NORTH EDISON, NJ—On Friday evening, regular season action resumed with a Gold Division contest between Highland Park and Wardlaw-Hartridge. Behind the shooting of guard, Luke Romeo, the Rams were able to break away from a 36-27 lead with an 9-6 run to take a 45-33 lead, and maintained that advantage for a 55-43 victory. Romeo netted four threes over the last 26 minutes of the contest including two early in the fourth quarter, and ended up with 12 points. Mike Newman also scored 12 points including six during an 8-4 stretch that helped Wardlaw take a 28-20 lead at the half. Nick Palko also scored a dozen for the Rams including 8 points down the stretch to help put the game away. John Pohopin chipped in with 10 points including a three at the beginning of the second that gave Wardlaw an 18-8 lead. Will Jacob-Perez led Highland Park with a game high 15 points while Will Chen chipped in with 10. Below are game notes from the action.
First Quarter
2:00—Arrive—Wardlaw leads 10-6.
1:43—Wardlaw gets a basket for a 12-6 lead.
1:20—Wardlaw—three pointer from the left wing by Luke Romeo for a 15-6 lead.
0:52—HP—gets a basket to pull within 15-8.
0:00—Wardlaw leads Highland Park 15-8 after one.
Second Quarter
7:30—Wardlaw—three pointer from the right wing by John Pohopin for an 18-8 lead.
3:59 left in the first half and Highland Park trails 20-16 after an 8-2 run including two baskets by Will Jacobs-Perez.
0:00–Game has just gone to the half and Wardlaw with the Rams leading 28-20 after an 8-4 run to close out the 2nd including 6 Pts by Mike Newman. Will Jacobs-Perez leads the Owls with 8 pts while Will Chen has chipped in with 5. Mike Newman leads the Rams with 10 while John Pohopin chipped in with 2 3s for six points.
Third Quarter
4:15 left in third and there is a timeout with Wardlaw leading 34-24 after this layup off a steal by Scott Hargrove.
3:08 left in third and Wardlaw calls 30 sec timeout after this layup ended a 5-0 HP run for a 36-29 lead.
0:00–End of third and Wardlaw leads 39-29 thanks to a three pointer from the left wing by Luke Romeo with about two minutes left.
Fourth Quarter
6:24 left in the game and HP calls timeout after two more threes from the left wing by Romeo makes it 45-33 in favor of Wardlaw.
3:57 left in the game and there is a timeout with Wardlaw leading 47-37. Highland Park on a 4-2 run.
0:00–Game just ended with Wardlaw winning over Highland Park, 55-43 as Nick Palko scored 8 pts down stretch including this layup off a pick and roll with Mike Newman to wrap up the victory. Wardlaw had four players score in double figures including three with 12: Luke Romeo, Mike Newman, and Nick Palko. John Pohopin chipped in with 10. Highland Park only had 6 players suit up for the game. Four of them scored including Will Jacob-Perez, who had a game high 15 points and Will Chen added 10. Nasir Boykins and Noah Pointer each chipped in with 9. Wardlaw had a 19-18 edge in two point FGs while outscoring Highland Park by an 18-3 margin from beyond the arc. Both teams combined for only 5 made free throws with HP having a 4-1 edge there.