Knight boys need to win to get in state tourney
By: Bob Nuse
According to the schedule, the boys’ basketball state tournament doesn’t start until March 1. But for all intents and purposes, the state tournament started this week for West Windsor-Plainsboro High North.
With a 6-8 record entering the week, the Knights needed wins over Princeton and Hopewell Valley to reach .500 by the state tournament cutoff date and qualify for a second straight year.
WW-P North got the first of those wins on Tuesday, rallying from an eight-point deficit in the final five minutes to beat Princeton, 61-53. With the win, the Knights improved to 7-8 heading into tonight’s 7 p.m. game against Hopewell. North needs to win to secure its state tournament berth.
"I knew the kids would respond and come back and play hard," said North coach Eric Becker, whose team outscored the Little Tigers, 17-1, over the final five minutes. "We were coming off a tough game against Ewing (a 70-36 loss). Now it comes down to one game and we need it to get in.
"Hopewell is a quality team. But this is a big game and I think the kids can step up to the challenge. They responded tonight."
For a while on Tuesday it looked like tonight’s game against Hopewell wouldn’t make any difference in the Knights’ quest for a state tournament berth. Princeton broke open a tie game at halftime and built a 52-44 lead with just over five minutes to play. But the Knights defense shut down the Princeton offense, while the offense came alive to earn the win.
"It took us a while to get going tonight," said North sophomore Connor Hayes, who finished with a season-high 16 points. "Their zone was working well against us but then our shooters got going and we started to make shots. And No. 33 (Josh Thompson) was making NBA-range three’s against us. But we put Mike Pilgrim on him in the fourth quarter and he did a great job of shutting him down."
Thompson, who finished with a game-high 21 points hit a three-point shot to open the fourth quarter, then rarely touched the ball down the stretch with Pilgrim’s defense.
"Mike really stepped up and took away his shot," Becker said. "I think that helped us pick up our intensity. I’m so proud of the way the guys bounced back after the Ewing game. We played well in spurts in the first half and early in the second half. Then Mike Pilgrim stepped it up and the rest of them followed."
Brian Sufalko led the Knights with 20 points, while Hayes had 16 and Jeff Torralba added 11. For Hayes, it was just the third time this season he has scored in double figures.
"Earlier in the season I wasn’t looking to shoot as much," Hayes said. "But I’ve gotten more comfortable with the other players. At the beginning of the season I was a new sophomore. But I played with these guys over the summer and I got comfortable with them pretty quickly.
"We knew that if we came together as a team and played our game we could win and we did."
Now the Knights need one more win to make a second straight appearance in the Central Jersey Group III tournament.
"We know we have to beat Hopewell to qualify," Hayes said. "It’s fun to have the pressure every game. We had the same pressure today and now we have to beat Hopewell. It will be like a state game for us."
As was Tuesday’s win against Princeton. Now the Knights have one more "state tournament" game left to see if they get to play in March.