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SOUTH BRUNSWICK: SBPAL team beats Ewing for tourney title

   The South Brunswick Police Athletic League fifth grade boys basketball team came up winners in the final of the CJ Youth League Tournament played March 10 at West Windsor High School.
   The Vikings got by undefeated Ewing in the final game 44 – 41.
   After suffering a tough loss by two points to the same team during the league play, coaches Derek Underwood and Conrad Wright knew what to expect and had a plan.
   The first half was mostly dominated by South Brunswick until a late rally helped get Ewing close and ended with the Vikings leading 15 – 11 at the break.
   In the second half, South Brunswick continued to keep the pressure on Ewing and at one time lead by seven points.
   Just when South Brunswick seemed to be pulling away, Ewing came back with a couple of 3-point shots and pulled within two points.
   From then on, the game began to seesaw with no team leading by more than two.
   In the end, it took some skillful plays by Sheal Singh-Varma, Dominic Wright and Najir Underwood to seal the victory.
   Ewing was up by one with about 20 seconds left in the game when Sheal got a step on his defender and drove to the basket, this caused the Ewing center to leave his man and pick him up, and Sheal calmly delivered the ball to his big man Darrin Seavers, who made no mistake in securing the lead.
   The game was not over yet and Ewing still had enough time, and with the about six seconds to go the Ewing coach took his final time-out.
   Following the time-out, the super-fast hands of Dominic and lightning feet of Najir combined to steal the inbound pass. The game ended with Sheal making an easy layup as the clock expired.
   Najir, Dominic, Darrin and Sheal came up big for the Vikings in the victory.Dominic lead the team with 16 points, he also had six rebounds. Najir scored 12 points with two, three-pointers and three steals at crucial times. Darrin scored six points with 12 rebounds.The coaches said working on endurance paid off for the Vikings on Sunday.
   The Vikings continue to have a successful 2011-12 season.
   The team won the Monroe Sports Center Pre-Thanksgiving Tournament and took second place in the Drew University Thanksgiving Turkey Classic Tournament in November.
   It also took second place in the Sid Lee Viking Classic Baksetball Tournament conducted by SBPAL during the Christmas break.
   Last Year, the same Viking boys won championships at North Brunswick League, Sid-Lee Viking Classic HolidayTournament, New Jersey Police Athletic League Basketball Tournaments and were runners-up in Central Jersey League.
   The Vikings will battle Old Bridge 2 p.m. on March 24 to defend their title in the finals of North Brunswick League.