By Rich Chrampanis
PISCATAWAY – Winning a championship is never easy – even when you’re the favorite.
In the preseason, many basketball experts tabbed Ranney as the pick to win the Tournament of Champions and earn the title of New Jersey’s best boys basketball team in 2018-19. It took a win over a national-caliber team in the state finals (Roselle Catholic) and two wins in the T of C to stand on top of the mountain.
Following the state championship weekend, Ranney earned the No. 1 seed among the six state champions and went to Toms River last Friday night to deliver a dominant defensive performance on the way to a 62-40 rout of Moorestown.
Bryan Antoine ended his high school career as the Shore Conference’s all-time leading scorer, topping the 2,500-point plateau in the semifinals of the Tournament of Champions.
Photo by Patrick Olivero
In Sunday’s final at the Rutgers Athletic Center, No. 2 seed Bergen Catholic did everything they could to tarnish the legacy of Ranney’s five seniors who came to Tinton Falls with the goal of building a basketball superpower. A crowd of 6,849 came to campus on St. Patrick’s Day to witness Ranney’s quest to become the first Shore Conference boys team to win the Tournament of Champions.
The Crusaders put Ranney on notice early when they raced out to a 10-2 lead in the first quarter. A Zach Freemantle dunk on an alley-oop closed out a sensational first half, giving Bergen a 30-21 advantage heading into the locker room.
The Ranney All-American duo of Bryan Antoine and Scottie Lewis were responsible for 18 of the Panthers’ 21 points in the first half and it became obvious the supporting cast would need to step up for Ranney to win. In the second half, Ahmadu Sarnor (13 points) and Phil Wheeler (14 points) did just that.
After trailing for the entire game, Antoine and Lewis helped surge Ranney to a 47-46 lead at the end of three quarters.
Ranney became the first Shore Conference team to win a Tournament of Champions boys title after a 67-63 win over Bergen Catholic Sunday at Rutgers University.
Photo by Patrick Olivero
The fourth quarter became a roller coaster of emotions. Ranney missed their first six 3-point shot attempts of the game until Alex Klatsky and Sarnor came through with huge triples to give the Panthers a 55-48 lead. With Ranney leading by nine and on the verge of putting the game away, Wheeler was called for a technical foul during a dead ball, opening the door for Bergen Catholic to get back into the game. The Crusaders scored four straight points after the technical. Wheeler would deliver a rim-rocking dunk on his road to redemption, but turned right around and fouled Matt Zona during a made 3-pointer to give BC a 4-point play and once again renewed life.
This sparked a 9-1 run to tie the game at 63 in the final minute. The drama reached a fever pitch as Sarnor drew a foul with 15 seconds to go. The senior guard sank 1 of 2 free throws to give Ranney the lead.
But Bergen Catholic had a chance to shock the state and win the game. Freshman Will Richardson, who tied the game at 63 with a gutsy drive to the basket, tried to replicate his earlier heroics, but Sarnor’s defense was perfect and Wheeler hauled in the biggest rebound of the year with just four seconds left. Wheeler and Sarnor closed out the game with three more free throws sealing the Ranney victory.
“Even when you’re down like we were in the first half, things weren’t going our way, we weren’t sticking to the game plan, but you have an opportunity, 16 minutes in the second half to turn it around,” coach Tahj Holden said. “And these guys are champions and winners and that’s what they’ve done over the past four years.”
Coach Holden arrived at Ranney along with Antoine, Lewis, Klatsky and Chris Autino. Sarnor joined the core group one year later and the Ranney Five proceeded to blaze its path, starting with two Shore Conference titles followed by the elusive state championship and now the Tournament of Champions crown. They won 22 or more games in all four of their years and the 31-3 mark in 2018-19 saw two out-of-state losses and a narrow defeat to Gill St. Bernard’s as the only blemishes on a schedule that featured a long list of high profile games both in and out of New Jersey.
With its historic season, Ranney will forever be in the conversation as the best ever team to come out of the Shore Conference and the future careers of Antoine and Lewis will no doubt solidify their legacy. Antoine is off to Philadelphia to play for Jay Wright and Villanova while Scottie heads down to Gainesville to compete in the SEC for the Florida Gators. It could be as soon as 2020 that we see this duo in the NBA.
Reality set in during the post-game press conference that the duo – who have played side by side for four years, both at Ranney and on the AAU circuit for Team Rio – is likely never to play together again unless they reach the NBA All-Star game down the road.
“It actually didn’t hit me until a couple of minutes in the locker room when I took off my jersey,” Antoine said. “It’s probably the last time I take off a Ranney jersey. The last four years have been unbelievable with these guys. The amount of effort we put in for the past four years and today it showed.”
The future is now for Antoine and Lewis and they got a glimpse of what their life will be like during this Tournament of Champions run. Following the Panthers semifinal win over Moorestown, the entire Quakers team asked Antoine to take a picture with them and the McDonald’s All-American happily obliged. About 100 feet away, Lewis was swarmed by youngsters snapping pictures with their phones and asking for autographs. The high school chapter of their careers is written and both got the ending they wanted.
“I wouldn’t want to represent any other program,” Lewis said. “I’m so proud of what we’ve done, what we’ve accomplished. I’m going to miss everyone who supported us. I’m super excited for what the future holds for myself and for the rest of my teammates.
This article originally appeared in the March 21-27 print edition of The Two River Times.
