Hart Scores 1,000th as Chargers Overcome Slow Start for Easy Win
| Spotswood’s Marlon Hart elevates for a jumper that gave his team a 15-11 lead at the end of the first quarter against South River. Hart scored his 1,000th point as Spotswood won, 78-62. |
SPOTSWOOD, NJ–When a player or a team are on the verge of doing something special such as a milestone, or winning a championship, they press a little bit, and struggle a little before finally breaking through and accomplishing the feat. Perhaps that was what happened to Spotswood in its loss to J.F. Kennedy on Friday night, and early on against neighborhood arch rival, Spotswood on Monday night. With senior guard, Marlon Hart just a point shy of reaching 1,000 points for his career, the Chargers started out a bit overanxious, and South River took advantage.
Led by junior forward, Matt Pietrzyk, who scored 6 points, the Rams jumped out to an 11-3 lead. Spotswood would settle down though as Eric Dadika drained several threes to get the Chargers back within two, and then Hart pulled up for a short jumper in traffic to score his 1,000th point with 1:07 remaining in the first period to tie the game at 11-11. From that point on, the Chargers relaxed, and played the basketball that they are capable of. Spotswood eventually finished up with a 28-4 surge that included a jumper from the left corner by Hart to end the first, threes by Hart and Andrew Fuzesi, and layups by Dadika and J.T. Vento in the second for a 31-15 lead.
South River never recovered after that as Spotswood went on to lead by 28 in the second half before winning, 78-62. Dadika finished with a game high 27 points while Hart chipped in with 19, and Vento added 15. The Rams were led by Mario Nigro, who connected for six three pointers and finished with 20 points while Pietrzyk chipped in with 14, and freshman Derrick Whitaker added 13. Both teams combined for 17 threes with South River outscored Spotswood by a 27-24 margin from beyond the arc. Spotswood managed to prevail though thanks to a 38-30 edge in points scored off of two point baskets while enjoying a 16-5 edge from the foul line. The Chargers went 16 of 19 at the charity stripe while the Rams were only 5 of 11.
Spotswood had eight different players get into the scorebook while South River had seven. The Chargers outscored the Rams in each of the first three periods before the visitors put together a 19-15 showing in the fourth thanks to scoring 19 of the last 28 points of the game after Spotswood opened the final frame on a 6-0 run all courtesy of Vento. The game started out rocky for Spotswood. The pace was a bit helter smelter, which suited both teams, but the Rams were more opportunistic early on. Over the first 3:20 of the game, South River scored 6 of the initial 9 points including two scores by Pietrzyk sandwiched around a jumper from the left wing by Whitaker. Dadika accounted for the only Spotswood scoring with a three pointer.
The Rams then added five more points on a layup by Pietrzyk and a three from Nigro for an 11-3 lead with about 3:00 to go in the period. Then, Spotswood began to turn things around with back to back threes from Dadika to close the gap to 11-9 at the 1:15 mark. Following a timeout, the Chargers got the ball to Hart on the right side of the floor, and he dribble in for a shot in the paint that tied the game at 11-11 and put the senior guard over 1,000 for his career. The game was halted for a bit as coaches and teammates as well as the SAC Psychos student section congratulated Hart in their own special way. When play resumed, the Chargers found their groove, and began taking control of the contest.
Spotswood scored the last four points of the period including a jumper from the left baseline by Hart as time was running out in the first for a 15-11 lead. The Chargers then scored 16 of the first 20 points of the second including threes by Hart and Fuzesi (8 points) from the left side, and capped by a drive into the paint for a layin by Vento at the 4:14 mark for a 31-15 advantage. South River tried to bounce back with an 11-9 run over the last half of the second including a three from Nigro with under a minute to play in the half for a 40-26 lead. The Chargers wouldn’t let the Rams get any closer though. Instead they came out like a house of fire to begin the second half by scoring the first eight points of the third in less than a minute. The run was capped by a lob pass from Hart to Dadika for a layup and a 48-26 lead with 7:10 left in the third.
Following a South River timeout, Spotswood continued to put the foot on the accelerator by scoring the next six points including a layup by Vento for a 54-26 lead. The Rams scored the next five including another trey by Nigro, and then scored 12 of the last 21 points of the third including a jumper by Whitaker in the closing seconds to narrow the deficit to 63-43. However, Spotswood opened the fourth much like it had started the third with the first six points, all coming on layups by Vento set up by nice assists from Hart and Dadika for a 69-43 lead with 6:13 to play. From there Spotswood coasted, and eventually the reserves from both teams entered the game with South River making the game more respectable in the end for a 78-62 Spotswood victory.
With the victory, Spotswood improved to 15-2 overall and 10-1 in the GMC. The Chargers have four crossover wins this year including three against the Gold Division (Dunellen, South Amboy, and South River). South River, which was 11-2 at one point about a week or so ago, has now lost three of its last four games, and is now 12-5 overall including a 9-4 mark in conference play. This game was the first time the Rams have played a GMC crossover this season. Both teams return to action on Wednesday night with Spotswood traveling to Middlesex for a Blue Division contest at 6:00 PM while South River hosts Timothy Christian, a team the Rams defeated by a point in overtime earlier this year, at 5:30 PM in a GMC Gold clash.