Carrera FTs at 32.7 Lift Panthers to Victory Over Tigers
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| St. Joseph’s transfer, Chris Carrera sets to sink the first of his two game winning free throws for Perth Amboy with 32.7 seconds left as the Panthers went on to win 54-53. Carrera had several threes including a buzzer beater to end the first half for Amboy. |
RAHWAY, NJ–Perth Amboy’s Chris Carrera is not stranger to making clutch plays down the stretch in a game. Earlier this year, when he was attending St. Joseph’s, the soon to be sophomore hit the game winning shot at the buzzer to lift St. Joseph’s-Green past Edison in the Championship Game of the 2016 Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament. On Thursday, he continued some of that magic at the 2016 Rahway Summer League.
Carrera along with soon to be junior Luis Bonilla impressed many in the gym at Rahway High School by knocking down threes, attacking the basket, and dishing out assists to keep Perth Amboy in the hunt against South Plainfield. The duo sank back to back threes to key an 8-0 run that turned a 48-44 deficit into a 52-48 lead with 2:05 remaining. However, in a game that saw 13 lead changes and five ties with neither team having a lead bigger than 6 points, it wouldn’t be enough.
South Plainfield rallied back with the next five points including a pair of free throws with 1:16 remaining in regulation, and then a three pointer from the left corner by Will McLaughlin at the 56 second mark to retake the lead at 53-52. The Tigers appeared to be in the driver’s seat for the win especially after Deshai Smith picked up a steal with 41.3 seconds left. However, Carrera got the ball back with a steal of a lob pass, and then dribbled into the frontcourt where he was fouled with 32.7 seconds left. Carrera then sank both ends of the bonus for a 54-53 lead.
The Tigers had a couple chances to get the win, but missed a layup with 10.2 seconds remaining, had the ball stolen with under five seconds to play, and missed a shot from inside half court as time ran out as Amboy was able to hang on for the one point, 54-53 victory. The game was mostly a duel between two players on each side. For South Plainfield, it was McLaughlin and Smith producing much of the scoring while Amboy was led by Carrera and Bonilla. McLaughlin opened the scoring with a reverse layup at the 18:02 mark only to have Amboy’s Gabriel Torres respond with a turnaround jumper in the paint to even things up at 2-2 with 17:25 to go in the first half.
South Plainfield then scored 9 of the next 12 points that included a one handed slam by Smith at the 15:02 mark, and then a three by McLaughlin from the left side for an 11-5 lead with 13:50 to go in the first half. Amboy wouldn’t go away though as it responded by scoring the next six points including a three from the right wing by Carrera for a 12-11 lead at the 10:04 mark. The contest continued to go back and forth as the lead changes hands some five times over a three minute span at one point. McLaughlin was involved in one of those lead changes when he sank a three for a 17-15 lead.
Amboy responded moments later though with a trey of its own from the left side of the key for an 18-17 advantage with 7:51 left in the half. The Panthers then padded their lead when they drew a foul and made both free throws at the 7:01 mark for a 20-17 lead. South Plainfield rallied again though by scoring the next five points including a layup by Smith at the 5:22 mark for a 22-20 lead. Perth Amboy would reclaim the lead again with a score at the 3:50 mark to tie things up at 22-22, and then a three from Carrera at the 2:30 mark for a 25-22 score.
South Plainfield got the next four points starting with two foul shots by McLaughlin with a minute left after a technical foul was called on Perth Amboy. The Tigers then added another score with about 15 seconds left in the half to take a 26-25 lead. Carrera then closed out the scoring with a three from the left side of the key as time was running out for a 28-26 Amboy lead at the intermission. The game’s back and forth style picked up right where it left off at the end of the first half as the Tigers scored 12 of the first 17 points of the second half including two free throws by McLaughlin at the 13 minute mark for a 37-33 lead.
After Perth Amboy netted a three from the right wing at the 12:04 mark to pull within one again, South Plainfield scored 7 of the next 10 points including a McLaughlin layup with 10:30 left for a 40-36 lead, and then a McLaughlin bucket at the 5:33 mark for a 44-39 lead. Bonilla put Amboy back into the contest though by scoring the next five points including a three pointer from the left wing at the 4:50 mark and then two free throws to tie the game at 44-44 with around four minutes to play. Following a South Plainfield timeout at the 3:46 mark, the Tigers scored the next four points including a basket by Smith at the three minute mark for a 48-44 lead.
The Panthers replied again though with an 8-0 spurt that included a three by Carrera from the top of the key at the 2:43 mark, and a trey from the left wing by Bonilla at the 2:05 mark for a 52-48 advantage. South Plainfield wouldn’t go away though as it managed to slow Amboy down on offense while picking up two free throws at the 1:16 mark, and then getting a go ahead three from McLaughlin with under a minute left to retake the lead at 53-52. However, Amboy was able to overcome a turnover as Carrera came up with the late game heroics by stealing the ball back and getting to the line for the game winning free throws.
RAHWAY SUMMER LEAGUE NOTES: Both teams will be back in action next week at Rahway as Perth Amboy will play J.F. Kennedy on Tuesday, July 5th at 8:30 PM, and versus Edison at 5:30 PM on Wednesday, July 6th. South Plainfield’s next game is on Wednesday at 6:30 PM versus Scotch Plains, and then the Tigers will play J.F. Kennedy on Thursday, July 7th at 7:30 PM. Returning to action soon for Perth Amboy will be Adam Gornowicz, a sharpshooter, who will be entering his junior year. Gornowicz, who helped lead 17th seeded Amboy to the Final Four of the 2015 Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament, had been academically ineligible this past season.