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Cardinal
McCarrick Falls To Union |
By Greg Machos
February 9, 2008SOUTH AMBOY, NJ—It was a homecoming of sorts for Union head coach, Tony DiGiovanni, who had previously coached in the GMC at Piscataway and New Brunswick before returning to his alma mater as basketball coach last season. His Farmers, sporting a 16-4 record overall, and coming off a recent victory in overtime over traditional Watchung Conference and state power, Linden earlier in the week, traveled down the Garden State Parkway to South Amboy to face another hot team in Cardinal McCarrick, which had won 17 straight games including crossover wins against Piscataway, Colonia, and South Brunswick to earn the top seed in the 2008 GMC Tournament. The game represented a great test for the Eagles and the GMC, which is often knocked for not being able to stand tall against foes from Union County, particularly the Watchung Conference. The Farmers, which had struggled in recent years, have had a renaissance under DiGiovanni, who was a standout quarterback at the school under the guidance of legendary coach, Lou Rettino. He then went on to serve as an assistant to Bob Hurley at St. Anthony's before taking the head coaching position at Piscataway for the 2003-04 season.
Union has beaten the top teams in the Watchung this season including Linden, Elizabeth, Scotch Plains (projected as the conference's best team in pre-season), and Shabazz. The Farmers also played highly regarded Mount Vernon of New York in a showcase, and only lost by four. Linden would later go on, and beat the team that has produced such players as Ben Gordon of the Chicago Bulls and Mike Coburn, who currently plays at Rutgers. McCarrick has taken on all comers this with a non-conference schedule that has consisted of St. Anthony's, Lincoln of Jersey City, Snyder of Jersey City, Hillside, and now Union. The Eagles hail one of the top players in the state in Mike Burwell, who has garnered interest from a number of Division I schools including Notre Dame, and has averaged 27.5 points per game as of Saturday's edition of The Home News-Tribune. Julio Rosario isn't shabby either as he has chipped in with a 14.3 points per game average saw far this season. With Bishop Ahr defeating Middlesex earlier in the day, the Eagles finished tied for first in the GMC Blue with a 13-1 division record. It marked the tenth time in the last eleven seasons that the Eagles came home with at least a share of the division crown including five in the GMC Gold and five in the Blue. The two teams battled in a nip and tuck affair that saw McCarrick make it known to the rest of the state that it can compete with just about anybody.
Trailing by six at the half, 27-21, and then by eight early in the third, the Eagles embarked on a 7-2 run that closed the gap to 31-28 at the 3:15 mark when UHS called for time. Following the stoppage, McCarrick, which outscored Union by a margin of 17-10 in the third, took the lead with a 10-6 showing the rest of the way for a 38-37 score entering the fourth. However, in the final period of action, the Farmers pulled out the win by limiting the South Amboy based school to just nine points, and scored the final six points to turn a 47-45 deficit into a hard fought, 51-47 victory. The Eagles were paced by Burwell, who collected a game high 20 points on eight field goals including two three pointers, and two free throws while Rosario chipped in with 16 points on seven field goals including a three pointer, and a foul shot. St. Peter's transfer, Dominic Appiah only added six points on two field goals and two free throws, but battled on the glass with several of Union's big men for 14 boards. Branten Widgeon contributed with 5 points on a field goal, and three foul shots while seniors Will Snider and Sean Williams also played, but didn't score. Meanwhile, for the Farmers, Travis Taylor, a 6'8" senior forward, was a load in the low blocks with 16 points on eight field goals and 13 rebounds. Aishon White, a sopohomore guard, shared team high honors with 16 points on five field goals including a trey, and five free throws while Dion Nesmith added five points on a three pointer, and two free throws. Rounding out the scoring for Union were sophomore forward James Daniels (two field goals for 4 points), junior guard, Bryce Lewis (a three pointer for three points), Javon Moore (a field goal for two points), and Thomas Goubadia (a free throw for a point). Vladimir Laguerre and Joshua Kolas also played, but didn't score.
