With 15 seconds remaining in the game, Drew Greene (‘22) was holding the ball, waiting to take the final shot of the game. East and Lenape were knotted at 37 points apiece in a tight game throughout. Greene then heard Lenape coach Matt Wolf scream “Foul, Foul, Foul”. Having watched many NBA games and with his basketball IQ, he heaved the ball from almost half-court, knowing that he was getting fouled so he could get three shots from the free-throw line. Much to his surprise, the ball went in for a four-point play. The crowd went wild along with Greene and his teammates.
“There are no words to explain it,” Greene said on his incredible shot. “All of the preparation that goes into games, especially this one, we knew it was going to be like this. We talk a lot about staying together and staying composed. We just do what we do in practice. We don’t play emotionally. We just stuck together as a team.”
The #18 Cherry Hill East Cougars (16-1) went on to beat the #4 Lenape Indians (15-2) by a score of 43-39 on Tuesday night in front of a sold-out crowd at Lenape. These two teams previously met on December 23rd which resulted in a 51-46 win for Lenape. Since then, the Cougars have been riding a 13 game winning streak while Lenape’s 10 game winning streak was snapped.
The Cougars jumped out to a hot start with a 15-3 lead in the first quarter. They were able to maintain the lead up until the beginning of the 4th quarter when Lenape went on an 11-0 run. However, the defense was able to get the momentum back in their favor and pull the game out.
“We shot the ball well, but our defense was really good,” Coach Allen said. “Our defense and execution on the defensive end really helped us and helped us withstand their run.
Greene finished the game with 15 points, three rebounds, three assists, and two steals. He shot 100% from the three-point line and the foul line while shooting 63% percent from the field. Additionally, Jake Green (‘22) chipped in with 9 points on three of six shooting from three.
“We didn’t come out like there was nothing to lose,” Green said. We came out like there was nothing else we were trying to do but win.”
The Cougars will take on Eastern in their next game on February 3rd at 3:45. The Cougars will look to extend their winning streak to 14 games while also extending their winning streak to six games in a row over Eastern. With the way that this team is playing now, there is much reason to believe that the Cougars can go far in the playoffs this year.