Cherry Hill East Cougars defeated Cherry Hill West Lions in this year’s annual invitational basketball game 40-38. The game was an absolute nail-biter and the atmosphere was ecstatic as the rivals met face to face. Timmy Perry (’16) won the jump ball to start the game off. Josh Brown’s (’15) pass attempt was intercepted by West, which forced East to defend a West fast break down the court.

With full hustle, Jake Silpe (’15) raced down the court to strip the ball from the Lions, but ended up out of bounds. As soon as West inbounded the ball, the team quickly put up the first points of the game with a lay-up. The Cougars were able to bounce back as Perry put back a rebound for two points.

Four minutes elapsed and the score was still 2-2. Brown made both foul shots after getting fouled by West. That made the score 4-2 with East on top. The Lions still fought back hard and ended up getting fouled by Perry after a layup attempt. West sinked both shots at the free throw line.

After West’s effort to make a lay-up, the ball was stuffed by Perry’s block. With only a few seconds left to spare, West inbounded the ball from mid-court range and successfully shot a buzzer beater. The first quarter ended with the score being 5-8, West in the lead.

The second quarter was at a slow pace, yet very crucial to improve East’s score. In the midst of the quarter, Silpe rallied and drained a deep range two pointer. Perry led East with a strong ten points at the half but West maintained a small lead over East as the second quarter ended 14-17.

The trailing Cougars take control early in the third. East inbounded the ball to Colin O’Donnell (’17) who scored the first two points of the quarter with a mid-range shot in the paint. Within the first two minutes of the quarter, East scored four unanswered points to take the lead with help from Perry’s lay-up.

Both schools struggled to score with three consecutive fast breaks, but eventually West made a shot from an inbound. O’Donnell then stole a pass from West which leaded to a fast break for Perry to score a lay-up.

West had too many people on the court at a time. The team had six players, instead of five. This violation resulted in a technical foul for Silpe and an opportunity to make the first foul shot. With five seconds left in the third quarter, Silpe drove through an empty lane to score a buzzer beater.

The Cougars began the final quarter in the lead, 25-21. Silpe scored the first two points of the fourth quarter. Perry showed up big on defense, not letting West have any easy points as he swatted the ball from West’s mid-range attempt in the beginning of the quarter. West lost the defensive edge and gave up two three pointers from Olin McClendon (’16) and Pierce Elliot (’16).

West stuck through the rest of the quarter with an aggressive offense. The Cougars committed a foul against the Lions. West made the foul shot to make it a three-point play. With only nine seconds to play in the game, West sunk a shot beyond the arc, which changed the score to a one-point deficit 39-38, with West in the lead.

The Lions intentionally fouled the Cougars in desperate need for the ball. The score increased to 40-38, East. West took a timeout with three valuable seconds left, and members inbounded the ball to a player behind the three-point line, but failed to even put up a shot with East’s defense. East Cougars successfully beat their number one rival, Cherry Hill West Lions in a nerve-wracking, but well-fought game of basketball.