Boys Basketball: Carteret overtakes Bishop Ahr for top spot in GMC Blue Division

CARTERET - The Carteret High School boys basketball team has learned valuable lessons from its losses so far this season, which spelled trouble for Bishop Ahr on Friday night. 

Carteret and Bishop Ahr faced off for the second time this season in a Greater Middlesex Conference Blue Division matchup, and the Ramblers (14-3) were looking to avenge a 65-63 overtime loss from Dec. 22. 

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The Ramblers, despite giving up a 12-point lead in the third quarter, drew from its experience in close games this season and held on to defeat the Trojans 70-62 and take over first place in the Blue Division.

"Towards the stretch, down the line of the last game we kind of fell apart, we stopped playing as a team, we all tried to take it upon ourselves individually, so a big part of us winning this game was, when it came down to crunch time, staying together," Carteret senior Isaiah Daniels-Porter said. "We came together as a team, we said let's relax, we have this under control, and that's what helped us secure the victory."

Carteret led 49-41 at the start of the fourth quarter, but a 10-2 run by Bishop Ahr (12-3) tied the game 51-51 with 5:18 remaining. 

The Carteret team of old would have panicked, but on Friday night the young Ramblers buckled down and pulled ahead 54-51 on three free throws. Bishop Ahr answered back with a pair of free throws from Alex Santiago to cut the lead to 54-53, but a basket from Zamar Brake gave Carteret a 56-53 lead with 4:06 left.

"That's the part where we didn't get frantic because last time when that happened that's when we did get frantic," Daniels-Porter said of the tie game. "Us staying together and just staying calm and realizing that we still have this, that's when we were able to seal the victory." 

A 3-pointer from Santiago, who finished with a game-high 25 points, again pulled the Trojans to within one, 56-55, but four-straight points gave the Ramblers some breathing room, 60-55, with 2:59 to play.

Santiago scored again 58 seconds later to cut the lead to three, but another 6-2 run put Carteret ahead 64-57 with 1:22 left. 

Another Santiago bucket pulled Bishop Ahr to within 64-59, but the Ramblers outscored the Trojans 6-3 in the final 54 seconds to pull off the 70-62 victory.

"Defensively I think we had great gap control and great help defense," Daniels-Porter said. "Alex Santiago, he is a great player so we had to have all sides of the ball helping, offensively and defensively so that's what really helped us." 

Carteret took a 17-8 lead after the first quarter, and led 32-20 at the half. The Trojans outscored the Ramblers 17-6 in the first five minutes of the third quarter, and climbed back to within one point, 38-37, on a three-point play by Quadry Adams with 3:35 left. 

From there the Ramblers took over, outscoring Bishop Ahr 11-4 thanks to a three-point play from Brake and six points from Jahlil Nix, for a 49-41 lead after three. 

"Since we lost to them last time, our expectation was very high, our bar was through the roof," Daniels-Porter said. "We knew that they were going to be physical, and we knew that it was going to be a dog fight, so we came out with the mentality that if we beat them up early that we would get them out of the game and we could keep pounding it to them, and that's exactly what we did, play aggressive and stay together."

Ten different players scored for Bishop Ahr, with Simon Llaguno chipping in eight points and Adams and Jack Roarty each scoring six points. 

Daniels-Porter recorded a double-double for Carteret with 17 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and two steals. Malik Austin finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, two assists and one block. Nix totaled 16 points, eight rebounds, two steals, one assist and one block. Brake chipped in 13 points, nine rebounds, two steals and one block.

Carteret struggled early this season, opening the season 4-3 after losing seven players from last year's 19-9 team that advanced to the GMC Tournament quarterfinals. With one senior, three juniors and one sophomore in the starting five, plus freshman Malik Austin playing valuable minutes, the Ramblers have found the right mix that has resulted in a 10-game winning streak.

"We have a young group so me and Zamar Brake, we have to take on the leadership roles," Daniels-Porter said. "We have a very talented young group so we have to keep them composed, make sure that they're doing what they're supposed to do and if we do that, you see the results that we can come out and be very successful."

Staff Writer Lauren Knego: lknego@gannettnj.com; on Twitter: @laurenknego