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In Rutherfordton, both schools left no doubt about who was playing better at this point in time of the season.
East Rutherford reeled off a 9-0 run to begin the game and never really looked back. The Cavs Raheem Hampton splashed a three-ball from the left wing to end the half as East led 42-21 at the break.
Central fought back and cut the deficit to 16 by Jay Lynch’s backside cut for two, but the Hilltoppers had no answer for East Rutherford on the boards. Devonte Boykins (18 points, 12 rebounds) registered back-to-back 3-point plays on second chance opportunities and 10 Central turnovers in the first half alone put this one out of reach. East won 77-65 as Sharod Hines and Central went on a second half tear to atleast make it a respectable final.
Despite the in-county win, East Rutherford coach Brad Levine still thought that the Cavs had some work left to do.
“We did enough good things early to set the tone, but we have to finish games better than we did tonight,” Levine said.
R-S Central coach Greg Wright echoed a similar statement following the result.
“We played much better in the second half, but our inconsistency as a team and East Rutherford’s ability to rebound were the difference makers tonight,” Wright said.
East Rutherford (6-1, 2-0) easily handled Patton by 50 and R-S Central (4-5,1-1) dispatched of Chase by 19 on Friday. T.J. Watkins four first half trey’s buried Patton and Central’s Sharod Hines went off in Central’s victory.
Chase (3-3, 0-2) lost twice in conference and the absence of Carlos Watkins surely played a huge factor. Watkins, who was a Shrine Bowl selection, helped the Tarheels to a 26-19 win over South Carolina’s top prospects this past Saturday. Watkins also showed well that his upper body strength isn’t anything to mess with on the field as a defensive end.
On the girls side, R-S Central (8-1, 2-0) calmed down first as East Rutherford was chaotic and impatient with the basketball for most of the game. When things settled, R-S Central’s Alyssia Watkins became the hero of the game down the stretch.
Watkins took a charge on defense, came away with two steals at critical times and three straight baskets in the fourth quarter to seal a 60-51 win for the Lady Hilltoppers. Watkins, who had 11 points, nine rebounds, four steals and five assists, never allowed East Rutherford within three possessions after building an 18-point early third quarter lead.
R-S Central used a balance scoring attack as they took care of Chase 78-45 in the second half of the week.
East Rutherford (5-2, 0-2) not only fell at Central, but they lost a double-digit lead in the second in a defeat to Patton to follow that up.
Chase was defeated by Patton and then R-S Central this week, but Kaitlyn Smart was tough for Central as she posted a season high 22-points in that loss.
Thomas Jefferson (3-3, 1-1) boys opened up Western Highalnds play with a 62-56 loss at Mitchell, but collected their first ever road win in the conference on Friday. They beat Avery 79-64 on acount of a big first and third quarter. Travis Waldroup-Rodriguez put up 46 and Efrim Border had another 22 in the win. Thomas Jefferson’s girls fell twice this week in conference play.
Sports rant of the week: Jeremy Shockey of the Carolina Panthers (5-9) was a little irate after scoring a touchdown against the Houston Texans on Sunday and even taunted them. His frustration built in pregame though when a number of Texans didn’t place a hand over their heart during the National Anthem.
Following the game, he made that statement much clearer in the Panthers 28-13 win. While he can be a bit controversial, Shockey goes to the list of among my current favorites in sports these days.
