SKILLMAN, NJ–In addition to the two contests involving teams from the Greater Middlesex Conference, there were five non-conference games that involved teams from the Skyland Conference. Below are capsules on those five games.
West Windsor-Plainsboro North vs. Watchung Hills
The Knights of WWP-North trailed 40-29 late in the first half before making a free throw to narrow the deficit to 10. Watchung Hills would take a 13 point lead going into the locker room at halftime on a three pointer from the right corner by Ryan Keller in the closing seconds of the second period.
In the third period, the Warriors extended the lead to 15 at 56-41 with a 13-12 showing. Watchung Hills then opened the fourth quarter on a 14-9 run including a three pointer and a layup and putback by Dan Pilsbury for a 70-50 lead with 2:47 left.
Watchung Hills then coasted to a 72-52 victory. The Warriors outscored the Knights by a margin of 32-23 over the last 18 minutes of the contest. Keller finished with 17 including five threes while Gavin DeFuria chipped in with 13, and Pilsbury added 12. Brian Murphy and Jaden Rege led WWP-North with 13 apiece.
Raritan vs. Hillsborough
Hillsborough opened the game by scoring the first 8 points including a three by Jackson Parham before Raritan called for time at the 5:15 mark.
The Raiders maintained the eight point lead at 10-2 going into the second before Raritan got a three pointer from Justin Black to cut the deficit to five. Hillsborough then made a pair of free throws for a 12-5 lead prior to a Raritan timeout with 4:22 left in the first half.
Following the stoppage, Raritan scored the next five points including a three by Black at the 3:50 mark followed by two free throws from Tim Hayes with 3:10 left in the second quarter. Hillsborough didn’t let Raritan get closer for the rest of the first half.
The Raiders scored 4 of the last 6 points of the second including two free throws with 1:05 remaining in the first half followed by a reverse layup with 13.5 seconds left in the half for a 16-12 lead at the intermission.
Hillsborough opened the second half on an 8-4 run over the first 2:59 of the third for a 24-16 lead. Parham accounted for four of the points including a short jumper in the paint prior to Raritan calling timeout with just over five minutes left in the third.
The Raiders then scored 8 of the next 10 points over a 2:52 span including baskets by Pat Cahill and Ryan Caffrey for a 32-18 lead with 2:09 remaining in the third. Cahill added another score with 40 seconds left in the third before Raritan’s Zach Mohica sank a three from the left wing to end the third with Hillsborough leading 35-21.
Raritan opened the fourth by scoring 5 of the first 8 points including a bucket in the paint by Hayes and a three from the left corner by Black that forced Hillsborough to call for time leading 38-26 with 5:19 left. The Rockets couldn’t get any closer though as both teams exchanged free throws over the next several minutes for a 39-27 Hillsborough lead with 2:26 remaining.
The Raiders then closed the game by scoring 8 of the last 14 points for the 47-33 victory. Parham led 10 different players that scored for Hillsborough with a game high 12 points. Black led Raritan with 11 points.
Hackettstown vs. North Plainfield
In a very competitive and contentious contest, Hackettstown from Warren County and the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference jumped out to a 36-32 halftime lead.
North Plainfield opened the third by going on a 14-7 tear including a three point play and a three pointer by Ka-Ron Dock for a 46-43 lead with 3:40 remaining in the period.
The Tigers of Hackettstown ended the third on a 10-6 run including a three point play for a 53-52 lead. North Plainfield had a chance to retake the lead going into the fourth, but missed a pair of free throws with 1.2 seconds left in the stanza.
Hackettstown increased its lead to three by scoring 4 of 6 points over a span of 1:56 for a 57-54 lead before calling timeout with a little over six minutes remaining in the fourth. The Tigers then made a three from the right wing for a 60-56 lead prior to a North Plainfield timeout with 4:30 left.
North Plainfield closed to within a point at 61-60 with about two minutes to play after two free throws by Ka-Ron Dock, but Hackettstown got a jumper to fall from the foul line for a 63-60 lead with 1:27 left. The Tigers then got a score to go up by two possessions.
The Canucks had the ball trailing 66-63 when Tony Godwin was called for a charge on a drive to the basket with 18.4 seconds left, and fouled out. From there Hackettstown netted four free throws to seal the 70-64 victory.
Matt Arcona led Hackettstown with a game high 19 points while teammate Brandon Rojas chipped in with 15. Ka-Ron Dock led four different North Plainfield players in double figure with 16 points. Khalil Dock chipped in with 13 while Godwin and James Gardner added 12 in a losing cause.
West Windsor-Plainsboro South vs. North Hunterdon
West Windsor-Plainsboro South got off to a 4-0 start before North Hunterdon fought back with a 12-3 spurt that was capped by a Mike DelSantro three for a 12-7 lead with three minutes left in the first.
The Lions then added another six unanswered points including a second DelSantro three for an eleven point lead before West Windsor-Plainsboro South connected on a three pointer to close the gap to 18-11 with a minute to go in the first.
North Hunterdon then closes out the first by scoring the last four points for a 22-11 lead heading into the second. The Lions began the second like they ended the first by scoring 8 of the first 10 points including another DelSantro three for a 30-13 lead midway through the frame. The Lions kept its 17 point cushion going into the half.
After North Hunterdon opened the third with the first four points, West Windsor-Plainsboro went on an 8-4 run to pull within 17 again at 40-23 with 2:30 remaining in the third. Following another WWP-South score to close the gap to 40-25, the Lions scored 8 unanswered in a little over a minute including two scores by Andrew Berger for a 48-25 lead with 58.5 seconds left in the third.
Berger added a follow in the closing seconds of the third for a commanding 50-25 Lions lead heading into the fourth. North Hunterdon led 58-29 at one point in the fourth thanks to the efforts of Paul Woolhouse before West Windsor-Plainsboro South led by Demetrius Worley finished the game on an 18-4 tear for the 62-47 North Hunterdon win.
Princeton Day School vs. Montgomery
In the nightcap game, Montgomery pulled away from a 15-11 first quarter lead by scoring 6 of the last 8 points of the period including a three by Lawrence Levy that banked in at the buzzer for a 21-13 lead.
Princeton Day rallied in the second with a 14-6 run that included a floater by Craig Wrenn and a three from Chase Lewis to tie the score at 27-27. However, the Cougars got a late basket from Dan Engels for a 29-27 halftime lead.
Thanks to the efforts of Matt Summers, who scored four points, Montgomery opened the third on an 8-6 run for a 37-33 lead with 3:37 left in the frame. The Cougars then scored 6 of the next 8 points including a three by Kevin Fromelt at the 1:37 mark for a 42-35 lead.
Montgomery maintained that seven point lead at 44-37 heading into the fourth. Princeton Day began the final period of regulation with a 10-6 run including two scores by big man John MacArthur to close the gap to 50-47 with 5:17 to play.
The Cougars scored the next four to go up 54-47, but the Panthers of PDS continued to hang around by scoring the next three points for a 54-50 Montgomery lead with 1:16 left. Matt Remsen scored on a layup with 35 seconds left and Matt Summers made two FTs with 18 seconds to go for a 58-52 lead.
Princeton Day got a layup from Dave Coit with 3.1 seconds to go, but it wasn’t enough as Montgomery came away with the 58-54 win. Remsen led all scorers with a game high 22 points for the Cougars while Summers chipped in with 12. John MacArthur led PDS with 17 points while Chase Lewis chipped in with 16, and David Coit added 13.