A Fanatic Summation of the Plainfield vs Gill St Bernard Game

Where did the Cardinals win this game?

In arguably the most exciting game of the year in New Jersey, multiple players on both teams put on an exhibition for the ages.  Normally the Cardinal Fanatic gives out the top 5 players of the game but this game was an exception.  Only naming 5 players would do an injustice to the overall team performance of both Plainfield and Gill St. Bernard’s. 

But how in the world did the Cardinals pull out the victory with defeat on their door steps twice (down 5 with a minute in regulation and down 5 with a minute in overtime) was just an amazing display of the refuse to lose mentality of veteran Cardinals.

Here is a detail comparison of the statistical categories and you decide where this game was won for the Cardinals!

We will start with the stats that affect the opportunities to score.

–        Personal Fouls – (Advantage Plainfield) - Gill St. Bernard’s committed 18 personal fouls to the Cardinals 13.  Larry Piretra earned the unofficial title of the “Mad Hacker” as his aggressive defense was too much for the ref’s to let go by.  Although Piretra’s defense helped in keeping Dii’Jon Allen-Jordan to a total of 8 points at the point of Piretra fouling out.  Piretra committed his 5^th foul at the 1:51 mark of regulation. Allen-Jordan would score 8 points and grab 4 rebound from that point on shooting at a 63% clip, which included Allen-Jordan converting the winning field goal.

–        Turnovers – (Even) – Plainfield turned the ball over 11 times to Gill St. Bernard’s 10.  The timing of the turnovers was critical.  Gill St. Bernard’s turned the ball over once in the last minute of regulation and twice in the last minute of overtime.

–        Rejections – (Even) – Plainfield rejected 7 shots while Gill rejected 6.  No true advantage in this statistical category.

–        Assists – (Even) – Gill St. Bernard’s accurate shooting from deep off the motion offense high screen helped the Knights get 13 assists for the game.  Plainfield was not to far behind as the Cardinals dished out 11 dimes.

–        Steals – (Even) – Plainfield picked up 6 steals while Gill picked up 4 steals.  The timing of the Plainfield steals was critical as 2 of them came down the final minute of regulation and overtime.

–        Rebounds – (Advantage Plainfield) – Plainfield dominated this category as Allen-Jordan, Sears and Lane combined for 38 of the Cardinals 46 rebounds.  Dominic Hoffman battled like a warrior against the Cardinals as Hoffman led his team to grab a total of 26 rebounds.  Hoffman was responsible for 50% of his team’s boards.

–        2 Points made – (Advantage Plainfield) – The Cardinals took a whopping 47 two-point attempts connecting at a 55% clip.  Plainfield scored 60 points below the arc while Gill St. Bernard’s scored 26 points at a 41% clip.  This gave the Cardinals a 34-point advantage in points in the paint/below the arc.

–        3 Points made – (Advantage Gill St. Bernard) – The Knights pretty much wiped away the Cardinals point advantage with a clinic from beyond the arc.  The Knights scored a whopping 42 points from behind the 3-point at a blazing 56% clip. The Cardinals scored on 1 field goal from behind the arc.  This gave the Knights a 39-point advantage in the 3-point category.  This also gives the Knights an overall score advantage of 5 points.  So where did the Cardinals win this game?

–        Free Throws! – (Advantage Plainfield) – The early personal fouls (see the top of the list on personal fouls) gave the Cardinals opportunities to score from the free bee line.  The Cards connected on 15 free throws with near perfect shooting in the hostile territory of the Gill St. Bernard’s student section.  Gill St. Bernard’s blazing outside shooting may have been a blessing to the Cardinals in disguise as the Knights lack of attempts in the paint gave them only 14 attempts from the foul line.  Although the Knights shot a luke warm 75% from the charity line to connect on 9 points, the accurate shooting team from Peapack-Gladstone failed to take advantage of their very accurate foul shooting ability.  With the Cardinals scoring more points from the foul line than Gill St. Bernard’s even attempted, the Cardinals gained a 6 point advantage and the difference in the game of 1 point.

Cardinal Fanatic Efficient 10

1) Plainfield – Senior Justin Sears 6’8” {ER-32}

Dr. Double Double answered the call as he came up big from the free throw line.  Sears shot 85% from the free throw to help him score 15 points for the game.  Sears was able to complete his double double performance by grabbing 14 rebounds.  Justin also had 1 steal, a team high tying 3 assists (Sekou Harris and Taylor Plummer also with 3 assists) and a game high 4 rejections.  Sears committed only 2 turnovers to earn the Cardinal Fanatic Efficient Player of the Game.

