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By Scott Huff
WARRINGTON – One terrific scholastic basketball game was not decided until the final buzzer.Central Bucks West trailed rival Central Bucks South 45-42 and had possession of the ball at mid court with 0.5 seconds left in the game.
Buck point guard Chris Dilullo fired a precise inbounds pass to sharp shooting Rellis Reichwein who had curled to accept the pass at the top of the circle – beyond the three-point arc.
Reichwein’s shot was released in perfect rhythm and with a shooter’s touch – but the ball danced along the rim and didn’t get the shooter’s roll as the ball dropped to the floor to seal South’s crucial SOL Continental Conference win.
“To be honest with you, we didn’t expect him to be open,” said Central Bucks West coach Adam Sherman. “It is a play that we practice, and Rellis can make that shot.”
“I thought it was in,” admitted Central Bucks South coach Jason Campbell. “We knew that they would try to get him the ball – he is a great shooter.”
The ball didn’t fall for the Bucks – and it took a critical basket for the Titans to seal the game with just four seconds left in the game.
The game was tied at 42-42 with South holding for the last shot. The ball rotated at the top of the key to the leading scorer for the Titans – Will Barrett – who promptly found team mate Ryan Clark wide open on the block.
Clark not only cashed in on the field goal, but also was fouled on the play. His free throw, coupled with his basket, proved to be the game-winning points.
“I took a look at the basket and then saw Ryan open underneath,” said Barrett, who scored 11 points. “I love making passes, and I trust that my teammate is going to come through.”
“I knew that they were going to double or even triple Will,” said Clark. “I got on the block to get a chance for a rebound, and Will made a great pass.”
The victory by the Titans (16-3, 10-2) created a two-way tie for first place in the SOL Continental Conference with the Bucks (15-4, 10-2).
The two conference losses by West came against South – the Titans defeated the Bucks 55-43 in the first meeting. South has dropped conference games to both Quakertown (45-42) and Souderton (66-60).
“From the beginning of the season we talked about setting a goal for a conference championship,” said Campbell. “Right now we are tied for a championship, but we have a couple of tough conference games left (vs. North Penn and CB East) and so does West (vs. CB East and Hatboro-Horsham).”
“There is still a lot of basketball to be played this year – nothing was decided tonight,” said Sherman. “Anything is possible. And I thought we played the game as hard as we can.”
Evidence of that was seen on the face on West senior Joe Dilullo. Dilullo left the gym with an ice pack covering a shiner under his right eye.
“It was a great game, but every time we play another CB school it is a great game,” said Dilullo. “The game was played hard – the refs, I guess, just let us play.
“I think that it is very important that we learn from this game,” added Dilullo. “We can’t hang our heads. We still have two very important conference games to be played.”
The game was competitive throughout as South remained within six points of the leading Bucks for most of the game. And the Titans did so without the ‘A’ game of Barrett who suffered through a rare 5-of-15 shooting performance that included an 0-for-2 from the free throw line.“I hurt my back in practice yesterday, and my shot was a little off tonight,” said Barrett. “I was shooting too straight up.”
Barrett did, though, hit some key baskets to fuel the South rally that saw the Titans finally take the lead in the fourth period.
The game was tied 37-37 when Barrett banged home his only 3-point field goal to give South its first lead with 4:22 left in the game.
And after West had regained the lead at 42-41 on a driving basket by Chris Dilullo with 2:14 left, Barrett scored on the low post to regain the lead for the Titans.
Barrett capped off his clutch fourth period performance with the game-winning assist to Clark.
“This place was going crazy,” said Barrett as the game was played before a packed house at the Titan Gym. “It feels great to come out of this with a win.”
“We want that (championship) banner real bad,” said Clark. “Coach keeps talking about it, and it would be the first one for the boys’ basketball team in the school’s history.”
“You get a banner for a co-championship, don’t you?” questioned Campbell. “If not, I’ll have to pay for it myself.”
Right now CB South has earned it – and so, for that matter, has CB West.
Central Bucks West 12 14 8 8 - 42
Central Bucks South 7 13 8 17 - 45
Central Bucks West: Bill Carroll 1 0-0 3; Chris DiLullo 3 0-1 6; Joe DiLullo 3 2-2 9; Rellis Reichwein 3 0-0 9; Shane Tyksinski 3 3-4 9; Ryan Dyer 2 1-1 5; Patrick Furst 0 1-2 1. Totals 15 7-10 42.
3-point field goals – Reichwein (3), C. DiLullo, J. DiLullo.
Central Bucks South: Will Barrett 5 0-2 11; Ryan Clark 4 2-2 10; Mike Doty 5 0-0 12; Nick Joerger 0 2-2 2; Greg Johnston 1 0-2 2; Mike Pincus 3 0-0 8. Totals 18 4-8 45.
3-point field goals – Doty (2), Pincus (2), Barrett.
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