Player |
SHOTS |
FG |
3PT |
FTA |
FTM |
POINTS |
REBs |
Wellington Smith |
27 |
9 |
6 |
3 |
3 |
39 |
19 |
Maurice Torres |
12 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
16 |
1 |
James Johnson |
5 |
1 |
0 |
6 |
5 |
7 |
0 |
Mike Dugan |
5 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
7 |
John Alpizar |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
Chris Conlon |
4 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
Josh Sussman |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
Game Totals |
58 |
16 |
10 |
13 |
11 |
73 |
35 |
This game had all the elements of what makes high school basketball great. The gym was packed, the students were excited and two teams were playing for what is likely to decide the Iron Hills Championship. Spotted in the gym were the coaches from Seton Hall and Rutgers checking out Summit's Wellington Smith and Weequahic's Lawerence, and they were not disappointed. The game was played at a furious pace from the beginning. The 1st half ended with Summit ahead by 6 points (43-37). After the first 16 minutes of play Smith had scored 29 points and Lawerence had 22. Summit's lead would have been 10 point but a blown layup with 6 second left in the half led to a transition basket by Weequahic, a 4 point swing.
Summit began the 3rd quarter with a 3-pointer by Mike Dugan and a basket by James Johnson to give Summit an 11 point advantage. Unfortunately, Weequahic went on an 11-0 run to tie the score at 48-48. Maurice Torres came to the rescue with a pair of 3-pointers to end the quarter with Summit maintaining its 6 point lead (54-48). Interestingly, neither Smith nor Lawerence scored in the 3rd quarter.
The 4th quarter began well for Summit as a basket by Chris Conlon and a 3-pointer by Smith pushed Summit's lead to 9 points (59-50). Weequahic turned up the pressure and began forcing more turnovers and the lead began to slip away. Weequahic closed to within 2 points, but a pair of free throws by Johnson reqained a 4 point lead with 1:34 seconds left. A 3-point shot by Weequahic and 2 more free throws by Johnson kept the Summit lead at 63-60. Weequahic ran off the next 4 points to take their first lead since early in the 1st quarter (64-63). A pair of free throws by Smith regained the lead for Summit, but a 3-pointer and a free throw with 6 second left gave Weequahic a seemingly insurmountable 3 point lead. The ball was inbounded to Smith who drove down the court and put up an off-balance shot from behind the 3 point line. The buzzer went off with the ball in the air and it ripped through the net to send the game to overtime.
Weequahic scored the first 4 points of overtime against a visibly tired Summit squad. While Summit battled back, it could never get closer than two points. In the end Summit lost by six. Lawerence ended the game with 40 points and Smith with 39. Smith also had 19 rebounds. Smith's 39 points were the most scored in a single game since 1978.
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