The summaries of all the games played in first , second, third, and fourth 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.

GMC Hoops Summaries--Wednesday, July 21, 2004
HawksBasketball Summer SlamFest--Week Five

Three Great Games Down At Hawks SlamFest

There were only three games played at the HawksBasketball Summer SlamFest in Perth Amboy since Monroe didn't have enough players to take on Perth Amboy. So, the Panthers won by forefeit. Nevertheless, the three other games made up for that, and then some with some great action and competitiveness. The first game that we sat in on was between Rutgers Prep and St. Joseph's in the Upper Gym at Perth Amboy High School.

St. Joseph's, who had several varsity players participating in this game including Nigel Robinson, and Kenny Widgeon, trailed 24-19 with 7:07 to go in the first half after the Argonauts got a couple free throws. The Falcons then scored the next two baskets to creep closer as the score was now 24-23 in favor of Rutgers Prep with 5:03 to play before the intermission. Then, the Argonauts went on a 7-2 tear over the next 1:58 as Corey Wilburn, who had 16 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals, and an assist, capped the spurt with two baskets for a 31-25 lead with 3:05 to go before the half.

After calling a timeout with 1:03 left in the opening half, Rutgers Prep then closed the period with a 4-2 run to give them a 35-27 lead at the break. The second half saw the game slow down a bit, but Rutgers Prep still increased their lead with a 13-12 showing over the first 13:56 of the half to take a 48-39 lead with 6:04 remaining. St. Joseph's cut into the deficit with a 6-2 run to make the score 50-45 with 1:19 left after two free throws were made. However, the Argonauts sealed the win with a 6-0 run to make the score 56-45 with 41 seconds to play.

With the 56-47 victory, Rutgers Prep, which got a 11 point, 8 rebound, 2 steal, 5 assist performance from Mike Manning, and a 11 point, 9 rebound, 1 block and 1steal game from Joe Leeds, ties Plainfield for third place in the standings with a 5-2 overall record, which places them a half game behind Woodbridge and Piscataway. Plainfield dropped to 5-2 overall and into the third place tie with Rutgers Prep by virtue of their tough 49-47 defeat at the hands of neighboring Piscataway. A hotly contested game throughout, this ball game went down to the wire as Piscataway grabbed a 32-26 halftime lead, and then as the game slowed down, the Chiefs held off the Cardinals for the win.

We joined in on the action in this game with 13:59 to go in the second half when Plainfield netted one of two free throws to cut the Piscataway lead to 37-29. About forty-five seconds later, after Plainfield got another basket to pull within six at 37-31, Allen Hairston came up with a two handed slam down low to give the Chiefs a 39-31 lead, and most importantly fire up the Piscataway team and their faithful attending the game. However, the Cardinals would settle down, and tried to get back into the game with a 4-0 run that cut the Piscataway lead to 39-35 with 10:39 left.

Despite the fact that the Chiefs showed no signs of backing down to Plainfield, the Cardinals cut the gap even further with another 4-2 spurt to make it an 8-2 run for a 41-39 Piscataway lead with just 6:17 left to play. Some forty-five seconds later, Plainfield tied the game on a score inside to make it 41-41. However, with an opportunity to take the lead, Plainfield went 0 for 3 at the charity stripe with 4:22 to play, and the game remained tied at 41-41 until Rodney Freeney, who had another big night with 16 points, a rebound, a steal, and 2 assists, came up with a three point play at the 3:47 mark for a 44-41 Chief lead.

Over the next minute and forty-seven seconds, Plainfield would score the next three points as they connected on one of two free throws at the foul line, and then after the second shot missed, got an offensive rebound by Anthony Nelson, who then dished an assist on the bucket that tied the game at 44-44 with exactly two minutes remaining. Enter Brandon Wilkinson. The soon to be senior guard, and three point specialist, who had 15 points on five threes, knocked in his final trey with 1:25 to go for a 47-44 lead.

Plainfield had scoring opportunities down the stretch, but the first missed the front end of a one and one with 1:07 to play, and then with 20 seconds remaining, Anthony Nelson missed a three pointer. Rodney Freeney grabbed the rebound, and was fouled with only three seconds left to play. After Freeney netted the two free throws to make the score 49-44, Plainfield closed the scoring with a three point bomb from halfcourt to shape the final, 49-47 score. The win gave Piscataway a share of first place although Woodbridge owns the tiebreaker by virtue of their 38-37 win over the Chiefs a couple weeks ago.

After Monroe had to forefeit their game to Perth Amboy because they only had four players show up, the North Brunswick and North Hunterdon game moved to the Lower Gym. The game did not disappoint as Derek Scott, who had a tremendous night with 31 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 steals, sparked the Raiders to victory, 51-47. Scott opened the scoring with a coast to coast layup for a 2-0 lead with 19:46 left in the opening half before North Hunterdon seized control of the game until less than four minutes to go in the half.

