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Spotswood
Comes Up With Huge Road Win |
By Greg Machos
January 18, 2008METUCHEN, NJ—There is much that has been said about the athletic ability of Metuchen's DeJuan Miller when it comes to football. All you have to look at is the sheer fact that Miller is going from one of the smaller schools in Middlesex County to play football for Oklahoma and Bob Stoops next fall, and you know the young man must be a special talent on the gridiron. However, it is not necessarily a bad thing to be a fine basketball player. It would be a great thing to fall back on if things don't work out with the pigskin. However, if I was Coach Stoops, I wouldn't allow the folks running the Sooner Men's Basketball program look at this article, or get any tape of Miller's effort against Spotswood at the Dawg Pound on Friday night. Following the GMC Hoops JV Game of the Week, which was won by the Junior Bulldogs on a 20-6 fourth quarter surge, 38-36, the Chargers and Bulldogs became entangled in a huge game in terms of state playoff implications as the tourney cutoff date of February 2nd approached.
For the first 14:46 of the game, Miller didn't get a single point. In addition, the senior forward, and four year varsity player, fouled out with 1:18 left in the game. However, in the 15:56 between those two moments in the game, Miller dominated. Despite the fact that is teammates often failed to recognize the fact that he had position on his man in the low blocks, Miller connected on 12 of 16 from the floor including a three point bomb from deep on the right wing as time expired in the third, and then made 10 of 16 from the foul line for a game high 35 points. The Bulldog forward didn't stop there either. He also collected 15 boards including six on the offensive glass to complement two blocked shots and assist for a memorable performance. Unfortunately, it would be enough. The reason for that was the fact that Spotswood's Ross Gerhart connected on four field goals from the floor including a three ponter, and netted 13 of 16 from the free throw line for a team high 22 points along with 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and a steal while sophomore Cody Pace chipped in with 15 points on four field goals and 7 of 12 from the line, and junior forward Pat Dwyer added three field goals, and 5 of 7 from the charity stripe for 11 points, 8 rebounds, and an assist in a 62-51 Charger victory. The win boosted Spotswood's playoff chances after the team began the year losing four of its first five games.
Junior forward, Cody Preston, chipped in for Metuchen in the losing cause with 6 points on two field goals and two free throws while picking up 9 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal, and a block. Unfortunately, there wasn't much else in terms of support for Miller's efforts as the rest of the team only garnered 16 points. To view the rest of the individual stats, check out the contest's stat page in the GMC Hoops Game Stats section. Comparing the two teams statistically, the Bulldogs managed to only go 17 of 45 overall from the floor for 37.8 percent including 2 of 13 from long range for 15.4 percent, which meant that outside of Miller's heroics, the rest of the MHS squad was collectively just 5 of 29 from the field for a paltry 17.2 percent. In addition, the Bulldogs shot themselves in the foot from the foul line by going 15 of 31 from the charity stripe for 48.4 percent. Again, taking away Miller's effort, the rest of the Metuchen team made just 5 of 15 free throws for 33.3 percent. On the other side of the ledger, Spotswood was identical from the floor making 17 of 45 as well for 37.8 percent including a 1 of 8 showing from beyond the arc for 12.5 percent. The Chargers fared much better at the line, which was the difference in the game, by going 27 of 41 for 65.9 percent. Not bad for a team that shot themselves in the foot with an 8 of 25 effort at the charity stripe over the final three plus quarters against Bound Brook in the opening round of the 2007 Crusader Classic.
Looking at the other statistical departments, both teams did a fine job handling the basketball as Spotswood won the turnover battle (10-16) while Metuchen enjoyed a slight edge on the boards (35-33) thanks to a small advantage on the offensive glass (13-11). Spotswood enjoyed edges in assists (9-7), steals (7-5), and charges (2-1) while Metuchen held a 3-0 advantage in blocked shots. The majority of points in this game were scored in the fourth quarter when the two squads first went into the bonus, and eventually into the double bonus. Of the 113 total points combined scored in this particular contest, 53 of them, or nearly half the points were scored in the fourth quarter alone. Spotswood got the lion's share with a 32-21 edge to pull out the hard fought win. Both teams scored in double figures in the last two periods of the game as their offenses picked it up after the intermission. The Chargers won two of the four quarters by outscoring the Bulldogs in the second and fourth while Metuchen had a 16-12 showing in the third, and the first was tied at 9-9. In the opening quarter, Metuchen went 4 of 7 from the floor, but made 1 of 6 at the line in an omen of things to come while Spotswood connected on only 2 of 8 shots including 1 of 3 from long distance, but made 4 of 6 at the line. The Chargers further helped their cause by only committing four turnovers while forcing eight Bulldog miscues.
