 |
Metuchen
Hangs On To Defeat Pesky South River, 63-52 |
By Greg Machos
December 22, 2007METUCHEN, NJ—On Saturday afternoon, GMC Hoops kicked off its GMC Blue Division Doubleheader with a matinee game at the newly refurbished Dawg Pound in Metuchen where the hometown Bulldogs were set to face off against a South River team that was on its longest winning streak since starting the 2004-05 season with eight straight wins. Metuchen High School has lost a good deal of talent over the past two seasons. Gone are not only Marqus Blakely, Nick Storts, and Steve Thomas from the Blue Divsion Champion, GMCT finalist, and CJ finalist squad from 2005-06 (Storts and Thomas were in attendance at the game), but also Lamar Nichols, Jon Brown, and Corey Preston, all graduated last year, and Chris Pisano, a fine soccer player, decided not to come out for the team in 2007-08. The only remaining player that was a starter on that magical 2005-06 squad is Dejuan Miller, who has given a commitment to play football for Bob Stoops at Oklahoma. Phil Lewis, a junior guard, was another player, who happened to be a reserve on that team as a freshman. Ahkeem Greene, who along with Miller, are the only two seniors on the team, was in the program at the time, but didn't come up to the varsity until last season. However, there is some good young talent being cultivated at Metuchen High School these days.
First, there is junior Codey Preston, the younger brother of recent graduate, Corey Preston, has been slowly progressing over the past two seasons. Next, there is sophomore, Evan Carberry, who was on the team as a freshman last season, has become a much more poised player on the floor. Then, there is another freshman, who happens to be a starter in Elijah Sellers. The freshman guard made some very nice contributions during the fall at the 2007 HawksBasketball Fall-Ball Classic at Plainfield High School, and then was a catalyst in Metuchen's turnaround in the recent scrimmage at Rutgers Prep back on Decemeber 4th. And, it doesn't stop there. Other players that figure prominently in this year's team includes reserves such as Mark Switzer and George Doukas as well as newcomers such as sophomores Nick Callas, Mike Hallas, Vinnie Sardone, James Warren, J.P. O'Brien, David Hills, Carson Keers-Flood, and freshman Mike Crusco. Meanwhile, South River has been going through a period of stormy seas in the GMC Boys Basketball world these past few seasons. In head coach, Mike DelAversano's first season in 2004-05, the Rams began the year at 8-0, and ultimately went 16-8 as it qualified for the Central Jersey Group I State Tournament.
Ironically, it was the Metuchen Bulldogs with Blakely, Storts, and Thomas as juniors, Nichols and Brown as sophomores, and Miller as a freshman, that ended South River's then dream season with a win on the Rams home floor in the sectional semifinals before losing to Burlington County Scholastic League power, Florence, which had just moved up to the section from South Jersey Group I. Since that time, the programs have gone in opposite directions with the Rams going 8-39 over the past two seasons while Metuchen has reached at least the Final Four of the Central Jersey Group I State Tournament two more times in 2006 and 2007. These two teams would cross paths again, and the fortunes of the squads appeared to have been reversed coming into the contest. After losing its season opener at home to tenth ranked Middlesex on December 14th (62-46), South River has reeled off three straight wins for the longest winning streak the school has enjoyed since that 2004-05 season. The day after losing to the Blue Jays, the Rams hung on to win on the road at Timothy Christian, and then defeated Piscataway Tech and Highland Park at home for a 3-1 record entering play on Saturday. Meanwhile, Metuchen, which won its season opener at Spotswood, had lost its last two including a 77-43 loss at home to ninth ranked Bishop Ahr, and a 57-46 overtime defeat on the road at Middlesex to come in to the matchup at 1-2.
However, when the two teams took to the floor for tip-off, Metuchen made it seem like old times again. The Bulldogs opened up with a 17-9 first quarter showing, and despite Miller getting in foul trouble, maintained that by staying even in the second for a 30-22 halftime lead. Over the first 9:53 of the second half, Metuchen outscored South River by a 20-13 margin for a seemingly commanding 50-35 advantage with 6:07 left in the game. However, the Bulldogs, which have always seemed to been a team hampered by turnover problems even going back to that special season in 2005-06, ended up turning the ball over 26 times in the contest including a plethora of miscues against the Rams fullcourt pressure late in the game that helped the visitors rally and close to within nine before Preston pretended he was Sam Bradford, and threw a touchdown pass downcourt to the soon to be Sooner wideout, Miller for a layup that sealed the 63-52 victory on Saturday afternoon in Metuchen. For the game, the Bulldogs outscored the Rams in two of the four periods with the Rams winning the fourth by three, and the second ending in a 13-13 tie. The Rams, which impressed with their heart and fight, ended up going 17 of 50 overall from the floor for 34 percent including a 4 of 11 effort from downtown for 36.4 percent. To make matters worse though, South River, which missed 19 foul shots in their ten point victory over the Raiders of Piscataway Tech, and made only 14 of 29 at the charity stripe versus Highland Park, made just 14 of 30 on this day for 46.7 percent.