The Lions did it with a 4-0 run capped by one of two free throws to make the score 4-2 with 16:10 to play before the break, and then a 4-2 run to make it 8-4 with 13:30 left before intermission. North Hunterdon continued to increase their lead with a 6-4 showing over the next 3:46 to make the score 14-8 with 9:44 left before halftime as North Brunswick's Head Coach, Ed Breheney called for time. Emergining out of the timeout, the Raiders then proceeded to go on a 5-0 run that was punctuated by one of two free throws from Vinnay Wunnava to make the score 14-13 in favor of North Hunterdon with 6:55 to go before halftime.

But, North Brunswick was unable to take the lead for a bit longer because Scott missed layups on two consecutive possessions while the Lions got one of two free throws for a 15-13 lead with 4:49 left in the half. The Raiders would eventually take the lead though as they put together a 3-0 run capped by a Scott layup off an assist by Wunnava for a 16-15 lead with 3:57 left in the period. North Hunterdon, which was led by Clem Udonovich with 12 points, sank two free throws at the 2:03 mark to retake the lead at 17-16.

The Raiders would end up taking the lead into the intermission as they ran off six of the half's final ten points by getting easy baskets off fast break opportunities and inbounds plays to take a 22-21 lead. Derek Scott capped the 6-4 run with another layup off of a feed by Patrick Brown just as the buzzer sounded for intermission. The start of the second half seemed to give folks in the stands a feeling that North Brunswick was going to win this one going away as the Raiders opened with a 6-0 burst that was highlighted by two free throws from Scott at the 19:00 mark, and a steal and a layup by Brown at the 17:10 mark for a 28-21 lead.

After North Hunterdon then got a basket for their first points of the new half at the 16:14 mark, North Brunswick then went on a 8-3 tear that included five points from Scott on a three point play, and another layup to help make the score 35-26 in favor of the Raiders as they called time at the 11:36 mark. North Hunterdon didn't throw in the towel though. Rather, they responded with an 8-4 run to pull within five points at 39-34 with 8:30 to play in the game. The Lions then drew a bit closer with a 6-5 run as both teams performed well in this stretch by making the extra pass for easy layups.

With the score 44-40 at the 5:21 mark of the second half, North Hunterdon, which has been one of the pleasant surprises of the summer at 44-40 at the 5:21 mark of the second half, North Hunterdon, which has been one of the pleasant surprises of the summer atjust 2:12 to play. Both teams then exchanged baskets over the next 33 seconds to make the score 47-45 in favor of the Raiders. Then, with just 24 secondds to play in regulation, North Hunterdon managed to tie the game up with a basket while being fouled. Unable to convert the traditional three point play, the Lions set the stage for Derek Scott to pull out the game for North Brunswick.

Scott was fouled on a move to the basket with just nine seconds left on the clock, and a tie game at 47-47. Scott then went to the line, and sank both free throws to give the Raiders of North Brunswick a lead that they would never relinquish. The lead never changed hands after that because on the very next possession, Scott picked up a steal, and then scored at the other end with three seconds to go for the final, 51-47 margin. Getting a nice win, the Raiders moved up to 5-3 overall on the summer, which placed them a half game behind both Plainfield and Rutgers Prep while they now stand a half game ahead of North Hunterdon, which is now 4-3. See the latest standings and scores.

GMC Hoops Summaries--Monday, July 19, 2004
HawksBasketball Summer SlamFest--Week Five

Plainfield, Piscataway, and North Brunswick Roll While Graves, Mack, Adeleye, and Petrick Propel Barrons

The fifth week of action got underway at the 2nd Annual HawksBasketball Summer SlamFest over at Perth Amboy High School on Monday night. And, the week didn't start out all to well for some of the participants as there was only one competitive game out of the four that were played. Actually, we could say two with the Monroe vs. North Brunswick game. Well, anyway, the one game that was close throughout, and went down to the wire was between Woodbridge and Perth Amboy.

Despite getting 32 points from Jermaine Clark, Perth Amboy wasn't able to overcome the athleticism provided by Woodbridge's Shamar Graves, who came up with a big dunk and a huge block on succeeding possessions to help the Barrons preserve the 72-66 victory, and stay within striking distance of Piscataway and Plainfield, which both won decisively. The other early game featured a tight battle between Monroe and North Brunswick throughout the entire first half, and for about half of the second half.

However, the turning point in this game came at the 10:08 mark when Monroe was assessed a double technical, and North Brunswick proceeded to convert that into a seven point play with 1 of 2 free throws by Aaron Jackson, 3 of 4 free throws by Vinnay Wunnava, and a three pointer by Wunnava, who had 20 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals on the game. Wunnava scored 13 of his 20 points in the second half. Meanwhile, the Raiders were able to overcome poor free throw shooting at times including 0 for 4 by Patrick Brown, also got a double double from Derek Scott, who had 17 points, 10 rebounds, a block, and an assist.

