The summaries of all the games played in first and second week 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.

GMC Hoops Summaries--Wednesday, July 7, 2004
HawksBasketball Summer SlamFest--Week Three

Woodbridge Overcomes Amboy First Half Surge For Last Second Win, 59-58

Woodbridge fans, slowly but surely, things are coming together for your Barrons. While this team may not have the scoring ability of Buck Jenkins or Adam McLaughlin, or the rebounding of a Melvin Nelson, but this team is finding ways to win, and have a good blend of youth and experience along with athleticism and scoring to make things interesting for next year in the White Division.

The Barrons, who seemed to have things in control early on with a 17-6 early first half lead, gave way to an Amboy 25-7 surge to trail at the half, 31-24. However, Woodbridge crept back into the game, and then Alphonse Baja stole an inbounds pass and scored down at the other end with 38 seconds to play to get Woodbridge their first lead since the 8:20 mark of the first half. Then, after the Panthers got two free throws to take the lead back with 27 seconds to play, Woodbridge got a score at the other end with 0:14 left, and held off a last second chance by Amboy for the thrilling 59-58 win.

In other games on the schedule for the only night of action this third week at the HawksBasketball SlamFest, Piscataway used a 27-14 second half surge to break away from an 18-17 halftime deficit to knock off previously undefeated Rutgers Prep, 44-32, and take a share of first place in the standings with Woodbridge although the Barrons own the tiebreaker due to their 38-37 head to head win over the Chiefs last week. Meanwhile, in the nightcap games, North Brunswick used a 25-9 second half surge, and a 33-11 run since trailing 14-11 at the 3:08 mark of the first half, to defeat still winless Monroe, 44-25.

At the same time in the upstairs gym, North Hunterdon emerged victorious in the other nightcap by downing St. Joseph's, 46-43 despite solid help from soon to be junior, Sean Baptiste, who was called for an offensive foul with 0:13 left in the game, and then was whistled for a technical foul. The Lions were able to take advantage, and hold off the upstart younger Falcons, 46-43. With these results, North Brunswick, North Hunterdon, and St. Joseph's are all now 2-2 on the summer.

Things started out quite well for the Barrons in their game against Perth Amboy. Woodbridge opened the contest with an 8-0 spurt in just the game's first 1:15 as the Barrons got three point baskets from John Cuozzo and Casey Mack, which forced Amboy to call for time with 18:45 left in the first half. Amboy, which didn't get its first points of the game until the 16:52 mark of the half on a jumper by Cedric Parrish, fell behind even further as they didn't run any sustained offensive sets, and took quick jumpers from the top of the key that fell short.

Taking advantage, the Barrons then went on a 9-4 spurt to take what appeared to be a commanding, 17-6 lead with 13:25 left before intermission. However, the lead didn't last. As a matter of fact, for the rest of the half, the Barrons appeared to be taking shots at a basket with a lid covering the rim because nothing seemed to fall. On the other hand, Amboy turned up its game by starting what would end up to be a 25-7 surge to end the half with an 8-0 spurt over a 1:19 span capped by two straight threes by Juan Castillo, who had 13 first half points including three treys, to cut the deficit to three at 17-14 with 12:06 to go in the half as Woodbridge's Scott Sienkiewicz called for time.

Coming out of the timeout, things didn't get much better for the Barrons as Amboy went on another 11-3 spurt highlighted by one of two free throws by Castillo (20 points, 2 rebounds, and a steal), a score off a nice pass by Cedric Parrish, and a steal for a fast break layup to take a 25-20 lead with 4:23 remaining in the first half as Woodbridge again called for time. Amboy, which appeared to be deploying a 3-2 zone defense for much of the first half, gave Woodbridge problems offensively as they didn't score for approximately ten minutes before forward Shamar Graves (19 points, 20 rebounds, a block, and 3 assists) got a layup with 1:25 to go in the half to make the score 29-22.

Both teams then exchanged baskets to round out the scoring in the opening half as Amboy closed with a 6-4 edge to take a 31-24 lead at the break. Woodbridge, which had troubles at the foul line going 1 of 6 during one stretch of the game, stayed even with the Panthers in the opening 3:27 of the half as Perth Amboy clinged to its seven point lead at 39-29 with 16:33 left. About a minute and a half later, the Panthers got a nice three point play to take a 39-29 lead with 14:54 to play in the game. However, it was at this point that the tide began to turn in favor of the Barrons.

Woodbridge got their second wind, and went on a 6-1 spurt over a 3:15 span to cut the deficit to 40-35 with 11:39 to go in the contest. The Barrons then followed up with a 9-5 run to make it a 14-6 burst to close to within one at 45-44 with 8:27 left to play as Amboy called for time. Then, over the next 6:07, the game went back and forth between a one and three point deficit for the Barrons before they managed to tie things up at 52-52 at the 2:20 mark with 1 of 2 free throws by Baja. Shortly afterward, the Panthers would take the lead back on a bucket by Castillo.

