Bound Brook senior Donovan Nwenyi (1) drives the lane against Rumson-Fair Haven in the Central Jersey Group 2 title game on march 7, 2020. (Photo: Chris Tsakonas)
Seeking its first sectional title since 1979, the Bound Brook Crusaders ran into a really good Rumson team.
Top-seeded Rumson-Fair Haven won its third title in the last six years, getting off to a good start out of the gate en route to a 75-44 win in the Central Jersey Group 2 championship game.
Bound Brook fell behind early, and couldn’t recover from the deep hole of an 11-2 Bulldog run to start the game.
And though the Crusaders found their offensive rhythm in the second quarter, with Donovan Nwenyi scoring 9 points and Brook getting as close as eight, a 6-1 run to close the half by Rumson left Bound Brook down 32-19, and it was an uphill battle from there. A 9-0 run to start the second half spelled the end for the Crusaders, who finish the season with a 22-5 record.
It was the end of the line for a trio of Bound Brook seniors who were the faces of the program for a while: quick guard Quadir Harrell, glue guy Donovan Nwenyi, and solid Bryce Cobb, who missed all of last year due to a football injury. They wound up going to two sectional finals, and winning the one-off Skyland Conference Gold (middle) Pod in 2021, finishing 14-0, the first undefeated season in modern history for the Crusaders.
Click below for postgame reaction as Chris Tsakonas caught up with Bound Brook head coach Anthony Melesurgo: