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GMC Hoops Summaries--February 12, 2010
Week Eight--Prime Time Shootout

Johnson Fires Plainfield Past St. Joseph's In Late Night Affair, 62-49

By Greg Machos
February 12, 2010

UNION, NJ--It was 11:09 PM on Friday night, and St. Joseph's was in the middle of its warm-ups for the final game of the evening against Plainfield on the first day of action at the 2010 Prime Time Shootout at Kean University's Harwood Arena. The eleventh ranked Falcons according to the Star-Ledger, and top ranked team in the most recent GMC Hoops Top Ten, was taking on the fifth ranked team in the Star-Ledger Top 20 with one of the top juniors in the state in Tyrone Johnson. And, Johnson didn't disappoint. Once the game finally started at 11:22 PM, Johnson did his best to keep those left in attendance entertained, and most importantly awake.

Johnson earned team MVP honors with a game high 31 points to lead the Cardinals of the Watchung Division of the Union County Conference to a 62-49 victory over the Falcons, which dropped to 3-4 against opponents outside of the GMC this season. Johnson scored 13 points in the first half, and 18 in the second as he connected on eight field goals, two three pointers, and nine foul shots. The Plainfield junior accounted for exactly half his team's offensive production as nobody else on the Cards scored in double figures. No one else needed to. However, sophomore guard, Sekou Harris made some timely contributions with several three pointers for 9 points while Justin Sears added 8 points in the win.

St. Joseph's was led by senior guard, Andrew Morgan, who had a team high 13 points on five field goals and a three pointer while teammate, Steve Rennard earned team MVP honors with 12 points on four field goals, a three pointer, and a foul shot. Sophomore Quenton DeCosey chipped in with 9 points on two field goals, a three pointer, and two foul shots while junior Robbie Ashamole added 8 points on four field goals. St. Joseph's had more two point field goals (17-15), but Plainfield had more threes (6-4) and foul shots made (14-3). The free throw margin turned out to be a key difference in the game. Plainfield outscored the Falcons in all four periods, but the game was quite close until the fourth quarter when the Cardinals led by as many as sixteen.

Both of these teams played Union and St. Anthony's with each defeating the Farmers, and losing to the Friars. Plainfield, which claimed the North Jersey Section 2 Group IV sectional title, but lost to Paterson Eastside in the Group IV state semifinals last season, lost the likes of Isaiah Epps to graduation, but Johnson has done his share to fill in the void. As a result, the Cardinals are in the hunt to get to the Tournament of Champions. Plainfield jumped out to a 14-11 first quarter lead. Robbie Ashamole helped St. Joe's draw first blood with an offensive rebound and follow before the Cards scored eight unanswered points including two three point plays by Johnson (one was on a dunk) for an 8-2 advantage before Morgan cut the deficit in half with a jumper at the 4:38 mark.

Following a 30 second timeout by the Falcons, Sears got a score for a 10-4 Plainfield lead, and the Cardinals could have had more, but Ashamole swatted a shot away at the 3:31 mark to prevent St. Joe's from falling behind further. A little more than a minute later, DeCosey, who had six of his nine points in the first half, connected on a three pointer to close the gap to 10-7 at the 2:28 mark. Eric Peterson (a field goal for two points) then swiped a steal and passed to Rennard for a layup to pull the Falcons within one at 10-9 with 1:44 to go in the third. Twenty-five seconds later though, Plainfield got a three pointer from Johnson, who scored nine points in the period, for a 13-9 lead at the 1:19 mark. Ashamole got another bucket to pull St. Joe's within two at 13-11 before Jahmal Lane got his only point of the game, and gave Plainfield a 14-11 lead heading into the second on a free throw with 25.4 seconds to go in the period.

The second quarter started on a positive note for St. Joseph's. Over the first 3:26 of the period, the Falcons put together an 8-6 start including a 4-0 run on layups by Robert O'Grady (a field goal for 2 points) and Peterson to close to within a point again at 20-19. Plainfield would get another score and two free throws by Johnson for a 24-19 advantage with 3:53 remaining in the half. Almost a minute and a half later, the Cardinals were in the bonus as Nate Grant-Dewitt (4 points on a field goal and two free throws) made one of two from the line for a 25-19 lead. Morgan made a three pointer from the right wing off a kickout at the 1:24 mark for a 25-22 Plainfield edge. However, Harris came up big with a three pointer from the top of the key at the 1:14 mark, and a trey at the 50.9 second mark for a 31-22 lead. DeCosey ended the first half scoring with a three point play as his shot got a kind roll for a 31-25 Cardinals edge at the intermission.

Johnson (13 points) and Harris (6 points) accounted for 76 percent of the Cardinal offense while St. Joseph's had nobody scoring in double figures as DeCosey and Ashamole each had six while Morgan added five. In the third period, both teams combined for the lowest quarter scoring output of the game. Defenses on both sides locked down as the Cards outscored the Falcons by an 11-9 margin. Rennard got himself going with a field goal and a three pointer to pull his team within one for the third time before Allen Brown (a field goal and a three for 5 points) got a trey at the 4:34 mark for a 34-30 Plainfield lead. The Cardinals added a free throw before DeCosey scored on an offensive rebound and follow and Morgan got a bucket to pull the Falcons within a point for the fourth time in this contest at 35-34.

However, Plainfield ended the third with a 7-0 run on two baskets and a foul (missed bonus free throws) including one by Johnson for a 39-34 lead, and a three point play by Johnson with 4.1 seconds left in the frame for a 42-34 advantage heading into the fourth. The Cards opened the fourth with a ten point lead as Johnson scored his seventh straight point on a steal for a dunk. Johnson had three jams in the contest. St. Joseph's tried to stay within striking distance at 44-36 as Ashamole scored on a follow of a DeCosey miss at the 6:47 mark. Following a 30 second timeout by the Falcons, Rennard got another score to make it a six point game, but Johnson responded with a three pointer for a 47-38 lead at the 6:12 mark. Johnson added another bucket for an eleven point lead before Rennard passed to Morgan for a pull-up jumper to close the gap to nine again at 49-40 with 5:19 to play.

After a full timeout by St. Joe's, Harris sparked a 13-6 spurt that put the game away with a three pointer that made the score, 52-40 with exactly five minutes to go. Forced to foul, the Falcons forced the Cards to go to the line, where they made their free throws to lead by as much as 62-46 before Morgan hit a late three pointer to round out the final 62-49 score. With the win, PHS improved its record to 17-2 overall on the year while St. Joseph's fell to 18-4. The GMC was 0-2 at the Prime Time this year. In addition, the conference was 0-5 in games against opponents from outside Middlesex County on this day. View the photo slideshow of some of the action from the Prime Time Shootout. Video highlights and analysis will be forthcoming in the blog.

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