OP Basketball closed out their regular season with a wild win over Delbarton on Thursday. Wednesday marked the start of the Non-Public A State Tournament. The Rams’ opponent: St. Joe’s Regional. Over one hundred Rowdies squshed into the bleachers of DeGaeta hall to watch their Rams take on the Green Knights. The game would not disappoint.

The Green Knights did exactly what the Rams have done all year: dial-up a full-court press and jump out to an early lead. Quickly, SJR held a 6-0 lead. Oratory just looked off. But the Rams fought back and ended the first quarter on a 14-2 run. It wasn’t long before St. Joe’s recaptured the lead, however. The Green Knights outscored the Rams by 15 in the second period, capped off with a buzzer-beater right before halftime. The mood in DeGaeta Hall was blue.

Coach Daugherty changed things up in the second half. Mike Pirone moved to point guard and things seemed to click. The Rams went on a 19-8 run in the third quarter. To start the final period, OP held a narrow two-point lead. With less than two minutes to go, Asher Bradley had the ball under the rim, flung up a shot, and was fouled during the process. The Rowdies erupted.

With twenty seconds to go down one, Tommy Conniff missed a 3 pointer, but Bradley snatched the rebound. He passed to Pirone who banked in the shot with just over a second left.

Tommy Conniff embraced the Rowdies as they stormed the court.

Mike Pirone led the way for OP in the scoring department. The Junior scored 19 points, including his game-winning shot. Greg Jones scored 10 points and Tommy Conniff scored 11. Asher Bradley also chipped in 8.

Next up for OP is No. 1 seed Bergen Catholic on Friday.