Rams Roll Past GMC Gold Rival Tigers to Meet Roselle Catholic in Quarterfinals
NORTH EDISON, NJ—Over the past several seasons, the rivalry between Wardlaw-Hartridge and Timothy Christian has blossomed into quite an intense one. Formerly from the now extinct Patriot Conference, the two schools joined the GMC for the 2010-11 season, and within the past few years have become fierce foes.
During the regular season, the two teams split their two GMC Gold Division games with TCS defeating Wardlaw (84-69) at Laidlaw Gymnasium on January 19th and the Rams knocking off the Tigers (66-56) in Piscataway on the eve of the 2022 GMCT on February 9th. It was Timothy Christian’s only loss in division play this year as the Tigers won the division crown for the first time since 2018.
On Wednesday afternoon, the two teams continued their emerging rivalry as 8th seeded Wardlaw hosted 9th seeded Timothy Christian in the opening round of the NJSIAA Non-Public B State Playoffs. The winner would be rewarded with a berth in the sectional quarterfinals and play top seeded Roselle Catholic on Friday afternoon in Roselle.
Finishing second right behind TCS in the GMC Gold, Wardlaw was looking to not only win its first ever NJSIAA Non-Public B playoff game, but also win the rubber match this season between the two schools. The Rams, which technically won the division a year ago by winning the only meeting between the two schools on February 10th in Wardlaw’s Plumeri Gymnasium, and was awarded the Gold two years ago since Dunellen was not eligible to win the title, was looking for something to prove.
In a fast paced up and down game, Wardlaw-Hartridge felt right at home. Behind the play of senior guard, Mehkai Huey, who scored 18 of his 26 points in the first half, the Rams jumped out to a 37-26 halftime lead, and raised it to 20 early in the fourth quarter before winning 72-51. Huey, who now has 932 points for his career, made 10 field goals including a three and sank 5 of 6 from the line.
Huey also collected 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals while teammate Evan Benson chipped in with 23 points including three treys, 5 steals, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists. Junior guard, Xavier Hinds added 9 points including a three to open the game while also picking up 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. Harrison Kilpatrick also contributed with 8 points including two treys, 7 assists, a rebound, block, and steal.
Despite only scoring four points in the contest, senior forward Jordan Severino still made a huge impact in the contest with 16 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 2 assists. Miles DeJesus scored the final Wardlaw points of the game for his two in the contest while junior Gyrord Gregoire also played and tallied 4 rebounds and 2 assists.
Leading the way in defeat for Timothy Christian was freshman Jalen Fleming, who concluded an outstanding first year with 13 points and 8 rebounds while senior Jonathan McNulty chipped in with 12 points, 4 rebounds, and an assist. Fellow senior James Hayes added 8 points including two threes along with 7 assists and 2 steals.
Joel Sierra (5 points, 5 rebounds, and an assist) and Gian Wagner (5 points, 3 rebounds, an assist and a steal) each scored five as Wagner concluded his stellar career with 1,043 points. Alijah Rozier (4 points), Brandon Johnson (2 points and 8 boards), and Dylan Spivey (2 points) rounded out the scoring for TCS while Jordan Johnson also saw action in the contest for the Tigers.
While TCS had a 27-21 edge in points scored in long distance, Wardlaw overcame that with a decisive edge in points scored within the arc (44-18) and from the foul line (7-4). Many of the Rams points came in transition thanks to Huey, Benson, and Hinds. Wardlaw also had advantages in rebounds (37-28), assists (23-10), blocks (5-0), and steals (12-5).
Outscoring Timothy Christian in every quarter, Wardlaw, which got off to a fast start, gradually pulled way from Timothy Christian for the victory. Over the first 2:51 of the contest, the Rams jumped out to a 5-0 lead as Hinds connected on a three from the top of the key, and then Huey followed with a score. The Rams then scored 14 of the next 22 points before Wagner connected on a three from the right wing late in the period to close the gap to 19-11 heading into the second.
Opening up the second quarter with 7 of the first 10 points capped by a three from Benson, Wardlaw increased its advantage to double figures at 26-14 with five minutes remaining in the first half. Although TCS trimmed the deficit a bit by outscoring the Rams 12-11 over the remainder of the period, Wardlaw maintained a double figure lead at 37-26 going into the half thanks to a three and a transition layup off a steal from Benson and a layup by Huey.
Wardlaw began the second half much like it had ended the first with 12 of the first 19 points of the third quarter including threes from Benson and Kilpatrick for a 49-33 lead with 3:08 left in the third. Then, the Rams increased their edge a bit more by scoring 4 of the last 7 points of the frame including a score by Huey to lead 53-36 entering the fourth.
Not letting up, the Rams built up their largest lead of the game with a 9-6 run to start the fourth as Huey highlighted the run with an and one at the 3:29 mark for a 63-42 advantage. From there each team scored 9 points as DeJesus closed out the scoring for the Rams with a layup from the left low block off a feed from Huey and Rozier knocked down a three to round out the Tigers scoring.
With the victory, Wardlaw-Hartridge won its first ever NJSIAA Non-Public B playoff game and improved to 15-7 overall on the season. Timothy Christian concludes its season at 14-11. The Rams now move on to the NJSIAA Non-Public B North Quarterfinals, where they will face top seeded and top ranked Roselle Catholic on Friday afternoon at 5:00 PM in Roselle.