Spartans Overcome Chiefs with 11-2 Rally in Regulation to Prevail in Extra Session
SOMERVILLE, NJ—After losing to top seeded St. Thomas Aquinas in the school’s first GMCT Elite Eight appearance since reaching the 2019 GMCT Championship, Piscataway was looking to prepare for the state playoffs with a tune-up game versus Immaculata of the Skyland Conference’s Mountain Division on Thursday night.
For much of this non-conference battle, the Chiefs played quite well. Unfortunately, Immaculata found a way to pull it out in the end in front of an enthusiastic home crowd in one of its final home games of the season. Trailing 58-49 with 2:57 remaining in regulation, the Spartans scored 11 of the last 13 points in regulation to tie the game, and then outscored P-Way by a margin of 8-6 in the extra session for the thrilling 68-66 victory.
Junior guard/forward, Jonathan Carman did his best to lead the way for the Chiefs with a double-double in the form of both a game high in points and rebounds with 21 and 12 respectively. Junior forward, Jalen Thomas did his best to help including 5 of 6 from the line down the stretch to finish with 14 points along with 5 rebounds, an assist, and a steal.
Also scoring in double figures was senior guard, Aaren Austin, who scored 13 points along with 5 steals, 3 assists, and a rebound. Elijah Timberlake (7 points, 3 steals, 2 rebounds, and an assist) and Jaiden Corley (7 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal) each added 7 points while senior forward Jerrick Hargrove rounded out the scoring with 4 points, 2 rebounds, a rebound, assist, and a block. Logan Smith also saw action for the Chiefs and picked up 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and a block.
Isaiah Honis led the way for the Spartans in victory with a team high 18 points including all 11 in the crucial rally to force overtime. Honis also handed out 8 assists, 5 rebounds, a block, and a steal. Josh Williams (13 points, 3 assists, a rebound, and a steal) and Davis Adams (13 points, 8 rebounds, and an assist) each chipped in with 13 with Williams sinking three treys in the opening half to help Immaculata take an early 11-4 lead.
Freshman Cole Hayden, who sank the go ahead three from the left wing in overtime, was another player to score in double figures for the Spartans with 12 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and a block. Sean Givens sank three treys for 9 points while grabbing two boards and handing out an assist. Jayden Street rounded out the Spartans’ scoring with 2 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, an assist and a steal.
Statistically speaking, Piscataway outscored Immaculata by a margin of 46-32 within the arc and 10-6 from the foul line, but behind Honis, who sank four threes including three in the late rally, the Spartans outscored the Chiefs by a margin of 36-12 from long distance. Both teams matched each other in total rebounds with 29 while Immaculata enjoyed a 15-14 edge in assists and a 2-1 edge in blocks. P-Way had more steals (12-5) and drew four charges.
Immaculata outscored P-Way in three of the five periods including the first, fourth, and overtime while the Chiefs won the second and third as they put together a 35-23 surge in the middle two periods to turn an early seven point deficit into a 9 point lead midway through the fourth. There were 9 lead changes and 4 ties in the contest with neither team leading by double digits as the Spartans biggest lead was 7 while the Chiefs was 9.
Piscataway jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a putback underneath by Thomas at the 7:39 mark. Immaculata then responded with 11 of the next 13 points as Williams sank two of his threes in the game while Hayden added a triple of his own to give the Spartans an 11-4 advantage. P-Way then battled back with 6 of the last 10 points of the frame to narrow the deficit to 15-10 after one as Carman scored 6 points.
The second quarter saw both teams go back and forth as Piscataway tied the game on a couple of occasions including late in the period when Timberlake sank a three from the right wing to knot the score at 21-21 with 2:41 remaining in the half. The Chiefs then scored 4 of the next 6 points as Carman, who scored eight in the frame to tally 14 in the first half, put P-Way up 27-23.
However, the Spartans rallied with the last five of the second including Williams final three of the game, and a runner from the right side by Honis that rolled in before time expired to give Immaculata a 28-27 edge at the intermission. Thomas, who scored 10 of his points in the second half, opened the third with a score from the right low block to put Piscataway in front again at 29-28.
After a score from Adams put the Spartans back out in front, 30-29, Corley promptly responded with a three from the left wing for a 32-30 Chiefs lead with 5:20 to play in the third. Hayden quickly put Immaculata back in front again at 33-32 with 5:06 left in the third on a three from the left corner. Piscataway then embarked on a 10-0 spurt including a three from the left side Austin at the 4:18 mark, and scores from Carman for a 42-33 lead.
Immaculata, which was held scoreless for a span of 3:28 didn’t get on the board again until almost a minute and a half left in the third when Adams scored off a putback of his own miss to close the gap to 42-35. Both teams scored three more points in the frame to head into the fourth with the Chiefs still holding a seven point advantage at 45-38.
Honis, who scored 16 of his points in the final period of regulation, started to show signs of percolating when he dribble to his left from the right wing towards the foul line for a jumper that kept the Spartans within seven at 49-42 at the 6:20 mark. Then after a P-Way score made it 51-44, Honis struck again with a high arching trey from the left wing to put Immaculata within four at 51-47 with 5:21 left in the fourth.
Piscataway added a score to go up 53-47 with 4:43 to play, and then the Spartans answered with a score of their own for a 53-49 Chiefs lead when the Immaculata bench was called for two technicals, which resulted in an ejection at the 3:57 mark of the fourth. Thomas then went to the line and sank 3 of 4 free throws to put the Chiefs up 56-49.
About a minute later, Thomas was fouled again, and sank another pair from the charity stripe for a 58-49 P-Way lead with just over three minutes to play in regulation. Then, the Spartans fought back with Honis leading the way as he sank threes at the 2:57, 1:15, and 37 second marks while also scoring on an and one to tie the game at 60-60. Piscataway was held without a field goal for the last 2:57 of regulation.
In the extra session, the Chiefs seized control right away as they scored the first four points including two from the line by Austin at the 3:03 mark for a 64-60 lead. Once again the Spartans battled back with the next 8 points including Hayden’s three and then a steal for a layup by Williams to go ahead, 68-64. Immaculata then appeared to have the game wrapped up when it forced a turnover, but Williams swiped a steal, and sank a jumper to pull P-Way within two at 68-66 with 14.9 seconds to play.
Piscataway had a chance to tie in the closing seconds after forcing another turnover in Immaculata’s backcourt, but was unable to score as time expired. With the victory, Immaculata, which had knocked off South Plainfield (58-50) at Cotoia Gymnasium on Wednedsay, improved to 11-14 overall, and will finish the regular season with a contest versus Koinonia Academy of Plainfield on Saturday in Somerville.
With the loss, Piscataway dropped to .500 again overall at 11-11, and now moves on to the North Jersey Section 2 Group 4 State Playoffs, where it is seeded 12th and will face fifth seeded Newark East Side in the opening round on Monday, February 28th, at 4:00 PM in Newark. The Chiefs, which only finished 1-9 a season ago, was one of the most improved teams in the GMC in 2021-22.