Sterling boys fight past Collingswood
Chris Roe made two big plays in the final minutes Monday night to spark Sterling High School to a 41-38 victory over Collingswood in a Colonial Conference boys' basketball game and South Jersey Group 2 playoff preview.
Chris Roe made two big plays in the final minutes Monday night to spark Sterling High School to a 41-38 victory over Collingswood in a Colonial Conference boys' basketball game and South Jersey Group 2 playoff preview.
Roe, a junior guard, scored on a putback with 2 minutes, 11 seconds to play, then drove the lane and fed junior forward Zakobe Streater for a layup at the 1:05 mark.
Those plays produced Sterling's only points of the fourth quarter, but the Silver Knights took the victory in the slow-paced game when Collingswood missed a pair of thee-point attempts in the last 30 seconds.
"My teammates looked at me and said, 'Go,' " Roe said. "I knew I had to make a play."
Roe finished with nine points and senior forward Dayzhon Fields contributed 11 points with six rebounds for Sterling (13-9, 9-5 in the conference), which has won six of seven.
Junior guard Jaden Wallace scored 16 for Collingswood (10-12, 7-7).
The Panthers rallied from a 10-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter but were hurt when senior guard Tymere Austin suffered an ankle sprain with 3:31 on the clock.
"It's tough when were that close with three minutes to go and we lose Tymere," Collingswood coach Pat Dorney said. "He's hit big shots for us all year long."
Sterling played without sophomore forward Noah Syer (illness), the team's second-leading scorer.
Sterling's Jimmy McPherson took a pass from Roe and hit a buzzer-beating, three-pointer at the end of the third quarter for a 37-27 lead.
But Collingswood fought back behind Wallace, who scored seven points in the final quarter, including a three-pointer that cut the deficit to 39-38 at the 1:37 mark.
"We'll take the 'W,' but we have a long way to go," Sterling coach Harold Little said.
The teams split in regular-season play, with Collingswood winning by 50-44 on Jan. 3.
They will meet again at Collingswood on Feb. 27 in the first round of South Jersey Group 2 tournament, as the Panthers are the No. 8 seed and the Silver Knights are No. 9.
The winner likely will advance to face top-seeded Camden in the second round.
"We'll see them again, and it's going to be an intense game," Roe said.
Collingswood 7 15 5 11 - 38
Sterling 10 18 9 4 - 41
C: Tymere Austin 9, Jaden Wallace 16, Adam Hunt 4, Easton Aron 6, Savion Feaster 3.
S: Chris Roe 9, Dayzhon Fields 11, Cole Eshelman 3, Jimmy McPherson 9, Zakobe Streater 6, Kyle Smith 3.
@PhilAnastasia