YOUTH BASKETBALL
The sixth-grade Raiders boys’ A travel basketball beat undefeated Westfield in the Montgomery League. The team has won their last 14 games earning a record of 14-1.
The team traveled to North Brunswick and Montgomery and came away with two great wins, especially beating an undefeated team from Westfield. Westfield came to extend its undefeated status and the Raiders came to continue their winning streak. The Raiders beat Westfield by one point at the buzzer; the score was 48-47.
The Raiders started the first quarter by playing smart basketball and quickly led Westfield by seven points with baskets from James Smith and Matt Westphal and after a turnover from Westfield Aaron Anane scored. Westfield turned the ball over again and Ryan Champouillon took advantage and hit a long 3-pointer from an assist from Andrew Zitel. Westphal hit a buzzer beater to end the first quarter with the Raiders up 11-4. Westphal., Matt Hornich and Smith each had a great second quarter by scoring six, four and two points, respectively. The Raiders scored 12 points going into halftime leading Westfield by 14 points, ending the half at 23-9.
Westfield started the second half with a basket and one. The team started turning the ball over which allowed their opponents to go on a 7-2 run to bring the score to 25-16. Understanding that they were playing a great tough team, the Raiders turned up their game and Smith on the next two possessions dished the ball to Scottie Timko for a basket and then Mike Liska for the next basket.
The Raiders’ offense only got better to end the quarter with Westphal scoring after a steal from Anane, Hornich scored and then Champouillon hit another long three from an assist from Smith. Westfield scored 11 points in the fourth quarter but that wasn’t enough to go away with their record undefeated. Smith scored a nice basket on the first possession to start what was a very exciting eight minutes, especially the last 9.1 seconds of the game. The Raiders also saw scoring actions from Timko, Parham and Hornich. With both teams looking to continue their goals and with only 9.1 second left, Smith missed a shot from the wing but Hornich got a strong rebound and made the lay-up for the win. The Raiders played a very exciting game on the hardwood at both ends of the court. They have proven over and over again that they are very competitive and know how to play team basketball.
The Raiders beat Milltown by three points, scoring 38 points. Greg Amato scored the first basket in the Milltown game, and then Amato dished the ball to Anane for a nice basket. On the next Raider’s possessions Liska went quickly to the basket with an assist from Westphal, followed by an assist from Smith to Amato for two. As the first half progressed the Raiders saw action from Timko, Anane and Hornich at the charity strip as they each cashed in one free throw.
Andrew Zitel came down the court and picked the opponents pocket to cause a turnover. The first half ended with a strong rebound from Liska, who dished it to Zitel for an easy basket, which put the Raiders up by one. The Raiders dominated the first half with actions at both ends of the court. Liska started the second half with an awesome three-point shot. Milltown scored six points to take the lead until Parham scored with an assist from Timko to tie the game at 21-21.
The game became very exciting to watch as the Raiders traded basket with Milltown. Hornich and Champouillon over the next couple of possessions assisted each other as Champouillon scored five points which included a 3-pointers and Hornich scored two points. The game was wrapped up as Liska, Parham, Smith and Anane scored the last eight points for the win.
In other youth basketball action from other age levels:
5/6 BOYS
MMOG Boyer 36, St. Bernard’s 26 The Saints improved their league record to 4-3 with a solid win over their rivals from Bridgewater. Attacking a man to man defense, back court makes Ryan Champouillon (14 points) and Eric Boyer (12 points) thrived with a balance between dribble drives and accurate perimeter shooting. MMOG was also able to rack up a big advantage on the boards with centers Greg Onderko and Jack Ryan leading the way. Onderko continued to be a force inside, contributing important interior offense and points. Sean Ciesla (2 steals), Matt Sherdian (4 steals) and Thomas Klein were stout on the defensive end, while Kevin Jackson, Nick Dondiego and A.J. Holodinski also turned in solid efforts.
St. Joseph’s Blue 26, MMOG 23 St. Joe’s lost a heart-breaker to MMOG in overtime. Ryan Kellerman scored first for St. Joe’s on a strong move to the hoop. Scot Levonaitis added two with a shot from the baseline off a nice pass from Bryce Engelhardt. Tommy Wagner than launched a shot that found the hoop to put St Joe’s ahead at the end of the first period 6-2. The second quarter saw little scoring to end the first half at 6-3.
St. Joe’s came to life in the third period starting with Kevin Szymanowski making a jumper from about 20 feet. Levonaitis scored two off an offensive rebound. Chris Lew hit a 25-foot jumper off the glass with Kevin Bach getting the assist. Levonaitis added four more to close out the third period putting St. Joe’s ahead 16-8. Thomas Cahill scored the only points for St. Joe’s in the forth quarter while MMOG came roaring back to tie the game at the end of regulation 18-18 and send it into overtime.
