HADDONDFIELD - Rich Bond was on fire, outside shots dropping from everywhere.

With four 3-pointers, he took a cross-court pass from Brendan Gilmartin and had an opportunity for a fifth.

Instead, he got a defender to leave his feet and attacked the baseline. The senior forward went hard to the rim, drawing heavy contact before his shot fell.

With the crowd in a frenzy, Bond completed the three-point play.

At the 6:07 mark, it was essentially game over.

“In that situation, the kid’s all over you. The drive was wide open,” said Bond, who scored a game-high 34 points as the Haddonfield High School boys’ basketball team defeated Sterling 73-63 in a South Jersey Group 2 first-round game Tuesday.

Trailing by as many as 18 points in the first half, the Bulldawgs used a momentum-changing, fadeaway 3-pointer by Mike DePersia at the buzzer to seize momentum at the break. They then went on a 13-3 run – including eight straight to open the third quarter – for a 42-40 lead with 5:50 left.

“I didn’t expect to get the ball, but I knew I had to go up with it quick,” DePersia said. “It gave us a lot of momentum going into the locker room.”

While the score would be tied twice more, they never trailed again.

“It was quick and fast, which is what we needed,” Haddonfield coach Paul Wiedeman said of the third-quarter start. “I didn’t think we’d have our legs to stay with them.

“We needed to make them work for shots, and we got some quick, easy baskets.”

Haddonfield (18-9), the No. 6 seed, will travel to No. 3 Manchester Township for Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

“We all knew it could have been our last game,” Bond said. “We all wanted one more. We came out (in the second half) playing like it was our last game and gave it our all.

“They came out and hit us hard. Our defense wasn’t there. We made our adjustments at halftime.”

DePersia added 13 points for the winners, while Gilmartin had 10 points, five rebounds, six assists and four steals.

For No. 11 Sterling (13-14), Devon Tuten had a team-high 18 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists. Daizon Fields had 12 points and seven rebounds, while Chris Roe chipped in with 10 points, four rebounds and five assists.

“We knew we beat them twice (in the regular season) and they were really motivated to beat us,” Bond said.

Sterling jumped out to a 22-8 lead after the first quarter and led 35-17 before Haddonfield began to work its way back. The Bulldawgs used a 12-2 run to cut its deficit to 37-29 at halftime.

He scored 14 points in the third quarter, including nine of Haddonfield’s last 12, for a 56-49 lead.

A corner 3-pointer, his decisive three-point play and another layup made it 64-54 with five minutes remaining in the game.

“I was feeling good from the floor,” Bond said. “Once I saw my teammates get going, it got me motivated to get my shots going.”

Said DePersia: “Rich is probably the best shooter on our team. Once he starts hitting, everyone else starts hitting.”

It was just another solid performance in what Wiedeman described as a fantastic year.

“Richie stepped up to the plate with everything – scoring, passing, cutting, defense, his voice, communication,” Wiedeman said. “He’s the guy we lean on.”

HADDONFIELD 73

STERLING 63

Player of the game: Rich Bond scored 22 of his game-high 34 points in the second half for Haddonfield.

Huge play: Bond was hit hard on a drive to the basket with 6:07 left in the third. He completed the three-point play and the Bulldawgs never looked back.

Well said: “Our defense wasn’t there in the first half, and our defense gets our offense going.” – Rich Bond

Kevin Minnick; (856) 486-2424; kminnick@gannettnj.com

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