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Bridgeforth
Putback At :02 Lifts Amboy |
By Greg Machos
December 26, 2007BASKING RIDGE, NJ—Could Perth Amboy be on its way back? After being picked to finish near the bottom of the Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division Standings for the 2007-08 season, the Panthers, which have not made the state tournament in the last three seasons, have won two straight including a thrilling last second victory over a North Brunswick that was predicted by some to be a Top Ten team in this area. Jamar Bridgeforth, who was hampered with an injury that kept him out for much of last year, played a pivotal role in the victory over the Raiders. Not only did the senior forward score 12 points on three field goals, and two three pointers, but he registered one of those baskets on a putback with just two seconds remaining to lift Amboy to a 54-53 win. Fellow senior frontcourt player, Edwin Guerra led all Panther scorers with 13 points on six field goals and a foul shot while grabbing 12 rebounds for his fourth straight double-double to begin the season according to the Home News-Tribune. Alex Nemeth showed some fight by coming off the bench to score 9 points on three field goals and three foul shots. C.J. Brathwaite of North Brunswick led all scorers with a game high 15 points on five field goals, a three pointer, and two foul shots.
Chipping in for the Raiders were enior 6'7" center, Jeff Ashamole, who had 10 points on five field goals although he missed a short jumper from the left wing as time expired, and Justin Morgan, who also had ten points on four field goals and two free throws, but his follow of Ashamole's miss didn't count since the officials ruled it was after the buzzer. Also contributing for Perth Amboy were Victor Perez, who had sevenn points on two field goals, and a clutch three pointer with 2:37 to play that made it a one point game at 51-50, and senior guard, Marcus Cheeks, who added three field goals for six points. Junior guard, Justin Madden scored all five of his points on the first half on a field goal, and a three pointer late in the second period that tied the game at 33-33 going into the intermission. Rounding out the scoring for the Panthers was a familiar name as junior forward, Alex De Los Santos, the younger brother of former Amboy Tech, and Middlesex County College standout, Juan De Los Santos, had a layup with less than a minute to go in the third quarter for two points. Meanwhile, for North Brunswick, junior guard, Ricky Harris had a decent game with four field goals for 8 points while both senior reserve forward, Kunyepa Alley and junior forward, Michael Cole each added two field goals for four points. Rounding out the scoring for the Raiders was senior reserve, Jordan Wright who had a field goal for two points. Also playing in the contest for Amboy, but not scoring were sophomore guard, Jamie Batista, and junior Reggae Rojas.
For the game, the North Brunswick Raiders had their 53 points on 23 field goals, a three pointer, and four foul shots while Perth Amboy had 19 field goals, four threes, and four foul shots. One key stat was the fact that the Raiders only made 2 of 9 from the charity stripe over the last 24 minutes of the game. Among the missed foul shots was a front end of a one and one by Brathwaite with 21 seconds to play. The game was tightly contested as both teams exchanged leads eight times over the final three quarters while tying three times. Amboy got the overall edge in the game by winning the first and fourth quarters while North Brunswick won the second quarter. The third period ended in a 11-11 tie. Both teams couldn't seem to escape one another as Perth Amboy's biggest lead over the final three quarters was five while North Brunswick only led by three midway through the fourth quarter. The Panthers came out strong as both teams combined for 36 points in the first quarter, the highest combined period output of this game. Perth Amboy jumped out to a 20-16 lead after one, and held that advantage when I arrived at the 7:30 mark of the second. This game marked the first time, I traveled to Ridge High School to see a game, and the weather conditions were horrible to say the least. While it may have been raining in Middlesex County, there was a mixed bag of precipitation coming down in Basking Ridge. Couple that with a couple wrong turns, and not knowing where the gym was at first, and you see why I got there late.
