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GMC Hoops Summaries--January 18, 2008
JV Game Of The Week--Fifth Week Of Action

Metuchen's Fourth Quarter Rally Turns Debacle Into Thriller, 38-36

By Greg Machos
January 18, 2008

METUCHEN, NJ--Earlier in the week, GMC Hoops contemplated seeing Monroe's freshmen and JV squads in action at South Plainfield against the Little Tigers and Junior Tigers. However, after already seeing SPHS's two lower level teams in action against New Brunswick, the web site wanted to see something different. So, as an alternative, we took a look at the young talent coming up at Spotswood and Metuchen instead. The trip out to Metuchen High School for a JV/Varsity Doubleheader on Friday night was justified since both teams have a plethora of sophomore talent at the varsity levels, and Spotswood's current crop of sophs competed well at the 2007 Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament last February. The Little Chargers, which ended up going 15-4 last season including a Final Four appearance and a Consolation Game victory over Blue Division rival, Bishop Ahr (52-49), have a couple of players including James Pareti seeing significant varsity time while others such as Tyler Osofsky, Tom Pareti, and Mike Liming are seeing plenty of JV action. Meanwhile, Metuchen has seven sophomores on its varsity roster, and outside of forward Evan Carberry and Nick Callas, most of them play on the JV along with freshman, Mike Crusco.

Despite being very talented though, the two squads are still very young, and played like it for much of the game. Both Spotswood and Metuchen scored in single digits in three of the four periods in this contest while the Junior Chargers shot just 1 of 11 and committed six turnovers, and the Junior Bulldogs went a paltry 1 of 16 from the floor with four turnovers in the opening period. Despite the offensive malaise, Spotswood managed to control the contest, and hold a comfortable 30-18 lead after three quarters before the game took a dramatic turn in the fourth. Crusco, who made only 3 of 13 shots from the floor, but knocked down 5 of 7 free throws for 11 points on the game, spearheaded a tremendous 20-6 rally in the final period with eight straight points over a 1:31 span, and got a clutch steal with 20.7 seconds left that set up the game winning score in a thrilling 38-36 come from behind win. Aside from the fourth quarter heroics by Crusco (also had four rebounds, an assist, and the huge theft), Carson Keers-Flood (2 of 4 FGs for 4 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal), and the rest of the Junior Bulldogs, this game was purely a quagmire, a stalemate that was basketballs answer to trench warfare. Nevertheless, these types of games aren't out of the ordinary at the JV level since most of the talented players are up at the varsity, and these particular contests are won by the team who wants it more. In this case, the Junior Bulldogs of Metuchen wanted it more in the end.

For the game, Metuchen went 16 of 52 from the floor for 30.8 percent including 0 of 7 from downtown, and connected on only 6 of 11 free throws for 54.5 percent. Meanwhile, Spotswood, which entered the contest at 4-8, ended up going 11 of 42 for 26.2 percent, but made 4 of 13 from beyond the arc to keep them ahead of the Junior Dawgs most of the way for 30.8 percent. The Junior Chargers also helped the cause by making 10 of 13 at the foul line for 76.9 percent. Looking at other team statistical departments, the game was a close as the stats indicated as Spotswood held edges in overall rebounding (30-28) and steals (10-8, thanks largely in part to Tom Pareti, who had six thefts) while Metuchen held advantages in turnovers (17-23), offensive rebounds (7-6), assists (9-8), blocks (4-1), and charges (1-0). The Junior Chargers had outscored the Junior Dawgs in each of the first three periods, but kept the home team hanging around by not putting them away. Ultimately, the visitors from the Southern part of the county, paid the price as Metuchen came up with the huge rally in the fourth. Aside from Crusco's team high effort, Metuchen got 6 points from sophomore James Warren made three field goals for 6 points to go along with 5 rebounds, an assist, steal, block, and charge. Fellow soph, David Hills came off the bench for four points, five rebounds, two blocks, and two steals. Vinnie Sardone also added four points as well as collected three rebounds, two steals, and the assist on the game winning shot. On the other side of the ledger, Spotswood got a game high 12 points from Osofsky, the younger brother of recent graduate Bryan Osofsky, and 2004 graduate, Dan Osofsky.

Osofsky struggled overall from the floor, but made 2 of 4 from three point range, and was a perfect 6 of 6 from the free throw stripe while also collecting 6 rebounds, a block, and a steal. Helping out Osofsky in the losing effort was fellow sophomore and varsity reserve, Liming, who had three field goals, and made 2 of 3 free throws for 8 points as well as 4 rebounds, and a steal. Sophomore forward, Jeff Coy went 3 of 4 from the floor for 6 points along with 4 rebounds, and an assist. For the rest of the statistics, please feel free to visit the contest's stat page in the GMC Hoops Game Stats section. The first quarter saw only nine total points from both teams as they combined to shoot an anemic 2 of 27 from the floor, and committed ten turnovers. The Junior Chargers got the Lion's share of the points thanks to a three pointer by Garret Walters off an assist by Coy, and a pair of free throws by Osofsky for an early 5-0 lead at the 5:12 mark, and then another two charity shots by Osofsky at the 3:12 mark for a 7-0 lead before Metuchen got on the board finally on a drive through the middle by sophomore forward, Mike Halas (5 points and 4 rebounds) for a 7-2 lead at the three minute mark. The lead would remain that way heading into the second period. In the next frame, Spotswood increased its lead over the Junior Bulldogs to 9-2 on a layup underneath at the 4:43 mark. A little while later, Crusco got his first field goal of the game on a running off-balanced shot along the right baseline that brought the deficit back down to five at the four minute mark.

