WW-PS overcomes Nottingham rally to win in overtime
HAMILTON » One of the toughest bouts of adversity for any basketball team to overcome is seeing a large lead slip away.
Throw in a miraculous shot by the other team, and such a scenario is enough to make most squads pack it in.
But West Windsor-Plainsboro South was up to the challenge Tuesday night. The Pirates shook off a 10-point rally by Nottingham in the fourth quarter to win on the road in overtime, 69-65.
Senior guard Rickey Boone led all scorers with 24 points and junior guard Ben Jaclin added 20 points including seven huge free throws.
After controlling much of the game with smooth outside shooting, driving layups and forced turnovers, South had to dig deep when the tempo picked up down the stretch and suddenly its offense went cold. The Pirates pulled ahead 57-47 on backto-back layups by Boone and Maclin with 4:37 remaining and then didn’t make another field goal until Maclin’s triple put South back in front with 1:30 left in overtime.
In between all of that, Nottingham stormed back with several fastbreak opportunities and ultimately tied the game at the buzzer when Joe Lemly buried his game-high fifth 3-pointer on a wild bank shot.
Lemly finished with 18 points. Jordan Raba chipped in 12 points for the Northstars, who were playing their home opener after winning at Hamilton West last night and then at North Hunterdon on Saturday.
Meanwhile, South responded from an overtime
loss at Hopewell Valley last Friday, who made Tuesday’s victory all the sweeter.
The Pirates, who look to have their most competitive team in years, are aiming to post a winning record for the first time since the 201314 season.
WW-P SOUTH (69)
Amos-Whitfield 5-0-12, Jaclin 5-7-20, Boone 8-4-23, Bhayana 2-2-7, Raeter 1-1-3, Thompson 1-0-2, Kasof 1-0-2.
Totals — 23-12-69.
NOTTINGHAM (65)
Dickerson 3-2-8, Britt 3-2-8, Raba 5-0-12, Kabiawu 4-0-9, Holman 2-2-6, Lemly 6-1-18, Juliano 2-0-4.
Totals — 25-7-65.
WW-P South (1-1) 11 17 21 11 9 — 69 Nottingham (2-1) 9 16 15 20 5 — 65 3-point goals: Boone 3, Jaclin 3, AmosWhitfield 2, Bhayana (WWS), Lemly 5, Raba 2, Kabiawu (N).