In the second quarter, Amboy was 6 of 13 from the floor including 1 of 3 from beyond the arc, and made no foul shots in two attempts. Meanwhile, the Raiders were 8 of 16 from the floor, and just 1 of 4 from the free throw line to get the period edge. Brathwaite led the charge for the Raiders with 7 points on 3 of 5 shooting, and a foul shot while Alley got all four of his points on two field goals in four attempts. Cheeks led the way for the Panthers in the frame with three field goals for all six of his points while Madden got all five of his points on the night in the period with a field goal and a three. Each team had three turnovers in the period. Shortly after my arrival, North Brunswick pulled within two on a layup underneath at the 7:20 mark for a 20-18 score. Around forty-five seconds later, Guerra got on the board with an offensive rebound, and putback for a 22-18 lead at the 6:35 mark. Neither team scored for over a minute until, Brathwaite got on the board with his only free throw at the 5:29 mark to close the gap to three at 22-19. After Perth Amboy went up by five on a jumper that made the score, 24-19, Brathwaite drove through the key for a finger roll layup at the 4:54 mark that made it a 24-21 game in favor of the Panthers. The Red Division school, which is one of the storied schools in terms of GMC Boys Basketball history, went up by five at 26-21 when Brathwaite grabbed an offensive board, and drew a foul at the four minute mark of the second.
Unfortunately for the Raiders, Brathwaite misfired on both foul shots, and Amboy maintained its biggest lead of the game. However, North Brunswick would rally with eight straight points over a span of about two and a half minutes to take a three point, 29-26 lead with about 1:30 remaining before the intermission. Highlighting the run was a score by Brathwaite on a layup that got a kind bounce and roll, and an offensive rebound and putback by Morgan that forced the Panthers head coach, Neil Kennett to call for time at the 2:18 mark. Following the timeout, Amboy got on the board to pull within one at 29-28 before the Raiders got a score to push the margin back up to three at 31-28. Perth Amboy then got a bucket to trim the deficit to one at 31-30, and had a chance to tie, or even take the lead, but Cheeks misfired twice from the free throw line with 42.01 left in the first half. Alley then scored on a layup off a nice dish by Harris to Cole, who made a nice dump off to the senior reserve for the score, and a 33-30 lead. However, moments before halftime, Cheeks passed to the left wing, and found Madden, who drained a trey that tied the score at 33-33 as the teams went into their respective locker rooms. In the third quarter, the game continued to be deadlocked as Amboy had a lead no bigger than three points while North Brunswick led by no more than two.
The Raiders got going in a hurry to start the third quarter as Ashamole grabbed an offensive rebound, and followed it up with a short jumper in the paint for a 35-33 lead at the 7:52 mark. A little more than a half minute later, Guerra caught a deflected pass, and took it in for a layup to tie things up at 35-35 with 7:21 remaining. Thirty seconds later, Nemeth drew a foul, and stepped up to the line, where he made one of two to put the Panthers on top by a score of 36-35 at the 6:51 mark. After Perth Amboy got another stop on the defensive end, Batista drove to the hoop, and then dished to Nemeth for a layup that put the Panthers up by three at 38-35 with 6:25 left in the period. North Brunswick would get a score, but then Nemeth, who had five points in the period, and seven in the second half, connected on a jumper from the left wing to put his team back up by three at 40-37 with 6:04 left in the third. Neither team would score for a bit over two minutes before Morgan grabbed an air ball by Harris for an offensive rebound and putback that closed the gap again to one at 40-39 with 4:02 remaining in the stanza. Quickly replying, Amboy pushed its lead back up to three again as Perez scored on a layup from the right side that made it a 42-39 score at the 3:45 mark. The Raiders would then get another score to pull within one again at 42-41 before time was called at the 3:11 mark. Following the timeout, North Brunswick took its second and final lead of the period when Brathwaite connected on a trey from the right wing that banked off the glass and got a roll before going in to make it a 44-42 score with 1:01 to play in the third.
