Johnson’s shot lifts South into OT win
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Dan Balevski and Austin Witter provided the big shots in an incredible comeback win over Hillsborough last Wednesday.
Two nights later it was Chris Johnson doing them one better.
Johnson’s 30-foot shot as time expired forced overtime in a game the West Windsor-Plainsboro South boys basketball team would win over Sayreville, 49-48, Friday night in the Central Jersey Group IV semifinals. It was the second time in three days the Pirates tied a game at the buzzer and then went on to win in overtime.
”I was just so excited,” Johnson said of making the shot. “The coaches and everybody were just telling me to calm down and collect my emotions because they didn’t want me going out there over excited in overtime. It’s just a miracle. I’m at a loss for words. I’m just happy it went in when I shot it.”
It was the second miracle in a row for the Pirates, who advanced to face Freehold Township in the CJ IV final, which was played on Monday night.
”We really had two the other night,” said WW-P South coach Bob Schurtz, whose team tied the game against Hillsborough at the buzzer and then won it on a shot with less than two seconds left. “The first one was maybe an accident. The second one is a coincidence. The third one, it starts to become habit-forming. I think at some point we have to start believing in it. You can call it destiny or whatever you want, but I think it is a mindset that we belong winning these games.”
The win put the Pirates into position to win their first sectional basketball title since 1980, when they captured the CJ II championship. They last appeared in a sectional final in 1995, losing to Piscataway in the CJ IV final.
”We’re getting our confidence and that is what we need,” said Johnson, who helped the Pirates improve to 23-3 with the win. “We come out in a lot of games without our confidence and that’s what we need, to gain that confidence.
”I think somebody is watching us right now and wants us to win. We just have to keep working hard and coming hard. Everybody on this team can hit big shots. We just have to have the confidence.”
It’s not just big shots that have helped the Pirates win, it is contributions from the whole roster. The Pirates were down, 24-10, in the second quarter when junior Zack Hundertmark entered the game. The 6-foot-5 football lineman immediately made his presence felt, lending some toughness to the Pirates.
”He did a great job,” Schurtz said. “We talked. There is a definite role for him on this team. It’s not every game and it is not against every team. But there are situations and moments where he can excel. He is an excellent athlete.”
While he didn’t score, Hundertmark helped the Pirated close the second quarter on an 11-2 run that got them within 26-21.
”I just tried to be physical back,” Hundertmark said. “I saw that they were pushing us around and I tried to go in there and be physical back. I don’t really care about my personal points. I just want my team to win.
”Coming out at halftime we knew we had to come out and be more physical.”
The Pirates scored the first seven points of the third quarter to take a 28-26 lead, then saw Sayreville go on a 10-1 run to jump back on top, 36-29, early in the fourth quarter.
But this is a WW-P South team that just won’t be denied. Witter made a three-point shot and Johnson followed with a basket to make it 36-34. The teams traded baskets down the stretch and with 4.1 seconds left, Sayreville made the first of two foul shots to take a 46-43 lead.
”At the timeout we drew up two options for whether it was three or four points,” Schurtz said. “If it was three points, then we talked about trying to get CJ down the court with one outlet on the other side.”
What Johnson got was a clean look at the basket from just over mid-court, forcing overtime for the second game in a row.
In the overtime, Sayreville scored first to take a 48-46 lead, but Dan Block answered with a basket to make it 48-48. With 38 seconds left, Witter hit one of two foul shots for a 49-48 lead that held up when the Bombers missed their own shot at the buzzer.
”Two times in a row, it is sort of like destiny,” Hundertmark said. “We never expected for it to happen.”
But it did — twice. And it put the Pirates into position for a CJ IV title with a team that seems to have a different hero each night.
”That is how it has been much of the season,” Schurtz said. “I’m afraid to think if we start hitting on all cylinders together what kind of team we can be. We have five different cylinders and they’re not all hitting at the same time. I thought I got a good connection in the second quarter with three or four guys playing real well together. We made a run.”
And the run didn’t end until the Pirates had pulled out yet another miracle win.
”It was a different look in the huddle,” Schurtz said. “At no point in this game did anyone on our team believe we were out of it. And I think that showed late in the game. We had a couple of errors but it didn’t cost us.”

