Rutgers Prep rallies from 14-point 3rd quarter deficit to top Montgomery, earn 4th straight trip to Somerset County final

With the last two games between Rutgers Prep and Montgomery decided by three points – in last year’s SCT final, and earlier this month in the regular season – everyone knew this would be a good one.

No complaints there.

Ethan Lin played out of his mind for second-seed Montgomery, setting a new career-best of 31 points, and hitting a career-high seven threes. But it was not enough, as third-seed Rutgers Prep erased a 14-point third quarter gap to win 71-62 at Franklin High School in Somerset Saturday afternoon, in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Myles Parker finished with 21 points, 13 in the decisive fourth quarter. And he cracked the 1,000 point mark on an and-one bucket, with the game stopping for a moment to acknowledge it and take a picture, after which he calmly completed the old-fashioned three-point play. He now has 1,014 career points.

And he’ll get to add to it next weekend at Montgomery, which hosts the SCT Finals. They’ll play the winner of Saturday’s 4 pm semifinal between top-seed Gill St. Bernard’s and fourth-seed Ridge.

While Lin was lighting it up, big man Bodhan Biekietov was getting into some foul trouble, as was Prep’s big man Andrew Kretkowski. But it was Biekietov who fouled out with 5:37 to go, and it turned out to be the difference.

The Argonauts (17-8) were able to have more of a presence inside as a result, and used it to their advantage. Parker went 2-of-2 from the line in the fourth, and sophomore Rocco Loomis – the smallest player on the floor for Prep at 5′ 10″ – was able to draw contact, too, hitting all four of his fourth quarter free throws, and going 6-for-6 from the line in the game.

Click below for postgame reaction from Rutgers Prep’s Myles Parker and Rocco Loomis, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen: