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GMC Hoops Summaries--January 3, 2012
Week Three--Red Division Clash

Green Leads The Way As South Brunswick Rolls Past Colonia, 62-32

By Greg Machos
January 3, 2012

COLONIA, NJ--The South Brunswick boys basketball team began the new year much differently than it had finished the old. Over the holidays in the Brunswick Classic, the Vikings had trouble making shots, especially from the perimeter, and scoring points.

Despite rallying and then hanging on to a lead to defeat New Brunswick to make its first ever finals appearance in the brief history of the Brunswick Classic, South Brunswick only shot 18 of 63 overall including 4 of 27 from three point range in the game. The Vikes also struggled at the line by going 8 of 16. The offensive woes continued in the final against North Brunswick, and SBHS ended up losing its first game of the season.

However, with the new year, South Brunswick was starting on a clean slate, and played with a renewed enthusiasm when it squared off against Colonia in a GMC Red Clash on Tuesday night. The Vikings jumped out to a 9-2 lead, and after the Patriots pulled within one toward the end of the first period, they scored the last seven points including a three by senior guard, Mike Green. Junior Dion Hooper began the second with a triple of his own for a 19-8 lead, and the Vikes were never really threatened after that as they took a 35-16 halftime lead en route to a 62-32 victory.

Green led the way with 18 points on four threes. He scored 11 in the first half including three treys. Teammate Nick Muha, who has returned after sitting out all of 2010-11 with a back injury suffered during football season, added 14 points including two treys of his own. Muha scored 9 points in the first half including seven in the second quarter. Chris Bourne, who carried SBHS with his double-double effort to defeat New Brunswick in he opening round of the Brunswick Classic, chipped in with 10 points including eight in the first half.

For the game, South Brunswick outscored Colonia in every quarter, and had seven threes. The Vikes outscored the Pats by a margin of 21-6 from three point range. SBHS led by as many as 31 in the fourth quarter before winning the game by 30. The visitors from Southern Middlesex County shot a scorching 67 percent from the floor including 50 percent from three in building a 50-24 lead after three periods. Greg Jones led Colonia with 17 points while Jordan McDaniel, who has been one of the top scorers in the GMC to date, only had six points.

The Vikings also did a solid job on defense. Led by Muha, who drew three fouls and Bourne, who had several blocked shots, South Brunswick limited Colonia to just six field goals in the first half, and 11 for the game. McDaniel, who along with Jones had six points over the first two periods, did not score in the second half. It was a solid team effort for SBHS, which had 9 different players get into the scoring column while Colonia only had six. Even Danny Strickland and Antonio Ross connected on jumpers in the fourth quarter to put a bow on the victory.

McDaniel opened the scoring with a layup at the 7:15 mark, but South Brunswick scored the next nine points over a span of just 2:36 including a basket by Muha at the 6:58 mark, back to back layups by Bourne at the 5:53 and 5:33 marks, and a three from the top of the key by Greene with 4:39 to go for a 9-2 lead. The Patriots tried to battle back with six unanswered points to close the gap to one at the 2:40 mark. Jones hit a jumper from the left side at the 4:30 mark to spark the rally. Unfortunately, the Pats, which only led once in the game, would never tie or take the lead again.

South Brunswick finished off the opening frame with the final seven points including a floater by Green at the 2:14 mark, a putback by Bourne off a miss by Sean Keenan (4 points) at the 1:15 mark, and then a three by Green at the 36.5 mark for a 16-8 lead heading into the second. Green had 8 of his points in the first period while Bourne had 6 to combine for 86 percent of the Viking scoring. Hooper then made it a 10-0 spurt with a three from the right wing at the 7:04 mark for a 19-8 lead. Bleroit Thompson got Colonia on the board with one of two free throws to help narrow the deficit to 19-10, but the Vikings scored seven unanswered points to take command.

Bourne ignited the spurt with his defense by blocking a shot that was rebounded and converted into a layup at the other end by T.J. Taylor for a 21-10 lead at the 4:03 mark. Green followed with his final three of the first half for a 24-10 lead with 3:22 left. Muha then completed the run with a layup off an outlet pass by Green at the 2:15 mark for a 26-10 advantage. Muha added two more scores including his first three of the game as SBHS finished the half with 9 of the last 15 points for a 19 point edge at the intermission. At the half, the trio of Green, Muha, and Bourne accounted for 80 percent of South Brunswick's scoring.

The Vikes didn't take the foot off the gas either when play resumed in the third quarter. Instead, South Brunswick continued to increase its lead with 15-8 showing in the third, and a 12-8 showing in the fourth to round out the 62-32 victory. With the win, South Brunswick improved to 5-1 overall and in conference play as well as 4-0 in the GMC Red while Colonia, which lost its third straight, dropped to 3-4 overall, 2-3 in conference, and 2-2 in divisional play.

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