For the sixth straight year, GMC Hoops is getting a jump on the regular season with coverage of some of the teams in the Greater Middlesex Conference in pre-season scrimmage action. To see what scrimmages we'll be covering, view the 2007-08 schedule.

GMC Hoops Summaries--November 30, 2007
Scrimmages--Week One

Shorthanded Chiefs Tackle Watchung And Somerville In Tri-Scrimmage

By Greg Machos
November 30, 2007

WARREN, NJ--On Friday, GMC Hoops traveled out to Watchung Hills Regional High School to take in its first pre-season scrimmage of the year. This scrimmge was set to be a good one since it was not only a tri-scrimmage, but one that involved three teams that all qualified for the state tournament, and are perennial hoops contenders. The lone, GMC representative, Piscataway was facing off against both Somerville and Watchung Hills of the Skyland Conference. All three of these teams played in the old Mid-State Conference with the Chiefs residing in the Delaware Division while Somerville and Watchung Hills were in the Raritan Division. The Chiefs were entering this game shorthanded due to the fact that a number of players including James White, J.D. Griggs, Tristian Benjamin, and Thomas Bennett were preparing along with the rest of the P-Way football team for its showdown with Hunterdon Central in the North Jersey Section 2 Group IV State Championship on Saturday at Rutgers Stadium. Neverthless, Piscataway had Omar Smith, Brian Waluk, Jeff Adkins, and Wayne Newsome along with other talented reserves, so it wasn't going to make excuses in this one.

All three teams played against each other for two quarters. Arriving at the gym about a quarter after four on Friday afternoon, I sat down near the end of the first period played between Somerville and Piscataway. While I managed to get to the school without any difficulty, the story wasn't the same for finding the gym, but I eventually discovered it. Watchung Hills has recently renovated the school with some new additions. So, while there were some older facilities still in place, there was a new look to it. Anyway, with 2:25 to go in the first quarter, the Pioneers were leading by a score of 7-4. Over the next 1:10, both teams would exchange two points as Somerville maintained a three point lead at 9-6, but then the Somerset County team got a layup over the outstretched hand of Wayne Newsome for a five point, 11-6 lead with 1:09 left in the frame. The Chiefs got their final score of the period when Omar Smith inbounded to Adkins in the right corner for a three pointer to close the gap to two at 11-9 with ten seconds left. P-Way couldn't get any closer though as Somerville ended the first quarter with one of two at the line to win the stanza, 12-9.

The second period of action between these two schools saw Piscataway coach, Guy Jensen go with reserves, and Somerville took advantage. After a Chief layup that tied things up at 2-2 with 5:20 remaining in the period, the Pioneers embarked on an 8-0 run over a 3:06 timeframe to take a 10-2 lead. The run began when The Ville made one of two at the line for a 3-2 lead with 5:12 left. Twenty-four seconds later, Somerville scored again on an offensive rebound and putback attempt that resulted in a foul, and two more free throws for a 5-2 edge at the 4:48 mark. Following a Piscataway timeout at the 4:39 mark, Somerville picked up right where it left off with a steal for a layup, and a 7-2 lead with 4:25 remaining. Neither team scored for a bit more than a minute and fifteen seconds before the Pioneers capitalized on two offensive rebounds, by drawing a foul that resulted in a one of two effort at the charity stripe that made it 8-2 with 3:09 left. The Chiefs, which went only 3 of 8 from the field, and had six turnovers in the quarter, were fruitless again on their next possession, and Somerville would score again on a jumper from the left wing to cap the 8-0 run for a 10-2 lead at the 3:02 mark.

Finally, P-Way got on the board again with a jumper of its own from the left wing for a 10-4 Ville lead with 2:14 left in the period. The Pioneers, which made 5 of 16 attempts from the field for 31.3 percent and 6 of 10 from the foul line for 60 percent, then closed out the stanza with six of the final eight points for a 16-6 advantage in the period, and a 28-15 edge for the scrimmage. Overall in the 10:15 of this scrimmage that was covered, Somerville was 7 of 19 from the floor for 36.8 percent and 7 of 12 from the foul line for 58.3 percent. Meanwhile, Piscataway went 4 of 11 from the field including one of two from beyond the arc for 36.4 percent, and didn't attempt a foul shot. In other statistical areas, the Pioneers had the edge in rebounding (11-5), steals (5-2), blocks (2-1), and turnovers (5-7). Assists (4-4) and charges (0-0) were even. In addition, Somerville picked up five offensive rebounds, which led to some second chance points. The Ville also faced off with Watchung Hills in another part of this tri-scrimmage. In the first period, the Pioneers won the frame with an 8-0 run for a 14-7 decision over the Warriors. Somerville made two three pointers, a three point play, two other field goals, and one of two more at the line while Watchung Hills was limited to just three field goals and one free throw. Finishing up the scrimmage on a strong note, WHHS played much better in the second period with a 10-3 spurt that helped the home team pull away from a 9-8 lead to eventually with the frame, 19-13, but Somerville won the scrimmage overall with a 27-26 edge.