On the other hand, Metuchen, went 22 of 54 from the floor for 40.7 percent including 2 of 8 from three for 25 percent. At the line, the Bulldogs were better too, going 15 of 24 from the charity stripe for 62.5 percent. In other statistical areas, Metuchen enjoyed a huge advantage on the boards at 47-22. As a matter of fact, the Bulldog dynamic duo of Preston (12) and Carberry (15) combined for more rebounds (27) than the entire South River team. The home tam also garnered edges in assists (15-7), and blocks (6-0) while charges were even. However, the Rams made up for much, but not all of their shortcomings by gaining the edge in steals (16-7) and turnovers (19-26). Moving on to the individual side of things statistically, the Rams had another thing going for them, and that was senior guard, Eddie Dumas. Before leaving the game at the 1:58 mark of the third quarter with an apparent ankle injury, Dumas connected on 7 of 9 shots including a three pointer as well as 4 of 6 from the line for 19 points along with a steal. Meanwhile, for Metuchen, Miller led the way with 7 of 12 shooting from the floor, and 3 of 5 from the line for a team high 17 points along with 6 rebounds, 3 blocks, 3 steals, and an assist. However, Carberry truly shined with not just 16 points on 6 of 11 shooting including 2 of 3 from beyond the arc, and 2 of 5 from the line, but the sophomore was a monster on the boards with 15 rebounds for a double-double. He also added three assists. Preston also contributed by going 5 of 11 from the floor for 10 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double too as well as 2 assists, 2 blocks, and a charge. To see the complete individual stat breakdown on the game, visit the game stats page on this contest.
In the first quarter, Metuchen appeared poised to blow the game open as it made 8 of 17 from the floor including 1 of 4 from three while only making five turnovers. Meanwhile, South River connected on only 3 of 10 shots including a three, 2 of 2 from the line, and made 8 turnovers. Yet, they persisted. Carberry opened the game with a jumper from the left corner for a 2-0 lead, and then the Bulldogs scored four of the next six as Sellers and Carberry came up with offensive rebounds and putbacks to give their team a 6-2 lead at the 5:14 mark of the first. Carberry then got on the board again with another offensive rebound and putback while the Rams committed their fourth turnover of the frame at the 4:34 mark with Metuchen now leading, 8-2. The sophomore forward then struck again, but this time from deep with a three pointer that made the score, 11-2 before Dumas came right back down the floor for a three himself that got South River off the schneid, and made the score, 11-5 at the four minute mark.
Following a blocking foul by Witkowski on Miller at the 3:43 mark, and a backcourt violation for the Rams' fifth turnover of the period at the 3:34 mark, Lewis knocked in a ten footer from the baseline off an assist by Preston that made the score, 13-5. On the very next Ram possession, Metuchen forced a turnover as Miller swiped a steal, and drove in for an acrobatic layin that put the Bulldogs up by ten at the 2:51 mark, 15-5. Despite being on the ropes, the Rams showed surprising resiliency with four of the final six points of the first including two foul shots by Dumas after being fouled by Doukas at the 1.1 mark for a 17-9 Metuchen lead entering the second. Starting the second period right where it left off in the first, the Bulldogs quickly got a field goal for a 19-9 lead before Wilson drove to the basket, and drew a foul, which resulted in one of two free throws at the 7:09 mark for a 19-10 Metuchen lead. Nearly forty seconds later, Dumas made one of two at the line himself to make the score, 19-11 at the 6:31 mark. The Rams continued to gain momentum as Seawright came up with a steal, and then an assist on a Dumas layup for a 19-13 Bulldog lead at the 6:15 mark, but Metuchen replied with four unanswered points of its own on a Preston layup off a nice dish by Callas, and then two charity shots by Sellers at the 5:05 mark for a 23-13 lead. Nearly a minute later, South River missed a chance to trim the lead to under double digits as Seawright embodied the foul shooting woes of the Rams by missing a pair at the line with 4:10 to go in the half.
