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Reuben
And Sorrell's Pefect Touch Helps Hawks Make Big |
By Greg Machos
December 20, 2007NORTH EDISON, NJ—Not since the days when Tony Newsom and Rocky Pravato roamed the halls of J.P. Stevens High School has there been a key early season game for the Hawks. However, the foundation for this night was set back in the 2005-06 campaign when the Little Hawks of J.P. Stevens led by the likes of Kenny Bland, Myles Reuben, Nick Pol, Tahir Swinton, and Herb Smith, went undefeated in conference play, lost only one game to North Hunterdon, and won the 2006 Perth Amboy/GMC Tournament over Bishop Ahr, 60-36. Last season, the Hawks went only 9-16, but over the summer, the team made strides with a victory over Holy Trinity in the Hoop Group HBC at Seton Hall, and a second place finish in the post-season tournament at the inaugural TBSA Summer League. Then, in the fall, J.P. Stevens continued to play well in the 2007 TBSA Fall League, where it went 6-2 overall with its only two losses coming at the hands of Bridgewater on opening night, and a Notre Dame team that defeated St. Augustine Prep in the Quarterfinal round of last season's Non-Public A South State Tournament.
However, in a recent scrimmage against Monroe as part of a tri-scrimmage at Stevens on December 4th, the Hawks, which had been ranked as high as sixth in the GMC Hoops Pre-Season Top Ten Prediction on September 30th, struggled as the now seventh ranked Falcons dominated them in two periods covered by the web site, and raised some doubt about a team that is trying to set out to reverse years of mediocrity. Nevertheless, when the final 2007-08 GMC Hoops Pre-Season Top Ten came out before the season opener on December 14th, the Hawks were still in the poll for the first time since the 2004-05 Pre-Season Poll. This game would be a big test to see whether or not these Hawks would soar, or if they would crash to the ground like that 2004-05 team, which went 7-16 overall, did. While J.P. Stevens has struggled historically, there has pretty much always been success at St. Joseph's. As a matter of fact, one of the several seasons the Hawks were among the GMC Elite, it finished tied with the Falcons for a share of the GMC Red title back in 1987-88. Both teams would go down though in the Elite Eight of the 1988 GMCT. Ironically, current St. Joseph's coach, Dave Turco was on the seventh seeded Carteret squad that upended the second seeded Falcons while the Hawks were upset by sixth seeded and eventual champion, Metuchen.
St. Joseph's has been to the Middlesex County/Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament Championship Game thirteen times over the tourney's illustrious history with three titles in 1993, 1998, and 1999. Since the inception of the GMC in the 1985-86 season, the Falcons have one at least a share of the GMC Red nine times including seven titles in the past ten seasons. So, if Stevens was going to live up to all the pre-season hype, it was going to have to prove itself in this early season matchup against this perennial conference power. Although St. Joseph's lost several key players to graduation last season including Darrell Carroll (Stonehill), Lamar Fisher (Cabrini College), and Kyan Hines, the Falcons not only have 2007 GMC Hoops Freshmen of the Year, Steve Rennard and Paul Konopacki returning, but also solid varsity reserves coming back in Nikko Vastola, Gerard Lewis, and Steve Brandenberg, and a sophomore class outside of Rennard that has a lot of talent including members of a St. Joseph's-White team that won the 2007 Perth Amboy/GMC Tournament last February against Perth Amboy. Both teams entered the game undefeated at 2-0 as Stevens won its first two games on the road over Perth Amboy (60-46) in its opener, and then East Brunswick (62-59) on Tuesday night while St. Joseph's traveled to South Brunswick, and beat the Vikings, 47-38, and then thrashed Edison in its home opener on Tuesday, 61-28.
At the start, things appeared as if this game would have the result of so many others in the past when these two teams collided. The Falcons, which went 5 of 11 from the floor in the first period including 1 of 3 from beyond the arc, and made their only foul shot attempt, jumped out to a 7-1 lead, and led 12-9 after one as Rennard and Konopacki scored five points each in the frame while the sopohmore guard added two assists. However, Stevens, which looked a bit tentative early on, managed to stay within striking distance, especially when forward, Myles Reuben, who didn't start, came off the bench to give the Hawks a much needed lift. Reuben would ultimately go 7 of 12 from the field including 2 of 3 from long distance for 16 points along with 7 rebounds, an assist, and a steal. However, it was the play of senior center, Darnell Sorrell, that was the difference in this one. Sorrell, who was on the varsity squad as a sopohomore two years ago, had difficulties keeping his emotions bottled up at times, especially early on in the contest on calls made by the officials, but he managed not to get in trouble, and went on to go a perfect 6 of 6 from the floor for 12 points along with 4 rebounds, a block, and a steal to help the Hawks make a huge early statement to the rest of Middlesex County with a 53-40 victory over the Falcons on Thursday night in North Edison. After pulling to within a point at the half, John P. Stevens outscored St. Joe's by a 31-17 margin in the second half including a 19-8 showing in the fourth to pull away from a tenuous 34-32 third period advantage.
