Rams Lock Up Second Seed In This Summer’s Upcoming Playoffs With 42-33 Win
EDISON, NJ–n a game that nearly was a forfeit win for South River, the Rams battled back from a poor first half to beat the Highland Park Owls in MCC Summer League action Thursday night by a score of 42-33.
Highland Park had only four players show up for the game, but rather than take the forfeit win, Rams’ Head Coach Rodney Harris (and the referees) allowed the Owls to borrow two players from other teams – and it nearly backfired.
South River played a very sluggish first half and looked like the Rams’ teams of the past few years. It wasn’t very pretty to say the least. The Rams were missing newcomer Briane Maine and it seemed to slow down their fast break offense. There were too many missed shots from the perimeter and South River was not getting any offensive rebounds. It was basically one shot and done. It seemed as if South River was again playing down to their opponent’s level. This wasn’t the “new look” Rams that we had been seeing through the first seven games of the summer league.
The Rams quickly found themselves in a hole and trailed the entire first half. Highland Park was up 23-17 as the half mercifully ended.
Whatever was said during halftime certainly woke up South River as they came roaring back, outscoring the Owls early to take the lead. Their fast break was working nagin, and with Shawn Fenton in the game, the Rams controlled the boards as well. The Rams never looked back outscoring a tired Highland Park team 25-10 in the second half, winning by nine 42-33.
South River was paced by Brandon Walsh who scored 15 points and Shawn Fenton who finished with 14, all coming in the second half. Other Rams that scored were Larry Smith with 6 points, Louie Perez with 4 points, Xavier Foster with 2 points, and Tyler Harris with 1.
South River improves to 7-1 and takes on East Brunswick Vo-Tech on Tuesday night at 8PM. Highland Park drops to 2-5 overall, and fails to qualify for post-season play.
| Team | 1 | 2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| South River (7-1) | 17 | 25 | 42 |
| Highland Park (2-5) | 23 | 10 | 33 |