Bridgewater-Raritan boys basketball advances to North 2 Group IV semifinals

SCOTCH PLAINS - The sixth-seeded Bridgewater-Raritan High School boys basketball team held on behind 27 points from Aaron Gao to advance to the NJSIAA North 2 Group IV semifinals on Wednesday night for the first time since 2012.

The Panthers (20-7) defeated third-seeded Scotch Plains-Fanwood, 59-49, in the quarterfinals and will face second-seeded Newark East Side in the semifinals on Friday night.

"We knew they were going to have a great atmosphere, they have a small gym. We knew they were going to be tough, Union County has some tough teams, but we knew if we stuck together we could come out with a win," Bridgewater-Raritan's Tony Colarusso said. "We're pumped, we're excited, we're happy, we have a 20-win season, and we're ready to move on."

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Bridgewater-Raritan opened a six point lead over the Raiders, 42-36, at the end of the third quarter, but Scotch Plains-Fanwood (22-6) climbed back to start the fourth. Tommy Drubulis scored for Scotch Plains-Fanwood to open the quarter, but two free throws from Sterling White pushed Bridgewater-Raritan's lead to 44-38 with 7:22 remaining.

A 3-pointer from Nigel Nelson cut the lead to three, 44-41, with 6:43 left, but back-to-back 3s from Gao and Colarusso gave the Panthers a nine-point lead, 50-41, with 5:23 left. The Raiders answered with a 3-pointer from Lamont Cruse and a three-point play from Nelson to get back within 50-47 with 4:39 remaining, but Bridgewater-Raritan went on a 6-0 run to open a 56-47 lead with 1:16 to play.

"That's been a key characteristic of our team the whole year, we're all brothers, we stick together no matter what, so we know basketball is a game of runs," Colarusso said. "If they come back a little bit we know we're going to have our run and luckily our runs came out on top. We could have shot the ball better but we just have to keep doing the right things, always moving the ball, passing the ball, and it'll go in when it needs to."

Nelson scored Scotch Plains-Fanwood's final points with 1:04 to go, and Gao sank three of four free throws in the final 52.7 seconds for the 59-49 final.

The Raiders opened a 10-4 lead over the Panthers to start the game, but Bridgewater-Raritan closed out the quarter on a 7-0 run for an 11-10 advantage, a lead it would hold the rest of the game.

Bridgewater-Raritan outscored Scotch Plains-Fanwood 19-11 in the second quarter to take a 30-21 lead at the half, but the Raiders began their comeback in the third, going on a 12-3 run to get within 37-33 with 1:31 left.

"I think defensively, sticking together after they made some runs, playing hard, boxing out, just doing all of the fundamental stuff that's going to win you games in the long run," Colarusso said. "I think just we all have a lot of fun playing together, it's my senior year, my last year playing basketball. I love playing with these guys and that'll take your farther than you can imagine."

For the Panthers, Colarusso finished with 16 points and six rebounds, while Gao pulled down seven rebounds. White added a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Nelson had a double-double for Scotch Plains-Fanwood with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Cruse added 12 points while Jack Brady chipped in seven points and five rebounds.

"I congratulate Scotch Plains on an excellent season, 22 win team, they were really, really tough and I'm just so proud of our guys for, and it's something we've done all year, is play together really well as a team and I'm very pleased," Bridgewater-Raritan coach Gene McAteer said. "We now have a 20-win team, which I think has maybe exceeded our expectations, and we're moving on in the state tournament, what more can I say, we're really, really excited."

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