Rumson-Fair Haven boys basketball follows instructions to beat Bound Brook in CJ2 final
RUMSON – The Bound Brook High School boys basketball team’s first season in Group 2 in more than 50 years was definitely a successful one. But the Crusaders got a look at what an elite Group 2 squad looks like Monday night at Rumson.
Top-seeded Rumson-Fair Haven roared out to a 13-4 lead against No. 2 Bound Brook on the way to 75-44 victory. The title was the Bulldogs’ third in six years. Rumson-Fair Haven (21-3) will meet South champ Camden in a state semifinal at 5 p.m. on Thursday at Egg Harbor.
Bound Brook has reached six sectional finals (five in Group 1) since Anthony Melesurgo became coach for the 2004-05 season. The Crusaders (22-5) were out to win their first sectional title since 1979. But Rumson was simply better.
"They are the best all-around team we played this year in terms of post and perimeter play," Melesurgo said. "They are a really good shooting team. We needed them to miss a couple of shots today and they didn’t. They shot the ball really well. We needed to guard a little better and score and it wasn’t the best effort by us."
The Crusaders were never really in the game as the Bulldogs spread out the court to get wide open looks and clearly won the rebound and loose ball battle. They also frequently held Bound Brook to one shot per trip.
Bulldogs coach Chris Champeau likes his team to start games with pressure – relentless pressure.
Rumson-Fair Haven led 18-4 after the first quarter.
"I always say, 'Let’s put it on them and see what happens,'" Champeau said. "We open up with pressure and see if they played teams like us. You see us on film you might not realize how intense we are, so we throw that pressure on them early and get up eight to 10 points. But Bound Brook came back and we had to stop what we were doing. They didn’t go down easily."
The biggest hurdle for the Crusaders was getting a handle on 6-foot-6 senior forward Scott Gyimesi. The Tufts-commit finished with 25 points and 24 rebounds and was a constant obstacle for the smaller Crcusaders. He left the game briefly in the second quarter with a slight injury when Bound Brook cut its deficit to nine at 26-17.
"We got it down to nine, 10 points toward the end of the second quarter and they got it to 14 again," Melesurgo said. "I would have liked to have kept it to under 10 going into halftime. We didn’t do a good job of keeping it within striking distance which really hurt us."
Senior Geoff Schroeder’s 3-pointer pushed the lead to 29-17 with 2:08 left in the half. Bound Brook never got closer.
The Bulldogs had nine 3s. Cal Famula led with three and Schroeder and Owen Sullivan each had two. Sullivan scored 15 points, Famula 14 and Schroeder 11.
"I just think their ability to stretch you out and have four guys who that can shoot the ball really hurt us tonight," Melesurgo said.
Bound Brook’s standout junior big man Jordan Summers and senior guard Quadir Harrell were blanketed. Summers, who was averaging 21.5 points and 13.7 rebounds per game, was held to seven points. Harrell, whose layup with 1.8 seconds left in regulation beat Raritan 50-49 Friday night in the sectional semi, had 10 points in the final. Senior forward Donovan Newihany led with 13.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Rumson-Fair Haven boys basketball beats Bound Brook in CJ2 final
