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GMC Hoops Summaries--January 14, 2010
JV Game Of The Week--Week Four

Junior Chiefs Pull Out Hard Fought Win Over St. Joe's, 51-46

By Greg Machos
January 14, 2010

METUCHEN, NJ--Prior to the start of the varsity game between Piscataway and St. Joseph's, GMC Hoops got another opportunity to cover some JV action in the second Freshmen/JV/Varsity tripleheader of the year. It was also the second time the site was seeing P-Way's JV squad, which defeated Perth Amboy on the opener back in December. It was the first time that the site saw St. Joseph's, which has two talented freshmen in guard James "Jimbo" Long III and center James Ziemba. The Junior Falcons showed some heart in this one.

After giving way to a 9-0 spurt in the second quarter, and trailing 26-11, St. Joseph's rallied with a 5-2 run to end the half, and then put together a 10-0 spurt to start the third, and close the gap to two at 30-28 with 4:30 remaining in the period. From there, the game was tight as neither team had a lead bigger than seven points. St. Joe's actually took the lead with 1:48 to go in the game, but the Junior Chiefs came up with the 51-46 victory thanks to an 8-2 run to close the game. The Junior Falcons had entered this game with a 4-3 record including two losses in the Monsignor Farrell Christmas Tournament.

Brian Wong led the Junior Chiefs with 12 points despite some struggles from the floor. Wong, who made four field goals including , and was three of four from the line, also grabbed two rebounds, handed out an assist, and blocked a shot. Thierno Diallo had some struggles from the floor as well, but still came up with 8 points on two field goals, and four of six from the line while also collecting four rebounds, and swiping a steal. Evan VanKline chipped in with 7 points, which all came in the first half, and picked up 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals. Donovan Kirkland scored only four points, but attacked the glass for 14 boards including nine offensive.

Anthony Greene, a transfer from Edison High School, added 6 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 assists while Devonte Smith grabbed eight boards in addition two his two points. Greg Davis came down from the Piscataway varsity to make 3 of 4 from the field for 6 points along with 2 rebounds, an assist, steal, and block. For St. Joseph's, it was Ziemba, who turned in a superb game. The 6'7" freshman from Hillsborough connected on 8 of 16 shots from the floor, and both his free throw attempts for 18 points along with 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and a block. Greg Patton chipped in with 8 points on three field goals including 2 of 5 from long distance while picking up a rebound, steal, and block. Long added 7 points on three field goals including a three along with 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and a steal. Albert Myers III only scored four points, but was active down low with 9 rebounds including six on the offensive glass, and 3 blocked shots.

For the game, Piscataway outscored St. Joe's in three of the four periods played. The Junior Chiefs shot 20 of 61 from the floor including 1 of 7 from long range. P-Way also made 10 of 18 from the line while committing 19 turnovers. On the other side of the ledger, the Junior Falcons made 19 of 55 shots including 3 of 15 from beyond the arc. St. Joe's was only 5 of 6 from the foul line while also committing 19 turnovers. In other statistical departments, Piscataway outrebounded St. Joseph's (41-31) including a 24-15 edge on the offensive glass. St. Joe's had more assists (13-7) and blocks (6-2) while P-Way had more steals (9-7). Neither team drew a charge. The Junior Falcons started the game got out to an early lead in the first, but the Junior Chiefs closed things out with an 8-0 run to take the lead going into the second.

St. Joe's jumped out to a 6-3 lead as Ziemba scored four points while Long added two. Piscataway, however, stormed back with four straight points including an offensive rebound and follow by Smith off a block by Ziemba for a 7-6 lead at the 3:07 mark. The Junior Chiefs then made it an 8-0 run as Diallo got a score, and Wong connected on a jumper for an 11-6 lead moving into the second. Patton then opened the second with a three pointer to pull the Junior Falcons within two, but P-Way got four unanswered points on a putback by VanKline, and a jumper from Davis for a 15-9 Junior Chiefs lead at the 6:56 mark. Diallo then added a basket for an eight point lead before Myers III stepped to the line, and made two free throws for a 17-11 score at the 5:58 mark.

