BY SHAWN LAYTON
Staff Writer
EDISON — The J.P. Stevens High School boys basketball team will look to rebound after losses to Edison and East Brunswick last week when it travels to South Brunswick for a 7 p.m. meeting tomorrow before heading to North Hunterdon for a 1 p.m. tip-off Saturday.
South Brunswick is 7-1 heading into this week’s action and coming off a big win over St. Joseph by a 65-53 score.
Despite holding a 21-17 edge at the half in the Edison contest, Stevens fell to the Eagles 62-45. Edison’s ability to get to the foul line and convert 31 out of 37 attempts was the difference in the game.
Senior forward Andrew Biancosino led the Hawks with 11 and 6-foot-7 senior center Ryan Washington finished with 10.
Heading into Saturday’s match-up in East Brunswick, Stevens was hopeful that the presence of its explosive guard Kenny Melford would provide a much-needed spark.
Although still out of the starting lineup, Melford was playing in just his second game of the season after having been sidelined with the flu.
Melford was used sparingly in the first half, but played serious minutes in the second half and exploded for 13 points in the final quarter. However, by the fourth quarter East Brunswick had the game under wraps. Melford finished with a team-high 17 points while teammates Adam Kramen and Jason Callender added six and five, respectively.
The Bears raced out to a 22-5 lead after the first quarter, led by senior guard Josh Sims’ pair of 3-pointers. He finished with 14. In the second quarter, East Brunswick’s junior guard Jimmy McCloskey came off the bench and couldn’t miss. McCloskey scored 11 in the second quarter to give the Bears a 40-13 halftime lead. McCloskey finished with 18 points and the Bears handed Stevens its sixth straight loss with a 73-46 victory.
“We’re not defending well and we’re not rotating to the ball fast enough,” Stevens head coach James Cardillo said. “I’ve been asking guys to do things they are
unaccustomed to doing with Kenny being out of the lineup, and it has taken its toll.”
Two things are certain — the Hawks are a much better team than the one that showed up Saturday in East Brunswick, and with Melford in the lineup they can be an outstanding team.
“Kenny has been out with the flu for two weeks,” Cardillo said. “I tried to ease him back in because it will take some time to get him back into game shape. Hopefully, this game gets him going for next week.”
The Hawks are currently 1-7 and will need to get on track this week to have a chance of finishing near the top of the Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division.
“The big thing right now is confidence,” Cardillo said. “I think we started strong, but that bravado we had at the beginning of the season is gone. It is going to be mentally challenging for the guys to get back that winning attitude.”