CLARK, NJ- The Arthur L. Johnson High School Crusaders were in trouble as the third quarter was progressing. Seniors Brandon Hund and Eric Bretz and junior Matt O’Connor all had four fouls each and a Middlesex High School Blue Jays team continued to storm back from a major deficit from the first half.
The Crusaders appeared to be in trouble of dropping their third straight game of the season. They saw a lead as high as 18 points fall to a two-point lead as Johnson led 46-44 after three quarters, after once taking over the game in complete control after the first quarter. With the adversities in front of them, they held down the game and battled back.
Hund tied the game with a free throw with 0:01 left in the fourth quarter, saving Johnson and sending the game to overtime, with the score tied 64-64.
Hund and sophomore Tino Puentes combined to score all the seven points (five coming on free throws) in the extra session, taking over the game in moments of adversity as Johnson defeated Middlesex 71-66 in overtime Friday night in Clark, in the Crusaders’ regular season and home finale.
Hund gave Johnson a 66-64 lead with 2:28 left in overtime and after Johnson drained almost two minutes off the clock, Puentes, who missed technical shots to start the extra session, drained two free throws to extend the Johnson advantage to 68-64 with 0:38 left.
Middlesex got a response basket to get within 68-66, but Hund and Puentes hit the free throws to seal the deal and secure the win, which also came with ley defensive stops that would lead to the tough baskets for Johnson.
“I think our defense,” Puentes said. “We all came together at the end, we got major rebounds and we controlled the pace. We knew when to shot, when to pull the ball out [and] run some clock. It was a great team effort.”
A crazy back-and-forth sequence in the final seconds of the fourth quarter featured baskets by both teams. After Middlesex grabbed a 58-57 lead with 2:53 left, O’Connor and Hund hit back-to-back shots to give Johnson a 61-58 lead with 1:40 left. Middlesex answered with a basket to cut the lead to 61-60 with 1:31 left in the fourth quarter.
After the Blue Jays got a basket to lead 62-61 with 0:42 seconds left, Puentes grabbed a pass from Hund and knocked down a go-ahead shot to give Johnson a 64-63 lead with 0:10 seconds left.
Middlesex fired right back with a basket to take a 64-63 lead before Johnson immediately used their final timeout.
Bretz delivered a football-style pass down the court to Hund, who drew the foul, before draining the free throw to send the game to overtime.
“We were all pretty frustrated,” Hund said. “But every time we came off the court, whether it was Coach or somebody saying, ‘Come on, keep your head up, when you go back in do your thing.’”
Hund picked up four fouls with 4:58 left in the third quarter and was on the bench to avoid picking up a fifth foul. Johnson saw sophomore Bill Sasse and junior Ben Kosiek seeing extended minutes with some of the Johnson starters sitting out due to the foul accumulation.
“It was a team effort today. We need to have that moving into the next season against a tough opponent [in Manasquan on Monday],” Johnson head coach Dave Kennedy said. “I give credit to the Middlesex kids for standing in, working hard and getting back into the game. It’s an interesting way to cap off a season and go into a tournament.”
Full Coverage of Johnson Boys Varsity Basketball Overtime Win Over Middlesex HS Here
