HEARTBREAK HIGH
Trenton loses CJ IV title to Freehold Twp. in final seconds
TRENTON >> With Freehold Township’s best player stuck on the bench with foul trouble, the Trenton boys basketball team edged closer and closer to a second straight Central Jersey Group IV championship.
Unfortunately for the top-seeded Tornadoes, they couldn’t quite cross the finish line.
With Greg Billups returned in the fourth quarter, the thirdseeded Patriots stormed back with 10 unanswered points and snatched the title with a 57-56 victory Friday evening at Rivera Middle School.
The run began after Ethan Garita scored off an offensive rebound to extend Trenton’s lead to 53-47 with 4:10 remaining. Billups, a 6-foot-5 forward, promptly knocked down a 3 and assisted on a layup to fuel the comeback.
“I just went out there and played my hardest, played my game and just tried to get us back in the game pretty much,” Billups said. “Because I was sitting on the bench, I knew I had to come in and spark something it. So I came in there, tried to do my best, hit a 3, got an assist and then it just kept on rolling.”
With 3:10 left, Christian Corcione buried a trey from the corner to give the Patriots their first lead since the 2:30 mark of the third quarter. Billups eventually fouled out with 1:21 on the clock, and Elijah Kelley made 1-of-2 free throws to cut Trenton’s deficit to 56-57.
The Tornadoes had two chances in the last 30 seconds
to win it. One possession resulted in a turnover, and after Freehold fumbled the ball right back to the home team, Trenton drained 13 seconds before calling timeout with 10 ticks left. One last errant shot in the paint sealed the Tornadoes’ fate.
In the end, the championship bout featured nine lead changes. Freehold made 10of-13 free throws, while Trenton connected on 10-of-15.
“Both teams played their best,” said Trenton senior forward Jordan Williams, who finished with 15 points and double-digit rebounds. “We played our best. We just had a couple mistakes where they just got to us and it just didn’t work out.”
In what was a deafening, sold-out environment with a strong turnout of Freehold fans, Trenton initially rallied from a nine-point hole to take a two-point lead into the second quarter.
Freehold switched from
man-to-man to zone defense at that point. Missed layups began to pile up for the Tornadoes. The Patriots pulled back in front at halftime, 33-31.
Still, Trenton controlled the glass and looked poised to repeat as sectional champions when it closed the third on a 9-0 run. Williams capped the surge with a putback layup off a missed free throw followed by a baseline jumper.
Kelley had 12 points and Jose Estevez, Nassir Hodge and Jessey Phillips each made a 3-pointer in what was a balanced but ultimately fruitless effort.
“My teammates played their heart out this game. We wanted it, but it just didn’t happen, but I love my guys,” Williams said. “(Coach Darryl Young) said he was proud of us. He said last year was a good team, and we just worked from last year to this year just to prove everyone wrong of how we weren’t going to go farther than last year.”
Freehold moves on to face Cherokee in the Group IV state semifinals — the round which Trenton advanced to last season before falling to eventual state champion Shawnee.
Despite coming up just short of a third sectional title in six years, Trenton produced one of its best seasons in recent memory: 24 wins, a Colonial Valley Conference Colonial Division title and run to the Mercer County Tournament finals.
“It’s definitely something we can be proud of, because we all played our hearts out,” Williams said.
FREEHOLD TWP. (57)
Barilka 3-2-9, Billups 5-4-16, Kilinskas 2-0-4, Corcione 4-0-10, Meisner 3-3-9, Sentangelo 3-1-9.
Totals — 20-10-57.
TRENTON (56)
Kelly 4-3-12, Williams 6-3-15, Estevez 1-2-5, Hodge 2-2-7, Davis 1-0-2, Phillips 2-1-6, Garita 3-1-7, Bryce 1-0-2.
Totals — 20-12-56.
Freehold (23-4) 1518618—57 Trenton (24-6) 17141510—56 3-point goals: Billups 2, Corcione 2, Sentangelo 2, Barilka (F), Kelley, Estevez, Hodge, Phillips (T).