Late Rally Lifts Piscataway Past Hunterdon Central For Championship, 40-39
BOUND BROOK, NJ–After watching the majority of the first quarterfinal round game in the Rahway Summer League between J.P. Stevens and Perth Amboy at Rahway  High School, GMC Hoops scrambled over to Bound Brook High School to catch the final half of action between fourth seeded Piscataway and second seeded Hunterdon Central in the Championship Game of the 2011 Bound Brook Summer League.
In a back and forth game that saw seven lead changes and a tie in the second half alone, and neither team having a bigger lead than five points, the team that put together the best run down the stretch was going to win the title. Â Piscataway was that team. Â After trailing early on by a 22-18 margin with 18:44 to go, the Chiefs responded with 9 of the next 11 points over a span of 9:07 to take a 27-24 lead with 9:37 remaining.
Hunterdon Central, which showed tremendous poise throughout the second half, and demonstrated that their second seed was well earned, battled back with an 11-3 tear over the next 7:21 to take the biggest lead of the half at 35-30 with 2:16 remaining. Â P-Way didn’t panic though. Â With its pressure defense that always has the ability to force turnovers for quick scores, the Chiefs rose to the occasion with a 10-4 spurt over the final 1:38 to claim the title by the score of 40-39.
Vik Singh led a balanced scoring attack for the Chiefs in the second half with 6 points on two field goals and two free throws in the final 20 minutes. Â Donovan Kirkland and Jelani Jackson each added 4 points while Greg Davis and David White chipped in with 3 points. Â Kirkland was very instrumental down the stretch as he sparked the game deciding rally with a layup that got a kind bounce at the 1:38 mark.
Moments later, Kirkland picked up a steal off the press, and dished to Jackson for a layup that narrowed the deficit to one at 35-34 with 1:27 to play. Â The Chiefs had an opportunity to take the lead when the Red Devils missed two free throws, but the Skyland Conference team got the offensive rebound, and put it back in for a 37-34 edge with 1:11 to go in regulation. Â P-Way continued to apply the pressure though.
The result was a quick response score on a transition layup with 1:04 remaining, and then after Hunterdon Central got the ball into their frontcourt, the Devils tried to run the clock out by spreading the floor. Â However, the Chiefs tried to double up on the wing, and HCHS tried to pass to a player going back door, but Davis was their for the steal with 41 seconds left, and P-Way converted the score when Marcus Freeney dished to Kirkland for a layup with 31.3 seconds left for a 38-37 lead.
Hunterdon Central wrestled the lead right back by drawing a foul and making two free throws with 24.6 to play for a 39-38 lead. Â However, Singh pulled out the win by getting the offensive rebound off his own miss after taking an inbounds pass from Jackson, and drawing a foul with 14.7 seconds left for two free throws and the 40-39 win. Â The Chiefs ended the summer at 9-2 while the Devils also finished up at 9-2.