Monmouth Regional Holds on for Win in Playoff Opener Tuesday Night

Despite all the time spent practicing and developing plays, sometimes the only thing left for a boys' basketball coach to do is cross his fingers and say a little prayer.

Up by three points and watching Hightstown High School make three attempts at tying the game in the final seconds of the game, Monmouth Regional Coach Quinton Schwartz could only hope for the best.

"You better believe (I was praying for a miss), baby," Schwartz said after his team emerged with a 47-44 win in the Central Jersey Group III playoff opener at Hightstown on Tuesday. "It was tough not to get a rebound there. It was shot after shot after shot."

None of them fell. That allowed Monmouth Regional to advance in the tournament and play in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Monmouth Regional will play the winner of Tuesday's Nottingham/Burlington Township game.

"We're the underdogs," Monmouth Regional's D.J. Coles said. "We're under .500 (11-13) and have something to prove. We just have to come out and play hard. No one's going to give us anything, especially in the states."

Not being handed anything, Monmouth Regional was determined to go out and take it at the start. Coles (14 points), Luke Cahill (11 points) and RaQuan Gardner (six points) each made a pair of three-pointers in the first 12 minutes of the game. After the second three-pointer by Gardner, Monmouth led 29-11 with six minutes to play in the first half.

"We've come out shooting like that before," Coles noted. "We just have to keep going. When we have a lead like that, we have to take our time and make sure we keep it."

Monmouth Regional never lost its lead or was tied, but it used up almost all of its advantage.

Hightstown cut the lead to 32-25 by the half. A 6-1 spurt by Hightstown to start the third quarter had the lead down to 33-32 midway through the third quarter.

"It's a game of runs," Schwartz said. "Fortunately, we have some seniors that stepped up for us."

Three of those seniors -- Coles, Quaver Smith and Loren Jackson -- all responded with baskets. Smith's three-pointer put Monmouth Regional up 44-34. Two free throws by Coles also had Monmouth Regional up by 10 points, 46-36, with 3:37 left in the game.

Unfortunately, Hightstown simply would not go away. Qwanza Harper and Ryan Borden both made three-pointers. When Cole Fusik stole the ball and went in for a basket, Monmouth Regional's lead was down to 47-44 with 1:26  to play.

Over two possessions in the final minute -- including three three-point attempts in the final 30 seconds -- Hightstown continued to put up shots.

"That was something," Coles said. "That was fun."

Especially when those last three shots bounced off the rim and went wide of the basket, giving the Falcons the win.