In overtime Matt Seelig fed Lew to put St. Joe’s ahead. Dustin Ciano came up with a big assist to Cahill in OT. Eddie Desidario pulled down an offensive rebound to help St. Joe’s keep it close but MMOG proved to be too strong. Levonaitis finished the game with eight. Lew and Cahill added four, Conroy three and Wagner, Szymanowski and Kellerman all scored two.
St. Joseph’s 34, Christ the King 14 The team cruised to its fourth win in a row. It was a total team effort for the St. Joe’s boys as they beat Christ the King 35-14 in Manville. Dylan Finer (6 points) and Joey Romanoski (9 points) led all scorers, as the team streaked out to a 13-5 halftime lead and never looked back. Josh Prince (2 points) led off the third quarter with a beautiful steal and lay-up and Ryan Applegate made a well-timed pass from under the basket to a cutting Isaac Gomolka (2 points), who swished a jumper from 12 feet. Eddie Trimpert (4 points) and Grant Dickinson played their usual solid defense, while Michael Remsen (4 points), Jeff Kuc (4 points) and Brent Leoni grabbed numerous rebounds, helping hold Christ the King to one shot at a time. Michael Wybraniec had two assists while also playing excellent defense and Michael Troeller (4 points) had eight assists and five steals. After getting off to a slow start, St. Joe’s has captured its last four contests and will have another tough test next Saturday against a rugged St. Joe’s Carteret team in Carteret.
5/6 GIRLS
St Joseph’s Manning 27, Immaculate Conception Clinton 19 What a great team effort on a hard-fought win over an always strong opponent IC Clinton. Scoring was well distributed across the scorebook with Gillian Manning getting her first basket of the year late in the fourth quarter sealing the victory. Amanda and Megan Muller both had six points along with Alex DeGaris. Jessica Geremia added three and Kim Neydon and Erin Mershon threw in two of their own. Paulina Costello played tough defense to keep IC from penetrating into the paint. Brianne and Leah both played strong under the boards pulling down a number of rebounds on both sides of the court.
4TH GRADE BOYS
HTBC 34, Upper Makefield 23 The Hillsborough Travel Basketball Club (HTBC) boys’ fourth-grade team (10U) defeated Upper Makefield, Pennsylvania in the Sunday Flemington League. The Hillsborough Raiders used their 3-2 zone defense to create numerous turnovers and fast break opportunities. With Kyle Jeney, Zach Tackach, Sean Plaskon, Andrew Patterson, Sam Wakai, Cole Norfleet and Ryan Kwiecinski leading the defensive attack, the Raiders jumped to an 18-9 halftime lead. Center Jeff Serin (12 points), Andrew Patterson (7 points), Sean Plaskon (6 points) and Sam Wakai (4 points) led the team in scoring. The team’s next game is on Sunday against Central Bucks, Pennsylvania.
St. Joseph’s SanFillippo 22, St Francis (Red) 17 In another closely contested battle, St. Joseph’s Blue Storm defeated a very talented St Francis team. The Blue Storm started quick and with a combination of great defense and strong rebounding held a seven-point lead late in the first quarter. In the second quarter, St Francis turned it around with some terrific outside shooting and took a one-point lead into the half. St Francis continued its impressive play early into the fourth quarter and extended its lead to four points.
However, similar to last week the Blue Storm finished strong outscoring St Francis 10-3 during the last five minutes of the contest to win the game. St Joseph’s was led by Tyler SanFillippo, who poured in seven points and also turned in a great defensive effort. Strong offensive performances were also recorded by Kyle Jeney with six points and Luke Finer with three points, while Michael Engelhardt, Chris Rivera and Mike Rivera chipped in with two points apiece. Once again Eric Ross, Patrick Cahill and Matt Gradone provided smothering defense at the top of the key and were the catalyst for a number turnovers. Lastly, Cole Norfleet hit the boards hard, which provided many second chance scoring opportunities for the Blue Storm throughout the entire game. Congratulations to both teams for their great effort and good sportsmanship.
St. Joseph’s 20, Immaculate Conception 13 This game was closer than the score indicates. Team defense kept the Blue Storm in the game. The team never trailed by more than four points the first three quarters, playing a storming defense lead by Paul Michinard, Michael Irwin, Derek Elwood, Ben Trybulski, Brendan Nork and Chris Blum. After a slow start offensively, Sean Plaskon (5 points), Matthew Remsen (4 points), Alec Romanoski (2 points) and Zack Luceno (2 points) helped to keep the game close heading into the fourth quarter.