HHS boys fall short in classic semifinal

Raiders waste 11-point lead in final quarter

By: Rudy Brandl
   
   BRIDGEWATER — Tuesday night’s heart-breaking elimination loss in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals will go down as one of the most frustrating games in Hillsborough High boys’ basketball history.
   The Raiders (13-9) controlled nearly the entire game and had top-ranked favorite and defending champion Franklin on the ropes. Hillsborough squandered an 11-point lead in the final four minutes of regulation and wound up losing a dramatic 57-55 overtime classic.
   Missed free throws, poor decisions and turnovers against Franklin’s patented vicious full-court pressure defense doomed the Raiders in the fourth quarter and overtime. After leading for all but 11 seconds of the game, Hillsborough dropped its seventh straight game to Franklin, three in each of the past two seasons. This one was the closest and most difficult defeat to swallow.
   "I’m sick of losing games like this," Raider head coach Kevin McGuire said afterward. "We didn’t have to play the perfect game, but it was just a matter of closing out a game by making free throws and taking care of the ball. That’s how you win a game like this and we didn’t do it."
   The Raiders committed nine turnovers in the fourth period when Franklin stormed back into the game. Hillsborough also missed six free throws in the final frame and converted only 22-of-37 foul shots in the contest.
   HHS still led by five with 1:09 to go when Courtney Robinson elected to take the ball to the basket instead of running the clock. Robinson was called for charging and fouled out on the play.
   "All we had to do was pull it out and run our offense," McGuire said. "The whole team was responsible for making plays like that."
   Despite all these mistakes and an offense that didn’t produce a field goal after Robinson’s fast break layup with 6:26 to go in regulation, the Raiders still had a chance to win the game on the final possession of overtime. T. J. Sferra’s desperation 3-point shot from the right wing glanced off the rim and follow attempts by Jon Leonard and Chris Haas just missed the mark.
   Mike Malko’s three from the top of the key rolled around the rim and out with 14 seconds left, leaving Hillsborough down by one point. Franklin point guard Kevin Bent, who scored 12 of his game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, added a free throw with 6.8 seconds left to increase the margin.
   Bent had opened the extra session with a wide-open bomb from the left wing. The teams continue to battle at both ends but neither could convert free throws or jump shots. HHS point guard Lamar Spencer, whose missed free throws in the final minute of regulation left the game deadlocked, sustained a sprained right ankle with 2:11 to go in overtime.
   With the team’s best ball handlers on the bench, the Raiders had even more difficulty working against Franklin’s press. The Warriors helped with a few missed free throws and turnovers but the Raiders couldn’t take advantage.
   "We had guys turning the ball over and guys we wanted at the free throw line not hitting," McGuire said. "You have to maintain your composure under pressure."
   Malko and Robinson led the Raiders with 15 points apiece, while Sferra tossed in 13. Sferra’s three in the first quarter was the team’s only long distance hit in a poor 1-for-13 cumulative performance from behind the arc. Team scoring leader Chris Haas was held to two points.
   Franklin advanced to tonight’s county championship game against second-ranked Watchung Hills, which ousted Immaculata in the other semifinal. The Raiders, meanwhile, will play at Watchung in a divisional make-up game Saturday afternoon in a final tune-up for Monday night’s state playoff game at Bridgewater-Raritan.