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Bridgewater-Raritan boys basketball holds off Montgomery to advance to SCT semifinals

Lauren Knego
@laurenknego
Bridgewater-Raritan's Sterling White makes a pass as Montgomery defends during the first half of their Somerset County Tournament quarterfinal on Thursday in Bridgewater.

BRIDGEWATER - The second-seeded Bridgewater-Raritan High School boys basketball team overcame a slow start on Thursday and earned a berth in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals.

The Panthers (15-6) pulled away in the fourth quarter from No. 7 Montgomery and held on for a 54-49 victory. Along with advancing in the SCT, Bridgewater-Raritan got revenge for a four-point loss to the Cougars on Dec. 27.

"Montgomery they beat us the first time, so we knew it was going to be a tough game," Bridgewater-Raritan's Aaron Gao said. "As the season went on we got a lot better, team chemistry grew, so we knew coming into this game we could win, but it was going to be rough."

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Bridgewater-Raritan led 19-14 at halftime, and in the third quarter there were four lead changes and four ties. Down 27-26 after the Cougars' Danny Engels hit two free throws, Gao hit two free throws and Brian Cooper hit a field goal to put the Panthers back ahead 30-27 with 1:43 remaining.

Rohan Prakash then hit a 3 for Montgomery to tie game 30-30 with one minute to go in the third. Gao hit a 3-pointer and Sterling White sank two free throws in the final 34.6 seconds to put the Panthers ahead 35-30 after three.

"I think the first thing we did was out-rebound them, and we played pretty good defense against them," White said. "I think at first the offense was kind of slow in the first and second quarter, and then as the game progressed in the second half we started playing better, passing, getting the ball around and getting good shots."

The Cougars cut the lead to two after Mack Bloom connected on a three-point play to open the fourth quarter, but Bridgewater-Raritan went on an 8-2 run with 3s coming from White and Alden Christiensen to pull ahead 43-35 with 4:34 left.

Montgomery kept coming and cut the lead to 51-49 after a basket from Matt Remsen and a 3 from Bloom with 1:04 left, but Christensen and Gao combined to hit three free throws in the final 55.6 seconds for the 54-49 final.

Bridgewater-Raritan's Brian Cooper goes to the basket as Montgomery's Matt Remsen defends during the first half of their Somerset County Tournament quarterfinal on Thursday in Bridgewater.

"We did good, early on we held them to 14 in the first half, and I think our defense helped us with the win, especially with the out-rebounding," White said. "I just think we moved the ball around a lot, we just played together, and free throws were big."

Free throws were a big factor for Bridgewater-Raritan, as the Panthers hit 19-of-26, including going 9-of-11 in the fourth quarter. Gao finished 12-of-14 for the game from the line, including 6-of-6 in the fourth. Montgomery connected on 6-of-10 from the line.

For the Panthers, Gao led with a game-high 19 points while White finished with 16 points and eight rebounds. Remsen and Engels each scored 12 points.

Bridgewater-Raritan advances to Saturday's semifinals, which will be held at Montgomery High School. The Panthers will face No. 3 Rutgers Prep, which defeated No. 6 North Plainfield, 78-53. Top-seeded Gill St. Bernard's, which defeated No. 9 Ridge 68-46, will play fourth-seeded Immaculata, which beat No. 5 Bound Brook, 71-62.

The Panthers have won three in a row and five of their last six games. The two previous times they've faced Rutgers Prep this season, they came away with wins.

"I think it's a little bit of everything, as time goes on you have more time to bond and you get to see each other's playing styles," Gao said of the team's chemistry this season.

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