The summaries of all the games played in first , second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth weeks of the HawksBasketball Summer SlamFest have not vanished, we have archived them. So, feel free to take a look if you have missed out on some of the action from earlier this year.
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Woodbridge Rolls Past Rutgers Prep For Championship, 58-43 |
A very competitive summer at the HawksBasketball Summer SlamFest climaxed on Thursday night with the semifinals and Championship Game of the tournament. And, when the dust settled, it was the Woodbridge Barrons going home with the gold as they defeated both St. Joseph's and Rutgers Prep to earn the championship.
In the semifinals, Rutgers Prep surprised second seeded Piscataway, a team the Argonauts lost convincingly twice to during regular season play, 53-49. Corey Wilburn led the way with another stellar performance as the blazingly quick guard collected 26 points to give the team from Somerset the win in overtime. Rodney Freeney led the Chiefs in battle with a 16 point, 4 steal performance as the game, which was back and forth throughout, went to an extra session tied up at 46-46.
Rutgers Prep earned the right to take on the Barrons, which downed St. Joe's in another close one 51-49, by posting a 7-3 showing in the extra period for the four point win. Meanwhile, Woodbridge held off a pesky St. Joseph's team, which had put together a fine run in not only the tournament, but the final week of the season. Sean Baptiste once again led the charge for the Falcons with 21 points and 9 rebounds, but it wasn't enough as Woodbridge had three players in double figures including John Cuozzo (12 points), Alphonse Baja (11 points, a rebound, steal, and 2 assists) and Casey Mack (10 points, 2 rebounds, and an assist).
In the Championship, the game wasn't as close as many of the other playoff games including the semifinals and several quarterfinal matchups. Nevertheless, it did produce an upset of sorts as fifth seeded Woodbridge, which had lost to Rutgers Prep during the regular season, rolled to a 15 point, 58-43 victory as Tim Adeleye, the Most Valulable Player, led the way along with Shamar Graves for the win. Adeleye had 16 points in the first half along with seven rebounds and four steals while Graves turned in an outstanding performance with a double double of 19 points and 10 rebounds.
In addition, Graves also picked up four assists, three steals, and two blocks as he continues to make major improvements over this past season. Woodbridge, which went 6-4 during the regular season, had made tremendous strides already this summer with fine play not only at the SlamFest, but also at the Colonia JV Summer League, where its JV squad ended up the fifth seed in the tournament with a 6-3 overall mark. The Junior Barrons lost in the quarterfinals to Franklin. If Woodbridge can keep things together from now until the start of the season, they will be a difficult team to beat in the GMC White. See the final brackets and scores.
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St.
Joseph's Upsets Top Seeded Plainfield
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The opening rounds of playoff action got underway at the HawksBasketball Summer SlamFest in Perth Amboy on Wednesday night with play-in and quarterfinal games. In the play-in games at 6:00 PM, both the higher seeds won as Perth Amboy routed winless Monroe, 90-55 as Jermaine Clark scored 35 points while St. Joe's rolled past Chatham. With those wins, Perth Amboy and St. Joe's advanced to the quarterfinal round to play the two top seeds, Piscataway and Plainfield.
Next, were the first set of quarterfinal games as third seeded Rutgers Prep took on sixth seeded North Hunterdon, and fifth seeded Woodbridge took on surprising fourth seeded North Brunswick. In the game between Rutgers Prep and North Hunterdon, the Argonauts cruised to a 55-42 victory as Corey Wilburn netted 18 points along with 5 blocked shots, 3 rebounds, a steal and an assist while Mike Manning chipped in with 18 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks, 4 assists, and 3 steals in the win. Kevin Kitchen led the Lions in the losing effort with 14 points.
Meanwhile, at the same time, Woodbridge and North Brunswick were entangled in a very close game. North Brunswick, which had defeated Woodbridge some two weeks earlier, got 17 points from Derek Scott, but the Barrons were able to pull the game out down the stretch behind superb play by Justin Hinds, who had 11 points and 3 rebounds including three big buckets and two free throws down the stretch to give Woodbridge the 47-44 victory. As a result, Woodbridge and Rutgers Prep advanced to the semfinals on Thursday, were they will take on St. Joseph's and Piscataway.
St. Joseph's and Piscataway earned their tickets to the SlamFest final four by coming up with hard fought victories. In the upper gym, Piscataway rallied past Perth Amboy with a 27-11 surge over the game's final 7:45 for the 65-58 victory as the Chiefs got tremendous defense on the perimeter to thwart Amboy's high octane shooting attack with soon to be senior, Jermaine Clark, struggling from the field down the stretch going 0 of 6 at one point. In addition, Allen Hairston came up with several big rebounds in the final minutes.
