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GMC Hoops Summaries--January 28, 2008
JV Game Of The Week--Seventh Week Of Action

Junior Eagles Pull Away With Second Half Surge To Rebound With Win, 45-30

By Greg Machos
January 28, 2008

SOUTH AMBOY, NJ--Two and a half days ago, the Junior Eagles left Bishop Ahr High School beaten, bruised, and battered somewhat following a tough five point, 63-58 loss to its arch rival, the Junior Trojans of BGA. Going down with what appeared to be a common ankle injury at the 6:21 mark of the third quarter, Taylor Snider, left the court for probably the last time this season, as it was revealed after the game by McCarrick JV coach, Pat Kennedy, who still wasn't at a loss for words about some of the controversy from Saturday's contest, that the junior swingman broke his leg in two places, and is scheduled for surgery on Thursday. The key injury list didn't stop there. Kennedy went on to disclose that his star sophomore guard, Craig Thomas sprained his ankle in the Ahr contest, and was unavailable to play in the JV game against Middlesex. Despite losing 25 points per game from its usually prolific offense, the Junior Eagles didn't feel sorry for themselves, or complain, they just went out and won. While it wasn't pretty, considering that five freshmen were on the roster for the game, the McCarrick JV squad will take it. Helping ease the pain offensively was sophomore forward, Mo Isaac, who connected on 6 of 11 shots from the floor, and made both of his free throw attempts for a game high 14 points in a 45-30 win over the Junior Blue Jays of Middlesex High School in the GMC Hoops JV Game of the Week in South Amboy on Monday evening.

Sophomore guard, Rob Olivieri, the younger brother of former McCarrick standout, and 1,000 point scorer, Kevin Olivieri, chipped in with 10 points on 4 of 9 shooting including 1 of 3 from beyond the arc, and another one of two at the foul line while handing out five assists, and picking up two rebounds over the final three plus periods of action. Freshmen Ryan Smith and Jeremy Cruz, who were already on the roster prior to the latest series of injuries, stepped up and played pivotal roles in the victory. Smith connected on four shots including a three pointer at the 4:30 mark of the fourth quarter to cap a decisive 19-4 second half surge for a 42-22 lead. The freshman forward also picked up five rebounds over the final 24:57 of the contest including four on the offensive glass as well as an assist and a charge in the win while Cruz made 3 of 6 shots, and was a perfect 2 of 2 at the line for 8 points while also collecting 3 steals and an assist over the final three plus quarters. Middlesex was led by center Terrell Mayers, who picked up a double-double by making three of six field goal attempts from the floor, and knocking down 4 of 6 attempts from the charity stripe while hauling down 10 boards from the end of the first quarter on. Sophomore teammate, Avery Barnes, the younger brother of former Middlesex standout, and current Rutgers-Newark player, Phil Barnes, chipped in for the Junior Jays with 6 points on 3 of 5 shooting and 7 rebounds. To view the rest of the statistics from this game, take a look at the contest's stats page in the GMC Hoops Game Stats Section.

In the game, the Junior Eagles scored in double figures in three of the four periods while Middlesex barely reached that plateau in one of the frames. Nevertheless, the Junior Jays, which handed Group IV and White Division member, Woodbridge a 40-26 defeat on January 12th, managed to stay within striking distance for two and a half periods. However, the Junior Eagles only turned the ball over several times over the final three periods while Middlesex committed 15 miscues. Consequently, the Junior Jays only took 28 shots in the contest, and made 12 of their attempts for 42.9 percent. McCarrick, on the other hand took nearly twice as many shots, and went 18 of 47 for 38.3 percent. Although the Eagles made 6 of those extra 19 attempts, those additional baskets contributed to the ultimate outcome. Of the fifteen turnovers by Middlesex, nine of them were off steals. Conversely, the Jays only swiped one steal. In other statistical areas from the final three plus periods covered, Cardinal McCarrick enjoyed a slight edge at the free throw line going 7 of 10 for 70 percent while Middlesex was 6 of 9 for 66.7 percent. The home team also had the edge in three point shooting despite some struggles. McCarrick was just 2 of 9 for 22.2 percent, but MHS only took two shots from downtown, and didn't make any. The Junior Eagles had more offensive rebounds with a slight 9-8 edge, but the Junior Jays held the overall advantage at 25-16. Cardy Mac had the advantage in assists (10-6), blocks (3-0), and charges (1-0). Due to leaving the house a bit later than I had planned, I didn't arrive at the game until there was a bit less than a minute to go in the first quarter with McCarrick leading only 8-5.