Things began rather auspiciously for Metuchen as Spotswood got a three pointer from Ross Gerhart to open the game, and then Miller misfired on two free throws at the 7:12 mark, and then after he grabbed the offensive board for a putback attempt on the second miss, Preston missed two foul shots himself at the 7:10 mark. Sophomore forward, Evan Carberry managed to get to the offensive glass for a rebound on the missed second free throw, but again the Bulldogs couldn't take advantage. Things seemed to go from bad to worse as Spotswood senior forward, Nick Olesinski, drew a charge on Miller at the 6:49 mark. All this made fourth year MHS head coach, Rich Stoner very unhappy to say the least. Finally, Metuchen began to get going as Preston swiped a steal for a layup at the 6:30 mark for a 3-2 Spotswood lead. Twenty-five seconds later, Carberry got a theft, and then handed out an assist on a Preston layup for a 4-3 Bulldog lead at the 6:05 mark. However, less than a half minute later, the momentum build by MHS was squandered as Miller went to the bench with his second foul after the officiating crew cited him for a push off with his elbow at the 5:36 mark. Following a timeout at the 4:50 mark called by head coach Steve Mate, who is in his 13th year at Spotswood, Metuchen went back to work with a Elijah Sellers drive for a layup, and then a fake by Nick Callas jumper that made it an 8-0 run for an 8-3 lead before Gerhart made one of two at the line for an 8-4 MHS edge at the 2:55 mark.
But the Bulldog offense grew cold again with only one point for the balance of the opening period, and then went scoreless for the first 6:46 of the second while the Chargers took control with a 14-1 tear over a span of 9:41 to take a 17-9 lead. Pace sparked the rally with a drive for a layup, and then Gerhart added a perfect 2 of 2 at the line to tie the game at 8-8 with 1:46 left in the first. Then, Dwyer gave Spotswood the lead when he grabbed an offensive rebound for a putback attempt that drew a foul, and resulted in one of two from the charity stripe for a 9-8 score at the 1:15 mark. About eighteen seconds later, Callas tied the game up again at 9-9 with one of two of his own from the charity stripe. The sophomore then came up with a defensive stop by drawing a charge on Dwyer with 30 seconds left, but Metuchen couldn't take advantage as the quarter ended in a 9-9 draw. In the second frame, the Chargers had a chance to take the lead again just fifteen seconds into the period, but sophomore Mike Liming misfired on the front end of a one and one. Points then became hard to come by for a bit as neither team scored for the next 1:45 before junior guard, Vinny Vizzi crashed the offensive boards for a rebound off a missed three attempt by Gerhart for a follow that gave Spotswood the lead again at 11-9 with exactly six minutes to go in the first half. Vizzi then got a rebound off a Preston miss some two and a half minutes later, and was fouled, but missed the front end of a one and one. Nevertheless, the Chargers managed to increase their lead to five with a field goal, and then one of two at the line by Olesinski for a 14-9 score at the 3:25 mark.
Spotswood continued its slow and grinding assault when Alex Sharoykin made a nice pass for an assist on a layup by Vizzi for a 16-9 lead while Metuchen proceeded to stub its toe some more as Miller missed the front end of a one and one with 2:27 left. Despite two missed free throws by Pace, the Chargers managed to increase its edge slightly more as sophomore guard, James Pareti netted one of two from the foul line for a 17-9 lead with 1:32 remaining before the intermission. The Bulldogs finally broke the dry spell as Miller got his first points of the game with a one of two showing from the charity stripe that trimmed the deficit to just seven at 17-10 with 1:14 to go in the first half. Then, following an MHS timeout with 11.3 seconds left in the period, Miller grabbed an offensive rebound off his own miss, and put it back in, and then junior guard, Phil Lewis canned both his free throws with just seconds left for an 18-14 Charger lead at the break. Looking at the first half scoring, Metuchen was led by Preston, who only went 2 of 6 from the floor, and missed both his free throws for 4 points, but collected 8 rebounds, and handed out an assist. On the other side of the scoresheet, Gerhart had a three pointer, and a 3 of 4 effort from the line for 6 points along with a rebound, assist, and a steal while Vizzi added 4 points on a perfect 2 of 2 from the field, and grabbed three boards.