Piscataway then went on a key 9-0 run that was highlighted by a conventional three point play by VanKline at the 4:09 mark for a 26-11 lead. Karim Awad (3 points, 2 rebounds, and an assist) ended the run with one of two free throws for St. Joe's at the 2:15 mark for a 26-12 P-Way lead. The Junior Falcons made it a 5-0 run as Awad added a field goal as well as Josh Hudson (2 points) to pull within ten before Davis inbounded Cameron Hackett for a layin in the closing seconds and a 28-16 halftime lead. At the break, VanKline and Wong shared team high for Piscataway with 7 points while the former had four rebounds, two steals, and an assist. Diallo and Davis each chipped in with four. For St. Joe's, Ziemba had four points, two rebounds, and a block while Awad had all three of his points.

Looking at the team statistics, the Junior Chiefs were 13 of 31 from the floor while limiting St. Joe's to just 6 of 25. Both teams didn't shoot well from long distance as the Junior Falcons made only one of eight while P-Way just made one of five. Free throws were few and far between as Piscataway made one of one while St. Joseph's was three of four. Both teams had 11 turnovers. Piscataway held an 18-14 edge on the boards including a 10-8 advantage on the offensive glass. In other statistical areas, St. Joe's had more assists (5-3) and blocks (2-1) while P-Way had more steals (5-3). In the second half, the teams reversed roles as St. Joseph's went 13 of 30 from the floor while P-Way was just 7 of 30. Ziemba was a huge factor with 14 points.

The Junior Falcons had started the third much like they had ended the second with a 10-0 spurt over the first 3:30 to cap a 17-4 tear in a span of 5:45 to close within two. St. Joe's opened the half with a score before Davis got his final points of the game at the 6:50 mark for a 30-18 P-Way lead. Patton and Long then dialed long distance over the next 49 seconds to cut the deficit in half at 30-24 with 6:01 left. St. Joseph's then closed out the run with layups by Ziemba and Myers III for a 30-28 P-Way lead. Kirkland added fuel to the fire by misfiring on two free throws at the 4:30 mark, but his teammates would pick him up, and maintain the lead. However, for much of the rest of this game, it would be fairly nip and tuck. The Junior Chiefs would score four of the next six points for a 34-30 lead before Ziemba netted two foul shots at the 2:02 mark to close the gap again to two.

Kirkland then fed Javon Rodd (2 points and a rebound) for a layup, and a 36-32 lead, but Ziemba ended the quarter with an offensive rebound and putback off a miss by Long for a 36-34 score heading into the fourth quarter. Despite bodies going all over the place for loose balls early on, and two missed free throws by Smith at the 6:01 mark, the Junior Chiefs came up with another key run by scoring five unanswered points including a three point play by Greene at the 5:51 mark for a 41-34 advantage. However, St. Joseph's showed its resiliency again with an 8-1 spurt over the next 3:13 including scores by Ziemba and Jalen Gilmore (4 points, 3 rebounds, and an assist) to tie the game at 42-42 with 2:38 to go.

The deadlock didn't last long though as Wong stepped to the line, and made one of two for a 43-42 lead at the 2:29 mark. The Junior Falcons then took its first lead since the early first quarter as Awad handed out an assist on a layup by Ziemba that made the score, 44-43 at the 1:48 mark. The Junior Chiefs would take the lead for good though as Diallo made two free throws at the 1:36 mark for a 45-44 edge, and then VanKline swiped a steal and handed out an assist on a Kirkland layup to go up 47-44 before Ziemba got another bucket on a layup from Gilmore to pull within one again with just under a minute to play. Piscataway was forced to call a timeout with 33.3 seconds left in order to avoid a five second call.

Dodging that bullet, the Junior Chiefs were able to get into the double bonus, and seal the victory at the line. Diallo drew a foul with 29.8 seconds to play, made one of two, and grabbed the offensive rebound. Fouled again at the 27.8 second mark, Diallo made another one of two from the line for a 49-46 lead. Following a St. Joseph's 30 second timeout, P-Way got a stop on defense, and Wong made two free throws with 1.6 seconds remaining to seal the 51-46 victory. The loss dropped St. Joseph's to 4-4 on the season while the Junior Chiefs improved to 2-0 in games covered by GMC Hoops. See analysis on this game in the GMC Hoops Blogosphere.