Raiders advance to SCT semifinals
By: Rudy Brandl
For the third time in the last four years, the Hillsborough High basketball teams swept a home doubleheader in the quarterfinal round of the Somerset County Tournament.
Last week’s victories propelled the Raider hoop teams into this week’s semifinals. The third-ranked HHS girls earned a final four date with second-seeded rival Bridgewater-Raritan with a 53-40 victory over Montgomery, while the fourth-ranked HHS boys moved into the semifinals vs. top-seeded defending champion Franklin with a 54-47 triumph over Somerville.
The only break in the recent trend of SCT quarterfinal round dominance came two years ago in the 2000-01 season when Bridgewater eliminated the Raider boys en route to the title.
Both Hillsborough squads expected tough quarterfinal contests. While the girls rolled to a 35-11 lead and coasted to victory, the boys had to erase a seven-point halftime deficit to knock off Somerville.
Here’s a look at how Hillsborough’s teams thrilled the home fans with a sweep in last week’s SCT quarterfinals:
Malko presence,
Robinson shot
crucial for boys
Mike Malko knew he had to assert himself as the biggest guy on the court. With a quick, athletic Somerville team trying to stage a tournament upset, it was up to Hillsborough’s 6-foot, 7-inch junior center to make an impact.
Malko responded with a double-double, posting a game-high 16 points and 13 rebounds to power the Raiders to a 54-47 victory. Malko scored seven of his points in the third period when the Raiders erased a seven-point deficit with a 21-10 flurry.
"We needed to fix our mistakes we made in the first half," Malko said. "We needed to take care of the ball better and we needed to play better defense in the post. They were getting easy lobs and we needed to help. We knew we needed to pick it up and play harder. We needed to be more aggressive on defense."
Somerville dominated the first half by running the floor and getting the ball inside to Kerry Foderingham. Malko did a better job defending the Pioneer star in the second half and held him to 13 points for the game.
"We played a fantastic second half," Raider head coach Kevin McGuire said. "We just stressed the fact that if we continued to let that happen, we were going to lose. We really had to adjust."
A real sense of urgency kicked in for the Raiders in the second half. With seniors like Chris Haas, Lamar Spencer and Jon Leonard playing in their last county tournament, it was time to get serious.
"A bunch of these guys are seniors and this was the last half of county basketball they were guaranteed," McGuire said. "If they wanted to play another half, they had to respond. They were ready for that challenge."
Somerville maintained a slim lead throughout most of the third quarter until junior guard T.J. Sferra nailed a 3-pointer from the left wing to give HHS a 39-38 edge with 45 seconds showing on the clock. Ben Schweitzer added two free throws with 24.9 to go and Somerville tried to even the score with a three from the left corner.
Courtney Robinson grabbed the missed shot with seven seconds left and calmly dribbled up the floor, checking the clock. Robinson pulled up from about 25 feet away and beat the buzzer with a huge 3-point shot from the left wing that sent the crowd into a frenzy. Suddenly, the Raiders had a 44-38 lead and all the momentum they’d need to win this game.
"That was huge," McGuire said. "It just pumped us up. I couldn’t get the guys to sit down between quarters. That definitely had to hurt Somerville. It’s like a kick right in the gut."
The Pioneers never crept closer than three points in the final period and the Raiders earned yet another rematch with Franklin.
Hillsborough hit 7-of-18 shots from behind the 3-point line, led by Sferra’s three bombs. Malko led the balanced scoring and was joined in double figures by Sferra (13), Robinson(12) and Haas (11).
Balanced scoring,
solid defense lift
girls to easy win
The Lady Raiders set the tone for the game with one of their finest quarters of the season in the first eight minutes against Montgomery. Five different players scored and everyone defended with intensity while Hillsborough opened with a 20-5 spurt and never looked back while cruising to a 53-40 victory.
Three HHS players scored 12 points to lead the balanced assault. Junior point guard Carolyn McNamara scored six of her career-high dozen in the opening quarter, while classmate Allison Kutch and freshman Ali DeLuca also netted 12 points for the winners.
Jess Rainey opened the game with two easy drives to the basket and McNamara followed with two uncontested layups as the home team bolted to an 8-1 lead. Hillsborough continued attacking the basket by breezing past Montgomery’s defenders.
"We stressed being more aggressive," HHS head coach Jim Reese said afterward. "Early in the game, we were taking it from the wing right to the basket. They did a real nice job attacking the basket. One of the strengths of this team is that we have a lot of people who can do that."
"We pretty much work on driving to the basket every day," DeLuca added. "We just decided we needed to work as a team and be more aggressive."
The Lady Raiders were equally aggressive and impressive on the defensive end of the floor, holding the visitors to only two field goals the entire first half. Montgomery scored all six of its points in the second quarter from the free throw line and at one point went 14 minutes without hitting a shot from the field.
"Defense was the key in the first half," McNamara said. "It kind of dwindled a little bit in the second half, but we’ll work on that."
"We’ve been playing our best basketball the last week or so," Reese added. "We played with a great deal of defensive intensity in the first half. They made some adjustments at halftime and played better in the second half, but we only lost two points off the lead in the third quarter."
Hillsborough added five points to its 30-11 halftime lead when Rainey opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer from the left wing and Kutch followed with a jumper from the right side. Montgomery rallied with a 12-3 spurt, but the Lady Raiders clamped down and maintained a comfortable lead.
DeLuca scored seven of her points in the final quarter to help weather the storm.
"When they started pressing, we all started to panic a little," DeLuca said. "We kept it together and worked well under pressure."
With the victory, the Lady Raiders advanced to the county semifinals for the seventh straight year.