The other scrimmage played by Piscataway was covered in its entirety, and while the Chiefs also had their share of struggles in this one, they were much more competitive through the 16 minutes played versus the host, Watchung Hills. The Warriors won the first period, 14-10, and then the second by a 16-13 margin for a 30-23 overall edge in the exhibition. For this scrimmage, P-Way shot 9 of 28 for 32.1 percent, and went only 5 of 14 at the foul line for 35.7 percent. Meanwhile, Watchung Hills had some difficulty from the field as well going just 12 of 31 including a three pointer for 38.7 percent while making 5 of 6 foul shots for 83.3 percent. In other statistical areas, the Warriors held edges in rebounds (15-14), steals (6-4), blocks (4-1), charges (2-0), and turnovers (7-12). The Chiefs held a lone advantage in assists (5-4). Watchung Hills was led by the tandem of Justin Matisak and Eric Kane, who each scored eight points. Matisak went 3 of 6 from the floor, and a perfect 2 of 2 at the line for his eight points while Kane was 3 of 4 from the field including a three pointer, and made one of two at the line for his eight. Matisak also added 6 rebounds, an assist, steal, and block while Kane collected two rebounds, three blocks and a charge.

Also helping out were Kyle Rawson (4 points, a rebound, and a steal) and Jesse Ross (4 rebounds and 2 assists), who each scored four points while Jim Chimelewski (2 points, 2 steals, and an assist) added a pair from the foul line for his two points. For Piscataway, Omar Smith was the bright spot going 6 of 14 from the field and 2 of 6 from the foul line for 14 points to go along with 6 rebounds, a steal, and a block. Sophomore, Wayne Newsome chipped in with 5 points on a field goal and 3 of 6 from the charity stripe while picking up 3 rebounds and a steal. Brian Waluk (2 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals) and Scott Kinnery (2 points and 2 rebounds) rounded out the Chief scoring while Jeff Adkins (3 assists and a rebound) also played for P-Way. The Chiefs didn't start things off on the right foot as Adkins misfired on two free throw attempts at the 7:16 mark. Despite a nice save for a steal by Newsome at the 6:46 mark, Piscataway remained scoreless while the Warriors got on the board first with a layup underneath by Matisak off an assist by Chielewski at the 6:16 mark. Kane then followed that up by drawing a charge on Newsome with exactly six minutes to go in the first period, but Watchung couldn't capitalize.

Smith finally got P-Way going with one of two at the line for a 2-1 Watchung Hills lead at the 5:32 mark. The visitors from Middlesex County had an opportunity to go ahead, but Newsome missed both of his free throw attempts at the 5:05 mark, and the Warriors still clinged to a tenuous one point lead. Nearly twenty-five seconds later, Chimelewski netted a pair of free throws to increase the home team's advantage to three at 4-1 with 4:41 left in the frame. Eight seconds afterward, Newsome drew a foul, and went to the line again, where he sank one of two this time to cut the deficit in half at 4-2 with 4:33 to play in the first. On the next Warrior possession, Ross culminated nice ball movement around the perimeter by kicking out to the right corner for a three pointer by Kane that made it a 7-2 advantage at the 4:03 mark. Piscataway responded immediately though as Adkins passed into Newsome on the left low block for a layup that trimmed the deficit to three at 7-4 with 3:47 to go in the first. Exactly thirty seconds later, Kane struck again, but this time from the foul line where he made one of two for an 8-4 lead at the 3:17 mark. Kane's free throw ignited a 7-4 run that would be the difference in this period as Watchung Hills took a 14-8 lead before P-Way closed out the quarter with a score for the 14-10 Warrior edge.

The first quarter statistics showed Piscataway going 4 of 13 from the field for 30.8 percent while going just 2 of 8 from the foul line. On the other hand, the Warriors were slightly betterr going 4 of 12 from the floor including a three pointer for 33.3 percent in addition to shooting 3 of 4 at the foul lne for 75 percent. Each team had six turnovers in the frame. Both teams played much better in the second and final frame that closed out play entirely in this scrimmage. The two teams combined for 29 points as the Chiefs ended up making 5 of their 15 shots for 33.3 percent while going 3 of 6 at the charity stripe for 50 percent. Watchung Hills, on the other hand made 8 of their 19 shots for 42.1 percent while sinking both of its foul shots. The Chiefs committed six more turnovers while the Warriors only made one. Piscataway started this period right with an assist off the opening tip by Adkins to a streaking Waluk for a layup to make the score, 2-0 at the 6:40 mark. A short time later, P-Way had a chance to go up even more, but after an offensive rebound and putback attempt by Smith off a missed jumper by Kinney, the senior forward missed the two free throws at the 6:15 mark. The Warriors would eventually tie things up, but the Chiefs went back on top as Smith scored on a layp to make it 4-2 at the 5:06 mark.

Watchung Hills would score again to knot the game once more at 4-4, but Piscataway would go back on top by executing the fast break very well as Adkins passed upcourt to Waluk, who then dished to Smith for a layup attempt that drew a foul, and resulted in one of two free throws for the 5-4 edge at the 4:47 mark. The Chiefs took their biggest lead of this scrimmage when Smith scored on an offensive rebound and putback of his own miss, but the Warriors close the gap to one again as Matisak responded with a pair of free throws for the 7-6 score with 3:25 to play. In a period that saw four lead changes and two ties, Watchung Hills took the lead for good with a 4-2 run capped by an offensive rebound and putback at the 2:10 mark for the 10-9 score. Then, the Warriors added a steal for a layup at the 1:33 mark for a 12-9 advantage. Piscataway fought back with a 4-2 run of its own including two at the line from Newsome with 1:04 remaining to close the gap to 14-13, but the home team wound up winning the frame and the overall scrimmage by getting an offensive rebound and putback by Kane at the 35 second mark for the 16-13 period edge and 30-23 scrimmage edge. More analysis on this tri-scrimmage is also available in the GMC Hoops Blogosphere.

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