The Freshmen Game of the Week, Freshmen Roundup, and the JV Roundup are now available. Check them out in our GMC Hoops Summary archive.

GMC Hoops Summaries--February 4, 2010
Week Seven--Blue Division Clash

Griffin Leads The Way In Trojans Victory Over Bulldogs, 66-52

By Greg Machos
February 4, 2010

NORTH EDISON, NJ--With Middlesex defeating Spotswood on the road Tuesday night, the GMC Blue was Bishop Ahr's for the taking again. The Jays victory over the Chargers also gave the Bulldogs some hope. After all, Metuchen only lost to BGA by four at MHS back on January 11th (56-52). For a half of basketball, the Bulldogs and Trojans appeared to be headed toward another close finish. However, Ahr put an end to all of that with a solid third quarter. Senior guard, Darius Griffin made three of four shots in the period and both his free throws for eight points to lead Ahr on a 19-5 tear over the first six minutes of the second half to pull away from a 31-28 halftime lead for a commanding 50-33 edge. From there, the Trojans were able to go up by as much as 22 in the fourth quarter en route to a 66-52 win.

Griffin, who scored 12 points in the first period to lead Bishop Ahr to a 19-15 advantage, ended up with a game high 24 points on 7 of 11 shooting from the floor including two of five from long distance while making 8 of 12 from the line. He also grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists. Teammate, and senior forward, Manny Kroggmann chipped in with 15 points on 6 of 10 shooting from the floor and three of four from the line while collecting three rebounds, three blocks, and two assists. Sophomore Kenny Virden, who also stars on the football team during the fall, made three of five shots for 6 points along with four boards, two assists, and two steals. Justin Peoples had a solid all around performance with 5 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, a block, and a charge.

Meanwhile, for Metuchen, senior forward, Nick Callas led the way in a losing cause with a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds along with an assist and a steal. Elijah Sellers added 10 points, 9 boards, 4 steals, and 3 assists, and Mike Crusco also had 10 points while picking up two steals, an assist, and a rebound. For the game, each team outscored the other in two of the four periods. However, BGA won the first by four and the third by twelve while Metuchen only won the second and fourth by a point each. The Bulldogs were 17 of 59 from the floor for 29 percent including a 3 of 16 effort from beyond the arc. On the other hand, the Trojans were 25 of 48 from the field for 52 percent including 2 of 9 from long distance. Ahr was 14 of 27 from the charity stripe for 52 percent while MHS was 15 of 18 for 83 percent.

In other statistical areas, Metuchen outrebounded Bishop Ahr by a 36-29 margin including a 20-9 advantage on the offensive boards. The Trojans had fewer turnovers (14-18) while they had edges in assists (17-7), blocks (7-4), and charges (2-0). The Dawgs had more steals (11-8). Griffin played just about perfect basketball in the first as he was good on four of five shots including a perfect 2 of 2 from long range, and made both his attempts from the foul line for 12 points and two rebounds. Rob Gomulka (4 points on 2 of 4 shooting, two rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocks) helped the Trojans draw first blood with an offensive rebound and follow before Callas got an offensive rebound of his own, and was fouled on the follow attempt, which resulted in two from the line at the 7:17 mark for a 2-2 tie.

The Bulldogs then scored six of the next eight points in a span of just 1:11 for an 8-2 spurt, and 8-4 lead at the 6:06 mark. Highlighting the run was a three pointer from the left wing by Crusco followed by an offensive rebound and putback by Evan Carberry (6 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks, an assist and a steal) as he was fouled for a three point play. Bishop Ahr had a chance to draw within two, but couldn't right away as Pat Widdoss (5 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal, and a block) misfired on two foul shots at the 5:47 mark. However, the junior forward picked himself up a little less than two minutes later with a baseline jumper from the left side for an 8-6 MHS lead at the 3:56 mark. Griffin then took over with all seven points in a 7-2 run over the next 1:49 to give the Trojans a 13-10 lead at the 2:07 mark.

Griffin, who has improved his perimeter shot, connected on a three pointer off an assist from Widdoss, and then picked up a save by Peoples off a steal for a layup before making two foul shots for the three point lead. Widdoss then made one of two from the line for a 14-10 advantage at the 1:50 mark, but Crusco pulled the Bulldogs within two on the next possession with a bank shot at the 1:34 mark. The Trojans added another score for a 16-12 lead before Vinnie Sardone (5 points, 3 rebounds, an assist, and a steal) connected on a trey from the left wing to close the gap to one. Griffin responded with a three of his own on a high arching shot in the waning moments of the first for a 19-15 lead. Metuchen made slight inroads in the second as Griffin didn't make a shot.

