The rivalry between South River High School and Spotswood High School was alive and well when the two boys’ basketball teams recently squared off.
Spotswood emerged as the winner when the Chargers held off the Rams, 79-68, in South River on Dec. 18.
Spotswood was cruising to a 12-point lead midway through the final quarter, but South River charged back and cut its deficit to just four points. However, Spotswood regrouped and padded its lead back to double digits to secure the victory.
Spotswood received major contributions from junior wing Matt Vento, who led the Chargers with 24 points, and senior wing Dylan Seel, who clicked on 23 points.
The Chargers were also sparked by the clutch play of senior point guard Abdullah Nieskens, who scored most of his 11 points in the fourth quarter.
South River was paced by junior Derrick Whitaker, who hit on 19 points; junior Joseph Nigro, who sank 14 points; and junior Silvio Cruz, who connected on 13 points.
Spotswood, which improved to 2-1 on the season with the victory, avenged being swept by South River last winter. South River beat Spotswood, 79-48, on Dec. 19 and then posted an 81-78 triumph on Jan. 17.
Spotswood’s victory on the hardwood also helped soften the loss the Chargers felt against the Rams during the recent football season. South River gained bragging rights on the gridiron with a 34-7 victory on Sept. 9 in Spotswood.
As the Spotswood players and followers were cheering the basketball victory, the South River fans chanted “34-7” in reference to the final score on the football field in September.
Coach Steven Mate of Spotswood was thrilled with the way his team performed in this local showdown.
“Last year, for the first time in almost 10 years, it was the first time we lost to South River,” Mate said. “There is that rivalry. I try to downplay it, but the kids are into it. They’re totally into it. I thought our kids were practicing tremendously, but also they’re playing better.”
“Like coach said, we knew we were playing South River,” Nieskens said. “We knew this was a rivalry game. We were thinking, ‘We got to get this win.’ Last year, we came in here and got our butts handed to us. This year, we knew we had to get them, and we did.”
The Chargers were unable to build off the victory and fell to 2-2 on the season after an 82-69 loss to Bishop George Ahr High School on Dec. 20.
They looked to get back on the winning path in a matchup scheduled against Metuchen High School on Dec. 22. They were also slated to visit Bound Brook High School on Dec. 27.
South River’s record dropped to 0-2 following its loss to Spotswood.
Coach Rodney Harris was disappointed and pointed out that the Rams missed plenty of opportunities.
“We made a lot of mistakes,” Harris said. ” We didn’t hit our free throws. We missed a lot of layups. Spotswood came in here and played a great game. They wanted it more than us.”
“We just didn’t have it today,” Cruz said. “We had a lot of good looks but couldn’t make our shots. They had more energy than us today.”
Harris and Cruz believed the team’s turnaround would come when it got back to playing with better fundamentals and attitudes. Harris mentioned rebounding and better transition defense as areas in need of improvement, while Cruz wanted the team to remain calm even when things weren’t going its way and for the players to follow the game plan.
The Rams appear to have moved in the right direction by putting up back-to-back wins in their next two games. They scored victories over Metuchen, 54-45, on Dec. 20 and South Plainfield High School, 73-68, on Dec. 21 to get to .500 on the season with a 2-2 record.
