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The biggest test East Rutherford’s boys basketball team faced in this early season came last Tuesday hosting Hunter Huss.
Huss, a legitimate 3A state title contender showed well early, but East Rutherford was outstanding from the second quarter forward to record a huge 85-77 win.
Huss had three kids who could fill it up for 55 of the Husky points and jump out of the gym, yet it wasn’t enough.
The Cavaliers went on a 20-6 run during the first six minutes of the fourth quarter to go up by 19 at that point.
Travis Waldroup-Rodriguez led all scorers with 26, but it was the defensive effort and T.J Watkins down the stretch which pushed the Huskies out of range late.
Honestly, Watkins may have contributed the play of the year already with his backcourt steal during that final run. The steal came from nowhere as he deflected an inbounds pass from underneath the basket after the Cavs had just scored. Watkins tracked the ball down heading out of bounds in the corner, then threw a no look pass to Donald Wilkins, who finished with a lay up.
Defensively, East battled to a dead even tie in rebounding against the taller Huss, but the Cavs out-hustled them and got in their face to make up the difference.
R-S Central boys (4-2) fell at home to a solid McDowell club for the second time this season. Jay Blanton had 15 points to lead the Hilltopper attack.
On that note, we lead right into the meeting on Tuesday, December 18th, between the two county foes.
While East is fairly unbeatable at home, Central has played well there over the years. The Cavs are favored, but the Hilltoppers are a better club than some believe.
Chase gets past Mitchell in 64-58 win. Losing by 1 at half, the Trojans held them to 28 second half points to get the victory. The Trojans (4-0) also beat West Lincoln earlier in the week. They host Patton in the first conference battle on December 18th.
East Rutherford girls cruised past Hunter Huss in a 69-35 win this past week. The Lady Cavs are 5-1 now as they play Asheville this week before hosting R-S Central on the 18th.
R-S Central girls clipped McDowell at home 62-57. Tia Bristol led the way with 15 points. They also beat Mitchell easily earlier in the week to move their record to 3-3 on the year. Despite the records, I do believe we will see a very good ball game between Central and East next week.
Basically, R-S Central’s Tia Bristol, Alyssia Watkins and Te’ja Twitty go up against, East’s Rachel Camp, Shay Dewberry and Justine Greene.
Those six mentioned have done the most damage for each club so far this season and I still believe Central has the better lineup. However, they haven’t done much to stop the Rachel Camp show over the last two seasons. Still, Central has won the last seven meetings in the rivalry.
Just like on the soccer field, Thomas Jefferson girls basketball team is being led by the return of Anna Dedmon and Victoria Bennett. They beat Community Piedmont Charter this past week for their first win of the season.
The Falcons blew a golden opportunity to nearly sow up home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Good news is that the Carolina Panthers were the ones who delivered the shot they have been capable of all year long. Although, too little, too late to get back in the playoff hunt, Cam Newton and the Panthers went up 23-0 and held on for a 30-20 win over Atlanta this past Sunday. As for my top 10 this week based on power rankings:
10. Pittsburgh 9. Green Bay, 8. Indy, 7. Baltimore, 6. Seattle, 5. Atlanta, 4. New York Giants, 3. Denver, 2. New England, 1. Houston. Picking up steam: Washington, Minnesota and San Francisco. On the outside: Chicago, Cincy, Tampa.
And for those who disagree about Chicago not being higher, lets put it this way. The Bears are 8-4 and holding onto the final wildcard spot at the moment. However, they have won just once in the last five games.
