LAWRENCE TWP. — Chris Raba looked at his team at halftime and didn’t see any panic.
The veteran Nottingham boys basketball coach knows what his side is all about.
Dom Raymond scored eight of his 30 points in overtime, including the go-ahead layup, and the Northstars rallied from a double-digit deficit in the first half to beat Notre Dame, 64-59, in a Colonial Valley Conference contest on Tuesday night.
“We’re a grind it out team and we’re an experienced team,” Raba said. “At halftime, we thought that we could come back. We knew it was going to be a close team, but once we tied it going into the fourth we just wanted to win every two minutes.”
Raymond also made 15 of 16 free throws to make up half of his 30 points. Jordan Raba added 14 points and Jahmere Miller finished with nine for Nottingham (12-4).
Miller tied the game with a basket late in regulation.
The Irish (8-8) made seven of its nine 3s in the first half against the Northstars’ 1-3-1 zone, which prompted Raba to switch to a full-court press with man-to-man in the half court. Nottingham sped the game up — ND moved the ball in the half court offense for open looks in the first half — and created the chaos it thrives in.
“They only missed one or two 3s in the first half,” Raba said. “We knew at halftime if we kept paying the way we can play that they weren’t going to shoot as high a percentage as they did in the first half.”
Will Foley led the Irish with 23 points and Noah Mathis added 10. ND had a chance to win at the end of regulation with the last shot but never even got the ball up on the rim.
Ewing 65, Hamilton West 64
EWING — Joel Cineus scored 19 points, Jamir Brown added 15 and the Blue Devils (13-4) held off a fourth-quarter rally to beat the Hornets (5-13) by one point. John Soganic tallied a team-high 18 points for Hamilton, which outscored Ewing, 22-13, over the final eight minutes to nearly pull off the comeback.
Hopewell Valley 59, Lawrence 56
HOPEWELL TWP. — John Michael Vlasac stuffed the stat sheet with 22 points, five rebounds and four assists to lead the Bulldogs (13-2) past the Cardinals (7-11) for the second time this season.
Hopewell also defeated Lawrence in the championship game of the Molinelli Holiday Tournament in December.
Julian Van Hoeck added 15 points and Mac Torpey finished with 12 for the Bulldogs. Robert Kelly scored 18 to lead the Cardinals.
Hightstown 56, PDS 38
HIGHTSTOWN — The Rams (10-9) moved over the .500 mark with a victory over the Panthers (5-10), who have dropped four of the last five.
Princeton 55, Steinert 47
PRINCETON — Jahan Owusu scored 18 points, Jihad Wilder added 11 and the Tigers (8-7) got out to a 19-1 start en route to an easy victory over the Spartans (1-16).
Franklin 57, Robbinsville 43
FRANKLIN TWP. — The Bunnell brothers combined for 30 points, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Ravens (12-7) from falling to the Warriors (9-9) in a non-league contest.
TCPA 64, Westamtpon Tech 59
HAMILTON — Marjon Skillman led four players in double figures with 21 points and 12 rebounds and the Iron Mikes (14-5) picked up a win over Westampton Tech (7-12). Isaiah Gore finished with 13 points and Javion Cesar-Jones and Tyler Hammond added 10 each.
Bordentown 62, Doane Academy 47
BORDENTOWN — Eumin Choi netted 12 points, Elijah Florence had 10 as part of a balanced offensive effort for the Scotties (10-8) in their win over the Spartans (4-14).
Willingboro 48, New Egypt 40
NEW EGYPT — Richard Rivas and Jaquan Gaither split 20 points between them and the Chimeras (9-8) moved back over .500 by beating the Warriors (5-10). Nolan Arnold led New Egypt with 18 points and Evan Goldberg scored 11.
Burlington Twp. 53, Shawnee 47
MEDFORD — Quade Hendyrx scored 17 points, Irving Singletary added 13 and the Falcons (15-4) beat Shawnee (12-6) for their 11th straight win.