Rennard ended up with the game high of 19 points on 7 of 16 from the floor including 4 of 8 from three point land, and 1 of 2 at the line to go along with 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and a blocked shot. Paul Konopacki chipped in with 4 of 7 shooting, and 3 of 5 from the line for 11 points along with 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 assists. To view the rest of the individual statistics, please take a look at the game stats page on this contest. Comparing the team statistics, St. Joseph's was 15 of 40 from the field for 37.5 percent including 4 of 10 from beyond the arc for a 40 percent, and just 6 of 12 at the foul line for 50 percent. Meanwhile, Stevens was 21 of 51 overall from the floor for 41.2 percent including 2 of 8 from three point range for 25 percent, and 9 of 13 from the foul line for 69.2 percent. In other statistical areas, the Hawks held edges in rebounding (30-22), blocks (6-3), and steals (11-2) while the Falcons had more assists (11-8). Neither team drew a charge in the contest. After being outscored in the opening period, J.P. Stevens got the edge in each of the final three frames for the victory. All three periods saw the home team score in double figures while the visitors managed to only do that once in the second period. Another key stat was turnovers. For the game, the Falcons committed 19 miscues while the Hawks made just 13.
As mentioned earlier, St. Joseph's got off to a fast start with seven of the first eight points over the initial 4:25 of the contest. The Falcons drew first blood when Rennard passed to Lewis for a foul line extended jumper from the left side at the 6:35 mark for a 2-0 lead. Stevens would get its first point when Conner Medler netted one of two at the foul line for a 2-1 Falcon lead at the 6:04 mark. Then, over the next 2:29, St. Joseph's scored five straight points including a reverse layin by Rennard at about the 4:30 mark for a 4-1 lead, and then a three pointer from the left corner by Rennard off an assist by Nikko Vastola for a 7-1 lead at the 3:35 mark. J.P. Stevens didn't get its first field goal until the 2:38 mark of the first period when Alex Cacoilo scored a layup on a nice finger roll from the left side for a 7-3 Falcon lead. Cacoilo followed that with a pair of free throws that answered an earlier layup by Konopacki off an assist by Rennard that made the score, 9-5 with exactly two minutes left in the first. The Hawks would get another score to pull within two at 9-7 before Steve Brandenberg made a nice no look pass to a cutting Konopacki for a layup, and the foul for a three point play that made it 12-7 with 31.4 remaining in the period. Reuben then capped the first period scoring with a field goal at the 6.5 mark to make it a three point, 12-9 Falcon lead entering the second. In the final eight minutes of the first half, both teams continued to play close as Stevens came up with a 13-11 edge in the frame on just 6 of 15 shooting from the floor including a three to win the period by two points while St. Joseph's was only 4 of 12 from the field in the period including a three, and made two more foul shots.
The Hawks got on the board first in the period as Tahir Swinton, a much needed addition to the Hawks after sitting out all of last season, scored a field goal to pull his team to within one at 12-11 with 6:13 to go in the first half. Nearly twenty seconds later, Rennard passed to Konopacki fro a short jumper from the right side that put the Falcons back up by three at 14-11 with 5:54 to play before intermission. Almost a minute, and a half later, Lewis then passed down low to a cutting Rennard for a reverse layup that made the score, 16-11. However, after the Falcons went up by seven on a subsequent score at about the 3:45 mark, Reuben started to percolate with a field goal of his own at the 3:22 mark for an 18-13 St. Joe's lead, and then swiped a steal for a layup at the 2:11 mark for a 18-15 Falcon edge. Rennard replied on the next St. Joseph's possession with a three pointer from the left wing that made the score, 21-15 at the 1:54 mark, and then after a Hawks score closed the gap to four at 21-17, freshman, Robbie Ashamole, the younger brother of North Brunswick's Jeff Ashamole got into the act for the Falcons with a pair of free throws at the 1:01 mark for a 23-17 lead after being fouled down low by Kenny Bland. However, the Hawks rallied with five straight points to end the first half as Reuben made a three pointer from the top of the key off a pass from Nick Pol at the 38.2 mark that made it 23-20, and then Cacoilo dished to Matt Margon for a layin that made the score, 23-22 in favor of the Falcons at the half.