About twenty seconds later, sophomore Adam Wells got Middlesex to within two points by making one of two at the line. On the missed second shot, Mike Fincher grabbed the offensive rebound, but had his shot blocked by Jack Giordano. Before the period ended the Junior Eagles, which got four points in the frame from Olivieri, got another score to go up 10-6 heading into the second. In that period, the home team expanded its lead by a little bit with a 13-9 showing. Fincher opened up the second quarter scoring with a layup that made it 10-8 at around the seven minute mark. Mayers then scored a layup from the right low block off an assist by Kaye that tied the contest up at 10-10 as McCarrick called for time to regroup with 5:10 left before the intermission. Isaac then started to get going with a layup off a feed by Olivieri that gave the Junior Eagles a 12-10 lead before the Junior Jays called a thirty second timeout at the 4:12 mark. Following the stoppage, Wells, got his only field goal of the game when he swiped a steal for a layup that tied the score again at 12-12 with 3:46 left before halftime. On the next Cardy Mac possession, Mike Lewis, the son of CMHS head coach, Joe Lewis, notched an assist when he inbounded the ball to Smith for a layup to put the Junior Eagles ahead again at 14-12 with 3:37 to play in the second. The Smith basket sparked an 8-0 run by the home team that also consisted of two free throws from Isaac at the 2:50 mark, a basket from the sophomore forward with 1:18 left, and then after Cruz had gotten a steal for a layup attempt, a putback by Isaac off the freshman's miss for a 20-12 lead with 51.7 to play before halftime.

Middlesex would attempt to fight back, and get some momentum going into the locker room at the break by scoring the next three points including one of two from the charity stripe by Mayers, and then an offensive rebound, and assist from Wells on a jumper by Mike Lester, the younger brother of senior guard, and varsity starter, Billy Lester for a 20-15 Cardy Mac lead. However, the Junior Eagles wiped all that out when Cruz, who had the ball on the left side, passed back up to the top of the key for Olivieri, who struck for his only three point basket of the contest for a 23-15 Cardinal McCarrick lead after two periods. The third period started pretty much the same way the very end of the second went with Middlesex getting a few points to try to show some signs of life only to see the Junior Eagles keep them at arm's length. However, this time, the home team was determined to put the game away for good. The first scoring opportunity of half number two came with 6:56 to go in the third when Smith stepped up to the line. Unfortunately, he was unable to connect on both attempts, and the score remained at 23-15. Taking advantage of McCarrick's missed opportunity, Middlesex scored the next three points as Barnes got a layup, and then Mayers went to the line again for a one of two showing that made the score, 23-18 with 5:35 to play in the third. It was at this point that the game began to gradually snowball against the Junior Jays. After neither team scored for over a minute and a half, Cruz, who had showed his propensity to move quickly with the basketball during the summer at the 2007 Colonia Freshmen Summer League, swiftly moved across the key from the left wing, and scored a layup that raised the Junior Eagle advantage to seven again at 25-18 with 4:02 left in the quarter.

McCarrick then increased its lead to nine on a 4-2 run over the next 1:18 for a 29-20 lead at the 2:44 mark as Olivieri and Taylor Clark came up with scores for the Junior Eagles before MHS was compelled to call for time in order to avoid a turnover. Following the timeout, Giordano came up with a steal, and then an assist on a layup by Smith at the 1:07 mark for a 31-20 lead, and that is how the scoreboard looked when the two teams started play in the fourth, and final period. Cruz then opened the scoring in the last frame with a steal for a layup that increased the Junior Eagle edge to thirteen at 33-20 with 7:19 to go. Over the next 2:49, Cardy Mac scored nine of the next eleven points to complete the backbreaking surge. Smith capped the outburst when he grabbed an offensive rebound off his own miss, and then moments later netted the second and final McCarrick trifecta of the game for a commanding 42-22 lead with 4:30 to play in the contest. From there, Middlesex would score eight of the final eleven points of the game to make it more respectable, but the Junior Eagles were able to right the ship, and give the young players confidence with a 45-30 victory. Shortly afterward, in the varsity nightcap, Mike Burwell, who now has over 1,500 points for his career, connected on 9 of 20 shots including 4 of 6 from long distance, and made 9 of 10 at the line for 31 points along with 10 rebounds for a double-double, and 6 assists in an 81-68 Cardinal McCarrick victory over Middlesex to run its winning steak to 13 in a row.

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