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Keir
Leads Third Quarter Explosion In |
By Greg Machos
January 23, 2010DUNELLEN, NJ—For the second straight Saturday, the Destroyers of Dunellen High School hosted a GMC White school in a crossover game at The Faber. For a while, it appeared that the Destroyers were going to make this a ball game. After Sayreville took a 19-14 first quarter lead, DHS edged the Bombers by a 10-9 margin in the second to trail by four at the intermission. However, the Bombers, which lost at home to Monroe on Friday night (56-42), turned in a 26-8 explosion in the third to take a commanding 54-32 lead as junior guard, Mark Keir, scored eight of his team high 16 points in the frame. Freshman Joe Saitta, who netted all three of his treys in second half, ended up with 15 points in the 68-48 victory. Two other Sayreville players, Tarif Jackson (12 points) and Darryl Stephenson (10 points) also scored in double figures.
For the game, each team outscored the other in two periods of the game. Sayreville, however, had the biggest margins. The Bombers connected on 13 field goals, 11 three pointers, and nine foul shots for their 68 points while Dunellen made 15 field goals, one free throw, and 15 free throws. DHS senior forward, Jonard Hall, led the way in a losing cause with a game high 17 points while also collecting 11 rebounds for a double-double. Luke Francisco chipped in with 13 points on three field goals, a three pointer, and four foul shots while freshman Dylan Hoski added 11 points on four field goals and three free throws. GMC Hoops arrived at halftime, and was greeted by Dunellen fans as they said we were missing a good game. Not only did the site miss a fine game in the first half, but its visit may have tarnished the second half. One thing is for sure though, Sayreville seems to do well in the third quarter of games that the site picks up in the second half.
In a game played on Wednesday night, the Bombers trailed New Brunswick 27-26 early in the third quarter before going on a 27-11 surge to take a commanding 53-38 lead heading into the fourth en route to a 66-52 victory. This time, Sayreville didn’t wait to fall behind before surging. It went to work right away. Syd Holt (6 points), known for his exploits on the gridiron, opened the second half scoring with a layup for a 30-24 lead. Hall kept Dunellen within four by responding with a layup at the 6:32 mark for a 30-26 Bombers lead. On Sayreville’s next possession, Stephenson got on the board with two from the foul line at the 6:11 mark to make it a six point game again at 32-26. The Bombers had a chance to go up by more, but Hall made sure that didn’t happen by swatting away a shot attempt by Jackson at the 5:48 mark. Sayreville did manage to expand its lead seconds later as Stephenson scored on a layup off an inbounds play for a 34-26 advantage at the 5:42 mark.
The Bombers then added a field goal at the 5:26 mark to make it a 36-26 score, and got a jumper from Jackson at the 4:22 mark for an 8-0 run, and a 38-26 lead. Sayreville then lived up to its nickname by netting three treys including two by Keir and one by Saitta over the next 1:45 to make it a 17-2 tear in a span of 3:55 for a 47-28 lead. The Bombers weren’t through yet as they ended the quarter with seven of the last nine points including two free throws by Keir, one of two from the line by Jarrell Smith (9 points), and layups from Jackson and Saitta for a 54-32 lead heading into the fourth. At the start of the fourth quarter, Sayreville picked up right where it left off in the third with six of the first eight points including two free throws by Keir at the 6:30 mark for a 30-8 surge in a little more than a quarter’s worth of time. Trailing 60-34, the Destroyers scored nine of the next ten points to trail only 61-43, but they wouldn’t get any closer.
The Bombers finished off the victory with a 7-0 run including a three pointer by Saitta, and a foul line jumper by Stephenson over the outstretched hand of Hall for a 68-43 lead with 3:17 to play. Dunellen then closed out the game with the final five points including a layup by Hoski and two free throws from Hall to round out the scoring in Sayreville’s 68-48 win. With the victory, the Bombers improved to 8-5 overall, and 7-4 in conference play while the Destroyers dropped to 6-6 overall, and 5-4 in the GMC. Game notes and video highlights of this contest will be forthcoming in the GMC Hoops Blogosphere.
Team |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
Sayreville (8-5) |
19 | 9 | 26 | 14 | 68 |
Dunellen (6-6) |
14 | 10 | 8 | 16 | 48 |
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