Looking at the halftime statistics, J.P. Stevens shot 9 of 26 from the field for 34.6 percent including just 1 of 6 from long distance for 16.7 percent. Meanwhile, St. Joseph's went just 9 of 23 for 39.1 percent including 2 of 4 from beyond the arc. At the line, the Falcons were a perfect 3 of 3 while the Hawks were 3 of 5 for 60 percent. St. Joe's held the edge in rebounding (17-10) and assists (8-4) while Stevens had the advantage in steals (6-0), blocks (4-2), and turnovers (7-10). Rennard led all scorers with 10 points on 4 of 9 field goals including 2 of 4 from three point land while also collecting 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Konopacki chipped in with 7 points on 3 of 5 shooting, and 1 of 1 from the foul line to go along with 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. And, although he struggled from the field throughout this contest, Vastola played with aggression on the boards by going in amongst the trees on both ends of the floor for 6 rebounds including three or four offensive boards. Reuben lead the charge for stevens with 6 points on 3 of 6 shooting along with 2 rebounds and a steal while Cacoilo chipped in with 4 points on a field goal and 2 of 2 from the line along with 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal. Kenny Bland, who, like in the scrimmage against Monroe, struggled offensively, didn't let his difficulties get to him as in the exhibition by picking up four blocks. In the third quarter, St. Joseph's scored first to take a three point, 25-22 lead, but then Sorrell began to get going with a steal off an errant pass by Rennard for a layin at the 6:13 mark that sparked a 6-0 run that gave the Hawks their first lead after trailing for the first 18:35 of the contest.
Sorrell followed his steal for a layup with another score on a mid-range jumper from Pol at the 5:25 mark to put JPS on top for the first time at 26-25. Fifty seconds later, Cacoilo put together a nice drive and dish to set up Medler for a short bank shot from the right wing that capped the run for the three point lead at the 4:35 mark. Konopacki brought the lead down to a deuce at 28-26 with 4:19 remaining. On the next J.P. Stevens possession, the Hawks too a four point lead as Reuben drove into the lane for a layin that made the score, 30-26 at the 3:59 mark. Eleven seconds later, Konopacki was at the line again to make one of two to trim the deficit to three at 30-27 with 3:48 remaining. After stopping Stevens on its next possession, the Falcons closed the gap to one as Ashamole drove to the right of the key for a layup that went high off the glass for a 30-29 JPS lead at the 3:09 mark. Stevens then got a score to go back up by three at 32-29 before St. Joseph's called for time at the 2:31 mark. Neither team would score in the forty-five seconds after the timeout when JPS called for a thirty second timeout, and the score still reading 32-29. The scoreless drought would continue for another 1:16 before sophomore reserve, Matt Delaney, kicked the ball ut to Rennard for a three from the right wing that made the score tied at 32-32 with 30 seconds left in the third. However, despite two missed foul shots by Swinton at the 14.7 second mark, the Hawks went ahead going into the fourth as Sorrell gave his team much needed momentum with an offensive rebound and putback off a missed layup by Cacolio with one second left for a 34-32 edge entering the final stanza.
In the fourth, Stevens was just 6 of 16 from the floor, but made its only three ball attempt, and connected on all 6 of its foul shots to pull out the win while St. Joseph's made only 3 of 10 shots including a three pointer, and just 1 of 5 at the line. Sorrell picked up right where he left off with a two handed layup off a nice entry pass from Bland at the 7:30 mark for a 36-32 lead. A little over a minute later, Rennard continued to do his best to help his team keep pace with a jumper at the 6:27 mark for a 36-34 J.P. Stevens edge. Reuben then made a jumper from the right wing for another four point edge before Rennard stepped to the line, and made one of two for a 38-35 Hawk lead at the 3:32 mark. Over the next 1:01 though, JPS began to pull away as Reuben canned a three pointer from the right wing, and then Bland got a steal that led to a Reuben assist on a Sorrell layup for a 43-35 lead with 2:31 remaining. On the ropes, the Falcons needed a score, and had a chance to get one as Ashamole went to the line with 2:17 to play. Unfortunately for St. Joe's, the youngster came up empty in his two attempts at the line, and then Sorrell finished off the win with an offensive rebound and putback off a missed shot by Pol for a 45-35 lead with 1:40 remaining. From there, the home team Hawks outscored the Falcons by an 8-5 margin for a 53-40 win. With the victory, J.P. Stevens moves up to 3-0 in both GMC Red and overall play while St. Joseph's drops to 2-1 in both.
Team |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
J.P. Stevens (3-0) |
9 | 13 | 12 | 19 | 53 |
St. Joseph's (2-1) |
12 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 40 |
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