by Mike Pavlichko
With both teams coming off fantastic years in 2019-20, No. 10 Dunellen and Edison duked it out for about 28 minutes at Faber School last night, before the Eagles pulled away for a 69-56 win on the opening night of high school basketball in New Jersey.
In the debut of High School Basketball presented by Bellamy & Son Paving on Central Jersey Sports Radio, junior guard Nico Barnes scored 29 points, 16 of which came in the final 12 minutes of play.
Edison jumped out to an early lead, but never led by more than seven in the first half. Dunellen even had a one-point lead in the second quarter. Things stayed tight as Barnes left the game with three fouls in the second quarter.
LISTEN: Postgame reaction as Barnes’ 29 powers Edison boys past No. 10 Dunellen
But with the game getting tight in the third – within a possession for several minutes as Dunellen and Edison traded punches – Barnes came back in the game, and sparked the Eagles to pull away with a 13-point win.
Senior forward Tim Godwin played Barnes tough, but the Edison defense also did a nice job limiting 6-2 Dunellen senior Drew Johnson. The Penn State-Brandywine commit who is in his fourth year starting, finished with just 14. He eclipsed the 1,300-point mark in the game, finishing the evening with a career tally of 1,302.
Click below to listen to the entire game broadcast:
You can also watch the game – complete with CJSR commentary – on YouTube by clicking here.