perfect 2 of 2 at the line while also collecting 3 rebounds, a steal, and a block. Cacoilo chipped in with 7 points on 2 of 4 shooting including a three pointer to go along with a rebound, assist, and a steal. Over the first two periods, Reuben and Cacoilo comprised of 70.8 percent of the Hawk offense. On the other side of the stat sheet, Dougher was 5 of 15 from the floor including 1 of 6 from three point land, and missed both free throws for 11 points as well as a steal for Scotch Plains. Moving on to the first half statistics, J.P. Stevens was a meager 9 of 23 from the field for 39.1 percent, but the Hawks limited the Raiders to only 6 of 27 shooting overall for 22.2 percent including a paltry 1 of 12 from beyond the arc for 8.3 percent. In addition, Scotch Plains-Fanwood was just 1 of 8 at the foul line while Stevens, which connected on 2 of 5 three point attempts, made 4 of 6. Turnovers (Stevens had edge 10-12) and rebounds (SPF had edge 17-16) were fairly even, but JPS had the edge in assists (6-2), steals (5-3), and blocks (3-1). Neither team drew a charge in the first half.
In the third quarter, things wouldn't get much better for Scotch Plains-Fanwood as the Raiders continued to be mired in an offensive funk. The Union County school fared a bit better in the period, but still only made 6 of 15 shots including 2 of 5 from three while the Hawks made 4 of 10 from the floor. Adding to the misery, the Raiders managed to only make 3 of 10 free throws in the quarter as well. Despite the ongoing shooting struggles, the Watchung Conference team still managed to make inroads with its best scoring output of the game. Scotch Plains got going right away as Dougher picked up an assist on a three pointer from the right corner at the 7:34 mark that closed the gap to 24-17. Once again though, the Raiders had an opportunity to creep closer, but failed to take advantage by missing two foul shots at the 7:05 mark. Stevens would get another score to go up by nine at 26-17 before SPFHS pulled within seven, and again had a chance to pull even closer. At about the 5:12 mark of the third, Dougher drove along the left side of the key, and drew a foul that resulted in a one of two showing for a 26-20 Hawk lead. Immediately afterward, JPS came back down the floor, and scored as Reuben put on a nice move for a short turnaround jumper with just under five minutes to play in the frame for a 28-20 edge. Over the next twenty seconds, each team knocked down one of two at the line including Bland for Stevens at the 4:37 mark for a 29-21 lead. The next 1:42 saw the Raiders continued to peck away at the lead with four of the next six points including a three pointer, and another one of two effort at the line for a 31-25 J.P. Stevens lead at the 2:55 mark. Fourteen seconds later, Dougher came up with a steal for a layup that closed the gap even more to four at 31-27 with 2:41 remaining in the third.
The scoring subsided for a brief time before Swinton penetrated and kicked out to Bland at the foul line for a jumper that made the score, 33-27 at the 1:29 mark. Scotch Plains continued to have its struggles at the foul line by subsequently missing two charity shots with 57 seconds to go in the third, but then got a short jumper from the right baseline that made the score, 33-29 entering the fourth. Seemingly in a precarious position, Stevens put any thoughts of losing this huge game for its program with a 16-12 showing in the fourth that consisted of an 11-3 tear over the first 4:56 of the final frame to take a 44-32 lead. The Hawks got on the board first with a field goal before the Raiders pulled within three at the 6:07 mark with a trey that got the benefit of a nice bounce, and made the score, 35-32 as the GMC squad called for time. Following the timeout, the Hawks went back to work as Bland scored on a putback of a Pol miss at the 5:45 mark for a 37-32 lead. A little over a minute later, Bland struck again with a jumper off an inbounds pass from Cacoilo that made the score, 39-32 with 4:40 to play. Pol then made it a nine point lead by making two free throws at the 4:14 mark for a 41-32 score. The decisive JPS tear was capped when Sorrell passed to Pol for a three pointer at the 3:04 mark that gave the Hawks a commanding twelve point lead. Although, Scotch Plains would outscore Stevens the rest of the way by a 9-5 margin, it wasn't enough as the Hawks scored a huge upset that, along with Piscataway's performance against Immaculata in the Vaughn Stapleton Classic on Wednesday, made it loud and clear to the rest of Central Jersey that certain GMC teams aren't to be messed with in 2007-08.
Team |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
J.P. Stevens (6-0) |
12 | 12 | 9 | 16 | 49 |
Scotch Plains-Fanwood (5-2) |
7 | 7 | 15 | 12 | 41 |
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