YOUTH BASKETBALL
The Hillsborough Travel Basketball Club (HTBC) boys’ fourth-grade team (10U) defeated the Metuchen Bulldogs at a rare home game at Auten Road School in overtime by a score of 39-33.
Leading all of the first half, the team hit a dry spell in the third quarter and was trailing 23-20 entering the fourth quarter. Strong rebounding by Brendan Griswold and Andrew Fox and points in the fourth quarter by Sean Plaskon, Ryan Kwiecinski, Fox and Jeff Serin left the score tied 31-31 at the end of regulation.
The Hillsborough Raiders continued their strong defense in OT and outscored Metuchen 8-2. Center Serin (17 points), Plaskon (6 points), Andrew Patterson (5 points) and Kwiecinski (4 points) led the team in scoring. Griswold, Zach Tackach, Fox, and Sam Wakai rounded out the scoring with a basket each.
The team’s next game is on Sunday in the playoffs for the Flemington League.
In other fourth-grade boys’ games:
MMOG Cizin 20, St. Matthias 18 The Mary Mother of God Saints fourth-grade boys Team Cizin defeated the St Matthias Mustangs of Somerset 20-18 in a game that was not decided until the final seconds. The victory evened the Saints record at 4-4 for the season.
The Mustangs took the early 2-0 lead before Danny Schantz took over and dominated the first quarter for the Saints. Schantz scored the Saints first basket with a nice drive to the hoop from the top of the key. He was then fouled on the next possession and sank both free throws to give the Saints their first lead 4-2. A few possessions later Schantz had a steal and fast break lay-up to put the Saints up 6-2.
In the second quarter, Zachary Eilbacher went up strong on a short jumper but the ball went in and out, Ben Pasternack was there for the rebound and put back to extend the Saints’ lead to 8-3. Pasternack then had a nice steal and made a great pass to Schantz, who was streaking down court for lay-up and a 10-3 lead.
St. Matthias could not get on track in the first half thanks to the strong defensive contributions by Nick Cizin, James Mehrtens and Miguel Mejia. Zach Maggio made a nice pass to Tyler Kobryn down low and Kobryn made a short jumper to give the Saints a 12-3 lead at the end of the first half.
In the third quarter, the Saints scored on a beautifully executed high-low play. Connor Komoroski caught the ball at the foul line and found Kobryn on the block for the short jumper giving the Saints their biggest lead of the game at 14-4. Komoroski scored the final Saints’ points of the third quarter with a short jumper to give the team a 16-6 lead.
The Mustangs would not go away, however, and scored the next six points to pull to within four at 16-12 with four minutes to go in the game. Kobryn then took a nice pass from Schantz and made the short jumper to extend the lead to 18-12. The Mustangs would not be denied and scored the next four point to make the score 18-16.
After a timeout the Saints came out determined to keep their lead. Matt Calapatia was aggressive when he got the ball on the low block he went up strong with a shot it did not fall but he got his own rebound and shot again. It missed but Kobryn was their for the rebound and put back to make it 20-16. The Mustangs scored again but it was not enough and the Saints held on for the victory.
Schantz and Kobryn led the team in scoring with eight points, followed by Pasternack and Komoroski with two apiece.
MMOG Cizin 33, St. Francis 22 The MMOG Saints fourth-grade boys Team Cizin defeated the St Francis Cabrini Cougars of Piscataway 33-22 in a game that the Saints lead throughout. The victory moved the team’s record to 5-4 for the season.
The Saints got off to a quick start on beautiful acrobatic steal by Zach Maggio that led to great pass to Danny Schantz ahead of the field for a lay-up. Matt Calapatia then extended the lead to 4-0 by hitting two foul shots. The Cougars then cut the lead to 4-3 before Tyler Kobryn started to dominate the glass with two nice rebound put back baskets to make the lead 8-3.
