Juice All-Stars Take Reebok East Chip
LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Saturday's Reebok Summer East Championship started off fast paced and neck and neck and it would not be an easy game.
NYCHoops #2 ranked Juice All-Stars would play their usual tough game while the NJ Shoreshots Select played more of a finesse game. In the end, rough and rugged beat finesse as the Juice All-stars would go on to defeat the team from New Jersey, 75-70.
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6'5" senior Curtis Loving of Wadleigh and 6'8" junior James Padgett of Lincoln were effective inside for the Juice but Chaz Williams, formerly of the NY Panthers was efficient as he ran the point for the Shore shots with 6'5" junior Steve Spinella as the beneficiary.
With 8:44 left in the first half the Shoreshots would pull ahead by 13pts off a Brian Neller three pointer followed by a Carl Baptiste put back.
With 4:41 left in the first half 6'2" Dave Coley of Thomas Jefferson finally broke the Shoreshots defense followed by Jefferson teammate Keith Spellman.
The Juice would continue to claw their way back into the game as Padgett would score 14 first half points but Spinella's 16 first half point would keep the Shoreshots up by 3 at the half.
The second half started with Padgett scoring inside to pull the Juice to within one.
6'7" OD Anosike, a junior from St. Peter's in Staten Island, NY was a beast on the defensive boards for the Shoreshots as they maintained their lead as Williams pushed the ball up court for left and right handed lay ups.
A three pointer by the 6'8 junior Baptiste and a follow up by Williams kept the Shoreshots up by 7pts early in the second half.
The Juice All-stars struggled early to find offense but were holding their own on defense as they kept Shoreshots shooting guard Lance Brown contained to 4 first half points which kept them within striking range.
6'2" senior Vincent Council would tie the game at 52 and a Loving put back would give Juice the lead with 7 minutes remaining as Shoreshots went cold from the perimeter.
The lead would seesaw as the Juice continued to frustrate the Shoreshots on defense.
With 4:49 left the Juice were up by one until Williams, a 5'8" junior from Bishop Ford scored an up and under lay up.
The Hofstra bound Williams was a blur in the open court but Loving countered inside offensively and on defense.
Down by 2 points with 2:01 left, Shoreshots coach Joe Stein called a timeout and Brown responded aggressively on offense getting to the foul line.
Unfortunately, Brown missed both attempts at the charity strip that could have tied the score with 1:45 left in regulation but would be the first of a calamity of errors for the6'3" junior from Paterson Catholic.
Loving would score an acrobatic and1 to push the Juice to 5pts with 1:20 remaining.
Williams caused Ellis to turn the ball over but they could not convert. With 43.2 seconds the Juice was still up by 3.
Brown would commit a costly foul on Coley on the defensive glass which pushed the lead to 6pts.
Brown then missed a subsequent dunk and with 20.5 second left
With the Shoreshots Select now down 8 points, Neller would nail a 3ball but time would run out as the Juice All-stars would go on to win the Reebok Summer Classic East Chip, 75-70.
James Padgett and Curtis Loving had 18pts for the Juice All-stars while. Chaz Williams had a game high 19pts.
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