Tucker carries Northern Burlington to victory
His team trailing by a point with little more than three minutes to play, Cameron Tucker was alone in the right corner with the basketball and the game in his hands.
His team trailing by a point with little more than three minutes to play, Cameron Tucker was alone in the right corner with the basketball and the game in his hands.
He never hesitated.
"That's my shot," Tucker said. "My team counts on me to make that shot. I couldn't let them down."
Tucker splashed the three-pointer and added four free throws down the stretch to power Northern Burlington County to a 63-53 victory over Pemberton in a Burlington County League clash of top-16 teams on Tuesday night.
The 5-foot-7 Tucker scored nine of his game-high 18 in the fourth quarter for Northern Burlington (14-3), the No. 16 team in The Inquirer Top 25.
Senior forward Parker Dortch added 17 points with six rebounds for the visiting Greyhounds, who won their fifth in a row and ninth in the last 10 games.
Senior forwards Edwin Rivera and Taro Gaither each scored 16 for No. 15 Pemberton (10-3), which had won eight in a row.
"Bad night for us," Pemberton coach Roy Heck said. "I don't think we could have played much worse. But give [Northern Burlington] credit. They fought hard and made some plays at the end."
The game was a rematch of Pemberton's 60-51 victory in December. The teams could meet again in the Central Jersey Group 3 tournament, with both looming as high seeds.
"It's a great rivalry," Tucker said. "They always are a tough game for us."
Tucker played the game with a bandage over his left eye, courtesy of a nasty cut suffered Friday night against Rancocas Valley that sent him to the hospital.
"I wasn't sure he was going to be able to play," coach Gene Darling said. "He just got cleared today."
Northern Burlington broke the game open with a 13-1 surge that started with Tucker's three-pointer with 3 minutes, 24 seconds to play.
The Greyhounds outscored the Hornets, 23-11, in the fourth quarter, with Tucker (6 for 6) and Dortch (3 for 4) going a combined 9 for 10 from the foul line.
"They beat us six times in a row before this," Tucker said. "Senior year, last game against Pemberton, last game in this gym, I had to step up."
Darling said Tucker, the program's all-time leader in three-pointers with 120, is the team's "energy guy."
The coach wasn't surprised that Tucker took the game's biggest shot. He wasn't surprised he made it, either.
"He brings that something extra to the team," Darling said. "Everything we do runs through him."
N. Burlington 12 12 16 23 - 63
Pemberton 11 13 18 11 - 53
NB: Parker Dortch 17, Cameron Tucker 18, Nate Lewis 2, Jon Martinez 6, Jared Ganci 8, Mark Granberry 9, Ezra Jones 2, Josh Jackson 1.
P: Seanzae Backmon 1, Kevin Clifton 2, Taro Gaither 16, Andrew Heck 3, Jordan Heck 3, Zioe Powe 2, Edwin Rivera 16, Antoine Wilson 10.
@PhilAnastasia
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