The Saints then started to heat up from the outside. Nick Cizin, Schantz, Maggio and Rob Wardell all connected on jump shots to give the Saints a 16-7 lead. Kobryn closed out the half with a nice shot on a pass from Wardell to make the score 18-7 at halftime.
In the second half, Schantz started out quickly with a rebound put back. Miguel Mejia then made a nice pass in the corner to Schantz, who made the short jumper to give the Saints a 22-9 lead. Maggio hit another jumper to make 24-11. Ben Pasternack then got on the board on a break away basket that made the score 26-13.
Connor Komoroski was fouled in the act of shooting and stepped to the line and made a free throw to make it 27-13. Zachary Eilbacher had an assist when he froze his defender with a crossover dribble and bounce pass to Komoroski, who made the shot to make the lead 31-15.
Kobryn and Schantz led the team in scoring with eight points each, followed by Maggio and Pasternack with four apiece, Komoroski with three and Calapatia, Cizin and Wardell with two each.
St. Francis 29, St. Joseph’s 25 St. Joe’s fourth-grade boy’s basketball team lost a thrilling game against St. Francis of Metuchen. The Blue Storm offense clicked with balanced scoring from Derek Elwood, Brendan Nork, Michael Irwin, Alec Romanoski, and Paul Michinard each scoring two points. Zack Luceno, Chris Blum and Danny Nelson (2 points) provided rebounding and defense in the post to keep the game close and Ben Trybulski scored his first bucket of the season pushing the lead in favor of the Blue Storm. In the end, St. Francis scored the final four points of the game to walk away with the win. Sean Plaskon led St. Joe’s in scoring with six points and key offensive rebounds, while Matthew Remsen scored five points and ran the offense.
4TH GRADE GIRLS
MMOG Boyer 17, MMOG Leacy 15 In an exciting, well-played game between in-parish clubs, Team Boyer was able to outlast their fellow MMOG team with a spirited fourth quarter effort. Kelly Lenkey led all scorers with 10 points including a key fourth quarter basket that provided the final margin. She had help down the stretch, as Carly Vadinsky (3 points), who played a superb defensive game, added a free throw while Kelsey Vieira chipped in with an important field goal.
Team Leacy played an outstanding defensive game and also got key offensive contributions from the backcourt tandem of Shavonne Leacy and Rebecca Delaney, who hit a long 3-point bomb at the end of the third quarter to knot the score. Victoria Ciallella provided an important third quarter bucket for Team Boyer, while contributing an effective all-around game. Samantha Boyer, Rebecca Barglowski and Kayla McKeever also played solid games for MMOG Boyer.
5/6 BOYS
Immaculate Conception 29, St. Joe’s Blue 17 On Jan. 13, St. Joseph’s fell short to Immaculate Conception by a score of 29-17. St. Joe’s first points of the day came from Drew Conroy with a great pass from Scot Levonaitis. Conroy scored St. Joe’s first nine points of the game capped off with a 3-pointer from the top of the key with a great feed from Chris Lew. Ryan Kellerman added a bucket with a sensational pass from Thomas Cahill. Kevin Szymanowski then hit a beautiful jump shot from the corner off a perfect pass from Matt Seelig. Szymanowski added two more scores with passes from Bryce Engelhardt and Dustin Ciano. Tommy Wagner handled the ball for St. Joe’s with great feeds. Paul Vecchio Eddie Desidario created a few turnovers to keep the game within reach. Conroy led all scorers with nine points.
MMOG 20, St. Joe’s Blue 17 St. Joseph’s fifth and sixth grade boys’ Blue team lost a heartbreaker 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 out. 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 Chris 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 points, Lew and Cahill added four, Conroy had three and Wagner, Szymanowski and Kellerman all scored two.
St. Joseph’s 27, Immaculate Conception 25 In a battle that went down to the wire, the St. Joe’s Blue Storm fifth and sixth grade boys outlasted IC Clinton, handing them their first defeat. Dylan Finer led the way with nine points, including a key free throw in the final stanza that tied the score.
