Last-Second Shot Ends Dodgers' Undefeated Run

EAST HANOVER – The Madison boys basketball team was three seconds away from possibly their greatest escape, in a season of great escapes.

They trailed by 12 in front of a raucous, amped-up partisan Hanover Park crowd in an overheated, tense, cramped gymnasium. But the Dodgers had come back to take the lead in the waning minutes.

The implications of that comeback were great: the Dodgers were three seconds away from wrapping up the inaugural Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference-Independence Division title and continuing their magical unbeaten run.

But on this night, in this game, unlike the previous 17, it was not meant to be.

Chris Seery's layup with 2.4 seconds remaining lifted Hanover Park into a tie atop the Independence Division with a thrilling 48-47 victory Tuesday night.

"It's disappointing," said point guard Aaron Fant. "I'm upset we won't still be undefeated, but we have to bounce back real quickly. We've still got two big games to go this week (including Saturday's county tournament quarterfinal)."

It was an instant classic, a back-and-forth struggle between two of Morris County's best teams, even more sensational than the Dodgers' rousing 62-59 double-overtime victory on Jan. 13.

Hanover Park led the game by 12 early in the third quarter, but Madison launched an epic comeback to control the lead through most of the fourth quarter.

"They came out fired up," Fant said. "They were playing at home, they wanted to give us our first loss. We had to match their intensity."

Fant led all scorers with 17 points, including an acrobatic go-ahead layup with 2:15 to play, putting Madison (17-1, 9-1) up 47-45.

Hanover Park (17-1, 9-1) had two chances to tie the game from the free throw line, but made one of just four free throw attempts to keep the Dodgers ahead, 47-46 with 1:29 to play.

Robbie Savacool, who came up with with a pair of huge defensive rebounds on two of the missed free throws, missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 40 seconds to play, giving Hanover Park the final shot.

The Hornets ran the clock down to under 10 seconds when Taylor Ervin drove to the baseline. He found himself trapped by two Madison defenders, and nearly fell out of bounds before passing to Mike Geisser. Geisser dribbled to the wing and saw Seery standing alone underneath the basket. He fired a bullet pass to Seery, who calmly banked in a layup over a desperate last-ditch block effort from Matt McHale.

"Sometimes you just get caught up trying to make a play," Librera said. "We almost made the play, and their kid made a nice pass, and we didn't slide over."

With just 2.4 seconds remaining, Madison's long inbounds pass was intercepted and Hanover Park students stormed the court following the buzzer.

Up until the final play, the tide seemed to be turning Madison's way. Fant hit a 25-footer at the third-quarter buzzer to give the Dodgers a 39-38 lead heading into the final quarter. It was Madison's first lead since early in the second quarter, capping a five-minute stretch in which the Dodgers outscored Hanover Park, 19-6.

Geisser hit a 3-pointer with 5:20 to play in the third to put Hanover Park ahead, 32-20. The Hornets had chances to deliver a knockout blow, recovering loose balls and generally outhustling the Dodgers, but they went cold. At that point, Madison awakened.

"We didn't think we were playing the way we did to get to this point," Librera said. "We did some nice things to get in the lead."

Jake Meister scored 10 of his 12 points in the third, including a long 3-pointer with 2:26 left to pull Madison within 34-30. Fant made two spectacular plays, a turnaround 5-foot floater and a drive in traffic leading to two free throws, to tie it at 36-36 in the final minute, preceding the 3-pointer that brought the bench and the large Madison fan contingent to their feet.

"That run showed our character as a team," Fant said. "We got down and we came back. We'd rather be up in that situation, but we did what we had to do to get back in it."

The bounces went Madison's way in the fourth quarter, which kept them ahead even as the Hornets' Ervin became unguardable. Eddie McAndrew made an off-balance hook shot over two defenders with 4:23 left, giving Madison a 45-42 lead.

But Ervin, who scored Hanover Park's first seven fourth-quarter points until the final layup, evened the score when he received a shooter's roll on a 3 from the top of the key with 2:35 to go.

"Ervin had a real nice game," Librera said. "We came in gearing on Geisser, trying to stop him. And sometimes other players step up."

The final play, with Madison ahead 47-46 and time running down, appeared to be set up for Ervin to go one-on-one with Savacool, Madison's best defender, and the Dodgers had it well defended. But Librera credited Ervin for making a play to keep the game alive.

Nevertheless, Librera said he was proud of the Dodgers for coming back from large deficits in such a hostile environment. Hanover Park scored the first eight points of the game before Madison took their first lead, 11-10, a minute into the second quarter on McHale's three-point play.

But Hanover Park fired back with another run of its own, carving up Madison's 1-3-1 zone during the second period and playing tough, tight man-to-man defense to force difficult shots. Andrew Mitola hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put Hanover ahead, 21-15. And the Dodgers found themselves down double-digits, 27-16, after three layups by Geisser–the third uncontested after a steal with 1:34 left.

"We couldn't stay in that zone for too long," Librera said. "We wanted to break up the tempo, give them another pitch to look at. They're a good-shooting team, and they were very well-prepared."

Hanover Park's win muddies up the NJAC-Independence picture, with both teams tied, their only loss to each other. Each has two division games remaining. The Hornets still have to take on Pequannock and Parsippany, while Madison plays Chatham and Dover. Hanover Park and Madison could meet again in the Morris County Tournament championship game Feb. 27–the Hornets are seeded fifth, Madison third–or in the North 2, Group II state playoffs next month.
 
NEXT UP
The Dodgers will have very little time to ponder Tuesday's loss. Madison hits the road to play a major rival for the second straight game when it travels to Chatham (12-7, 6-4) Thursday night at 7. The Dodgers edged the Cougars, 49-47, on Jan. 14.

Thursday's game will be vital for the Dodgers in terms of its impact on the NJAC-Independence race, but the more important game will come 48 hours later, when Madison and Chatham meet again, this time in the quarterfinals of the Morris County Tournament at Randolph High School Saturday. The Cougars, seeded sixth, needed overtime to knock out No. 11 Morristown, 50-47, Saturday in Chatham.

SCORING SUMMARY
Madison                 5   13  21   8   -  47
Hanover Park    10  17  11  10  -  48

INDIVIDUAL SCORING
MAD- Aaron Fant 17 (6 ast, 4 reb), Jake Meister 12 (5 reb), Matt McHale 9 (4 reb), Robbie Savacool 5 (6 reb, 2 ast), Matt Gilbert 2 (4 ast), Eddie McAndrew 2

HP- Mike Geisser 15, Chris Seery 12, Taylor Ervin 9, Andrew Mitola 6, Erik Prokop 3, Robbie Lopinto 3