Taking advantage, Metuchen then scored three more points on a field goal, and then one of two at the line by Switzer for his only points of the game, and a 26-13 lead at the 3:24 mark. Dumas would get South River on the board again with a layup that prompted Bulldog fourth year head coach, Rich Stoner, to call a thirty second timeout with 2:15 to go before the intermission. Following the stoppage, the Rams had a chance to creep closer, but in what would become a recurring theme in this game, they missed a free throw as Witkowski failed to convert the front end of a one and one. Getting another reprieve, Metuchen went back to work as Carberry then made a nice dish to Hallas for a layup and a 28-15 lead with 1:54 to go in the half. A little more than thirty seconds after that, Carberry got on the board again himself with two free throws, and a 30-15 lead at the 1:20 mark. With their backs to the wall again, South River came out clawing once more with a 7-0 spurt to end the half as Foster connected for a three while Dumas added a jumper, and a layup for a 30-22 Metuchen lead at halftime. Statistically speaking at the break, the Bulldogs were 12 of 30 from the floor for 40 percent after a 4 of 13 showing in the second while South River was 8 of 22 for 36.4 percent. The Rams were 2 of 5 from three for 40 percent while Metuchen was just 1 of 6 for a paltry 16.7 percent. Rebounding was a huge story though as MHS outrebounded SRHS by a 3 to 1 margin, 27-9.
Another discrepancy in the stats was the growing problem in free throws as South River made only 4 of 9 for 44.4 percent while Metuchen was much better going 5 of 7 for 71.4 percent. Turnovers were even for the most part, but also quite a lot as both teams combined for 22 miscues in the first two periods with South River holding a 10-12 edge. Scoring wise, Carberry led the way for Metuchen with 11 points along with 8 boards, and an assist while Dumas led all scorers with 19 points on 6 of 8 shooting including a three pointer, and 3 of 4 at the line. In the third quarter, the Bulldogs went 5 of 13 from the floor including 1 of 2 from three, and made 1 of 2 at the line while South River struggled going just 2 of 14 from the floor, and 2 of 7 at the foul line. The only saving grace for teh Rams was the fact that Metuchen turned the ball over seven more times in the frame. Neither team scored much over the first 1:40 of the second half as Dumas made a nice nifty move for a layup and his last field goal of the contest to make it a 9-0 Ram run, and a 30-24 Bulldog lead at the 6:20 mark of the third. MHS finally broke through as Preston scored on a layup off a feed from Sellers, and then the Rams turned it over at the 5:36 mark with the score reading 32-24. Carberry then made a three pointer a little while later to make it 35-24 before Seawright connected on one of two at the line for a 35-25 Bulldog lead at the 4:18 mark. A little more than a half minute after that, Dumas picked up his final point of the game with a one of two showing at the line that pulled his team within nine at 35-26 with 3:44 left in the stanza.
The big blow of the game for the Rams came nearly two minutes later as Dumas went in for a layup, was fouled, and knocked to the ground at the 1:58 mark. Down for several minutes, the senior guard, limped off the court on his own power, but wouldn't return as Foster played in his place. The freshman took Dumas' two free throws, and missed both while Metuchen scored 7 of the final 9 points of the third for a 42-28 lead entering the fourth. In the final frame, the Bulldogs shot 5 of 11 from the floor, but committed seven more miscues while South River kept battling by making 7 of 14 shots, but hurt themselves by making just 8 of 14 at the line although it was a much better effort than in the first three periods. Within the first minute of the fourth, the Rams scored seven of the first eight points including a three pointer and a steal for a layup by Moore to cut the deficit to eight at 43-35. However, the home team wrestled away the momentum, and perhaps the game as well with a 7-0 run of its own that consisted of a pair of free throws by Callas at the 6:51 mark, a steal for a layup while being fouled for a three point play by Miller at the 6:30 mark, and a rebound and outlet by Miller to Preston for a layup, and a 50-35 lead with 6:07 remaining.
In dire straits once again, South River refused to quit by scoring a 10-6 run over a 2:50 span to close the gap to 56-45 at the 3:17 mark, and then a 7-5 run over the next 2:37 after a DelAversano timeout to make it a 61-52 lead with 40.6 left. However, following another Ram timeout, Preston uncorked a bomb downcourt to Miller, who pulled it in as if it were a touchdown pass from Jordan Leitner for a layup that finally put a wrap on this one with a 63-52 victory. With the victory, Metuchen evened its record both overall and in division at 2-2 while South River dropped to 3-2 overall, but also 1-2 in divisional play. Both teams will be back in action over the holidays as Metuchen will be competing in the 2007 Roselle Park Tournament while South River will play in the 2007 South Amboy Tournament.
Team |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
Metuchen (2-2) |
17 | 13 | 12 | 21 | 63 |
South River (3-2) |
9 | 13 | 6 | 24 | 52 |
RETURN TO THE GMC HOOPS HOME PAGE
If you are finished viewing the GMC Hoops Summaries, and would like to see other parts of the website. Click below to return to the GMC Home Page.
Return to the GMC Hoops Home Page
If you have any questions about, or any suggestions for this website, please feel free to either fill out our guestbook, or contact me at gmachos@gmchoops.com.