Alone on top
Chartiers-Houston wins battle for first place at J-M
JEFFERSON – Brody McCrerey had a black brace on his right hand to protect several gashes from an injury sustained in a game against Beth-Center last week, but that didn’t stop him from adding another clutch moment to his list.
McCrerey hit a three-pointer with two and a half minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, which gave Chartiers-Houston the lead.
The Bucs went on to hand Jefferson-Morgan its first loss this season, 50-45, in a battle for first place in Section 3-2A.
Chartiers-Houston improved to 12-3 overall and 7-0 in section. The Bucs are the defending section champ, but returned only one starter.
Jefferson-Morgan fell to 12-1 overall and 6-1 in section play.
McCrerey had a game-winning basket against Avella earlier this season and on the football field, he caught a touchdown pass as time expired for a walk-off win for the Bucs against Cornell.
McCrerey rose up from the corner and canned a three that gave the Bucs a 46-43 lead, which were the final of his 13 points. McCrerey gave a slight fist pump after the ball went through the net, which was a lot for typically quiet and reserved junior.
“It felt amazing after I made that three,” McCrerey said.
McCrerey said he has to wear a brace, because he has stitches on his pointer finger and on his thumb.
Jeremiah Robertson cut the lead to one with a layup with 55 second remaining.
The Rockets fouled Aaron Walsh, sending him to the line with 23.5 seconds remaining and he canned both free throws.
That left Jefferson-Morgan down three with a chance to tie late, but Robertson’s three-point attempt hit off the glass and was rebounded by Chartiers-Houston’s Bryson Boskovich.
Boskovich made both free throws, to cap an impressive final quarter for the freshman, who had 11 points.
He made two threes early in the fourth, which tied the game at 40-40 and set the tone for the comeback.
“We have competitors on this team,” Chartiers-Houston coach Rich Tranquill said. “Day in and day out they are working hard and they just continue to grow. That’s their focus. If they come in and want to get better the rest will take care of itself. I’m proud of their efforts today.”
Jefferson-Morgan led 37-34 after three quarters and held the lead for pretty much the entire game until the late stages.
“Basketball is a game of the little things and it showed in that fourth quarter,” Jefferson-Morgan coach Brandon Lawless said. “We won three quarters and a little run and some clutch shots on their behalf can turn the result in a game like this.”
The Rockets were without leading scorer Robertson for most of the second half because he drew his fourth foul early in the third quarter.
Robertson did not check back in until there was 5:51 remaining in the game. He had 16 points, but 14 of them were in the first half.
Jefferson-Morgan led 14-13 after an entertaining first quarter.
Dayten Marion had seven points in the frame for the Rockets and Robertson had five, but picked up two fouls.
Chartiers-Houston made three shots in the quarter, but they were all from beyond the arc. McCrerey, Boskovich and Wes Yeater had one three apiece.
Bucs junior Noah Doyle hit two free throws with 0.2 seconds remaining in the quarter after being fouled on a shot by Robertson.
Robinson took over in the second quarter, scoring nine of Jefferson-Morgan’s 12 points, but also picked up his third in the final minute of the half.
He canned a three, which gave Jefferson-Morgan a 26-20 lead. Yeater closed out the half by making a pair of free throws, then a jumper at the buzzer to cut Jefferson-Morgan’s lead to 26-24 at the break.
John Woodward, who was in a walking boot last week, made his return for the Rockets and had an instant impact.
He checked in late in the first quarter and got a steal that led to a layup by Jaymison Robinson.
Woodward also saw some action in the second quarter and played most of the second half.
Now that they’ve been vanquished from the ranks of the unbeaten, the Rockets will focus on trying to take care of business to get a rematch with the Bucs for a possible title split in the section finale in a few weeks.
“We didn’t execute as well as we would’ve liked tonight,” Lawless said. “We got outplayed and outcoached. It told them it’s a bump in the road, but you win and lose in life and what you do from here on is really what you’re about. It’s a reality check for us. With the way things have been flowing, it’s been a perfect world, but the world wasn’t so perfect today for us.
“Nobody ever wants to lose, but if there’s a bright spot the pressure of being unbeaten is now off the table.”