Rams Rebound From 30 Point Loss Opening Night With Two Straight Victories At MSC
MONROE, NJ–There are some big expectations for this upcoming boys basketball season in South River. Over the summer, seniors Tyler Harris and Tim Darrar garnered some attention in some of the local press as they tried to improve their games during the offseason. Last year, the Rams went down a notch overall with a 10-16 mark including a 5-12 record in conference play and a 5-9 record in the GMC Gold so there is some room for improvement.
This fall at the Monroe Sports Center Fall League, the Rams started off on the wrong foot with a 30 point, 74-44 loss to Bordentown of the Burlington County Scholastic League on opening night. Since then, South River has bounced back with two straight victories. Nine days ago, South River took on Hightstown of Mercer County, and fell behind early as the Mercer County school scored 12 of the first 16 points over the initial 6:21 of the contest, but South River showed some resiliency not seen much before with a 45-20 surge over the next 32:17 to take a 49-32 lead en route to a 49-38 victory.
Harris and Darrar played pivotal roles in the come from behind win as they combined for at least eight threes in the contest. Harris appears to be in great condition, and handles a fairly big load for the Rams. While he has the size to play inside, especially in the Gold Division, Harris is not afraid to step out on to the perimeter, and fire away from beyond the arc. Darrar, who is a cousin to Harris, and has a younger brother Sean, who plays football and basketball, has stepped up in key situations for South River not only with his shooting, but with some nice passing.
There have been other contributors to the Rams success these past two weeks at MSC. On Tuesday night, South River took on Robbinsville of the Colonial Valley Conference in the only game of the evening. After the Rams had taken a 19-9 lead at the half, the Ravens stormed back with a 27-14 surge over the first 15:28 of the second half for a 36-33 lead with about four and a half minutes to go in the game. Showing some surprising toughness, the Rams responded with a game ending 13-2 tear for the come from behind 46-38 victory. Keying the late rally was Dondre Moore, who connected on three pointers at the 3:32 and 2:30 marks respectively that helped put the Rams ahead for good.
These two wins for South River at MSC might be minor ones in terms of the standings, but for the team’s confidence and mental makeup they are huge shots in the arm. In the past, the Rams have folded in games where they fell behind early or gave a lead up late. In these two instances, South River has found a way to fight back and not lose its composure in order to get the win. Hopefully, the players will take the lessons from these two wins as well as continue to improve on doing the little things, and make a run to the top of the Gold Division this upcoming season.