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GMC Hoops Summaries--February 2, 2010
Week Seven--Blue Division Clash

Wells FT At 0.81 Lifts Jays To Upset Over Third Ranked Chargers, 45-44

By Greg Machos
February 2, 2010

SPOTSWOOD, NJ--For the third time in a little more than a year, the Middlesex Blue Jays and the Spotswood Chargers got entangled in another thrilling game at the Spotswood Athletic Center. Back on January 8, 2009, the two teams went to the wire with Mike Liming coming up with the game winning shot in a 51-50 Chargers victory. Then, in the semifinal round of the Central Jersey Group II State Tournament, the Blue Jays exacted revenge in the form of a 54-48 defeat of the Chargers on March 6th.

On Tuesday night, the two teams went at it again. The Chargers, which defeated the Jays handily on the road back on January 7th (50-32), wouldn't get away this time. Spotswood, which was coming off a victory over Bishop Ahr at home last Monday night, and earned a third place ranking in the latest GMC Hoops Top Ten, didn't have a lead bigger than five points in this contest, and ultimately fell. Leading 39-34 with 5:01 remaining, Spotswood gave way to an 10-3 Middlesex spurt that included a layup by Adam Wells at the 3:45 mark, a jumper by John Santoro at the 2:38 mark, two free throws at the 1:51 mark by Avery Barnes, and two free throws by Wells at the 1:04 mark for a 44-42 lead.

Wells then came up with a huge defensive play as he blocked a Tyler Osofsky (11 points) jumper from the left corner while Barnes came up with a block on Mike Liming to preserve the lead. The Chargers would tie things up at 44-44 though as the scrappy James Pareti (4 points) netted two free throws with 25.94 seconds remaining. It came down to Wells, who had a team high 14 points including 6 of 7 from the foul line. The only miss was on the first of two free throws after being fouled with 0.81 seconds left. The second was true, and Middlesex came up with a huge 45-44 upset on the road. Barnes only had 6 points on the game, but was huge on the boards with 13 rebounds and seven blocked shots. Fellow senior Terrell Mayers chipped in with 6 points and 8 boards. Santoro added 11 points in the victory.

The loss for Spotswood spoiled what had been a super night for senior Cody Pace. Entering the game just needing one point to get 1,000, he scored the first basket of the game on a jumper at the 7:15 mark of the first to make history. He ended up with a game high 18 points on six field goals and two threes, and currently stands at 1,017 points for his career. Only two Charger players got into double figures with the other, Osofsky, being held to at least 14 points below his recent average. He scored eleven alone in the third quarter of last week's win over Ahr, and ended up with 29 in that game. Middlesex had only two players score in double-digits as well, but had Barnes and Mayers with six each while no other Spotswood player had more than four. Seven players scored for the Jays while only six broke into the scoring column for the Chargers.

The Blue Jays outscored the Chargers in three of the four periods. Spotswood's 9-4 showing in the second however, still gave it a chance at the end. For the game, Middlesex connected on 15 field goals, one three pointer, and 12 foul shots while Spotswood clicked on 12 field goals, three treys, and 11 free throws. After Pace got his 1,000th point, and the game was stopped for a couple minutes, play resumed with Spotswood going up 5-0 as Pace struck for a three pointer from the left wing. The Jays got on the board on a bank shot by Wells, and then Barnes and Mayers added scores on layups for 7-6 Spotswood lead at the 1:31 mark. James Pareti had sinked a jumper from the right side for a 7-2 lead before MHS came back with the four points.

Wells then added a layup for an 8-7 lead at the 1:02 mark, and Middlesex ended the quarter with an 8-0 run thanks to another score for a 10-7 lead going into the second. Pace, who scored 10 of the Chargers first 12 points, got Spotswood within one by opening the second with a basket and a foul (missed bonus free throw). Then, after a one of two showing from the line by Chris Winkleman for an 11-9 Middlesex lead at the 5:11 mark, Pace put the Chargers ahead at 12-11 with his second and final three of the game on a jumper from the left wing at the 4:36 mark. Spotswood then added two more scores for a 9-1 spurt, and a 16-11 lead with 2:40 left before Wells registered a traditional three point play at the 1:59 mark to close the first half scoring with the Chargers ahead 16-14 at the intermission.

In the third quarter, Pace opened the half with an offensive rebound and follow for an 18-14 Spotswood lead, but Middlesex fought back with a 4-0 run including a layup by Mayers to knot the game at 18-18 with 6:10 remaining in the period. Following a Chargers timeout, Osofsky, who was limited two just two field goals, but went 7 of 8 at the line, made two from the charity stripe at the 5:52 mark for a 20-18 lead. The Jays then took a 22-20 lead by scoring the next four points including a layup by Sean Paul off an assist by Wells at the 3:43 mark. Osofsky replied with two free throws at the 3:25 mark to tie things up again at 22-22. Middlesex went back out in front on a one of two showing from the foul line, but Pace quickly gave Spotswood the lead again at 24-23 with a foul line jumper at the 2:36 mark.

Then, the two teams exchanged runs. First, Middlesex went on a 5-0 burst to go up 28-24, but Spotswood charged back with the final four points of the third including a steal and assist by Pace on a layup by Osofsky for a 28-28 tie. Building on the momentum captured at the end of the third, the Chargers began the fourth with the first five points for a 9-0 run, and a 33-28 lead with 7:17 left. Highlighting the burst was a three pointer by Mike Liming for his only points of the game. Spotswood maintained that five point lead on two free throws by Allen Kuiper (4 points) and a short jumper by Pace that made the score 39-34 with just over five minutes remaining. Middlesex then went on its 10-3 run over the next 3:57 to go ahead by two with just over a minute to play.

The run began with a 4-0 burst over a span of 1:16 including a layup by Wells at the 3:45 mark to close within one at 39-38. Osofsky then made two free throws after a technical foul at the 3:19 mark for a 41-38 lead, and added a one of two showing from the line for a 42-38 advantage. Santoro then connected on a pull-up jumper from the right side to close the gap to two again at 42-40 with 2:38 to go, and then after making a huge block at the other end, Barnes stepped to the line to get his final points of the game on two charity shots to tie things up at 42-42 with 1:51 remaining. Wells then put the Jays in front with two foul shots of his own with a little more than a minute to go. Spotswood was forced to call a timeout with 35.39 left after Middlesex's defense led by another block from Barnes made things difficult for the Chargers on offense.

Following the stoppage, James Pareti drew a foul with just under 26 seconds to play. He made both free throws to tie the game at 44-44. Middlesex then setup for a final play. The Jays, which worked the clock all night to keep the ball out of Spotswood's hands, ran the time down to the final seconds when Wells drove in, and drew a foul with less than a second left. He missed the first one, stepped away from the line as the crowd tried to rattle him, and sank the second. Spotswood immediately called for time to set up one last play. However, Pace's inbounds pass downcourt to Osofsky was intercepted by Santoro, and Middlesex had its upset. With the win, Middlesex improved to 12-4 overall including 6-4 in the GMC Blue while Spotswood fell to 13-2 and 9-2 in divisional play. Analysis on this game will be forthcoming, but in the meantime, take a look at the story on the JV game as well as video highlights in the blog.

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