 |
Harding,
DeLaCosta, and Matagrano |
By Greg Machos
December 14, 2007SAYREVILLE, NJ—For the second time in the last three seasons, GMC Hoops opened the season with a GMC White Division battle. This game involved two teams that the site has not been able to see a lot of recently. Last year, GMC Hoops only saw Sayreville three times while North Brunswick was only seen once. The Raiders in particular have always been left out with perhaps an average of two games a season since the web site's inception. Back in late August, Greg Machos announced that the season would open at the Bomb Shelter on December 14th between these two teams as a step toward giving these two teams better coverage in 2007-08. Although the teams were rarely seen, they made the most of their appearance by winning each time with Sayreville going 3-0, and outscoring their opponents by a combined score of 175-120, or an average of 58-40 while North Brunswick defeated West Windsor-Plainsboro South in the opening round of the Central Jersey Group IV State Tournament.
When the first draft of the GMC Hoops Pre-Season Top Ten came out on the last day of September, Sayreville was projected to be in there at the seventh spot. However, with not only the revelation that forward Ray Rodriguez was unable to play for at least the first month of the season with a broken hand, but also later discovering that Rodriguez had a torn ACL, and was out for the season as well as reserves and football players Chris Robinson and Rahsiem Clarke opting not to play, the Bombers dropped to 13th in the final edition of the poll. The Bombers played well over the summer at Middlesex County College with an 8-1 record in the regular season, and then after gaining the fourth seed in the tournament, knocking off fifth seeded David Brearley, and previously undefeated and top seeded Franklin in the semifinals before losing to Middlesex in the Championship. Meanwhile, North Brunswick, which also competed at MCC during the summer, had more ups and downs going 4-5 in the regular season for sixth place, and then losing to Keyport in the first round of the playoffs.
Although North Brunswick played well in a recent scrimmage against head coach, Ed Breheney's alma mater, Roselle Catholic, the Raiders turned the ball over a lot. As a matter of fact, in the six periods of exhibition play against the Lions, NBTHS committed 40 miscues, or an average of nearly seven per quarter. Miscues would come up to bite the Raiders again in the season opener, and Sayreville was waiting to take advantage. Despite a huge size advantage with the likes of senior center, Jeff Ashamole, and junior forward, Mike Cole, the Raiders couldn't compete with the smaller, but quicker Bombers. In the game, North Brunswick, which was ranked tenth in the Home News-Tribune Top Ten, and seventh among all the seven GMC teams in the poll, made 30 turnovers that Sayreville turned into 30 points, or half its total scoring output in a 60-40 opening night victory at the Bomb Shelter in Sayreville. Senior guard, Ricky Harding, who SWMHS head coach, Shawn Currie stated, "has improved," led the way by going 4 of 10 from inside the arc and 4 of 7 from beyond it for an 8 of 17 shooting night for 47.1 percent while making 2 of 3 from the line for 22 points along with 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 blocks. Chipping in was junior diminutive guard, Paul DeLaCosta, who made five shots including three treys for 13 points along with 3 assists, 2 reobunds, and 2 steals.
Also helping out for the Bombers was senior center, Chris Matagrano, who looked better as well with 4 of 10 shooting from the field, and 2 of 4 at the foul line for 10 points as well as 10 boards for a double-double. Matagrano also picked up five steals, a block, and a charge. James DeMild chipped in with three field goals for 6 points along with 7 rebounds and 2 steals. LaVone Graham had some shooting difficulties from the floor, but that didn't affect his playing making ability and defense as he collected 7 assists, 3 steals, 3 charges, and a rebound to go along with 2 points. Reserve Javon Hodges, who also starred for the football team along with Rodriguez, Clarke, and Robinson as well as former hoop player, Chris McLafferty, came off the bench to score on both his field goal attempts for four points while picking up an assist. Senior forward, Michael Cunningham came off the bench late to score 2 points on one of two shooting, and Robert Pizzi made one of two at the line for a point while junior reserve forward, Glenn Cannon (0 of 2 FTs and a rebound) and Jahmar Moodie (an assist) also played, but didn't score. Meanwhile, for North Brunswick, both senior C.J. Brathwaite and St. Peter's transfer, Justin Morgan had eight points as Brathwaite made 4 of 7 shots, but missed all four of his free throws while Morgan made both his field goal attempts, and sank 4 of 7 from the line.
