By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @Gdsullysays
SOMERDALE — One of the wildest finishes so far of the high school boys basketball season came down to a blocked shot by a guy who Sterling coach Justin Barringer joked would have trouble leaping over the Sunday newspaper.
With the host Silver Knights clinging to a two-point lead — one they had given away moments earlier after being in front nearly the entire game — Woodbury had one final chance to tie the game in the waning seconds. Herd senior Jasuan Solomon drove down the court, then drove the lane for the potential game-tying layup, but Sterling senior Travis Schmid leaped up and blocked the shot as the final horn sounded, preserving the Knights’ 64-62 victory, one that has them sitting atop the Colonial Conference’s Liberty Division.
The play wrapped up a wild 90 seconds to finish what was a highly entertaining game that saw outstanding performances on both sides. Woodbury sophomore Devin Williams went for a game-high 30 points, including six 3-pointers, Solomon had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds; Schmid led Sterling with 21 points, Julian Johnson added 14 points, five rebounds and five assists, and Joshua Boruch nailed a pair of threes and finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.
“Schmid can’t jump over a piece of paper, and he went and did that, so I’ll take that. It’s just adrenaline,” Barringer said. “We said in the locker room the Kobe (Bryant) quote about I can’t stand lazy people, I don’t want to understand them, don’t want to be around them — I’m just paraphrasing that — and we said that if we’re going to win this game, you have to put it all out there. And that’s what Travis did.”
Schmid said he knew he had to go all out and make one last play if the Silver Knights were going to Friday night’s game.
“I’m not the strongest defender on the team, but I knew someone had to step up. Jasuan is a great player, and I didn’t want this game to slip away, we played hard — I didn’t want to lose so I had to step up and make a play for my team,” he said. “I’ve played with (Solomon) for a long time, so it was bittersweet. He’s so good at getting to the basket. I just knew I had to make a play for my guys. We played so well as a team tonight and stayed so strong. It felt great.”
Sterling (5-2, 3-0 Colonial Liberty) led by as many as 10 points in the second quarter and maintained a consistent lead throughout the third, but the frenetic pace that Woodbury (1-6, 1-2 Colonial Liberty) played at kept the Herd in the game and they continued to chip away behind Williams and Solomon. Schmid hit a big 3-pointer with about two minutes to go to put the Knights up, 60-52, but then Woodbury went on a 10-1 run that gave the Herd a 62-61 lead.
With a little more than a minute to go the craziness began, as Woodbury’s Kevin Williams was fouled hard going to the basket. He had to come out of the game with to get checked for an injury, but Mark Koszowski calmly drained the two free throws to pull the Herd to within 61-60. Then, with 24 seconds to go, Solomon drove to the hoop for a basket that gave Woodbury a brief 62-61 lead.
Sterling answered with a pair of free throws from Azion Arnett with 19 seconds left and with five ticks left on the clock Boruch rebounded a missed shot and was fouled. He hit 1-of-2 to put Sterling up, 64-62, setting up the dramatic final play.
“I had to play aggressive, get some buckets, some rebounds. Coach was like, ‘yo, Josh, come out aggressively and get some rebounds,’ so that’s what I did,” Boruch said. “Coach said we needed this game, it’s against a rival and he used to coach at that school, so we were like, ‘we got you.’ We had to come out with the win.”
“I’ve coached against (Solomon) for the last four years and that kid is a class act. He’s been there before, he’s a leader, he’s a great kid, and he puts himself out there every single play,” coach Barringer said. “For us to (come up with that stop) is great for us because it showed that we can match (his energy). It was tough, though, because he has a motor.”
“It was hectic, but I’m a senior and I’ve been in plenty of games where it’s back-and-forth. You just have to stay composed. I was telling the guys, even when we were getting techs (technical fouls) early in the game, I was like, ‘don’t fall for anything, don’t play into the crowd or the bench or anything else, just play our game, keep our heads straight and we’ll get the outcome we need,’” Schmid said. “It’s just resilience and the ability to stay together as a team. We’ve played in tight games all season, they’ve been back and forth, a double-overtime game, the first game of the season went into overtime. Just staying together as a group and trusting each other, just playing as a whole.”
The game was the first of a January slate that features 12 games for Sterling, mostly against Colonial Conference opponents. The Knights will head into that stretch with a bunch of confidence having won 5-of-7 to start the season.
“This really just boosts our confidence. We have a conference play stretch here against some really good teams,” Schmid said. “Being able to carry a game like this into bigger games and bigger situations down the road — it’s always nice to have confidence early.”
“We’re building with every game. In the third and fourth quarter, maybe some calls didn’t go our way, but the guys didn’t get flustered and they kept fighting through it. And we didn’t turn the ball over as much as we have in the past. The big takeaway is the guys are learning from every game and I’m very proud of them,” Barringer said. “The last couple of games they had to figure it out and now they are acting like seniors. Three of the kids on our team played in the (soccer) state championship, so when you talk about culture, when you talk about small schools, when you talk about kids playing multiple sports and being a part of it, those kids bring that experience to the team and that’s been great for us.”
WHAT’S NEXT: Sterling hosts Collingswood on Monday at 5:30 p.m. Woodbury travels to Norristown (Pa.) on Sunday at 5:15 p.m.
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com
