Cardinal Newman and Montgomery met up on Tuesday night and high school basketball fans were salivating. A rivalry that has grown in the past decade grew a little more tense (If possible) that night. We have seen it all in this rivalry and quite frankly, Montgomery has been the one making the magic happen at the end of these games. We saw it in 2007 when Anthony England got the kick out with under 5 seconds left and banged home a three at the buzzer. Then there was his cousin, Robbie Burroughs the next year hitting a buzzer beater drive and layup to win it....then again he did it against Cardinal Newman with a buzzer beater three. History does repeat itself two years later in the NBL championship game Zack Templeton beat the cards on a game winning up and under layup with time expiring to win. The next time the teams met , Cardinal Newman scored in overtime to take the lead. With just two seconds left, Montgomery’s Alec Kobre hit a three as time expired to win. That play would end up winning top high school basketball play of the year on Maxpreps.com. We wouldn’t see a buzzer beater Tuesday night but we saw a quality high school basketball game.

 Two crazy crowds on hand for this one Montgomery’s crowd giving the silent treatment until they score there 8th point. Senior leader Brian McCammon got it going early showing he can shoot it as a big man. Montgomerys Brian Fuller hit some big shots early as well to get the viking offense going. Cardinal Newman though looked stagnant on offense early as junior Kyle King had to carry the load. it would not get any easier for Cardinal Newman as Montgomery’s defense was swarming, especially on NBL most valubale player candidate Kenny Love who was shut down by sophomore guard Kiel Long who did it on both ends of the floor. Finishing with 8 points and allowing Love to just 3 of 15 shooting.  Long said on the defensive challenge, “Personally I just wanted to keep him in front of me the best I could.” It really was a team effort and even Long said,  “My teammates allowed me to keep him(Love) in front of me by being in help position and letting me get up on him to contest shots.” The game went along, and maybe the turning point was midway through the fourth quarter when Brian McCammon had a tip dunk off a missed lay in that brought the house down.  Montgomery ran away with it and took home the win 49-39. Montgomery improves to 4-1 in league tied for a share of first place with Rancho Cotate and Maria Carillo. The crowd was a difference maker in this one and the viking players couldn’t have appreciated it more. Montgomery and Newman will meet again on February 6th.