Meanwhile, in the lower gym, St. Joseph's held off an early second half charge by top seeded Plainfield that included an 11-4 spurt over the first 6:30 to make it a one point game at 29-28 after St. Joseph's had grabbed a 25-17 halftime lead. The Falcons got themselves breathing room with a 7-5 run over the next 1:45 or so to make it 36-33 with 11:45 to play, and then outscored the Cardinals 16-10 the rest of the way for the way.
St. Joseph's, who were without Andrew Bynum, still had most of their key players in attendance for one of the rare times this summer at Hawks as Sean Baptise (20 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 steals), Nigel Robinson (14 points, 3 steals, a rebound, and an assist), Kenny Widgeon, and Shawn Harper, who had several blocks and a nice dunk in the first half to spur the Falcons to their 25-17 halftime lead with a 4-2 run over the final 3:17 of the half. St. Joseph's will take on Woodbridge in the semifinals on Thursday.
Meanwhile, back in the upper gym, Amboy and Piscataway were locked in a heated battle. As of late, Perth Amboy has been quite competitive with a number of tough losses by single digits. This game would be another one of those type of games for the Panthers. Despite 29 points from Jermaine Clark, who was the league's leading scorer, and fine support from Juan Castillo and E'lon Heard, Perth Amboy squandered first half and second half leads.
Leading 26-24 with 1:40 remaining in the first half, Perth Amboy succumbed to a late flurry by Piscataway and Brandon Wilkinson (26 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists) led the charge with a three pointer, and a short jumper to give the Chiefs a 7-4 showing in the span, and a 31-30 halftime lead. However, Amboy came out firing in the second half as the Panthers went on a 17-7 burst over the first 12:15 for what seemed to be a commanding 47-38 lead with 7:45 to play. Clark was just amazing with a barrage of perimeter shots including several threes during the stretch.
However, Piscataway, which outrebounded Perth Amboy, 38-19, surged back into the contest behind the play of Wilkinson, Hairston, and Rodney Freeney, who had 17 points, 4 rebounds, and a steal. The Chiefs went on a 12-3 spurt capped by a power move for a two handed slam by Allen Hairston with 3:56 to go to tie the game up at 50-50.
From there, Hairston rebounded tremendously while Piscataway's perimeter defense led by Freeney and Wilkinson shut down the long range cannons of the Panthers as the Chiefs outscored Amboy, 15-8 over the final four minutes or so for the win. Piscataway will take on Rutgers Prep, a team they've dominated twice during the regular season, in the other semifinal on Thursday. See the latest brackets and scores.
Team |
1 | 2 | Total |
Piscataway (8-3) |
31 | 34 | 65 |
Perth Amboy (6-6) |
30 | 28 | 58 |
Team |
1 | 2 | Total |
St. Joseph's (7-5) |
25 | 27 | 52 |
Plainfield (8-3) |
17 | 26 | 43 |
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Regular Season Ends As Rutgers Prep Picks Up Third Seed |
The final day of the regular season at the SlamFest saw Rutgers Prep, earn the third seed with a 7-3 overall record by downing winless Monroe. Meanwhile, Plainfield clinched the top seed with a victory over Chatham, and North Hunterdon earned the sixth seed with a solid 6-4 overall mark by defeating Perth Amboy.
In earlier action, St. Joseph's, which finished the regular season by winning three of its last four games, defeated North Brunswick easily by the final score of 65-49. Sean Baptiste had another fantastic around effort with 30 points, 12 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 assists, and 2 steals while teammate Nigel Robinson continued his stellar play this summer with 18 points. The Falcons, which finished 5-5 overall, earned the eighth seed behind Perth Amboy. See the final standings and scores.
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North Hunterdon Takes A Split While Rutgers Prep Moves Into Third |
The final week of action began at the 2nd Annual HawksBasketball Summer SlamFest in Perth Amboy on Monday night with a tripleheader of games. North Hunterdon, which played in two of the three games, took on St. Joseph's of Metuchen and Woodbridge. The first game saw St. Joe's down the Lions by a score of 53-45 as Sean Baptiste 23 points, 7 rebounds, a steal and an assist) and Nigel Robinson (13 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals, and an assist).
The second game saw North Hunterdon, which was led by Steve Wilson with 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks in the loss to the Falcons, rebounded nicely with a team effort that resulted in a 76-72 victory over Woodbridge. The Lions had four players score in double figures including three with 20 points or more.
Wilson picked up a double double with 21 points, 15 rebounds, and 2 blocks, Nick Cavelli chipped in with 20 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 assists, Clem Udovich added another steady performance with 20 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists, and Brian Weyman rounded out the scoring with 15 points, 10 rebounds, a steal, and 4 assists.
In the final game of the evening, Rutgers Prep took advantage of the loss by Woodbridge to move into third place by defeating Chatham by the score of 60-43. Mike Manning picked up a double double with 21 points, 14 rebounds, 3 steals, and an assist while Corey Wilburn, who scored nine points in the second half, ended up with 16 points, 7 rebounds, a steal, and an assist. See the latest standings and scores.
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