Moving on to the halftime stats, both teams struggled somewhat from the field as Spotswood, which was 3 of 11 from the floor in the second quarter, clicked on only 5 of 19 shots overall for 26.3 percent including a 1 of 5 effort from long range. Meanwhile, Metuchen didn't fare much better after going just 1 of 11 in the second stanza. The Bulldogs were just 5 of 18 from the field for 27.8 percent including an 0 of 4 showing from beyond the arc. Both teams had an adventure at the foul line with the Chargers making only 5 of 15 for 33.3 percent, and the Bulldogs sinking only 4 of 11 for 36.4 percent. Looking at the other statistical areas, Spotswood held the edge in turnovers (7-12), assists (3-2), and steals (5-4) while Metuchen had the advantage in overall rebounding (17-14). Offensive boards (5-5), blocks (0-0), and charges (1-1) were even. Returning to action in the second half, the two teams began to percolate offensively in the third by combining for almost as many points in the period as they did in the first half with 28. Miller began to gradually take over the game as he scored the first points of the second half on an offensive rebound and follow off his own miss for an 18-16 Spotswood lead with just 30 seconds gone by in the third. A minute and a half later, the Bulldogs tied the game as Preston found Miller for a jumper along the left baseline that knotted the score at 18-18 with 6:30 to go in the frame. Dwyer would give Spotswood the lead back with a layup, but Preston squared the game once more with a pair of free throws at the 5:20 mark for a 20-20 score.
Metuchen proceeded with its tear from there as Miller got a dunk that rocked the partisan crowd, and then netted one of two from the charity stripe for a 23-20 lead. Up to this point, the Bulldogs had scored 14 of the last 17 points over a 4:26 span. The lead was brief though as on the very next Spotswood possession, the Chargers tied the contest up again on a traditional three point play by Gerhart for a 23-23 score at the 4:24 mark. Olesinski then alertly fought for a loose ball to get possession for a steal and called timeout at the 3:30 mark. Following the stoppage, SHS took the lead again as Dwyer passed to Pace for a layup, and a 25-23 score with 3:10 to go in the third. On the subsequent Metuchen Bulldog possession, Preston lobbed a pass inside to Millere, who then was fouled, and made both his free throws to tie the game up again at 25-25 with 2:40 remaining in the quarter. Almost forty seconds later, Pace netted two free throws to put the Chargers back up by two at 27-25 with a tick over two minutes to go in the period. The next Bulldog possession saw MHS turn it over as Olesinski drew another charger on Miller at the 1:43 mark. However, Metuchen still managed to eventually tie the contest up once more as Miller went to the free throw stripe again to make two foul shots for a 27-27 score with 1:08 to go in the third. Spotswood would score the next three points on an Olesinski offensive rebound and putback at the 22 second mark, and then one of two from the line by Gerhart at the 4.7 second mark for a 30-27 advantage, but Miller retaliated with his long range bomb to tie the score at 30-30 heading into the final quarter of play.
Up to this point in the game, there had actually been a total of nine lead changes and eight ties in the contest. There would be one more lead change though as Spotswood took the lead for good right away at the start of the fourth. The Chargers began the fourth with what would be a decisive 7-0 spurt over the first 1:11 of the stanza to take a 37-30 lead with 6:49 left. Gerhart ignited the key run with a pair of free throws for a 32-30 lead with just thirty seconds gone by in the frame. Pace then drove to the basket for a layup as he was fouled, and made the bonus free throw for a traditional three point play, and a 35-30 lead at the 7:07 mark. Nearly twenty seconds later, James Pareti struck with a jumper from the left side for the seven point lead with less than seven minutes remaining. Miller continued to take the brunt of the load for Metuchen as he converted a conventional three point play on the next Bulldog possession at the 6:32 mark to keep his team within two possessions at 37-33. Over the next 32 seconds though, the Chargers began pulling away as they reeled off five straight points including a score by Gerhart as he was fouled (Miller's fourth personal) for a three point play of his own, and a 42-33 SHS lead with exactly six minutes to play. MHS had an opportunity to close the gap as it was able to get Olesinski out of the game, but Lewis then went to the line and misfired on both free throws, and then Preston was called for an over the back while trying to putback the second missed foul shot at the 5:42 mark.
With Spotswood now in the bonus, Dwyer then stepped to the line, and sank both his free throw attempts for a double digit, 44-33 lead with 5:41 remaining. Metuchen then cut into the Charger lead with six of the next nine points over a span of 1:40 for a 47-39 Spotswood lead, but Pace would get a layup as he was fouled by Preston, who committed his fifth personal, and had to leave the contest. Pace would miss the bonus free throw, but the score was now 49-39 with 4:01 remaining. The Bulldogs continued to fight though with 12 of the next 20 points over a span of 2:36 including a Carberry three pointer from the right wing that made it a six point game at 57-51 with 1:25 left. But, moments later, Miller exited with his fifth foul as Dwyer registered a traditional three point play of his own for a 60-51 lead. From there, the Chargers scored the final three points of the contest for a 63-51 win. With the victory, Spotswood won its third straight game, and improved to 7-6 overall, and 3-5 in the GMC Blue while Metuchen fell for the third time in its last four games to drop to 6-5 overall, and 4-4 in divisional play.
Team |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
Spotswood (7-6) |
9 | 9 | 12 | 32 | 62 |
Metuchen (6-5) |
9 | 5 | 16 | 21 | 51 |
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