Nottingham’s Cliff Joseph hits the layup with 5 seconds left in the game to give the Northstars a 1 point lead and the MCT Championship with the win over Trenton Catholic Academy. Photo by Michael A. Sabo
By Rich Fisher
Fish4scores.com
Feb. 22: The Nottingham boys’ basketball team has not played many teams as good as Trenton Catholic this season, nor have the Northstars trailed by 15 all that often.
It didn’t look good when those two worlds collided at the Cure Insurance Arena tonight, as the Northstars trailed TCA by 15 late in the second quarter and were down by a dozen at halftime.
Could they come back?
Everyone wondered but the Stars themselves.
Darell Johnson was the MVP of the 2018 Mercer County Tournament helping the Nottingham Northstars claim their first MCT Title in school history. Photo by Michael A. Sabo.
“We’re number one (seed) for a reason,” Darell Johnson said. “When we’re down 10 or 12 points we can come back. We know it’s not over.”
“We just had to keep on,” Richie Jones said. “We had some bad possessions, we knew we had to come out with a strong third quarter, that’s what we did.”
They did indeed, outscoring TCA 23-12 in the quarter to cut the deficit to one. Joseph had been held to just one first-half point but tallied nine in the third quarter. Johnson was right there with him, scoring eight, and Kostro Montina had a big bucket during a 13-6 run to close the period.
“I told the guys at halftime that ‘I’ve coached you guys for three and four years. I believe in you. I believe you’re gonna come back. Just take it one possession at a time,’” coach Chris “The Baron” Raba said. “I told them we only had three free throws. Guys were settling too much for jump shots, we had to attack the basket.”
And that’s exactly what they did, getting the line eight times (and making seven) while converting numerous lay-ups.
“We just never give up,” Cliff Joseph said. “We wanted to come out and fight for the whole 16 minutes we had left and that’s just what we did. We just wanted to come out and attack.”
By getting within one entering the fourth quarter, it set Nottingham up for the wild finish that resulted in Joseph’s game-winning lay-up. And for the first time, the Northstars will enter the state tournament as a county champ.
Richie Jones let one of his patented 3 pointers fly against Trenton Catholic Academy in the Mercer County Tournament Championship game. Photo by Michael A. Sabo
Talk about momentum.
“This means a lot man,” Richie Jones said. “This shows how great we are as a team.”
“It gives us a lot of confidence,” Johnson added. “Now we know where we stand, who we are. We’re not done yet, our season isn’t over.”
But an MCT basketball drought sure is.