2) Gill St. Bernard – Senior Alex Mitola 5’11” {ER-29}

It’s interesting that the top two Efficiency performers played round 1 today against each other.  The Dartmouth bound Mitola will be battling against Yale bound Justin Sears at the next level in the Ivy League next season.  Alex “Radar” Mitola was near perfect from well beyond the 3-point arc.  Mitola shot an eye popping 89% (8 for 9) from deep and shot 80% from the free throw line to score a game high 30 points.  Mitola also earned the Prime Time Player MVP Award.

3) Plainfield – Senior Dii’Jon Allen-Jordan 6’6” {ER-27}

Dii’Jon Allen-Jordan is becoming to be known as Mr. BB (Buzzer Beater) as he put a little Mustard on his last second shot in over time to pull out the improbable 1-point victory for the Cardinals.  Allen-Jordan earned a double double performance by shooting 54% from the field to score 16 points and by grabbing a game high 16 rebounds.  Mr. Buzzer Beater completed an Efficient night by committing only 1 turnover.

4) Gill St. Bernard – Senior Dominic Hoffman 6’7” {ER-26}

The Bucknell bound Hoffman earned the 3^rd double double performance of the game.  Hoffman was perfect from the foul line to help him score 12 points to go along with his team high 13 rebounds.  Hoffman also dropped off 2 assists, picked up a steal and rejected a team high 3 shots.

5) Plainfield – Senior Jahmal Lane 6’4” {ER-23}

The 4 year letter man shot 69% from the field to score a team high 22 points.  Lane missed being the 4^th player to earn a double double performance by grabbing 8 rebounds.  Lane also had 1 steal and rejected 3 shots.

6) Plainfield – Senior Sekou Harris 6’0” {ER-18}

Sekou “Trey Swish” Harris “open court play is one of the best in the State of New Jersey,” commented NJ.Com.  His open court pull up jumper sent the game to overtime.  Harris shot 56% from below the arc and shot 100% from the free throw line to score 20 points and be the 4^th Cardinal to score in double figures.  Sekou also picked up 2 steals and dished out 3 assists.  Harris completed an Efficient night from his point guard position by only committing 2 turnovers.  Sekou was named the Prime Time Player MVP.

7) Gill St. Bernard – Senior Larry Piretra 6’5” {ER-15}

Piretra defensive effort was critical in this game but Larry also displayed his offensive shooting touch by shooting a perfect 2 for 2 from beyond the 3 point line.  Larry also grabbed 4 rebounds, dropped off 1 assist and rejected 1 shot.  Piretra completed an excellent Efficient night by committing 0 turnovers for the entire game. 

8) Gill St. Bernard – Junior Jaren Sina 6’3” {ER-13}

Jaren Sina is one of the most highly sought after guards in New Jersey for Division 1 Colleges.  The ACC, Big East, Atlantic 10, and the SEC have schools that are actively recruiting the talented point guard.  As a sophomore Sina gave a verbal to Alabama but with the interest of so many schools his search has re-opened.  Sina connected on 3 treys to help him score 22 points for the game.  Sina also displayed why he is being sought after at the point position by obtaining a 4-1 assist to turnover ratio in a very aggressive game.  Sina dropped off a game high 8 assists and picked up 2 steals.  Sina only committed 2 turnovers for the entire game.

9) Plainfield – Senior Taylor Plummer 6’5” {ER-8}

Plummer shot 50% from the floor and connected on Plainfield’s only 3-point make.  Plummer grabbed 2 rebounds, picked up 2 steals and dropped off a team high tying 3 assists.  Plummer only committed 1 turnover to earn a 3-1 assist to turnover ratio.

10) Gill St. Bernard – Junior Jon Schreer 6’3” {ER-8}

Jon shot 50% from below the arc and connected on a 3-pointer.  Jon also added to every statistical category. Jon grabbed 2 rebounds, picked up 1 steal, dropped off 1 assist and rejected 1 shot.  Jon only committed 2 turnovers for the entire game.

The efficiency rating is base on points scored, shooting accuracy, foul shooting accuracy, rebounds, assists, steals, defensive intensity, and assist – turnover ratio.