RAHWAY, NJ – With an explosive first quarter, the sixth-seeded Arthur L. Johnson High School Crusaders instantly took control of the first game in the state tournament and never looked back, rolling over the 11-seeded South River High School Rams 86-53 Tuesday night.
After the opening tipoff, the Crusaders went right to work on both sides of the ball. With the game tied at 2-2, Johnson exploded for a 12-0 scoring run, ignited by a three-pointer from senior Joe DiProfio. Junior Brenden Kelly followed a Crusaders’ defensive stop with another three-pointer.
Junior Brandon Hund got the ball and connected for a shot to make the score 10-2 Johnson, forcing a South River timeout just over two minutes into the game.
The Crusaders continued attacking the Rams on both sides of the game, suffocating them on defense and charging through on offense, with seniors Jeff Drajin and George Visconti getting into the mix, with the lead now 14-2 Johnson.
Johnson received a balanced effort on offense the rest of the quarter, with Hund and DiProfio supplying most of the offense. Johnson also forced turnovers and grabbed rebounds to set up on offense and leading to the points on the scoreboard.
Johnson led South River 27-10 after the first quarter, with everything coming together for the Crusaders through the first eight minutes of action.
Hund scored eight points in the quarter, while DiProfio added six points in the outburst the Crusaders displayed.
“As a team, we were able to pass really well tonight,” DiProfio said. “We were talking about it after the game, we had like 22 assists, so I was able to get the ball in rhythm for some pretty good shots in the paint and behind the line.”
As the second quarter started, Visconti began the quarter with two three-pointers, while Drajin added a basket to make the score 35-12 Johnson with 6:12 left in the quarter.
One possession after another, Johnson continued making the plays needed to sustain their comfortable lead and add to it as the quarter went along.
“We had great success [in the] first quarter and the first half overall,” Visconti said. “We scored 50 points in the first half and we got the statistic that we had 22 assists, which is phenomenal.”
Drajin led the charge with eight points in the second quarter as Johnson took a 50-24 lead over South River into halftime. The performances on both sides of the game stood out to the player and coaches with how the Crusaders were able to maintain their lead.
