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GMC Hoops Summaries--January 29, 2010
Week Six--Non-Conference Matchup

Hubert Huge In New Egypt's Win Over South River, 60-41

By Greg Machos
January 29, 2010

SOUTH RIVER, NJ--After four seasons of struggle, the South River Rams are just learning how to win games. On Friday night, the Rams learned another painful lesson at the hands of one of the top Group I teams in the state in New Egypt of Ocean County and the Freedom Division of the Burlington County Scholastic League. Junior 6'9" forward, Desmond Hubert connected on 7 of 14 shots from the floor, and 4 of 5 from the line while teammate Rocco Natalicchio connected on 8 of 15 shots and 2 of 4 from the line to tie for game high with 18 points in a 60-41 Warriors victory over South River.

Hubert, who dished out two assists, also dominated the glass and the defensive end of the court as he grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked 13 shots. He also altered many others while creating some controversy as the South River faithful was calling for goaltending quite often. Natalicchio also ended up with a double-double as he picked up 10 boards as well as an assist in the victory. Adam Lipay chipped in with 5 points, 6 assists, and 6 rebounds while Taylor Steen added a 3 of 4 effort from the line, and made his only foul shot attempt for 7 points. Steen also collected a rebound, assist, and a steal.

For the game, the Warriors shot 24 of 54 from the floor including 2 of 12 from long distance. New Egypt also shot 10 of 16 from the line while only committing 16 turnovers. The visitors from Ocean County, which reached the Central Jersey Group I Championship last year before losing to Asbury Park (51-34), and is now in the South Jersey Group I region this year, grabbed a total of 41 rebounds including 10 on the offensive glass. The Warriors also handed out 16 assists, and swiped two steals while drawing a charge. New Egypt, which also won the Freedom Division of the BCSL last season, outscored the Rams in three of the four periods of play.

The Rams, which were held to their lowest point total of the season in this loss, had only one player score in double figures (Brandon Walsh). South River connected on 9 field goals, four threes, and 11 foul shots for the game. From the second quarter on, the Rams were limited to 11 of 40 shooting from the field including 3 of 15 from beyond the arc. SRHS, which had the second highest scoring offense in the GMC as of the end of play on Wednesday, got a team high 11 points from Walsh, who knocked down two of the teams four threes in the game while making all five of his free throws. He also grabbed four rebounds, handed out two assists, and swiped two steals over the final 24 minutes of the game.

Chipping in for the Rams was Xavier Foster with 9 points on two field goals and 5 free throws. Gavin Campbell also helped out by making two of five shots including a three pointer for 5 points along with 4 rebounds. Freshman, Tyler Harris also contributed in the losing cause with 5 points on two field goals and a foul shot. Just over the final three quarters of the game, Hubert, who did not play the entire fourth, collected 13 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 blocked shots. New Egypt jumped out to a 10-4 lead over the first six minutes or so of the contest as Hubert did most of his damage on the defensive end with five blocks. The Warriors added another score at about the one minute mark for a 12-4 lead.

Hubert finally got himself going from a scoring standpoint with one of two free throws at the 28.7 second mark for a 13-4 lead, and then a short shot that got a kind bounce with three tenths of a second left for a 15-4 lead heading into the second. New Egypt, which defeated South River last season (73-40), opened the period with a 10-2 spurt over the first 6:44 for a 25-6 advantage. South River's offense for much of the second consisted of one of two free throws by Foster at the 6:42 mark, and one of two from the line by Harris at the 2:07 mark. Meanwhile, the Warriors made one of two from the line with a minute gone by in the frame, a jumper from the left wing at the 5:35 mark, and a two handed layin by Hubert at the 4:38 mark for a 20-5 lead.

Hubert had a chance earlier for an alleyoop dunk, but missed. However, he came back down the floor to block a shot attempt by Campbell with 4:55 to go in the half. After a missed one and one shot at the 3:29 mark, Hubert made an off-balanced shot with exactly three minutes to play for a 22-5 lead. Then, after Harris' one of two efforts from the charity stripe, Hubert got position on the freshman in the right low block, and skied for a turnaround jumper as he was fouled for a traditional three point play, and a 25-6 lead with 1:16 remaining in the half. Seemingly down for the count, the Rams showed some fight as Walsh came right back down the floor, and connected for a three as he was fouled for an unconventional four point play that made the score 25-10 at the 1:11 mark.

Kevin Gilbert then swiped a steal that led to a Harris layup with a minute remaining in the half to cut the deficit to 25-12. After a score by the Warriors to go back up by 15, Harris closed out the scoring in the first half with a jumper from the right side off an assist from Boyler for a 27-14 score at halftime. In the second period, Hubert made 3 of 5 shots and his only free throw for 7 points along with 4 rebounds and 4 blocks. The New Egypt junior would add 2 of 4 from the field for 4 points along with three rebounds and a block in the third, but the Rams continued to show determination and fight. The Rams put together their best quarter of the game with a 19-18 showing as they continued a 23-13 rally over a span of 7:41 from the end of the first half to about the 1:30 mark to pull within single digits at 38-29.

The Warriors started the second half with the first four points before Foster went to the line, and sank one of two for a 31-15 New Egypt lead at the 6:48 mark. Just under 30 seconds later, Gilbert passed to Walsh for a three pointer from the left side to close the gap some to 31-18. Hubert got himself going with a basket for a 33-18 lead before Shawn Fenton got his only points of the game with a bank shot to make it 33-20 prior to a South River timeout at the 4:24 mark. Walsh then attacked the basket, and drew a foul on Hubert (second of the game) that produced two free throws, and trimmed the deficit some more to 33-22 with 3:53 left in the period. The Warriors got a three point play at the 3:36 mark to go back up by 14, but Foster made two free throws to make the score, 36-24 at the 2:54 mark.

New Egypt went back ahead by 14, but the Rams put together a nice little 5-0 burst all compliments of Campbell, who was the beneficiary of a kickout by Foster for a three pointer, and then drove at Hubert from the left side for a reverse layup in the right low block. Suddenly, South River was actually in striking distance at 38-29 with about a minute and a half to go in the third. However, the Rams killed themselves by giving up a quick easy basket to put New Egypt back up by double digits at 40-29. Then, the Rams gave up a three pointer, and were assessed a technical that resulted in two free throws for a 7-2 spurt, and a 45-31 lead with under ten seconds to play in the period. Larry Smith got his only points of the game on a putback as time ran out for a 45-33 New Egypt lead heading into the fourth.

South River could never recover after that. The closest that the Rams would get the rest of the way was 14 points on two occasions early in the final period. After a 4-0 New Egypt run to open the frame, the fans got what they wanted when Hubert was called for goaltending on a shot by Foster to make it 49-35. NEHS then got another score before Walsh made two more from the foul line for a 51-37 score at the 5:35 mark. The Warriors, which outscored the home team by seven in the final frame, finished the game with a 9-4 run to lead at one point by 21 before winning 60-41. With the victory, New Egypt improves to 12-5 overall on the season while South River fell to 8-10. Analysis on this game is also available in the blog.

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