Brathwaite also picked up four rebounds and a steal while Morgan, one of the top players in the GMC Gold last season as well as a member of the GMC Hoops All Athletic Team collected 6 rebounds, 3 steals, and an assist. Cole chipped in with 4 of 5 shooting for a team high 8 points as well along with 4 rebounds, 2 steals, and an assist while freshman, Tait Purkue scored five points on 2 of 3 shooting including a three pointer to go along with three rebounds, an assist, and a block. Ashamole struggled in this one with only 2 of 11 shooting and a missed foul shot for 4 points to go with 9 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 assists. Ricky Harris came off the bench to go 2 of 5 from the floor for four points also as well as two blocks, a rebound, and an assist. Senior reserve forward, Jordan Wright added a field goal for two points, a rebound, and an assist while junior forward, Dan Mangiapane rounded out the scoring with a point on one of two at the line to go with two boards. Kunyepa Alley (3 rebounds and 3 blocks), Bobby Swerchuck, Mark Gibson, Justin Dipoto, and Mike McDonald all played, but didn't score. For the game, North Brunswick shot the ball well going 17 of 38 collectively as a team for 44.7 percent, but only took two attempts from beyond the arc (1 of 2 for 50 percent), and made only 5 of 14 from the charity stripe for 35.7 percent.
On the other hand, Sayreville struggled from the floor overall shooting 24 of 65 for 36.9 percent, but made 7 of 18 from downtown for 38.9 percent, and despite going 5 of 11 at the line for 45.4 percent, the Bombers made half the turnovers the Raiders did with 15. Another big advantage for Sayreville was on the offensive glass were the home team had 12-8 edge that resulted in seven second chance points although the Raiders made more with eight. Of the 30 points off Raider turnovers, ten of them came on the break for SWMHS. In other statistical areas, North Brunswick had the edge in total rebounding (33-25) and blocked shots (8-4), but Sayreville had more assists (16-7), steals (17-6), and charges (4-0). The Bombers actually fell behind early as Purkue scored on a short baseline jumper right off the tip for a 2-0 lead, and then despite a backcourt violation on an earlier possesion, the Raiders scored again on a Cole layup at the 5:34 mark for a 4-0 lead. However, Sayreville, which went 6 of 13 from the floor in the opening period including 3 of 6 from three point land, closed the frame with a 17-4 surge for a nine point lead going into the second. North Brunswick would close the gap at the start of the third with an 8-2 run, but Sayreville still managed to regain its composure, and outscore the Raiders, 15-12 in the period for a 32-20 halftime lead. In the second half, NBTHS tried to rally again, but could only get to within 12 at 37-25 before the Bombers pulled away for the easy win.
Sayreville actually didn't get on the board until the 5:16 mark when Matagrano made his only two free throws of the game for a 4-2 lead. Then, after Ashamole threw the ball away at the 5:01 mark for the fourth Raider miscue of the period, Harding gave the Bombers their first field goal of the contest with a three pointer that got a kind bounce for a 5-4 lead. Sayreville then scored 7 of the next 11 points including an offensive rebound and follow for a score by Matagrano to make the score 12-8 as the Raiders had already collected eight turnovers by the 1:27 mark of the frame. De La Costa also had a three pointer setup by a steal and assist by Harding, and then the senior guard himself got a field goal on a layup to highlight a 7-0 run that closed out the quarter, and gave the Bombers a nine point lead. North Brunswick shot 4 of 9 from the field, but made no three point attempts or free throws while committing ten turnovers. In the second period, Sayreville shot just 6 of 21 for 28.6 percent, but made 3 of 7 from beyond the arc for 42.9 percent. Meanwhile, North Brunswick made 6 of 14 shots for 42.9 percent, but also turned the ball over seven more times. By halftime, Sayreville had scored 23 points off of Raider miscues. Starting off on the wrong foot, North Brunswick was compelled to call a 30 second timeout just moments into the second quarter. After settling down though, the Raiders put together their best run of the game scoring eight of ten points that brought a raucous cheering section that traveled to the Bomb Shelter from Raider Road into a frenzy.
