Boys basketball
By: Jim Green
The Lawrence High School boys basketball team just can’t get on a roll.
The Cardinals failed in their fifth attempt to win back-to-back games Monday night, losing a hard-fought 50-42 decision to Montgomery. The defeat dropped Lawrence to 5-10 overall.
The Cardinals, who were paced by senior guard Shawn Potocki’s 13 points, led 32-31 heading into the fourth quarter. But for the second time in five games and the third time total Lawrence lost a game it led heading into the final period.
"It was 48-42 for a few trips down," Lawrence coach Pat Tarrant said. "We got some shots inside, but the wouldn’t drop. It was just a frustrating game for us."
Potocki, who reached double-figures in scoring for the 12th time in 15 games, leads Lawrence in scoring at 14.1 points per game. He netted at least one 3-pointer for the seventh consecutive game and has 28 total for the season.
The surprise performance against Montgomery, though, came from junior Dave Makai. The swingman connected on two 3-pointers and dropped in a season-high 10 points.
"He (Makai) had a good game offensively," Tarrant said. "He’s learning a lot. We see some good flashes from him."
Makai’s previous season-high of seven points came in the Cardinals’ 55-46 win last Thursday over Princeton. Against the Little Tigers, Lawrence used a balanced offensive attack to improve to 3-5 in the Colonial Valley Conference.
The Cardinals came out slowly and trailed the 2-11 Little Tigers 16-11 after one period. But this time, Lawrence took control in the second half, outscoring Princeton 27-22 over the final two periods to come away with the victory.
"We got behind early and came right back," Tarrant said of his team’s performance against Princeton. "We controlled the game after the first quarter. It was a strong game for us in a tough place to play."
Potocki led the way with 12 points, receiving support from Makai, freshman center Brett Brackett (10 points) and junior guard Garrett Santoro (six points). Brackett, who added nine points against Montgomery, is averaging 8.4 points per game in his first varsity season.
The Cardinals will next travel to Hamilton at 4 p.m. today. Lawrence then faces West Windsor-Plainsboro South at 2 p.m. Saturday and Nottingham at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
"We have nine or 10 games left," Tarrant said. "We’re just trying to play the best we can."

