Former McCarrick and Stevens Standout Harris Forces Overtime With Three
| Former Cardinal McCarrick and J.P. Stevens standout, Sky Harris puts up the game tying three pointer at the buzzer for Brookdale C.C. against Passaic C.C. on Tuesday night. Brookdale won in OT, 92-87. |
LINCROFT, NJ—The last year has been a rocky road for former Cardinal McCarrick and J.P. Stevens standout, Sky Harris. Injured last season while at Arcadia University, Harris just recently returned to action with Brookdale Community College. He would make his impact felt in a huge way down the stretch of Tuesday night’s Garden State Athletic Conference and Region 19 JUCO clash with Passaic County Community College.
In a game where Brookdale struggled to find a rhythm, especially in the first half, Harris took an inbounds pass with 2.6 seconds left, and banked in a three pointer from just to the left of the top of the key to tie the game at 76-76 and force overtime. Then, in the extra session, Harris scored four more points including a transition layup and two free throws while also coming up with a steal and an assist while former Bishop Ahr and North Brunswick standout, Dillon Salva went 4 of 4 from the line, and former Manchester Township standout, Mason Jones scored 8 points to lift Brookdale to a hard fought, 92-87 win.
For the game, Salva collected a double-double of 22 points and 15 rebounds including a couple of three point plays. Jones ended up with 27 points including 21 in the second half and overtime. Harris, who scored 12 in a win over Garrett College a week ago, collected 17. Former Perth Amboy Tech standout, Jordan Little played well off the bench for the Jersey Blues with 13 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 blocked shots. Old Bridge’s Dante Whipple saw action in the first half of the contest.
Cortez Rawls led five different players in double figures for Passaic County Community College in defeat with 17 points while Sanders Green chipped in with 12 points along with a team high 9 boards. John Bejar added 14 points and 6 assists in a losing cause for the Panthers. Passaic County shot 27 of 61 from the floor for 44 percent including a scorching 8 of 14 from three point range for 57 percent, and made 25 of 34 from the line for 74 percent. The Panthers also collected 43 rebounds including 13 on the offensive boards, 16 assists, 9 steals, and 9 blocks while only committing 14 turnovers.
Passaic County broke away from an 8-8 tie with a 12-4 run for a 20-12 lead with 14 minutes to go in the first half. Salva and Harris accounte for 10 of the first 12 points for the Jersey Blues. Brookdale battled back with a 14-6 tear over the next 7 minutes including eight unanswered points to tie the score on a couple of occasions. Then, the Panthers took control the rest of the half with a free throw and then a steal for a layup to take a 29-26 lead at the 6:57 mark. Passaic County then finished the first half with a 17-11 run for a 46-37 lead at the intermission. The GMC trio of Salva, Harris, and Little had a big impact on the game in the first half. Over the first 12:55 of the contest, the triumvirate accounted for 19 of Brookdale’s 26 points.
The Panthers finished the half on a 10-1 spurt to break away from a 36-36 tie. There was only one lead change, but five ties in the opening half. Salva ended up with 12 first half points while Little added 6 and Harris chipped in with five. Both Little and Harris were saddled with some foul trouble with two fouls in the first half. Harris started out fast with a three point play off of a steal in the Passaic County backcourt and then another score, but then went to the bench soon afterward with his second foul of the game. Mason Jones put the team on his back in the second half. Harris would return, and avoid fouling out to come up huge down the stretch.
Opening up the second half with an 11-1 spurt over the initial 4:35, Brookdale quickly closed the gap to one on a outback by Harris to close the gap to 48-47 and force Passaic County to call timeout. The game remained close for the next 7:24 with the two teams combining for 34 points while battling to a 17-17 draw over the span for a 65-64 Panthers lead. Harris made a shot at the 8:01 mark to narrow the deficit to one again while Jones added a steal for a two handed breakaway dunk. Defenses took over down the stretch as each team scored only 9 points for a 74-73 Passaic County lead with 37.6 seconds left. Then, in a wild span of 30 seconds, but teams went back and forth before the Panthers scored a layup for a 76-73 lead.
Following a Brookdale timeout with 2.6 seconds left, Jones inbounded the ball from the left sideline to Harris, who hoisted up a three ball from just to the left of the top of the key, and it banked in as time expired to tie the score at 76-76. In the extra session, the Jersey Blues outscored Passaic County by a margin of 16-11. Jones opened the overtime with a layup off the tip and Salva went to the line twice to net his four free throws to put Brookdale in front. The Panthers hung tough though by answering with scores at the other end including a one handed dunk, but Harris put the Jersey Blues up for good with 37.8 seconds to play. Harris then added a free throw at the 35.6 second mark while Jones made 3 of 4 from the charity stripe the rest of the way to wrap up the 92-87 victory.
With the win, Brookdale, which had made back to back trips to the NJCAA Division III Final Four including a national championship three years ago, improved to 5-1 overall including a 4-1 mark in the GSAC. Passaic County, which recently defeated Middlesex County College on November 24th (84-77), fell to 4-9 overall including a 4-7 mark in conference play. Since starting the season at 2-0, the Panthers have dropped 9 of their last 11 games.
GMC NOTES: There are five former GMC players at Brookdale this year: Salva, Little, Harris, Whipple, and Amboy Tech’s Noel Garay. Salva, who played football at Kean and competed over the summer for Island Title at the Jersey Shore Basketball League, has collected a double-double in 5 of his first 6 games including a 24 point and 10 rebound performance against Camden County College. In the 100-86 win over Camden C.C., Salva connected on 8 of 12 shots from the field and 8 of 11 from the foul line. Little has improved significantly since the summer, and has scored in double figures in 5 of his first six games including a 26 point, 12 rebound performance in the win over Garrett College. In the victory over Garrett, Little made 11 of 17 shots from the floor, and netted 4 of 6 from the line. He also blocked 7 shots in the contest. Harris has averaged 15.5 points per game since entering the lineup including 11 points versus Sussex C.C. and 12 points against Garrett.