Monroe, which was outscored 31-17 in the second half, was also assessed another technical prior to the double technical. At the 15:05 mark, Wunnava struck again for two technical free throws to give North Brunswick a 35-31 lead capping a 9-4 run. The closest Monroe would be in the game after that was after a 4-2 run that made it 37-35 in favor of North Brunswick with 12:04 to play. The Falcons, who were without the services of A.J. Rudowitz from the time we arrived to cover the games all the way til the game's conclusion, are still winless at 0-6.

In Woodbridge's win over Perth Amboy, the Barrons got superb performances from Casey Mack, who again shined with another outstanding all around performance with 14 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals, and 2 assists. Meanwhile, Tim Adeleye chipped in with a nice effort as he collected 16 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 assist. A huge factor in the Barrons victory was the three point shooting of Chris Petrick, who netted three second half three pointers, and came up with 13 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, and a steal, which proved to be the final difference.

Perth Amboy had held a three point lead at 26-23 with 0:54 to play in the opening half after two free throws by Jermaine Clark, who has recently resurfaced amidst much speculation about his pending whereabouts this coming school year. After that, it was quite a busy final minute as both teams combined for 9 points with Woodbridge getting the edge 6-3 to tie the game going into the intermission as Alphonse Baja capped the half closing run with a jumper at the buzzer for the Barrons.

The game continued to go back and forth for much of the second half as Clark paced the Panthers, who are now 2-5 on the summer, to a 50-49 lead with 7:38 to play. Then, Woodbridge got a steal and score to take a 51-50, and held that lead until Amboy netted one of two free throws at the charity stripe to tie the contest at 51-51 with 6:29 to go in the game. However, Woodbridge would close the game with a 21-15 run that included a Graves dunk with less than ten seconds to play for a 72-66 lead, and then the soon to be junior blocked a three point attempt on the next possession to seal the win.

The nightcap games were no where near as close as Plainfield went on a 30-11 surge after falling behind early, 6-2 with 17:29 to play in the first half. This surge was sparked by a 10-0 over a 2:41 span to make the score 12-6 with 14:48 left. From there, Plainfield was never really threatened although Chatham was only down six at 23-17 with 6:41 remaining before intermission. From that point until the 11:03 mark of the second half, Plainfield went on an amazing 33-5 rampage that gave the Cardinals an insurrmountable, 56-22 lead as Chatham called for time.

After that, both teams gave their reserves some playing time with Plainfield outscoring Chatham 12-5 for the remaining balance of the game, and then 68-27 victory to take at least a share of first place with Woodbridge although they have a better winning percentage, and the Cardinals also won a very close game recently over the Barrons. Kevin Womack led the way for Plainfield with a double double of 24 points and 10 rebounds while Pat Bocchino was the lone bright spot for the Cougars with over half of the teams points as he score 14.

Meanwhile, the Piscataway Chiefs continued to keep pace with the leaders atop the Hawks Basketball Summer SlamFest Standings. They managed to do that by virtue of their dominating performance against Rutgers Prep, which led to their second victory in a row over the Argonauts this summer. The Chiefs started out slowly with a 7-5 lead on one of two free throws by center Allen Hairston with 15:21 left to play in the opening half. Then, the Chiefs started to build momentum with a 5-2 spurt that was highlighted by a running one hander and a three pointer by Brandon Wilkinson, who had 11 points, 5 rebounds, a steal, and an assist.

Now leading 12-7 with 11:28 to play in the first half, Piscataway then widened its lead with a 6-0 burst for an 18-7 lead with 7:11 to play in the opening half. Rutgers Prep then attempted to climb back into the game with a 6-2 that made the score 20-13, but Wilkinson then struck again for three, and made the score 23-13. The Chiefs then ran off a quick nine points as Wilkinson highlighted the run with a three pointer off a pass by Kent Scriven that had a friendly bounce with a little more than 30 seconds to play in the half.

Piscataway generated two quick steals, which led to scores by Rodney Freeney, who had a stellar night with 14 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals, to make the score 32-13 before the Argonauts got a halfcourt heave to go in at the buzzer making the halftime score, 32-16 in favor of the Chiefs. The second half started out with some promise for Rutgers Prep as Corey Wilburn, who had 17 points on the night for the Argonauts, helped spark a 5-2 run to open the half, and make the score 34-21 as Piscataway called for time with 15:58 remaining.

However, Rutgers Prep couldn't get any closer as the Chiefs closed out the game with a 15-9 run that was highlighted by a 5-2 spurt capped by a steal and layup from Scriven with 10:54 to play, and a hard drive to the basket by Freeney with only 1:45 to play to give Piscataway a 43-28 lead. The Chiefs are now 5-2 on the summer, which only puts them a half game behind both Woodbridge and Plainfield in the standings. By the way, since losing their opener to Perth Amboy, Plainfield has won five consecutive games at the SlamFest. See the latest standings and scores.

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