Chase Ta’s free throws key as Montgomery holds off East Brunswick in Central Jersey, Group 3 semis

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Montgomery kept making shots in the final minutes to maintain its lead in the NJSIAA/ShopRite Central Jersey, Group 4 semifinals, and East Brunswick kept answering right back to keep it close. When the final buzzer sounded, the free throw shooting of Chase Ta down the stretch proved to be the difference.

Ta hit four free throws in the closing minutes and also made a key layup as Montgomery held off East Brunswick, 47-46, in Montgomery yesterday to secure a spot in the Central Jersey, Group 4 final against Trenton.

“I just played my game, got to the basket,” Ta said. “I was scared the whole time, but I was lucky enough to rise to the occasion and hit the big shot when it counted.”

Matt Ross hit two 3-pointers in the final minute for East Brunswick, including one on the game’s final possession that made it a one-point game. There was a lot of contact on the play, but no foul was called and time expired.

“(Ross) almost got fouled,” Montgomery coach Kris Grundy said. “They could have called that, but they were letting us play.”

East Brunswick coach Mark Motusesky agreed with Grundy, and thought his team should have had a chance at a game-tying free throw.

“I thought he got hit pretty hard,” Motusesky said. “But I guess they don’t like to call those late. But, when it’s that hard of a foul, I thought they should have blown the whistle.”

Justin Kovacevich made two free throws with 10.2 seconds remaining to make it a four-point game. The senior also had a rebound right after East Brunswick cut the lead to one point, and Ta made a driving layup moments later to make it a 3-point game. Ta scored six of his 13 points in the final period to go with five rebounds. Kovacevich led Montgomery with 15 points and also had five rebounds.

“Six huge free throws down the stretch,” Grundy said. “Four by Ta and two by Justin. Big time players step up and make big time plays. Chase is the best point guard in the county. It’s up for debate, but I think Justin is the best player in the county.”

Amir Bell had only two points for East Brunswick when it topped Hillsborough to make it to the semifinals, but he tripled that total in the second quarter alone against Montgomery. The Princeton-bound guard finished with 17 points, three rebounds and three steals. His eight points in the fourth quarter were instrumental to the Middlesex County squad’s comeback attempt, including a shot midway through the period that made it a one-point game.

Montgomery was on top early, getting baskets from Kovacevich, Greg Tarca and Tim Youreneff to take a 17-9 lead after the first quarter, but East Brunswick battled back with a 15-9 second period run to cut the led deficit to two points by halftime.

A 3-pointer from Carl Taylor early in the third quarter gave East Brunswick its first lead of the game. Kovacevich countered with a layup on the next play to put Montgomery back on top. Though East Brunswick would tie the score again, Montgomery never relinquished the lead.

“We knew that they were going to be a tough team,” Ta said. “We think we’re a pretty good team, too. We weren’t scared of anyone on that team, so we executed our game plan to stop Amir and Garry Baumer. We executed that pretty well if you asked me. We were especially motivated since they beat Hillsborough, and that’s our only loss. So we wanted to prove that we were better than Hillsborough.”