On Thursday, January 11, the Edison boys basketball team (3–8 overall, 1–6 GMC White Division) faced off against South River (5–6 overall, 3–4 GMC Blue Division) on the home court. Heading into the matchup, Edison looked to rebound following a 55–66 loss to Perth Amboy the previous night. The South River Rams, however, maintained a solid lead throughout the evening and held the Eagles to shooting 32 percent from the field. Despite outscoring the Rams 21–11 and taking the lead for the first time in the final quarter, the Eagles ultimately fell short in their attempt to pull off an upset, 51–52.
“I thought we played a really good fourth quarter,” said Head Coach Mr. Charles Mohr. “We were behind most of the night, but we fought back and took a one-point lead late in the game. Unfortunately, South River made a great play to win the game. However, I am proud of the way we fought back and did not give up when we were down by twelve [points]. Hopefully, we can build on that effort in future games.”
The game got off to a shaky start as the Eagles struggled to find their offensive footing in the first quarter. Capitalizing on the Eagle’s slow start, the Rams ripped open the matchup with a 7–0 run, leaving Edison scoreless for over three minutes. Rickey Harvey ’24 hit a three-pointer from the corner to seal the run and put Edison on the board. Harvey’s shot and subsequent block allowed Edison to recover momentum and prevented South River from extending their lead further. Edison was down by six points at the end of the first quarter.
Having warmed up, the Eagles picked up their game in the second quarter. They caught the Rams by surprise and stormed back on an 8–2 run to tie the game at 15–15. The Rams fought back, however, and quickly recaptured their lead with two consecutive three-point jumpers. Edison trailed closely behind for the remainder of the half, keeping the deficit in the single digits. Edison ended the half 21–28.
Both teams adopted a more aggressive offense coming out of the break, trading bucket after bucket with a series of quick breaks. Despite Edison’s effort to bounce back, A 4–0 run following an Edison foul halfway into the quarter allowed South River to extend their lead to eleven points by the end of the third quarter.
Edison slowly whittled away South River’s 41–30 lead in the fourth quarter. Dheeraj Samparaboyina ’26 hit a corner three-pointer early into the quarter to start a 16–7 run, shrinking the gap to just two points. A steal and layup from Dedrick Harvey ‘25 tied the game again at 48–48 late into the quarter, forcing a South River timeout. After the pause, Edison scored a free throw, and the Rams converted a driving layup to take back the lead. With nine seconds remaining on the clock, another South River blocking foul sent Samparaboyina to the line, where he made both free throws to put Edison ahead 51–50. With the Eagles breathing a sigh of relief and letting their guards down, quick passes from the Rams following the inbound led to a drive to the basket and a buzzer-beating layup, knotting the score at 51–52 and sending the crowd in Cangelosi Gymnasium into a frenzy.
After this loss, the varsity boys basketball team stands at 3–9.
Game statistics are available from NJ.com.