St. Joe’s got off to a fast 8-3 lead in quarter one, with Eddie Trimpert (6 points) and Jeff Kuc (2 points) each adding a basket off of assists from Michael Wybraniec and Josh Prince. IC Clinton answered right back in the second quarter to take a 13-10 lead into the locker room.
Grant Dickinson (4 points) tossed in two quick baskets at the start of the third period to put St. Joe’s on top again. From here the game see-sawed back and forth until Joey Romanoski (3 points) and Michael Troeller (3 points) each sank a free throw to provide the final scoring. Michael Remsen and Brent Leoni had three rebounds each, while Isaac Gomolka and Ryan Applegate anchored the defense. The victory was St. Joe’s fifth in a row and the team travels next week to play St. Joe’s Carteret at Carteret.
St. Joseph’s 29, St. Joseph’s (Carteret) 18 Eddie Trimpert hit for 13 points, including seven in the final quarter, as the St. Joe’s Blue Storm fifth and sixth grade boys beat St. Joe’s of Carteret in Carteret. The team jumped out to an early lead on buckets by Michael Troeller (4 points), Michael Remsen (2 points) and Jeff Kuc (2 points), and was ahead 16-8 at halftime.
Josh Prince and Michael Wybraniec had two assists apiece while helping on the defensive side and Ryan Applegate and Brent Leoni (2 points) kept solid pressure on the Carteret wings. St. Joe’s (Carteret), however, continued to chip away, tying the score at 18 heading into the final stanza.
The Blue Storm hunkered down with the help of Grant Dickinson and Dylan Finer, to score 11 unanswered points, while holding their opponent to no points for the entire fourth quarter. Joey Romanoski (2 points) was huge on the defensive and offensive boards, grabbing nine rebounds to help hold Carteret to single shots.
The victory was St. Joe’s sixth in a row, raising their overall record to 6-3. After a bye next week, the boys finish off their regular season against a formidable Mary Mother of God team.
St. Matthias Tournament On Jan. 2, St. Joseph’s fifth and sixth grade boys Blue team made a nice showing in the St Matthias tournament. Drew Conroy led the team.
St Joe’s first took on St. Ann’s and Scot Levonaitis scored the first two points of the game with a power drive down the lane. Eddie Desidario made a nice bounce pass to Conroy, who hit a beautiful jumper from the corner. Wagner then fed Bryce Engelhardt, who scored two from the corner to end the first quarter. Dustin Ciano and Conroy were both fouled and converted one of two free throws. Chris Lew buried a shot from the top of the key. On the next trip down Conroy made a sweet pass to Ciano for two to complete the first half of play.
Conroy continued his awesome play in the second half when he buried a 3-pointer to bring St. Joe’s within six points. Ryan Kellerman got into the action and scored from the corner with a great pass from Kevin Bach. Levonaitis then stole a pass and drove the distance for the hoop. Matt Seelig made a perfect pass to Conroy for a bank shot off the glass which ended the game with St Joe’s falling to St. Ann’s 38-26. Conroy finished the day with 11 points. Levonaitis and Lew both had four, while Ciano (3), Engelhardt (2) and Kellerman (2) also scored.
St. Joe’s next took on Mary Mother of God in what turned out to be a defensive battle. Bach banked his first shot of the game off the glass for two points. Levonaitis then pulled down an offensive rebound and put it back up for the score. Lew hit from the corner to give St. Joe’s a 6-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Conroy was fouled to open up the second period and converted one of two free throws to tie the game at 7-7 going into the break. Kellerman started the second half with a steal and drove the distance for the lay-up to put St. Joe’s up 9-7. Conroy then swished a jumper to give St. Joe’s an 11-9 lead at the end of three quarters. Mary Mother of God came out strong and scored six unanswered points in the fourth period to get the win with a 15-11 final.