It did not take long to make one realize that this was not going to be your run of the mill weekday high school basketball game on the first Thursday of the New Year. For one thing, the Cranford High School gym was nearly full and rocking to the sounds of high octane inspirational music twenty minutes before game time and nervous smiles abounded among the members of the Cranford team and their Coach Ryan Huber. The basketball contest was unlike any in Cranford’s long history. On the other end of the court was St. Patrick’s, the state’s number one team and second ranked nationally. It was the highest nationally ranked opponent to ever set foot on a Cranford athletic venue and the goal of the heavily underdog Cougar team was simple; leave everything on the court and don’t hold anything back.
The final score of 90-41 does not do the game justice. For five magical minutes in the first quarter the Cranford five could have been wearing Milan High School jerseys like the high school team in Hoosiers. They showed no fear of their larger, more talented rivals and when Bryan Fitzsimmons hit a jumper they had a 12-10 lead with 3:20 to go in the first quarter. The inevitable began to happen as the visitors ran 11 straight points but Kurt Rutmayer finished the first quarter with a three pointer from the corner to cut the lead to 21-15. When Rutmayer hit another three midway through the second quarter the score was still a manageable 32-21 before the size, talent and athleticism of St Patrick’s took hold for a 48-23 halftime lead but after the game the team was as ecstatic as any team that just lost by 49 points. The outcome of this game was never in doubt but for much of the first half the Cougars gave their fans some indelible memories.
“We sat here before the game and talked about taking it to them and nobody backed down,” said Huber, who realized the inevitability of the result.
“They wore us down with their height and talent. Once we lost our stamina the game got out of hand but we proved we belonged,” added Huber, who thought his team was lackluster in a loss to Elizabeth earlier in the week,
“I am hoping this type of game can be a building block for our confidence. If we can handle the ball and run our offense against a team like this then we should be able to do this every game.”
On the other bench, renowned Coach Kevin Boyle of St. Patrick’s seemed almost remorseful about the eventual mismatch.
“It is not easy to coach games like this when you are supposed to win by a lot of points. We much prefer more competitive games but we are playing within the guidelines we are forced to,” said Boyle referring to a rule established in 2009 that forces schools to play at least 70% of their games against in state competition.
St. Patrick’s, despite being a small parochial school from Elizabeth, draws its players from all over the metropolitan area and plays a national schedule. Two of their alumni currently play in the NBA and several others will soon join them including their currently prodigy, 6’7 senior Michael Gilchrist, who wowed the crowd with his silky moves.
Although Boyle would prefer not to play such one sided games, he added that the Watchung Conference is as competitive a high school league as you can find. Cranford, which dropped to 2-4 after the loss realized that playing in the top division of the Watchung Conference, would be a humbling experience.
“This is a big step up from anything we have ever experienced but it will make us a better team in the long run. So many of our starters are multi sport athletes and are used to winning almost every game they play so this can be tough on them,” said Huber.
For the Cougars it was an opportunity to compete against an elite team.
“It was an honor to be out on the court with those guys. At least one of them is going to be in the NBA in a few years,” said guard Sean Trotter, who led Cranford with 14 points.
“That was a great experience. We brought it to them and took our shots. And they never blocked any of my shots,” added Rutmayer.
“Once the game starts you don’t think about the names on their uniforms. It’s a basketball game and we were competing. You can’t look at it any other way,” added guard Joey Papandrea.
For Huber, who said he gave the most impassioned pre game and half time speeches of his career, the aftermath was the important lesson.
“This game was memorable but it will only mean something if we remember how we played and take this attitude into every game.”