The first period saw the Farmers jump out to a 5-2 lead on a three pointer from the left corner by White after McCarrick had tied the game at 2-2 on a Burwell jumper in traffic. Union had opened the game with a layup off an assist by White. Appiah then took a feed from Widgeon in the right low block, and scored a bucket for a 5-4 Union lead before Daniels connected on a baseline jumper from the right side for a 7-4 edge at the 4:40 mark. Thirty seconds later, Burwell scored again on a reverse layup for a 7-6 UHS lead at the 4:10 mark. On the next Farmer possession, White drew a foul, and netted both from the foul line for a 9-6 Union advantage with just inside four minutes to play in the opening period. The Eagles rallied though with a field goal by Burwell, a steal for a layup from Rosario, and then one of two at the line by Rosario to go ahead briefly 10-9, and tie things up at 11-11, but the Farmers ended the quarter with a 4-0 run including a steal and assist by Moore on a layup by Taylor, and then an offensive rebound and putback by the senior forward for a 15-11 lead heading into the second. In the last period before the half, Union edged the Eagles by two points to increase its lead to six at the break. Taylor figured prominently again with a block of an Appiah shot in the opening minute, and then a dunk. The Farmers also got a jumper from the top of the key for a 17-11 lead at the 6:45 mark, and then a three pointer by Nesmith at the 5:25 mark to cap a 9-0 run for a 20-11 advantage. Both teams exchanged scores for a 22-13 Farmer lead when UHS came up with a nice defensive play by drawing a charge on Rosario at the 3:25 mark.
To their credit, McCarrick battled back with an 8-4 run including a jumper and 1 of 2 free throws by Burwell, one of two from the line by Rosario, and three of six at the charity stripe from Widgeon to close to within five at 26-21 with 18 seconds to go in the half as DiGiovanni called for time. Following the timeout, the Farmers made one of two at the line with 11 seconds left before the intermission to take the six point, 27-21 lead into the locker room. In the third, UHS scored the first points to take an eight point lead before Cardy Mac fought back with seven of the next nine points including an offensive rebound, and follow by Widgeon, a Rosario three pointer from the left corner off an assist from Burwell, and a layup by Rosario, which was also from Burwell for a three point Union lead at the 3:15 mark. Burwell then came up with a huge three point play that continued the run, and tied the game at 31-31 with 2:35 to go in the frame. After trailing by nine late in the first half, the Eagles outscored the Farmers by a two to one margin to tie things up. McCarrick then took its first lead since late in the first quarter when Rosario scored on a layup for a 33-31 score at the 2:09 mark. Taylor promptly responded with a score down low that knotted the game again at 33-33 with 1:27 to play in the third. Burwell put the Eagles back on top moments later with a trey from the left side for a 36-33 score at the 1:17 mark. Moore pulled Union to within one on a baseline jumper from the left side that made the score, 36-35 with 1:10 to play in the stanza. Continuing to go back and forth, the game saw McCarrick go up by three again as Rosario made a nifty move for a score, and a 38-35 edge with about 30 seconds remaining in the period.
Union wouldn't go away though as the Farmers ended the quarter with yet another putback from Taylor that made the score, 38-37 in favor of the Eagles heading into the fourth. In the final period, Cardinal McCarrick got off to a fast start with six of the first eight points of the frame. Highlighting the early run was a floater from Rosario, a steal for a coast to coast layup by Burwell, and a layup by Appiah that gave the Eagles their biggest lead of the game at 44-39 with 5:44 to play. UHS fought back again though with six of the next seven over a span of 2:28 to tie the game up again at 45-45. Keying the rally with a three pointer from the right wing. McCarrick then took the lead again at 47-45 on a field goal, but White knotted the score again at 47-47 with a layup at the 1:57 mark as the Eagles called for time. The score remained tied when McCarrick head coach, Joe Lewis called for another timeout with 44 seconds left. Following that stoppage, the Farmers went ahead as White swiped a steal, and went in for the go ahead layup, and a 49-47 lead with 26 seconds to play. Still having a chance to tie, McCarrick was foiled on its next offensive sequence, and Nesmith subsequently drew a foul, and made a pair of free throws with 8.6 seconds left to seal the four point win on the road.
With the victory, Union improved to 17-4 overall, and will now get ready for play in the Union County Tournament while McCarrick, which had their 17 game winning streak halted, dropped to 19-4 overall on the season. Included in that mark is a 3-2 record against non-conference teams. Next game for the Eagles will be on Thursday night against the winner of Monday's matchup between Metuchen and South Plainfield at SPHS. You can view some of the video highlights from this matchup in the GMC Hoops Blogosphere.
Team |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
Union (17-4) |
15 | 12 | 10 | 14 | 51 |
Cardinal McCarrick (19-4) |
11 | 10 | 17 | 9 | 47 |
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