 |
Lewis
And Konopacki Push Falcons Past Seagulls, 54-45 |
By Greg Machos
December 30, 2007METUCHEN, NJ—A rare Battle of Birds wrapped up not only the 2007 Brothers of the Sacred Heart Tournament at the Bird Cage in St. Joseph's High School, but also the entire holiday tourney schedule. The Falcons of St. Joseph's were looking to win their fourth straight game after losing to J.P. Stevens on December 20th in North Edison while the Seagulls of McKee Tech from Staten Island were looking to salvage a game in this tournament. McKee Tech, more commonly known as Staten Island Tech in these parts, last competed against a GMC team over the holidays in the 2005 Joe Silver Tournament when the Seagulls lost to Cardinal McCarrick, 76-61. The Falcons entered the contest on a bit of a roll with a 49-44 victory over former coach, Mark Taylor, and his Ridge Devils on December 22nd, and then two wins in the tournament over Memorial of West New York in Hudson County (70-37), and Moore Catholic of Staten Island (44-38). Meanwhile, the Seagulls were coming off a 59-48 loss to Monroe, and a 72-31 blowout to Colonia earlier in the tourney. This game would be more of a nailbiter for the Falcons. After seemingly putting the Seagulls on the ropes with a 11-7 run over the first 3:56 after our arrival at the 5:25 mark of the second, St. Joe's had to hang on for a 54-45 win as Gerard Lewis scored 12 points including six in the fourth quarter while grabbing 12 rebounds for a double-double, and Paul Konopacki led all scorers with a game high 15 points.
Konopacki registered his 15 points on the night by connecting on six field goals, and making three of four at the foul line while Lewis compiled his 12 on six field goals. Sophomore guard, Steve Rennard chipped in with 9 points on three field goals and a trifecta while junior backcourt mate, Nikko Vastola added four points on two field goals. Senior reserve, Steve Brandenberg (a field goal), and sophomores Gagan Dhaliwal (a field goal) Matt Delaney (a field goal) and Mike Simpson (a field goal) rounded out the Falcon scoring with two points each while Mark Bauer, and Kevin Wagner also played, but didn't score. On the other side of the scoring ledger, McKee Tech was led by Rob Astel, who scored 11 points on four field goals, and a three pointer while Rob Browning chipped in with four field goals himself along with two foul shots for 10 points. Lowell Ulmer and Matt Schwartz each chipped in with three field goals and a foul shot for 7 points while Atigi Moore also contributed with 6 points on three field goals. Matt Oginsky rounded out the Seagull scoring with two field goals for 4 points. Astel scored his average in this one as the 6'1" guard has tallied 11 points per game entering the contest including 20 points in a victory over Tottenville on December 20th. Meanwhile, Browning, who came in avaerage 8.1 points per game in nine previous contests including 15 versus Susan Wagner in an overtime loss on November 30th, scored a bit more than his average.
For the game, St. Joseph's collected its 54 points on 24 field goals, a three pointer, and three foul shots for its 54 points while McKee got its 45 on 19 field goals, a three pointer, an four foul shots. The Gulls were actually 4 of 5 at the charity stripe for 80 percent while the Falcons made 3 of 4 for 75 percent. After both teams played an even first quarter, the Falcons won the second period with a 17-14 edge, and the fourth with a decisive 13-7 showing while the third was tied like the first, but with both teams scoring 16 each. The tie in the third was largely due in part to a nice comeback by the visitors from across Raritan Bay as the Seagulls closed the period with an 11-2 run over the final 3:37 of the frame to pull within three at 41-38 after Dhaliwal took a kickout pass from underneath by Ashamole for a jumper that gave the Falcons its biggest lead of the game at 39-27. After traveling down to Red Bank Regional High School in Little Silver to see the South Brunswick Vikings in action against the hometown Bucs in the Championship Game of the 2007 Buc Classic, GMC Hoops traveled back to Middlesex County, and ended up arriving in the Bird Cage with 5:25 to go in the first half, and St. Joe's clinging to a three point, 14-11 lead. On the very next Falcon possession, Robbie Ashamole, the younger brother of North Brunswick's Jeff Ashamole, and leading contender so far for 2008 GMC Hoops Freshman of the Year, picked up a loose ball after Konopacki lost it on a drive, and netted a short jumper for a 16-11 lead at the 5:05 mark of the second. McKee came right back down the floor for a score that put it within three again at 16-13 with 4:42 to go before intermission.
