BASKETBALL

Boys Basketball: Carteret suffers heartbreaker in sectional final

Sherlon Christie
Courier News and Home News Tribune

RUMSON – The atmosphere was intense inside of Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School on Monday night.

The sold out crowd of Carteret fans were packed into one side of the bleachers and they were buttressed against the Rumson-Fair Haven fans and their vaunted student section, the “Dawgpound.”

It got loud inside the gymnasium every time a basket was scored no matter which team it was recorded for that night.

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The third-seeded Rambers, which were playing in their first sectional final since 2002, rallied from a nine-point, halftime deficit to make it a one-possession game very late in the fourth quarter but Rumson-Fair Haven made one too many plays in the closing seconds and halted Carteret’s upset bid in the NJSIAA Central Group II final.

For Carteret coach Herman White, it was a season that the 23-7 Ramblers could be very proud of despite the outcome of the game.

“To have three kids, two freshmen, one junior, three (kids) who have never played high school basketball until this year (on the team),” White said. “I thought we overachieved a lot.”

The Ramblers trailed 35-26 at halftime and outscored Rumson-Fair Haven 13-11 in the third quarter to cut that deficit to 46-39. Carteret outscored Rumson-Fair Haven again, 13-11, in the fourth quarter and even cut the deficit to 55-52 with six seconds left after Tim Ellis nailed a 3-pointer for his only points of the game.

Even though Rumson-Fair Haven’s Devin Cooper would make two free throws with five seconds left for a 57-52 lead for the Bulldogs, the Rambles had a clean look on a last second 3-point attempt that if it went in, there would have still been time on the clock.

But that scenario didn’t materialize on Monday night as the Rumson-Fair Haven fans stormed the court following the sound of the buzzer. It was a heart-breaking loss for the Ramblers, who trailed for the majority of the game, but even in the final seconds still had chances to extend the game a little longer.

But as White quickly assessed the game following the loss, he pointed out the little things that didn’t go Carteret’s way.

“I thought we didn’t do a good job with our composure and offensively (with our) shot selection,” White said.

Nevertheless, the Ramblers pushed Rumson-Fair Haven to the limit with Isaiah Porter turning in a powerful performance with 13 of his game-high 24 points coming in the first half. Zamar Brake scored all eight of his points in the first quarter and Thamir Lamarr and Zacceus Brake each adding five points.

Sherlon Christie: schristie@gannettnj.com