Robbinsville gets upset over Trenton after power outage
TRENTON » The gym power outage, which happened at the end of the first quarter, transferred to the Trenton High varsity girls basketball team Friday night at Rivera Middle School.
All seemed fine at first, despite a mini-snow storm outside, a late start inside because the junior varsity game went to overtime and a blackout in the gym during the varsity game with three seconds left in the first quarter.
Despite all that, the Tornadoes jumped to a seven-point lead at halftime.
In the second half, however, Robbinsville figured out what it had to do.
The Ravens tightened their zone defense and became more deliberate on offense, then scored 12 unanswered points between the third and the fourth quarters on the way to a 4842 win. It was the first time Robbinsville had beaten Trenton anywhere, much less on the road.
“We all worked together in the second half,” sophomore forward Maya Johnson said. “When we work hard, we’re tough to beat.”
Johnson scored half of her 12 points after intermission and hit all four of her free throws in the final minute to help the Ravens seal the deal when the Tornadoes put together a six-point spurt at the end.
“At halftime, coach (Joe Washington Jr.) talked about staying calm,” Johnson said. “As for their lead, we had to chip it down. When we took the lead, it gave us a false sense of security. Things got a little tense. Again, we just had to settle down, make layups and make foul shots.”
With senior Fiona Aromando scoring eight of her game-high 13 points in the second half, and her sophomore sister, Molly, scoring half of her 10 points in the third quarter, Robbinsville was able to erase a 30-23 halftime deficit. The visitors took their first lead, 3534, with 36 seconds left in the third when Brooke Torrington led Molly Aromando for a layup.
As excited as the Ravens were with the turn of events, the Trenton players were frustrated at getting outscored, 25-12, in the second half.
“This is who we are right now,” new Tornadoes coach Khaliq Lewis-El said. “We have no identity. We don’t shoot the ball well. We don’t handle the ball well.”
Trenton did get 12 points and 14 rebounds from sophomore forward Ishuana Hunter, plus nine points from junior Maliajah Robinson and eight points apiece from senior Jada White and junior N’Dia Stepps, who added 12 rebounds.
It was not enough to get the team back to playing the way it did in the first half when it opened a 14-10 lead before all the lights in the gym went out in the first quarter.
Even when play resumed a half-anhour later, the Tornadoes scored 16 more points in the second quarter, and things seemed fine.
“No excuses,” Lewis-El said. “We’ve got to come out in the second half and play Trenton basketball. Instead, they came to our gym and pushed us around.”
FAromando 3-5-13, Cueto 1-0-2, Heulitt 4-0-9, MJohnson 4-4-12, MAromando 4-0-10, Torrington 1-0-2, Perez 0-0-0.
17-9-48.
Totals —
White 4-0-8, Beckford 0-0-0, Stepps 4-0-8, Poole 1-0-3, Daley 0-0-0, MRobinson 3-2-9, Watkins 1-0-2, Hunter 6-0-12, Pickett 0-0-0.
19-2-42.
Totals — Robbnsvlle(1-0) Trenton (0-1) 3-point goals — 10 14 13 16 14 4 11 — 8 — 48 42
FAromando 2, Heulitt, MAromando 2 (R), Poole, MRobinson (T).