Both teams opened up the period by scoring four points for a BGA 23-19 lead at the 6:19 mark. Sellers got a bucket as he fell down while Kroggmann made a nice pass to Virden for a layup. Following an Ahr timeout at the 5:50 mark, and a lull in the scoring of over two minutes, Callas drove to the basket, drew contact, and put up a shot that banked in. The Metuchen senior missed the bonus free throw for the traditional three point play, but the Bulldogs only trailed 23-21 at the 4:07 mark. Crusco then followed with a drive of his own that drew a foul that resulted in a one of two showing from the line for a 23-22 BGA lead with 3:20 to play in the half. The Trojans scored the next four points including a tip-in by Peoples before Callas answered with a baseline drive for a layup at the 2:35 mark to make the score 27-24 in favor of Ahr.

Each team ended the second just like it began with four points as the Trojans maintained their three point lead. Kroggmann got a layup to end the first half scoring for the 31-28 Ahr lead at the intermission. In the first half, Griffin was 4 of 7 from the floor including two of four from three, and made both his free throws for 12 points and two rebounds. Callas was 4 of 10 from the floor and sank two of three from the line for 10 points, 5 rebounds, and an assist. Crusco added 8 points on three of five shooting including a three while also picking up two steals, an assist, and a rebound. Looking at the team statistics, Metuchen was 11 of 26 from the floor overall including 2 of 7 from beyond the arc while Ahr was 13 of 32 including 2 of 8 from long distance. The Bulldogs were slightly better from the line going 4 of 6 while the Trojans were 3 of 6. MHS had nine turnovers to BGA's six.

Rebounding was virtually even in the opening half. Both teams had 16 total rebounds while Ahr held a slight edge on the offensive glass (7-6). The Trojans had more assists (9-4) and charges (1-0) while the Bulldogs had more steals (6-5). The third quarter was all Ahr as the Trojans scored 70 percent of the points in the frame including 19 of the first 24 for a 50-33 lead with about two minutes to go in the period. BGA began the second half with four of the first six points over the initial 1:31 of the third including a score by Kroggmann for a 35-30 lead. The senior forward scored again off a pass from Widdoss while Griffin drove in for a layup following another steal by Peoples for a 39-30 lead as Metuchen called for a 30 second timeout with 5:52 remaining in the third.

BGA picked up right where it left off after the stoppage as Peoples grabbed an offensive board off a missed three point attempt by Griffin, and put in the follow as he was fouled for a conventional three point play, and a 42-32 lead at the 4:47 mark. Just under a minute later, Gomulka dished to Kroggmann for his third field goal in the run, and a 44-32 lead. Griffin then followed with a jumper that prompted a full timeout by the Bulldogs with the score 46-32 in favor of Ahr with 3:07 to go in the quarter. Griffin later capped the tear with two free throws before Sellers went 4 of 4 from the charity stripe for a 50-37 Trojans lead. Griffin then ended the quarter scoring with a drive in for a layup, and a 52-37 advantage heading into the fourth.

Ahr virtually put the game away early in the fourth. Over the first 2:50 of the final period, the Trojans put together a 7-2 spurt for a 28-11 surge over the first 10:50 of the second half to take a 59-39 lead. Highlighting the run was Kroggmann with three of four from the line while Virden chipped in with an offensive rebound and follow. BGA, which connected on 12 of 16 shots in the second half, then completed the 32-13 run for a 63-41 lead on two foul shots by Griffin. However, Metuchen, which only made 6 of 33 shots in the second half, showed some heart as it took advantage of Ahr missing ten free throws in the period including an 0 of 8 stretch with an 11-0 spurt to pull within 63-52, but Griffin finished off the 66-52 victory with two free throws at the 1:09 mark, and Ryan Blakely (a point and a rebound) got his only point of the game on a one of two effort from the line in the waning moments.

With the victory, BGA improved to 13-2 overall on the season including a 9-1 mark in the GMC Blue. Meanwhile, Metuchen fell to 11-6 overall and 6-5 in divisional play. Bishop Ahr only needs to split its remaining two games to gain at least a share of the division title for the third straight year. If the Trojans win their last two, they will win the division outright for the second straight year. Ahr faces Kennedy and Middlesex next week to round out its division schedule. Analysis will be forthcoming in the blog.

RETURN TO THE GMC HOOPS HOME PAGE

If you are finished checking the GMC Boys Basketball Summaries, and would like to see other parts of the website.  Click below to return to the home page.

• Return to the GMC Hoops Homepage

If you have any questions about, or any suggestions for this website, please feel free to either fill out our guestbook, or contact me at gmachos@gmchoops.com.