MONMOUTH JUNCTION - The St. Joseph (Met.) High School boys basketball team came dangerously close to missing the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament final for the first time in 10 years on Tuesday night.
Fourth-seeded Carteret (20-5) held a 60-59 lead after Tim Ellis hit one of two free throws with 6.3 seconds remaining in the second GMC Tournament semifinal at South Brunswick. The top-seeded Falcons inbounded the ball, and after some frenzied passing, found an open Luke Fresco, who hit a 3-pointer as time expired for a 62-60 victory and a berth in the championship.
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"I knew K-Shawn (Schulters) was going to get pressured and I was going to get an open shot, and I'm made for that and I was just ready, ball came to me, I knocked it down, big win, big game," Fresco said. "It feels great, that's a dream come true right there."
St. Joseph (20-4) will be making its 11th-straight appearance in the final and will be looking to win its third title in a row and eighth in nine years.
The Falcons will face seventh-seeded Colonia in the final at 8 p.m. on Thursday at the Rutgers Athletic Center. The Patriots defeated No. 3 Old Bridge 47-30 in the first semifinal on Tuesday night. It will be a rematch of the 2015 GMC Tournament final in which Colonia won 54-38.
Against Carteret on Tuesday, St. Joseph led pretty much from the start, but let the Ramblers climb back into the game at the end of the third quarter after holding a 12-point lead with 5:56 left.
Trailing 36-24, Carteret scored five-straight points to cut the Falcons' lead to 36-29 with 4:45 to play. A basket from Schulters put St. Joseph ahead nine with 3:23 left, but the Ramblers went on a 11-4 run to close out the third quarter and pull to within 42-40.
Malik Austin tied the game 42-42 on a putback to open the fourth quarter, and a 3-pointer from Ellis sparked a 9-2 run that put Carteret ahead 51-44 with 4:03 left in the game.
"We knew they were going to give us a hard fight, the media was saying they were going to win so we knew they were going to play hard and be a tough team, but we came out and fought," Schulters said.
Four-straight points put the Falcons back within 51-48 with 2:54 to play, but the Ramblers didn't let up and hit three of four free throws in the span of eight seconds to pull ahead 54-48 with 2:09 to go.
A basket by Schulters cut the lead to 54-50, but back-to-back baskets from Isaiah Daniels-Porter and Zamar Brake gave Carteret a 58-50 lead with 1:21 left.
Tyree Taganeca-Ford then scored five-straight points to pull St. Joseph to within one, 58-57, with 50.2 seconds remaining. Ellis was fouled and hit one of two free throws to give the Rambers a 59-57 advantage with 38.2 to play, but another basket from Schulters tied the game 59-59 with 29.8 seconds to go.
"That was it, that was our season if we lost really, except for states," Fresco said. "Counties are huge, and that was it really. We're fighters, we just keep playing, day in, day out, practice in, practice out, and we just have to keep fighting, one more game."
Schulters scored a game-high 30 points to pace the Falcons, with 19 points coming in the second half, and pulled down seven rebounds. Taganeca-Ford finished with 14 points.
Austin recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds for Carteret, which was looking to advance to its first GMC Tournament final since 2002. Daniels-Porter contributed 14 points and seven rebounds. Jahlil Nix added 16 points and eight rebounds.
For the Falcons, advancing to the GMC Tournament final is a sense of relief after dealing with an offseason that saw a sweeping coaching staff change and two players transfer. The team is also relatively young this season, with nine sophomores on the roster. The starting lineup on Tuesday consisted of one senior, one junior and three sophomores.
"It feels good knowing that the team all these years has been making it (to the final), and we just want to keep the tradition going," Schulters said. "It feels good with the new staff we have and the young players we have."
Staff Writer Lauren Knego: lknego@gannettnj.com; on Twitter: @laurenknego
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