Boys basketball: Calvary Christian remains unbeaten in division with late burst
SPOTSWOOD — Perth Amboy Magnet has been the Cinderella story in the GMC this season, succeeding in seven of 11 outings after recording two victories a year ago.
The story appeared to be adding its most significant chapter when the Patriots took on undefeated Gold Division rival Calvary Christian, riding a five-game winning streak, and promptly opened the Thursday contest with seven unanswered points.
Midnight struck Perth Amboy Magnet in the second quarter as the Lions came roaring back by running off 13 consecutive points to take the lead for good, then used another late burst to break the contest open and coast to a 63-38 victory.
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The outcome improved Calvary to 10-1 overall and 8-0 in the division it won a share of last season for the first time.
It didn’t look that way at the start as Perth Amboy Magnet (7-5, 5-2) came out on fire, scoring the game’s first seven points, five by Donovan Escobar on a foul line jumper and a trey. The Patriots led, 10-4, after the opening period, but that narrative was about to change.
“The plan was to start as hot and as fast as possible, try to overwhelm teams with our fast sets and our fast presses, so that was not part of the game plan,” Calvary first-year coach Jordan Koczman said. “I thought about calling a timeout but I like to see the guys figure it out on their own.”
They did.
The Lions responded with a 17-4 advantage over the second quarter behind six points by Michael Schafer (15 points) and five from Robert Kauffman (21). It was a balanced showing by Calvary as seven players scored in the quarter.
“Shots started falling and we got more confident in the paint,” said senior forward Kyle Durkin, who delivered 12 rebounds, 10 points and five assists in a blue-collar effort. “Once we work in the paint, that’s our specialty. Work down low and see what happens.”
Perth Amboy Magnet was still hanging around, trailing 32-22 with 2:15 left in the third quarter. That’s when the Lions took off on another 16-2 binge, six by Schafer, to remove any lingering doubt.
Last year, Calvary relied on 1,000-point scorer Jack Zink for much of its offense, but the team is better balanced. More important, the players have accepted their roles and share the ball.
“Everyone knows their role, which is nice,” Koczman said. “We have our post players, some of them kind of play a stretch position, we have our shooters. Everyone knows to learn on each other.”
“This year, our starting five and our sixth man are all seniors so we’re all in class together,” Durkin said. “We have great chemistry and we work really well in practice, and it translates.”
Jeremy Valdez led with 10 points and Escobar netted nine for Perth Amboy Magnet, which played without starting guard Anthony Vega, a key contributor during its recent run, who was absent due to an illness in his family.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ boys basketball: Calvary Christian tops Perth Amboy Magnet