Perth Amboy would promptly retaliate once more as De Los Santos got the ball for a layup to tie things up at 44-44 with 47.8 left. Each team had a chance to go ahead entering the fourth and final period, but Ashamole missed both of his foul shots at the 19.68 second mark, and then Nemeth traveled with 3.18 seconds left. Harris then made a long distance shot attempt from about midcourt, but it was too strong. In the fourth quarter, the Raiders went to work right away just as they did to begin the second half. Morgan got a steal off Rojas, and that led to a Brathwaite layup for a 46-44 lead at the 7:45 mark. On the next Amboy possession, Guerra made a nice move down low to tie things up at 46-46 with 7:22 left in regulation. Neither team scored for almost a minute and a half before Guerra grabbed an offensive board, and tried to put it back in when he drew a foul on a block by Ashamole. The senior forward made one of two from the free throw line for a 47-46 Amboy lead with 5:58 to play. The defenses of both teams, which really clamped down in the second half after allowing a combined 66 points in the first half, kept the offenses off the board for nearly a minute and fifteen seconds before Brathwaite got out on the break, and dished left to Morgan for a layup that put the Raiders ahead, 48-47 at the 4:44 mark. Thirty seconds later, North Brunswick came up with a stop by forcing a loose ball that was picked up by Cole, who took it downcourt for a layup that gave the GMC White team its biggest lead of the game at 50-47 with 4:17 left. After a North Brunswick timeout at the 3:47 mark, the Raiders took their largest lead of the game as Morgan made one of two at the line for a 51-47 lead at the 3:36 mark.
However, the Raiders would only get one field goal the rest of the way while the Panthers scored a three pointer and two layups down the stretch for the victory. Following Morgan's free throw, there was no scoring for almost exactly a minute until Batista dribbled down low, and then kicked the ball back out to Perez at the top of the key for a three pointer to cut the deficit to one at 51-50 with 2:37 to play. Morgan put the Raiders back up by three with a drive through the middle for a layin that not only made the score, 53-50 with 2:03 remaining, but also served as the final points of the contest by North Brunswick. The Raiders did have their share of opportunities, but didn't get the breaks. For example, a little more than thirty seconds after Morgan scored, NBTHS had a chance to possibly put the game away, but Perth Amboy drew a charge at the 1:32 mark. About fifty seconds later, Brathwaite got the ball in the Raider frontcourt, and was dribbling while being defended by Nemeth. Although it appeared that Nemeth was bumping and holding the North Brunswick senior, the officials didn't call it, and actually assessed a five second violation on the Raiders at the 41.64 mark. Following a timeout at the 38.15 mark, Nemeth scored on a layin with 25.42 left for a now very tenuous 53-52 Raider lead.
After the Nemeth score, the Panthers called for time, and when both teams came back out on to the floor, North Brunswick got the ball to Brathwaite, who was then fouled with 21.66 seconds to go. The senior, who was 1 of 5 from the line over the final three quarters, missed the one and one, and Amboy got the ball. Kennett, who has come up with surprising victories before against North Brunswick including an overtime win over the then third seeded Raiders in the Round of 16 in the 1999 Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament, called a timeout with 14.8 seconds left. Setting up a play, Perth Amboy came out on the floor, and got the ball to Guerra, who worked his way to the basket for a shot, but missed. However, there to pick his frontcourt mate, and fellow senior up was Bridgeforth, who put the ball back in with 1.6 showing on the clock. Although time had run out, the Raiders managed to get a brief reprieve by calling a timeout as the score happened, and getting two seconds back on the clock. The Raiders then inbounded the ball by throwing a baseball pass down court to Ashamole, who took a couple dribbles and fired a shot that hit iron. Morgan followed it in, but the officials didn't allow it as the Panthers won, and several of the North Brunswick fans came out on the court in frustration. However, cooler head prevailed despite the fact the the Raiders fell to 1-3 overall on the season, and in conference play. Meanwhile, Amboy, which defeated East Brunswick at home in its last home game before the holidays (44-35), moves up to 2-2 overall, and in conference play.
Team |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
Perth Amboy (2-2) |
20 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 54 |
North Brunswick (1-3) |
16 | 17 | 11 | 9 | 53 |
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