Crusco's basket sparked a 6-2 mini-run by the Junior Bulldogs, which finally showed signs of waking up after sleep walking offensively for the first quarter and a half. Closing to within three at 11-8, Metuchen lost the momentum heading toward the intermission as Tom Pareti inbounded to Osofsky on the right wing for a three pointer, and a 14-8 advantage at the 1:48 mark. Liming had a chance to pad the Junior Charger lead even further, but misfired on two free throws with 54.7 left in the half, and the two teams then exchanged buckets for a Spotswood 16-10 lead as the two teams went to their respective locker rooms at the break after combining for only 24 total points over the first two periods. In the third quarter, both teams started to show some life by combining for almost as many points as they scored in the entire first half with 22. The Junior Chargers got the lion's share though with a 14-8 showing to increase their lead to a dozen entering the fourth at 30-18. The home team scored the first points of the second half as Crusco drew a foul just nine seconds into the third, and made one of two at the line for a 16-11 Spotswood lead. Over the next 1:08, the Junior Chargers scored five straight points including a three pointer from the right wing by Tom Pareti for his only points of the contest, and then a pump fake for a jumper by Coy that made the score, 21-11 at the 6:43 mark. Freshman Shaun Weeks then made two free throws to expand the advantage to 23-11 at the 6:05 mark, and then Halas made one of two at the line to close the gap to 23-12 at the 5:51 mark. On a subsequent Junior Charger possession, Coy would score again on a layup for a 25-12 edge as the Junior Dawgs called for time at the 5:25 mark of the third.

Following the timeout, Metuchen closed the period with a slight 6-5 edge thanks to two field goals by Warren, and a layup by Hills for a 30-18 Spotswood lead heading into the fourth. In the final period, all hell broke loose as the Junior Bulldogs stormed back for the win. However, things didn't start out the tumultuous. Over the first 2:51 of the period, the two teams only managed to muster up two points combined as Keers-Flood scored on an offensive rebound and follow for 30-20 Junior Charger lead. Following a Spotswood timeout at the 5:09 mark, the game took a dramatic turn as Crusco, who showed some brief flashes of potential during the fall at the 2007 HawksBasketball Fall-Ball Classic in Plainfield, took over the game. The freshman guard began his personal onslaught with a layup off a back door cut at the 4:50 mark for a 30-22 Spotswood lead. Thirty-nine seconds later, he drew a foul, and netted two free throws for a 30-24 Junior Charger lead at the 4:11 mark. A little more than a halftime minute after that, Crusco then got a layup as he was fouled, but missed the bonus free throw for a 30-26 Spotswood edge. After the Junior Bulldogs got a stop at the other end, they came back down for a scoring attempt when a Spotswood player attempted to draw a charge, but was instead assessed a technical foul for flopping at the 3:19 mark. Crusco then stepped to the line again for two more charity shots, and suddenly, the Junior Charger lead had dwindled down to a single basket at 30-28. Sensing that the tide was turning the growing Metuchen crowd in anticipation of the varsity nightcap between the two schools got into the fervor, and gave their junior varsity club a bit of inspiration.

Getting the ball after the two technical foul shots, MHS had a chance to knot the game up, but Crusco, driving in from the left wing, missed the tying layup attempt, and Coy grabbed the rebound and was fouled. Unfortunately, Coy missed the front end of the one and one at the 3:13 mark, and on Metuchen's next possession, another freshman (#4) took a running shot that banked in to tie the score at 30-30 as the home crowd went into delirium. With Osofsky now out of the game since he had to get ready for the varsity contest, Liming would come to the temporary rescue by netting his two free throws to put his team ahead by two at 32-30 with 2:44 to play. However, on the next Junior Dawg possession, Keers-Flood came up with another offensive rebound and putback for a 32-32 tie at the 2:22 mark. The game would continued to go back and forth from there as Walters fed Liming on a drive for a layup that put the visitors back on top, 34-32 with exactly two minutes to go in regulation. Metuchen would eventually call a timeout at the 1:35 mark, and after the stoppage, Weeks drew a foul on a drive for a layup, and hit to seemingly clutch free throws for a 36-32 advantage at the 1:27 mark. Metuchen then put itself in a very precarious situation by almost turning over the basketball, and having to call another timeout at the 1:18 mark. Spotswood would eventually get the ball, but give it right back to the Junior Bulldogs as Sardone came up with a steal and converted it into a score with a layup off an assist by sophomore J.P. O'Brien for a 36-34 Junior Bolts lead. Moments later, Metuchen tied up Spotswood, and got a jump ball call, which resulted in a Junior Bulldog possession at the 54.5 second mark.

However, the home team was unable to tie things up as O'Brien missed his shot attempt, and Spotswood's JV coach, Dan Fredericks called for time with 42.1 seconds left. Following the timeout, Keers-Flood swiped a steal, and handed out an assist on a Sardone score that knotted the contest again at 36-36. There would only be four lead changes and two ties in this contest, but the fourth and final one would be Metuchen's first and only as Crusco first came up with the clutch defensive play, and fighting for a loose ball, and wrestling it away before alertly calling timeout with 20.7 seconds left. Following the stoppage, Sardone got an assist on a score by our nameless freshman (#4) for a 38-36 lead with just a mere eighteen seconds to play. Spotswood tried to tie the game up again, and force overtime, but Liming's drive to the hoop was defended closely, and he was forced to put up a tough shot that was off the mark. Coy got the offensive board, and attempted to put it back in on the follow, but missed as well as time expired with the Junior Bulldogs coming away with the thrilling victory after being in the land of the dead for nearly three and a half quarters. With the loss, Spotswood's JV dropped to 4-9 on the year.

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