The GMC Summaries section will be updated with the 2011-12 summaries to date soon.

GMC Hoops Summaries--January 4, 2012
Week Three--Blue Division Clash

Historic Night Inspires Bulldogs To Convincing Win, 42-22

By Greg Machos
January 4, 2012

METUCHEN, NJ--With a mostly young and inexperienced squad, the Metuchen Bulldogs will be learning a lot as it goes along in 2011-12. On Wednesday night, there were a lot of good role models to learn from as the school put together an historic night honoring all of its 1,000 point scorers in boys and girls basketball. In response, the Bulldogs played an inspired brand of basketball that showed the potential of what they're capable of in years to come.

Metuchen scored the first 15 points of the game over the initial 9:39 of the contest, and never looked back in a 42-22 victory over Blue Division rival, Middlesex. Junior guard, Ryan O'Neill scored six of his eight points during the initial run while senior forward, Tim Redshaw added five of his game high 14 points. Kauri Qualls, who chipped in with 9 points in the game, had a basket along with sophomore Hunter Clarke to cap the decisive game opening run. The Bulldogs outscored the Blue Jays in each period, and limited the visitors to single digits in each of the final three quarters.

Middlesex got no closer than 11 points the rest of the way while Metuchen led by as many as 20 points on five different occasions in the second half. The Jays had more players get into the scoring column (7-5), but the Bulldogs had four players score five points or more in the game while the Blue Jays had only one. Metuchen had more points from beyond the arc (9-6) while points from the line were even (4-4). The Bulldogs had a decisive edge in two point field goals (13-6). Redshaw had six field goals including two threes while O'Neill had four field goals, and Qualls had three field goals and three foul shots. The three veteran players accounted for 74 percent of the Bulldogs scoring.

The Bulldogs played as flawless a first quarter as any team could. Metuchen had six field goals including a three in the period to take a 13-0 lead. At the same time, Middlesex couldn't get going at all on offense. The Jays were just out of sync with turnovers, and couldn't buy a shot from the perimeter. O'Neill began the run by driving the right lane for a layup at the 6:48 mark. Redshaw followed with a layup of his own off an assist by O'Neill at the 5:25 mark. O'Neill scored again when he drove in for a floater and a 6-0 lead with 4:40 to go in the first period. After Middlesex turnovers at the 3:46 and 2:46 marks, Clarke (5 points) scored his only points of the first period on a follow of his own miss with 2:10 to go in the frame.

Almost a minute later, Redshaw struck again with a three pointer for an 11-0 lead as Middlesex called for time at the 1:15 mark. Qualls capped the opening period scoring with a bank shot from the right side at the 30 second mark for a 13-0 lead heading into the second. After an exchange of blocked shots by Clarke and Middlesex freshman forward, Marcus Evans-Little, O'Neill got a kind bounce on a floater for a 15-0 lead with 6:21 to go in the half. The Blue Jays tried to battle back with one of its two best stretches of the game. Over a span of just 2:06, Middlesex not only scored its first points of the game, but also put together a 7-3 spurt to pull within 18-7 at the 4:15 mark.

Emilio Gonzalez-DeOlio, who had a team high five points for Middlesex, got the Jays on the board with a three pointer from the top of the key for a 15-3 at the 5:44 mark. After Clarke made one of two from the line, and Qualls made a shot from the right side for an 18-3 lead, Tyreek Martin (2 points) added a putback at the 4:25 mark, and Blake Jackson (4 points) swiped a steal for a layup at the 4:15 mark. The Jays would get no closer after this as Metuchen ended the first half with six of the last eight points, and began the third quarter with the first five points for a 29-9 lead with just 1:06 gone by in the second half. Clarke sparked the run with a layup from the left baseline at the 2:17 mark, and Redshaw followed up by banking a shot from the paint with 1:33 to go in the first half.

After Artie Flaherty closed out the first half scoring with a short jumper from the right side with 37.5 seconds to play in the half, Redshaw began the third quarter with a layin that got a kind roll at the 7:26 mark, and Qualls followed up about a half minute later with a putback off a Flaherty miss for a three point play, and a 20 point lead. Middlesex put together another decent run with 7 of the next 9 points for pull within 15, but Metuchen coasted from there to the 42-22 win. With the victory, Metuchen evened its record to 3-3 on the season including a 2-1 mark in the GMC Blue while Middlesex dropped to 2-3 overall including a 1-2 mark in divisional play. View the play-by-play from the contest.

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