The defending champion Johnston boys basketball team would win a 50-49 thriller over Smithfield to open its regular season in a non-league matchup last week at home.
The Panthers led by one point with 4.9 seconds left when Smithfield called a timeout with one last chance to inbound the ball and go for the win. Johnston’s Mike Carlino would time Smithfield’s screen pass correctly and pick up the steal to secure the win.
“We knew that we needed energy and I knew I had to lock it in on defense. We were in the 1-3-1 and we knew that it would be energy that would win us the game,” said Carlino. “Focus, focus, focus. We were in a switch-man, they were coming on the screen and we were going to switch it, so we just had to focus up, get on our guys and make sure we made no mistakes, and I was able to get the steal and put it away.”’
After taking an early nine-point lead, the Panthers would see a Smithfield surge in the second quarter to secure the halftime lead.
The two teams would exchange leads throughout the second half, but Carlino would put up seven points in the fourth quarter to help Johnston grab the lead when it mattered most.
“We were a little disappointed, but we knew we had this game. We knew we just had to keep our heads up and come out strong and better than we did in the second quarter, because the second quarter wasn’t too good,” said Carlino.
Jayden Testa, who returned after missing last season with a broken leg, had a stellar debut as he scored 13 points, including four 3-pointers, to help pace the Panther offense along with Carlino who also put up 13. Neari Vasquez added nine points as well.
After being sent home last season at the hands of the Sentinels, Carlino and company were excited to get some revenge while starting their season off on a high note.
“It’s amazing, we’ve been waiting for this since last year when they beat us on a buzzer beater to take us out of the state tournament. We had a chip on our shoulder and we had to come in here and handle business,” Carlino said.
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