Hamilton West and Rancocas Valley are both New Jersey public school, but last year the squads were on opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to performance. Rancocas Valley was arguably the best public school team in the state, making it to the Tournament of Champions in the Garden State. Meanwhile, Hamilton West had a subpar season and struggled in Mercer County. We’ll see if last year’s performances indicate how the teams will fare against one another. The affair has already started, and I once again would like to apologize as I have no names, just numbers.

6:17pm- Rancocas Valley has jumped out to a 15-5 lead in nine minutes of play.

6:20pm- RV is ahead 21-9 with 7:30 to play in the first half.

6:22pm- Hamilton West is really struggling to score against RV, and the score remains 21-9 with 5:30 left.

6:23pm- A steal and basket by #20 has put RV up 23-9 with just over five minutes left in the first 20 minutes of play.

6:24pm- HW scored a point off a free throw to hit double digits with slightly over four minutes remaining in the half.

6:25pm- #11 of Hamilton West made a nice move to get to the hole and scored on a reverse layup, making it an 11-point game, 23-12.

6:28pm- #00A (there is more than one #00) of Hamilton West drained a three to cut the lead down to single digits, 23-15. RV responded with a deuce to go back up by 10.

6:29pm- Brandon Johnson ’09 of Hamilton West missed two free throws with under 30 seconds left in the first half.

6:30pm- A baseline jumper by #33 of RV has sent the team into the half leading by 12, 27-15.

6:32pm- #40 and #20 both have eight points for Rancocas Valley, and are the game’s co-leading scorers thus far. #00A, #10, and #6 all have three points for Hamilton West.

6:33pm- RV has quickly extended its lead to 15, doubling HW’s total.

6:34pm- Johnson hit two free throws for HW, which along with a previous bucket, has cut the RV lead to 11, 30-19, with just over 17 minutes left.

6:35pm- #33 got the ball for RV and laid it in to put the team back up by a baker’s dozen.

6:37pm- With 15 minutes left in the ballgame, Rancocas Valley is ahead 34-21. #54 then got a steal in the backcourt, kicked it to a teammate on the baseline, and got RV two points, stretching the team’s advantage to 15 points, 36-21.

6:39pm- Johnson is back at the stripe for HW. He scored and got fouled, and then hit the free throw for an old-school three-point play to cut RV’s lead to 12, 36-24 with 12 minutes left.

6:41pm- After an RV bucket, Brandon Johnson of HW scored, got fouled, and hit his free throw yet again. The score is now 38-27 with less than 11 minutes to go. A steal by #33 of RV soon after that led to a bucket for them team on a third chance tip-in.

6:42pm- Rancocas Valley is on top by 15, 42-27, with less than 10 minutes of basketball to be played.

6:44pm- There is just under eight minutes remaining in the contest, and RV is up by 13, 42-29.

6:45pm- #20 of Rancocas Valley is at the line to shoot two after getting fouled taking a runner in the lane. He missed both shots, but #40 got a tip-in basket after the second shot.

6:46pm- #40 is credited with an assist to #30, who drained a triple from the corner to put RV up by 16 points, 47-31, with barely more than five minutes to go in regulation.

6:48pm- With just under 3:30 remaining, HW trails by a dozen, 47-35.

6:49pm- Hamilton West is fighting back. #6 got an offensive rebound and went up strong, getting hit and scoring the basket. He then made his free throw, cutting RV’s lead down to single digits, 47-38.

6:50- A basket by #24 has put RV’s lead back up to 11 points.

6:51pm- RV turned the ball over on a backcourt violation with 1:01 to go. HW then took a timeout with 31.9 seconds left in the game and #10 about to go to the line for a one-and-one.

6:52pm- #10 made both free throws, putting RV’s lead back down to single digits, 49-40.

6:53pm- Rancocas Valley is the winner by a score of 53-40 after a bucket and two made free throws.

Unfortunately, the stats sheet was unavailable from this game. Northstar Basketball’s MVP award recipients are Brandon Johnson for Hamilton West and #40 for Rancocas Valley.