JV Scrimmage
Saw both quarters of the JV scrimmage. The two teams split the two quarters played with South River winning the opening frame by a 9-8 score, and then Piscataway Tech won the second period by the score of 10-2. The Junior Raiders began the second with a score to take a 10-9 lead only to have Junior Rams answer with a score of their own for an 11-10 lead. P-Way Tech then took over the rest of the way by scoring the final 8 points of the scrimmage for the second quarter edge, and the overall edge in the scrimmage, 18-11.
Varsity Scrimmage
The varsity scrimmage was in the fourth quarter when I arrived. I worked until 6:30 PM, and didn’t get over to South River High School until after 7:00 PM. When I arrived, there was only about four and a half minutes remaining. The contest was pretty tight during that stretch though. Piscataway Tech, led by Jordan Lackey, seemed to be in control, but the Rams, led by the backcourt duo of Matt Martinez and Sean Darrar, stayed with in striking distance. With its up-tempo style and pressure defense, the Rams managed to pull within one at 44-43 with under two minutes to play, but Piscataway Tech got a couple of scores to go up by five at 48-43 with about 54 seconds left.
To its credit, South River didn’t give up. Darrar, who has had a history of last minute and overtime heroics such as the win over Keansburg in the Henry Hudson Holiday Tournament last year, got the ball rolling with a three from the right wing at about the 30 second mark to narrow the deficit to 48-46. Then, after Piscataway Tech missed the front end of a one and one with about 6 seconds remaining, the Rams got the rebound and put the ball in Martinez, who pushed the ball up court, and let one fly as the buzzer sounded, The ball got a friendly bounce off the rim, and went in for the 49-48 South River win.