A.C. Vikings storm back for 2OT win at Tournament of Champions

Last Updated on Thursday, March 14, 2013 12:13 pm Written by Mike Gill Wednesday, March 13, 2013 09:14 pm

TOMS RIVER - The Atlantic City High School Vikings pulled off their greatest Houdini act yet on Wednesday, overcoming a 19-point third-quarter deficit and outlasting Point Pleasant Beach, 80-73, in double overtime in the quarterfinal round of the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions at the Pine Belt Arena in Toms River.

After their amazing escape Wednesday, Atlantic City (30-1) moves on to the semifinal round to face St. Joseph (Metuchen) and 7-foot-1 sophomore sensation Karl Towns on Friday (6 p.m. on 97.3 ESPN Radio) at Monmouth University.

The Vikings fell into a 12-0 hole at the start of Wednesday's game, and trailed by as many as 19 before mounting a furious comeback led by seniors Jah-leem Montague and Dayshawn Reynolds. An Isiah Graves 3-pointer with 4:17 left to play gave Atlantic City its first lead of the game, but Point Pleasant refused to completely fold, forging a 59-59 tie at the end of regulation.

"I wouldn’t say we didn’t have doubt," smiled Reynolds, who scored 14 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had five steals before fouling out in the first overtime. “But I wouldn’t allow it, no matter what the score is. If there is time left on the clock we can win the game."

Reynolds sparked the Vikings in the first overtime but fouled out of the game, and Point Pleasant made two foul shots with three seconds left to send the game to a second overtime. The plucky Gulls (27-4) finally ran out of gas in the second OT.

"It was tough, real tough, normally I play the whole 32 minutes,” said Reynolds about watching from the bench in the second overtime. "But you need to be a leader on and off the court, so I said to the guys, let’s keep working hard."

“Our kids are ‘Atlantic City strong,’” coach Gene Allen told 97.3-FM radio after the game. “Eventually we wore out their point guard (Matt Farrell). They started missing some shots and we started hitting some. We got our second wind, and we were able to cut into the lead and eventually win the game.”

Graves led Atlantic City with 22 points, and Ga'briel Chandler added 17 points and 10 rebounds. Montague had 16 points and seven boards. Farrell led Point Pleasant with 23 points, and Riley Calzonetti scored 20.

It was the second straight overtime win for the Vikings, the Group IV champion competing in the TOC for the second consecutive year. Last year, they won a quarterfinal game against Ewing before falling to St. Anthony in the semifinal round, one of only three losses they have suffered in their last 54 games.

Two of those three losses came at the hands of St. Anthony, the perennial state power which was upset by Roselle Catholic in the Non-Public B Championship last Saturday, possibly paving the way for some other team (A.C.?) to win the Tournament of Champions.

But first things first: a semifinal round meeting Friday with St. Joe's and the Kentucky-bound Towns. They will certainly need to play much better than they did Wednesday to beat the 26-4 Falcons. "It will be a challenge, but I've seen our guys respond to some challenges before," Allen said, laughing. "One thing's for sure, we do give people a helluva show."

The two teams do have common opponents. Both the Vikings and St. Joe's have faced Group IV Central champ East Brunswick. Atlantic City knocked off East Brunswick last week in the state semifinals 51-49, while St. Joe's dropped two-of-three meetings with East Brunswick. Both teams also faced St. Augustine. The Vikings escaped with a 47-45 win over the Hermits, while St. Joe's coasted to a 81-39 win in the non-public A playoffs.

“We know they can play," Reynolds said of St. Joseph. "We will just come out and give it our best."

(Staff Writer Bill LeConey contributed to this report)

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