Cougars Clinch First Conference Title in 40 Years

While it may not have been the way coach Ryan Huber drew it up, the Cranford boys' varsity basketball team can officially call themselves conference champions despite falling to Hillside Friday night 52-48.

The Cougars received some help from Rahway, who defeated Governor Livingston earlier in the day to nail down the crown for Cranford.

"It feels great," said sophomore Chris Gross. "We haven't won a conference championship in 40 years. It's nice to win the championship but I wish we would have got this one today."

"It's awesome," said junior guard Sean Trotter. "I always wanted to do this, win the conference and move on. It's the first time in a long time."

Cranford raced out of the gate for a 13-1 first quarter lead, but the Cougars started to hand out gifts, and lots of them.

"With 23 turnovers you can't expect to win too many games," Huber said. "You get out to a 13-0 lead, two possessions, you want to hold for the last shot, we turn the ball over twice, could have made 15, 16-0, we would have felt good. That started it right there. The turnovers started mounting. We gave up 40 of their 52 points in the second and fourth quarter. We have to buckle down our defense and play better."

"I feel like we were playing scared, like we didn't want the ball in our hands," said Trotter. "We just gotta come back next game and do better."

Senior Will Green led all scorers with 19 points, Trotter had nine, all on three-pointers, and sophomore Chris Gross chipped in with 14. Gross has tallied in double digits for much of the season.

"This year I had to take a bigger role," said Gross. "I had to be more of a scorer, so it's pretty much what I try and do every game. My strength is scoring."

The Comets had their own scoring touch in the final stanza, finishing the game by outscoring the Cougars 18-11 in the fourth, while making several highlight-reel shots along the way. Calvin Lofton led Hillside with a team-high 13 points. Still, Cranford had a chance to win right down to the end.

"At 51-48, three possessions in a row, we turn it over without them getting a shot, two turnovers and a missed layup," said Huber. "That says a lot about the game right there. We have to step up and make plays."

The Cougars, who fell to 12-6 on the season, were in no mood to celebrate after the game. They know there's much more work to be done, especially with the start of the county tournament looming on Wednesday.

The same team that helped them win clinch the crown will be looking to upset the champs on Wednesday in the county tournament.

"Now is when the good teams start playing good," Huber said. "We have to get back in the gym in the morning and we have to get better. We have to be better with the ball. We have to shoot better from the line. Turnovers and the foul line is where that game was won and lost today."