By: Sean Moylan
There was no big Harlem Globetrotter-like act complete with blind-folded three-point bombs from well beyond midcourt, tomahawk no-look dunks and behind-the-back crazy, yet entertaining, passes.
Yet buckets and buckets of confetti should have been flying in the direction of the Hightstown High boys’ varsity basketball team on Wednesday night as it beat West Windsor-Plainsboro South, 50-41, to win the Mercer County Tournament at Mercer County Community College.
It’s time for the Rams to be celebrated by more than just their loyal and tremendous fans. It’s time that people outside of Hightstown realize that the Rams have not been lucky this year, they’ve worked hard to develop into the best team in all of Mercer County. And on Wednesday night, they had a plaque to prove it.
"We have seven kids with about 200 points," said Hightstown’s legendary head coach Don Hess, whose 2000 team, led by Phil Renaud and two other 700 plus scorers, also won an MCT title. Hightstown is an unselfish team that spreads the wealth and that is why it wins.
Following a 22-22 first half, the Rams made their move to distance themselves from the Pirates with a brilliant 11-5 third quarter.
"In the third quarter we hit them with a couple of different presses they have not seen before," said Hess, whose team had five days to work on boxing out and a whole slew of different things. "We also took three charges in the game."
Defensively, no MCT team can come close to matching the Rams, who had 8 blocks, 15 steals and 27 rebounds as a team. In fact, Tim Lawson had a coach’s dream line of 10 points, 9 rebounds, 4 blocks, 4 assists and 3 steals. Cory Smith’s line of 14 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and an assist looked pretty impressive too.
"In the last quarter, he (Smith) was 6-for-6 from the foul line," added Hess, whose team hit 9-of-10 foul shots in the fourth quarter and was 18-for-24 from the charity stripe for the game.
Bobby Doughery (13 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals), Bryan Mino Worth (8 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal) and Mike Williston (6 assists, 4 steals, 3 rebounds) all had sensational games as well.
"This team believes in itself. Its a real accomplishment (winning the MCT). What a team !!! It’s been a real pleasure coaching this team. Our big six (Lawson, Doughery, Terrell Choice, Williston, Worth and Smith) just played fantastic. I couldn’t be any prouder than to be the coach of the Hightstown High School boys’ basketball team," said Hess, whose team was awarded a championship plaque and t-shirts after the game.
Hess also credited West Windsor-Plainsboro South head coach Bob Schurtz for coaching a fantastic tournament.
"It was a packed house. I’d like to thank the faculty and fans of Hightstown for their support the whole year long," said Hess, who thinks Hightstown’s current senior class is responsible for much of the great support the team has received.
Hightstown had qualified for the finals by beating Ewing, 56-53, in last Friday’s semifinals at MCCC.
"It was a great game. We had a 10-point lead, but then we let them go ahead (53-51) with a 3," said Hess.
However, Doughery (5 rebounds, 13 points) drilled a huge open three with 12 seconds left to give the Rams the lead for good. Cory Smith (15 points) had a great game and was 7-for-10 from the field.
However, Hightstown did not win because of the three, which is sometimes called "Fool’s Gold" by many of the great college and pro coaches, it won because it had 27 rebounds, 16 assists and only turned the ball over 11 times. Defense wins championships. Set it in stone. Lawson (8 rebounds and 9 points), Williston (8 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists), Worth (5 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds) and Choice (4 rebounds, 6 points) also scored.
Last Thursday, Hightstown used a pressing and trapping defense to smother Hamilton, 51-43, at Hightstown.
Down by 4 points after three quarters, the Rams never panicked as they knew they had the recipe for success.
"We did a couple of different traps we don’t usually do," said Hess, whose defense forced the Hornets into one turnover after another in the final quarter. Smith stole the ball 3 times down the stretch to produce easy points for the Rams.
Smith (13 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 steals), Worth (10 rebounds, 12 points), Lawson (6 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals), Williston (a point, 5 assists, 3 steals, 3 rebounds), Doughery (9 points), Choice (8 points) and Kevin Sobkowiak (2 points) all were productive at both ends of the floor.
Mercer County’s best basketball team, Hightstown (17-5), is scheduled to host Lacey today (Friday). It is scheduled to host Long Branch in a NJSIAA Group III Central Jersey tournament opener next Thursday.
