Newark guard Chaz Knox celebrates after Middletown misses the last second shot as the Yellowjackets keep their winning streak alive beating Middletown in overtime 59-57.
NEWARK– The Newark boys basketball team really hadn’t faced any adversity while buzzing through its first six games undefeated.
The Yellowjackets got hit with a major test on Tuesday night, and they responded.
Newark lost three key players just 2½ minutes into the game, then went to overtime against Middletown. But the Cavaliers’ final 3-pointer bounced off the front of the rim, and the eighth-ranked Yellowjackets survived for a 59-57 win.
“It was our first real test of the season,” said senior guard Brendan Sherman, who led Newark with 16 points. “Some stuff happened in the beginning that we really can’t control. But we fought through it, played hard, followed our coaches’ lead and came out with the victory.”
The teams got in a brief scrap at midcourt with 5:27 left in the first quarter. Order was restored within seconds, but Middletown’s Kenneth Edelin was ejected for his actions on the court and Newark’s Rahmee Carter, Ryan Hurlock and Charles Leonard were ejected for leaving the bench. Just like that, the Yellowjackets’ depth was negated.
“We’re kind of deep, about 10 deep,” Newark coach Shannon McCants Sr. said. “We just went with our top guys, and they kind of held on. It was tough.”
The Yellowjackets (7-0, 2-0 Blue Hen Flight A) were in control early, forcing Middletown into mistakes and capitalizing with fast-break points. Sherman turned a turnover into a three-point play, and Mike Drumgo-Sharpe got a steal and layup off of full-court pressure and converted another turnover into a layup for a 21-7 lead with 3:14 left in the first half.
But the Cavaliers (0-3, 0-1) gained confidence with a 9-0 run to end the second quarter. Justin Thompson sandwiched a 10-footer and two free throws around three straight buckets by Shane Wilkins as Middletown pulled within 23-19 at the half.
Newark led 32-23 when Cavaliers coach Chuck Robinson was ejected after receiving his second technical foul with 5:02 left in the third quarter. But Middletown was far from finished.
The Cavaliers were down 46-37 with 6:36 to play, then went on another 9-0 run. Wilkins dropped a 3 from the left wing and Thompson drove for a layup to tie it at 46 with 4:16 remaining.
A layup by Thompson tied it at 52 with 1:51 to play. Then both teams missed a shot, and it went into overtime.
That’s when Newark’s Elijah Woodard stepped forward. The 6-foot-6 senior grabbed an offensive rebound, hit a layup while being fouled and made the free throw to push the Yellowjackets ahead 55-53 with 1:18 to go.
“I didn’t know I was going to get it,” Woodard said. “But I got my hands on it, I put it up and they called the foul. I believed in myself, and so did my teammates.”
Then Woodard fed Eric Marshall for a layup, snagged another rebound and hit a free throw to give Newark a 58-54 cushion with 24.7 seconds remaining.
“This is his first time really getting some varsity action, and I told him it’s going to pick up each and every game,” McCants Sr. said of Woodard, who finished with six points and four rebounds. “He did a pretty good job.”
But Thompson banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key to pull the Cavaliers within 58-57. Shannon McCants Jr. made a free throw to push the Yellowjackets’ lead back to two with 15.4 seconds to go, and Wilkins’ last-second 3-pointer was just short to keep Newark unbeaten.
“It’s going to help the team a lot,” Sherman said. “It’s going to help our team chemistry, because we know we’ve all got each other’s back. We can play with anybody, I feel like. We’re deep. Even though we lost players, we all stuck together.”
Drumgo-Sharpe added 14 points for the Yellowjackets. Middletown got 19 points and eight rebounds from Thompson, and 18 points and eight boards from Wilkins. Cavaliers center Jeremiah Nkumsah was a force inside with 13 points, 13 rebounds and six blocked shots.
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