Highlighting the run was a steal for a layup by Morgan, who is a GMC Hoops highlight reel from last season, and a layup by Brathwaite off of a nice feed by Ashamole to pull within three at 19-16 as Sayreville, which made four turnovers in just the first 3:14 of the stanza, called for time at the 4:46 mark. Following the timeout, the Bombers regained control of the contest with a 13-4 tear to end the half for a 32-20 lead at the intermission. First, Sayreville scored 8 of 10 points over a 2:44 stretch that included thre pointers by Harding and DeLaCosta as well as a layup by Harding for a 27-18 advantage at the 2:02 mark. SWMHS then scored five of the last seven points of the half, and despite two missed free throws by Matagrano, and a fadeaway jumper that went off the rim late in the half by Harding, Sayreville led by twelve at halftime. Looking at some of the other halftime stats, North Brunswick was still without a three point field goal attempt, or a foul shot in the entire first half. The Raiders had the edge overall on the glass with a 19-14 advantage in rebounding while both teams had eight rebounds apiece, and the Bombers had more blocks (3-2). NBTHS was 10 of 23 shooting in the first half for a solid 43.5 percent, but turnovers did them in as Sayreville held a solid edge in that department 8-17, and in points off miscues (23-8).
Taking a peek at the first half scoring, DeLaCosta actually led all scorers with all 13 of his points on the game from 5 of 10 shooting including 3 of 6 from three for 50 percent as well as two rebounds, and two assists. Harding chipped in with 11 points on 4 of 10 field goals including 3 of 5 from downtown while picking up 3 steals, 2 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 assists. These two Sayreville players accounted for 24 of their team's 32 points, or 75 percent of the scoring while combining to go 9 of 20 from the field for 45 percent including 6 of 11 from beyond the arc for 54.5 percent. The rest of the Sayreville team was just 3 of 14 for 21.4 percent. Hodges came off the bench to get all four of his points to account for the bulk of that other scoring. On the other side of the scoring ledger, Cole was a perfect 3 of 3 in the first half for 6 points along with 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and an assist while Brathwaite chipped in with 2 of 4 from the floor for 4 points, 3 rebounds, and a steal. In the third quarter, the Bombers made only 4 of 17 shots including 1 of 4 from three point territory, but forced seven more North Brunswick turnovers to come away with the period edge, and a 42-29 lead. North Brunswick took only six shots in the quarter, but made three of them while connecting on 3 of 6 attempts from the foul line for nine points in the frame.
Sayreville started things off on the right foot as Graham got the ball to Harding for a layup attempt that he was fouled on by Ashamole. The senior guard then made one of two at the line for a 33-20 lead at the 7:52 mark. North Brunswick finally got its first free throws of the game as Morgan drove in from the left wing, and was fouled, resulting in one of two from the charity stripe as well for a 33-21 Bomber edge at the 7:21 mark. Harding would score on a layup off an assist by Graham at the 6:30 mark for a 35-21 lead before Brathwaite misfired on a pair of foul shots. Morgan then connected on a pair of free throws to close the gap to 40-27 after Sayreville score five of nine points over a 3:19 stretch. Wright then got his only field goal of the game at the 1:10 mark for a 40-29 SWMHS lead, but Harding closed out the quarter scoring with a basket as time expired following a traveling violation in the waning moments by Ashamole. Leading 42-29 going into the fourth, Sayreville scored eight of the first 12 points including a nice post up move by Matagrano for a layup at the 4:58 mark, and after Ashamole missed the front end of a one and one at the 4:43 mark, Harding got the ball into the big guy again, who then took a short hook shot over Cole for a 50-33 lead with just 4:22 remaining. DeMild then later grabbed an offensive board off a missed three attempt from the left corner by DeLaCosta, and scored on the follow for a 52-33 advantage with just under four minutes left.
From there, Sayreville put in its reserves, and still managed to outscore North Brunswick by an 8-7 margin for the 60-40 victory. With the win, the Bombers move up to 1-0 overall and in divisional play while earning the first points of the year in the GMC Hoops Trophy race. North Brunswick drops to 0-1 both overall, and in the GMC White Division. Earlier in the day, Sayreville's freshmen defeated North Brunswick by a score of 54-39 while the Junior Bombers handed NBTHS a 56-33 loss in the JV contest.
Team |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
Sayreville (1-0) |
17 | 15 | 10 | 18 | 60 |
North Brunswick (0-1) |
8 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 40 |
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