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Kevin Carver
The loss snapped a 24-game win streak at the confines of East Rutherford, when Salisbury beat them two years ago in the 2A playoffs.
Still, Freedom at East Rutherford last Friday was everything you could of asked for out of a two of the best hoops teams in the state.
The visiting Patriots held command all game long with a 12-point lead during in the first period and then led by 11 at the half. Freedom gained a 15-point advantage to start the third quarter, but the never say die Cavs kept fighting back.
East went on a 20-12 run during the final seven minutes of the quarter, which East Coach Brad Levine got the crowd involved during one of the timeouts. It certainly was a much more emotionally-charged Cavs after the break, down 48-41 after three.
Although, East was down 11 with 3:47 left in the final frame, they went on a 14-3 run to tie it up and send it to overtime at 61-all. During that span, Cavalier, T.J. Watkins made what could have been the play of the year after picking up a loose ball during scramble defense. Watkins raced the other end and connected on the most unthinkable shot off the right side of the glass with two Freedom defenders hacking him on the play. He turned it into a three-point play and it seemed as though East would win in overtime.
However, East’s opening three-point lead in the extra frame wouldn‘t hold up as Freedom tied it to send thing to double OT. Freedom’s Chris Bridges nailed a top of the key three-ball in the second session and Rob Noyes thunderous putback dunk was too much for East to overcome in the five-point swing.
“I thought in the first half we just played slow, but we have nothing to be ashamed of in losing this game. Levine said. “It was a great hard fought ballgame by both teams.”
R-S Central split in boys action this past week, by dumping Patton and then a comeback at Shelby fell six-points short in the end.
Thomas Jefferson (7-4, 3-1) has gotten on a little bit of a role as they have claimed three straight wins, but faced an undefeated and very good Hendersonville this past Tuesday.
On the girls side, R-S Central (13-1, 5-0) made a huge statement as they thrashed Shelby on the road to take a two-game South Mountain Athletic Conference lead with seven SMAC games left. The Lady Hilltoppers have battle in some classic moment against Shelby in the past, falling in most of those. However, a 31-18 second half performance on the scoreboard did the trick accumulating a key 43 rebounds in the victory. Central has been in the thick of a conference championship over the last few seasons, but have been overpowered by either Freedom or Shelby each time. They haven’t won a conference title since 1988 and this could be the year they do so.
Meanwhile, East Rutherford’s girls helped out R-S Central by taking down Freedom in overtime on Friday. The Lady Cavs (12-2, 2-2) become the third team in conference play to beat Freedom’s girls basketball team. Shelby beat Freedom in all three meeting a year ago, while R-S Central has taken two of the last three meetings, which includes a 61-51 win less than a month ago.
In the NFL, Sunday Night’s game was a stunner as the Broncos advanced over the Pittsburgh Steelers, 29-23. Now that’s an historical win right there. Tim Tebow appears in his first NFL playoff game and he wins it against the best defense in the league. I have no idea how they will outscore New England’s explosive offense this coming week, but many people are keeping the faith across the country. No matter how many naysayers dismiss Tim Tebow though, Patriot coach Bill Belichick has landed the biggest villain status of anybody in the NFL. No doubt, it will be the most anticipated game this weekend.
I will take the Pack over the Giants, the Saints over the 49ers and the Texans over the Ravens in an upset. I will say that 49ers are pretty scary, so don’t be surprised if they get by the Saints.
