Thursday, March 10, 2011

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Sterling Gibbs, the Maryland-bound point guard, made some key free throws in overtime to help Seton Hall Prep knock of St. Peter's Prep, 55-47, in the Non-Public North A final.

PISCATAWAY – Going into the fourth quarter of the Non-Public North A section final against budding rival Seton Hall Prep, nothing was going right offensively for St. Peter’s Prep as it was plagued by missed layups and free-throws all game. Yet thanks the effectiveness of their matchup zone, the Marauders held a six-point lead going into the final eight minutes. Unfortunately, the offensive light they were waiting for never turned out and it eventually led to their season going dark.

Dallas Anglin, who played for St. Peter’s Prep as a freshman, hit the biggest shot of the game against his former squad. His three-pointer on the first possession of overtime gave Seton Hall Prep the lead for good and Maryland-bound point guard Sterling Gibbs was clutch at the foul line in the extra session as St. Peter’s Prep fell one step short of defending its section crown with a 55-47 loss at at the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway.

“It stinks that it ended like this, but it always stinks when the season ends with a loss,” said St. Peter’s Prep center Keith Lumpkin, who will play football next year right down the block from the RAC. “You have to give credit to Seton Hall though. They just played a little bit harder than we did and they made a few more plays than we did.”

After a fast-paced first quarter, both teams struggled to get into any sort of flow for the remainder of the contest. At halftime, they were tied at 24 before Lumpkin made his 6-foot-9, 280-pound presence felt inside. He tied the score on a layup with Stephon Whyatt and Kevin Walker following to give the Marauders the lead. Whyatt followed with a three-point play and a pair of free-throws as St. Peter’s Prep took a 35-29 heading into the fourth quarter.

Keith Lumpkin finished with a double-double in his final game for St. Peter's Prep.

However, the Marauders missed several layups and short jumpers late in the third and early in the fourth quarter and were unable to build on that lead. Then Seton Hall finally started knocking down some shots. Anglin hit a pair of big three-pointers, including one from the corner, to give Seton Hall its first lead since the first minute of the third quarter, 38-37, with 2:27 to play.

The teams combined to score just one point over the final 2:27 on a Whyatt free-throw with 1:08 to play that tied the game at 38. Seton Hall had a chance to win it at the end, but Gibbs’ elbow jumper with six seconds left was off the mark and the teams headed for overtime. After missing its final 15 shots of the third quarter and not scoring over the final 2:27, Seton Hall Prep head coach Bob Farrell felt fortunate that his team had another period to help decide the outcome.

“With the defense we were playing, we never felt like we were out of the game,” said Farrell. “St. Peter’s was playing a real tough matchup zone and our shots just weren’t falling. But we felt like one big shot would open up the floodgates. The big three by Dallas (Anglin) was our only basket of overtime, but it was a huge one. It gave us some distance and then Sterling Gibbs hit some key free-throws down the stretch.”

The Pirates won the tap and moved the ball around the perimeter for 30 seconds before Anglin nailed a three-pointer from the exact same spot where he hit his last one to put the Pirates up 41-38.

“I just had an open look and shot it with confidence,” said Anglin, a junior. “It was hard to adjust to the depth of the background in the gym, but it’s a little easier when you’re shooting from the corners. That shot was as big of a shot as I’ve ever hit. Once we got the lead up to five, I felt comfortable that we would win the game with the ball in Sterling’s hands because he’s such a good free-throw shooter.”

Seton Hall's Dallas Anglin, who played for St. Peter's two years ago, helped down his old team.

On the Pirates’ next possession, Gibbs hit a pair of shots from the charity stripe to make it a two-possession game. The Marauders fought hard until the end and cut the lead to three twice. But both times Gibbs dribbled around and forced St. Peter’s to foul, and then knocked down a pair of free-throws to end the illustrious careers of seniors Lumpkin, Walker, and Chase Fluellen.

“The toughest part is not getting a chance to coach this group of kids again,” said St. Peter’s Prep head coach Mike Kelly. “They have meant so much to this program. Their hard work and dedication really put us back on the map in both Hudson County and statewide.”

Gibbs was 10 of 13 from the foul line in overtime en route to a game-high 23 points for Seton Hall Prep (26-3). Anglin nailed four three-pointers on his way to 17 points.

Lumpkin recorded a double-double in his final high school game with 10 points and 11 rebounds, along with three blocks for St. Peter’s Prep, which finished the season with a 23-6 record. The bitter loss marked the end of an era as St. Peter’s Prep will always look back and wonder ‘what if?’

“There are so many possessions we all wish we could have back, but that’s part of having to take a loss like this,” added Kelly. “I thought we played extremely well defensively and we did what we were supposed to do. We just didn’t make shots at crucial times. What bothers me as I’m sure it bothers our kids is that we just didn’t play our best basketball. I don’t think Seton Hall played their best basketball either. But they hit the big shots exactly when they needed them, we didn’t, and that was the difference in the game.”

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