Girls Basketball: South Brunswick opens season with comeback overtime victory

OLD BRIDGE – The South Brunswick High School girls basketball team didn’t hold its first lead until six and a half minutes into the fourth quarter. South Brunswick also gave up a dramatic game-tying three-pointer with about six seconds left to play. South Brunswick was also without its star point guard Natalia Louhisdon, who is out indefinitely with an ACL injury.

Despite all the adverse odds, the Vikings came out on top in a thrilling 60-56 overtime victory over Old Bridge in Friday night’s season opener.

“Faith and heart, we just knew we weren’t going to lose this game,” South Brunswick senior guard Amber Brown said. “That thought in our head pushed us to play more aggressively and to believe in each other.”

With the score tied at 45, Brown hit a layup and knocked down the ensuing free throw after being fouled on the shot to give the Vikings a 48-45 lead with 19.8 seconds left to play. On the next play, Old Bridge’s senior guard Amanda Carney, who scored 27 points, drained a three-pointer from the right wing to tie the game at 48 with about six seconds left to play.

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Certainly a gut punch, the Vikings did not let the last second three get to their heads. The Vikings scored the first seven points of overtime, and senior Samia Baig fended off a late Old Bridge rally with two clutch free throws to ice the game with seconds left in overtime.

“We kind of expected it, they hit a lot of threes, but that didn’t change our mentality,” Brown said. “We kept pushing and playing hard and communicating with each other.”

South Brunswick didn’t gain its first lead of the game until there was only a minute and a half left to play when senior guard Gillian Chambres grabbed an offensive rebound and put up a shot to take a 45-44 lead.

Halfway through the second quarter, the Vikings found themselves down 22-6, but they chipped away. They were down 30-18 at halftime, but they kept chipping away. Something clicked when the second half commenced, as the Vikings outscored the Knights 42-26 in the second half and overtime.

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“That’s how we’re supposed to play the whole game,” Chambres said. “I’m not sure what was up with us but once we get that rhythm going, we don’t lose it.”

With the loss of Louhisdon remaining an ominous hurdle that needs to be overcome, the Vikings continue to search for their identity. They lack a pure outside shooter and a true point guard, two things that Louhisdon is when healthy.

For a team still figuring it out on the fly, Friday’s sensational victory is a good start.

“I told them before the game, I want to see what happens when we’re down because I don’t know what kind of team we are,” South Brunswick coach Jeff Johnson said. “I believe we can win and compete with anybody, but we also have to learn who we are and who we can trust. They’re a great group, and they responded the way I hoped they would.”

Staff Writer Daniel LoGiudice can be reached at dlogiudice@gannettnj.com. Follow him on Twitter @danny_logiudice.