Hillside, ranked 12th in the state by the Star-ledger, entered the game as the heavy favorite which made the victory doubly satisfying. The game was punctuated by a series of runs by each team. Hillside grabbed an early 13-6 lead, but Summit came storming back with a 15-4 run to end the quarter up 21-17. The 2nd quarter was almost even but Summit managed to add 2 more points to the lead. Wellington Smith (13 points), Dwayne (11 points) and Dwight Reid (10 points ) scored all but one of Summit's points in the 1st half. Summit fans were thinking "is it possible?"

The 2nd half began with a 7 point Summit spurt led by Smith and Dwayne Reid and Summit opened a 13 point lead. But just as the Summit fans began to feel a little more comfortable Hillside made a 10-0 run of their own to make it a 3 point game. The quarter ended with Summit still in the lead by 5 points (51-46).

The final quarter began with Mike Dugan hitting on 1 of 2 free throws followed by a Hillside basket that put the lead at four. On the next possession John Alpizar took his only shot of the night and it was a great one, a 3-pointer that gave Summit some room. Dwayne Reid made a great layup and Alpizar made good on 1 of 2 free throws to give Summit a 10 point lead with 4:45 remaining. Hillside, who had concentrated on its inside game most of the night, finally decided to try some outside shots and immediately drained their 1st 3-pointer of the night. Another Hillside basket cut the lead to five. A Dwayne Reid layup was followed by 2 FGs from Hillside to make it a 3 point ballgame. Now the entire Summit section was on its feet. Chris Dean saw an open lane and drove for his only shot of the night. It went in and the lead was 5 again. Hillside hit 1 of 2 free throws, so with 2:24 left the lead was back to four.

Summit tried to slow things down and take time off the clock, passing up possible scoring situations. Finally, Mike Dugan saw an opportunity that was too good to pass up and he drove to an uncontested layup at 1:15 to get the lead back to 6 points. It was a huge basket. After a Summit free throw, on the next trip down the court, Hillside threw up an NBA shot that ripped the net for 3 points, and the lead was back to 4 with 49 second left. Dwight Reid was fouled and hit 1 of 2, but Hillside scored to make it 3 a point game. Alpizar was immediately fouled and calmly made both shots to get the lead back to 5 points and make it a 2 possession game with only 18 seconds left. Summit played great defense trying to run down the clock, but Hillside made a long range three pointer and suddenly it was a 2 point game. With about 8 second on the clock Smith was fouled and went to the line shooting 2. Make them both it would be a two possession game. The first shot was in and out. Everyone was holding their breath. The second shot dropped. Now Hillside needed a 3-pointer to tie, but it was not to be.

There were many key plays but none more important than those by Alpizar, Dean and Dugan who between them took only 3 shots, all in the 4th quarter and all of them successful. Wellington Smith had a great night under extreme pressure from the two big guys from Hillside. He had 21 points on offense, pulled down 11 rebounds and blocked 10 shots. Dwayne and Dwight were also very effective, scoring 21 and 15 points respectively and using their quick hands to repeatedly disrupt the Hillside offense.