The Falcons came right back though as Rennard got the ball, and drove into the key for a short shot that made the score, 18-13 at the 4:27 mark. Astel then responded on the Gulls next series with a three pointer that closed the gap to two at 18-16 with 4:10 left in the half. The most frenetic portion of the contest continued as St. Joe's came back down the floor again, and got a three pointer from Rennard at the 3:51 mark for a 21-16 lead. The home team, which had a 9-5 run, then got another score to go up by seven at 23-16 as McKee Tech called for time at the 3:26 mark. Following the timeout, Lewis came up with a nice defensive play that kept things rolling for a bit longer as he blocked a shot on the drive by a McKee player at the 2:33 mark. However, the Seagulls closed the half with six of the final eight points including a score down low off a nice entry pass at the 1:56 mark, a layup on a drive from the right side at the 42 second mark after Vastola got a loose ball and scored a layup at the other end with 1:29 to go in the half, and then MSIT capped the burst with a steal off Rennard near midcourt that resulted in a layup at the buzzer for a 25-22 Falcon lead at the intermission. The third period would be much like the final 5:25 of the first half with St. Joseph's starting out strong for a big lead only to see McKee rally the rest of the period to make things close again. St. Joe's began the second half with a 14-5 spurt to put McKee in a very precarious position, but the Gulls showed some heart by scoring 11 of the last 13 points of the frame to get back to within three entering the fourth.
The Falcons went to work right away in the third as Rennard made a nice pass to Konopacki, who was cutting to the basket from the right wing for a layup that made the score, 27-22 with just eleven seconds gone by in the second half. Konopacki, who scored eight of his points in the third period, then came back with a drive to his right from the left wing into the key for a short shot that made it a 29-22 Falcon lead with 7:19 to go in the stanza. The Seagulls would get on the board finally with a jumper from the left wing that made it 29-24 at the 6:34 mark, but St. Joe's came right back down the floor, and got the ball to Ashamole for a field goal that put the Falcons ahead again by seven, 31-24 at the 6:28 mark. Following a timeout, Konopacki went back to work with a drive from the left side for a layup that made it 33-24 at the 5:40 mark, and then another drive, but from the left wing for a reverse layup at the 4:53 mark that made the score, 35-24. However, on the next MSIT possession, Konopacki picked up his third foul, and had to go to the bench, which set the stage eventually for McKee's late third period run. The Gulls began to show some life right after Konopacki went to the bench as they picked up a steal off an errant pass by Dhaliwal for a layup that made the score, 35-27 at the 4:14 mark. The Falcons would reply though with four straight points including an offensive rebound and follow by Lewis at the 3:57 mark that made it a ten point game at 37-27, and then after a thirty second timeout by head coach, Dave Turco, and the gang, Ashamole gave his kickout from underneath the Falcon basket to Dhaliwal on the left wing for a mid-range jumper that made the score, 39-27 at the 3:37 mark.
Over the next 2:02, the Seagulls from across Raritan Bay rallied with nine unanswered points to make it a ball game again at 39-36 before Rennard gave a bounce pass to Lewis off the inbounds for a layup underneath that gave St. Joe's some breathing room at 41-36 with 1:35 left in the third. However, MSIT would continue to try and claw back into this one with another score that ended the period with St. Joseph's in front, 41-38. The fourth saw the GMC Red Division squad pull away for the victory by scoring 13 of the 20 points in the frame including the first nine points of the period that essentially put the game out of reach. Konopacki returned to the fray in the final frame, and got back to work by taking a pass in from Rennard on the left high post, and driving in for a layup that put the Falcons up by five at 43-38 with 7:28 left. Vastola got his first points in 10:54, and his final ones of the game as he received a pass from Lewis on the right baseline for a short jumper that made it a seven point game at 45-38 with 6:35 to play. Konopacki then made one of two at the line with 6:07 remaining for a 5-0 run, and a 46-38 lead. Lewis, who connected on three field goals on the period got the next four points including a jumper from the right high post at the 4:44 mark that gave the Falcons a 48-38 lead, and then the junior forward took in a patented Brandenberg bounce pass on a kickout from in the paint to the right wing for a layup that capped the game deciding run, and made the score, 50-38 with 3:32 left. From there, MSIT outscored the home team by a 7-4 margin, but St. Joe's ened up on top, 54-45.
With the victory, St. Joseph's won its fourth straight, and improved to 6-1 on the season while McKee dropped its third straight after winning three in a row to move over .500 earlier in the month. The Seagulls, which compete in the Staten Island division of the PSAL, are now 4-6 overall.
Team |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
St. Joseph's (6-1) |
8 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 54 |
McKee Vo-Tech (S.I.) (4-6) |
8 | 14 | 16 | 7 | 45 |
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.