Barrons Score Last 12 Points to Hold Off Spartans
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| Woodbridge’s Quran Robinson fires up a shot in the second half against Immaculata in the 2017 Coaches vs. Cancer Shootout at Montgomery High School on Saturday. Robinson had four first quarter threes, and finished with 20 points in the Barrons 64-51 win. |
SKILLMAN, NJ–Woodbridge’s game versus Immaculata at the 2017 Coaches vs. Cancer Shootout at Montgomery High School had a similar ending to South Brunswick’s victory over Bridgewater-Raritan earlier in the day.
Both the Barrons and Vikings established double digit leads, had to withstand second quarter and second half rallies from their opponents, and then finished their respective contests with superb spurts of their win to post victories over highly touted Skyland Conference teams.
Buoyed by four three pointers from senior guard, Quran Robinson, Woodbridge jumped out to a 20-10 first quarter lead. Then, after Immaculata opened the second period with a 9-0 run, the Barrons ended the first half on a 9-0 run of their own including Kemari Persol’s second three of the game for a 29-19 halftime lead.
WHS started the second half with 9 of the first 15 points of the third for a 38-25 lead at the 5:30 mark of the frame, and led 48-37 going into the fourth. The Spartans then began the fourth with a 14-4 spurt that included a layup by Piscataway product Shahkyle Matthews at the 4:59 mark for a 52-51 Woodbridge lead with under three minutes to play.
Enter Keshaun Henry, who was a bright spot in the loss to Sayreville on Thursday with a game high 32 points. Henry sparked a 12-0 run to end the game by the Barrons with a three pointer from the right corner for a 55-51 lead with 2:39 to play. From there, Woodbridge’s full court pressure did the rest forcing turnovers that turned into easy baskets for a 64-51 victory.
Henry finished with 12 points while Robinson had a game high 20 points by adding four field goals to his four first quarter threes. Persol chipped in with 10 including two threes while Rutkowski grinded out another double-digit performance with 12 points. Hura Blaine also contributed with 8 points while Curtis Nesbit rounded out the Barrons scoring with two points.
Jared Chambliss led Immaculata in defeat with 17 points while Matthews, a standout on Piscataway’s JV team last year, chipped in with 13 points including two threes. Kyle Rebelo and Matt Lynch each added 6 points while T.J. Kerwin added 5 points while Nick Jalandoni added two.
Woodbridge outscored Immaculata in two of the four periods played, the first and third quarters by a combined margin of 41-28 with the other two quarters being even. The Barrons big weapon was the three point shot, outscoring the Spartans by a 21-9 margin from beyond the arc.
Immaculata had a 10-7 edge in points scored from the foul line, but Woodbridge had a 36-32 edge in points scored from within the arc. Both teams had six different players get into the scorebook in this contest. Woodbridge got going early by scoring the first 6 points including a Rutkowski at the 6:35 mark of the first.
After Immaculata got a three to cut the deficit in half, Robinson got into the act with a three from the right corner at the 4:55 mark for a 9-3 lead. The Barrons then scored 6 of the next 11 points including another trey from the right side by Robinson at the 3:05 mark for a 15-8 lead.
The Barrons then closed the period by scoring 5 of the last 7 points including Robinson’s fourth trey of the game for a 20-10 advantage heading into the second. The Spartans then clamped down defensively on Robinson, and put together a 9-0 rally over the first 3:59 of the second to draw within one.
Capping the run was a steal for a layup by Matthews at the 4:01 mark for the 20-19 Woodbridge lead. With Robinson’s perimeter scoring antics under wraps, the Barrons found another way to percolate from the perimeter with Persol, who netted two threes including one at the 2:52 mark of the second to highlight a 9-0 run to end the half for a 29-19 lead.
Woodbridge picked up in the third quarter just where it ended in the first half by putting together a 9-6 run including buckets by Blaine and Rutkowski for a 38-25 lead with 5:30 to play in the stanza. Immaculata battled back though by scoring 7 of the next 9 points to close the gap to 40-32 with 3:09 to go in the third.
The Barrons managed to keep the Spartans at a distance for the time being by scoring 8 of the last 13 points of the third including a Hura Blaine score at the 2:18 mark for a 44-32 lead. Immaculata closed the gap to 48-37 heading into the fourth with a layup in the closing seconds of the third.
The basket to end the third sparked the Spartans to a 16-4 rally that included a layup by Shahkyle Matthews with 4:59 to play in regulation, and closed the gap to 52-51 with under three minutes to play. Immaculata would get no closer though as Woodbridge scored 12 unanswered points to end the game.
In addition to Henry’s three at the 2:39 mark to spark the decisive finish, the Barrons got a Robinson jumper at the two minute mark for a 57-51 lead, and a layup underneath in the closing seconds by Blaine for the 64-51 win. With the victory, Woodbridge improved to 9-1 overall on the season including a 3-0 record versus non-conference competition.
Immaculata, which lost a heartbreaker in the closing seconds to Franklin on Thursday night (68-67), dropped to 4-7 overall on the season including a 2-1 mark against teams outside the Skyland Conference. Woodbridge returns to action on short rest to play Scotch Plains-Fanwood in the Eric LeGrand Classic on Sunday at 2:00 PM.