Here are highlights from the action in the Central Jersey Group 1 Quarterfinal round game between 10th seeded Henry Hudson of Highlands, New Jersey and South River.
In a wild back and forth game played in front of a packed house in Rams Country, the Rams led by double figures for much of the second half including a 57-43 lead after three periods, but Henry Hudson wouldn’t go away. Instead, the Admirals, which defeated South River in the Championship Game of the 2015 Keansburg Holiday Tournament in December, scored 17 of the first 21 points of the fourth quarter to pull within one at 61-60 before freshman Derrick Whitaker came up with two huge free throws at the 2:33 mark for a 63-60 edge.
The Admirals managed to get another score with under a minute to play to close within one again at 63-62, but South River got another foul shot from Whitaker with 14.7 seconds left, and withstood a last second scoring attempt by Henry Hudson to hang on for the 64-62 victory. Whitaker finished with a game high 26 points while Mario Nigro added 13 points and fellow freshman, Mike DeSantis chipped in with 12. Tom DeFilippo led all scorers with a game high 31 points for the Admirals while Tom Fennel added 14 points and Anthony LaRue chipped in with 10 in a losing cause.
Both teams combined for 13 three pointers with Henry Hudson getting a 21-18 edge in points scored from beyond the arc. The Admirals were also 9 of 12 from the line while the Rams were just 4 of 7. Henry Hudson was 23 of 43 from the field including 7 of 14 from long distance while South River was 27 of 49 from the floor including 6 of 20 from beyond the arc. Henry Hudson finishes its season at 12-15 while South River improves to 18-10 overall, and advances to the semifinals for the 2nd time in three years.