Amboy then seemed to have the game locked up with Lamont McGibbney scored a bucket to give the Panthers a four point lead, 56-52 with 1:12 remaining. However, Woodbridge hung tough as Casey Mack, who has come up big throughout much of the summer, struck for a three point play as he was fouled on an acrobatic shot in the lane with only about a minute to play. The Barrons then took their first lead since just beyond the midpoint of the first half when Baja came up with the steal and score off an Amboy inbounds to make it 57-56 with 0:38 to play.

Perth Amboy would wrestle the lead back with a pair of free throws at the 0:27 mark, but the Barrons took the lead for good as Shamar Graves, who almost single handedly led the Barrons back at times in the second half, scored a layup with only 14 seconds left on the clock for a 59-58 Woodbridge lead. Perth Amboy tried to come back down the floor for a score, but missed a layup with just four seconds to play, and the Barrons were able to pull out the comeback victory.

In the other opener played in the upstairs gym at Perth Amboy High School, Rutgers Prep and Piscataway were locked in a hard fought battle that saw the two teams deadlocked at 16-16 with only 1:30 to go in the first half. Then, the Chiefs took the lead on one of two free throws by Allen Hairston with 1:15 to play for a 17-16 lead. However, Rutgers Prep, showing what they were made of so far this summer, hung tough, and actually took the lead back on a short jumper with only 15 seconds to play before intermission, and carried that lead into the break.

However, behind fine efforts from Kent Scriven (10 points, 8 rebounds, a steal, and 2 assists) and Brandon Wilkinson (10 points, 1 rebound, 2 steals, and 2 assists), the Chiefs rolled in the second half with a 27-14 surge to knock off the Argonauts, who had been previously the only remaining undefeated team at the SlamFest, and in first place, 44-32. Piscataway is now tied with Woodbridge for first at 4-1 while Rutgers Prep is a half game behind at 3-1. The two nightcap games at Hawks saw another thriller between North Hunterdon and St. Joseph's.

The Lions, who came into the matchup 1-2, grabbed the early lead on St. Joseph's with a 4-0 spurt over the first 2:32 of the game. The Falcons would counter though with a 6-0 run capped by a layup by Baptiste, who had 13 points for St. Joe's. However, the soon to be junior forward was unable to convert the three point play after being fouled on the score by missing the free throw to leave the score at 6-4 with 16:38 to play. Then, after the Falcons had called timeout with 15:24 to go before intermission, North Hunterdon went on an 6-2 spurt over a 3:34 span to take an 11-8 lead with 11:50 to play.

The Lions then went on another 6-2 spurt over the next 6:10 to increase their lead to 17-10 with 5:40 to go before intermission. St. Joseph's tried to creep close with a 6-4 run over the next several minutes to make the score 21-16 with 2:53 to go in the half, but North Hunterdon maintained a five point lead, 24-19 at the break. In the second half, the Falcons stepped up the pressure a bit, but the Lions came up with a big three point play to make the score 36-31 with 10:25 to go in the game.

St. Joseph's crept closer over the next 8:40 with an 11-8 run to cut the deficit to two at 44-42 with 1:45 left to play. Sean Baptiste then had a chance to tie things up for the Falcons, but only connected on 1 of 2 free throws to make it 44-43 with 0:45 to go. Then, the biggest play of the game occurred as the Lions made a smart play on Baptiste by drawing an offensive foul. Baptiste had been going hard to the basket all game, and actually draw a couple of close fouls, which could have also been charges in the first half. After being called for the offensive foul, Baptiste was assessed a technical foul with 0:13 to go.

North Hunterdon, who were led by Clem Udovich with 9 points, and Steve Wilson with 8 points and 8 rebounds, took advantage of the situation by netting 1 of 2 free throws, and then was fouled again after getting the inbounds. The foul was committed by Baptiste, who fouled out of the game. The Lions were able to convert another 1 of 2 free throws for a 46-43 lead, and St. Joseph's was unable to score as time ran out on them. Meanwhile, in the other nightcap, things were looking up for A.J. Rudowitz (8 points) and company as Monroe looked to end their losing streak at Hawks by taking a 14-11 lead over North Brunswick with 3:08 remaining in the first half. However, things just fell apart after that for the Falcons of Monroe.

The Raiders led by both Derek Scott (10 points, 4 rebounds, and a steal) and Vinay Wunnava (10 points, 6 rebounds, a block, 4 assists, and an assist), went on a 8-2 spurt to close the half, and then opened the second half with a 15-2 surge to open the second half for a 34-18 lead, and actually had a 33-11 showing over the game's final 23:08 to post an easy 44-25 victory over Monroe. North Brunswick, which got a three point play from Scott at the 17:46 mark after two missed free throws by Rudowitz at the 18:08 mark of the second half, and a four point play by Wunnava with 14:00 to go, evened up their record at 2-2 on the summer while Monroe stayed winless as they dropped to 0-4. See the latest standings and scores.

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