Trevon Lewis Buzzer-Beater Gives RC Union County Boys Basketball Title over Plainfield

Some people dream all their lives about making a dramatic game-winning bucket.

For Trevon Lewis, that aspiration has become a yearly occurrence in title game.

Lewis made an acrobatic shot to down St. Rose in the NJSIAA Non-Public B championship game 11 months ago.

This time, Lewis’ reverse layup off his own miss as time expired gave second-seeded Roselle Catholic, No. 5 in the NJ.com Top 20, a stunning 65-63 victory top-seeded and No. 6 Plainfield in the championship game of the 89th Union County Tournament on Saturday at Kean University in Union.

The Lions won their fifth crown overall and first county trophy since 2023.

“When you do it often, it kind of comes naturally to you,” said Lewis, who paced all scorers with 22 points. “Big time players, make big-time shots.”

With 9.4 seconds left, Plainfield guard Marcus Richards inbounded the ball to Devin Thomas, who tried to find a teammate near the basket. The ball was knocked loose and picked up by Roselle Catholic’s Holland Johnson, who fired a baseball pass to the awaiting Lewis.

The 6-foot-3 Lewis went strong to the hoop but the attempt was thwarted by Cardinals’ guard Micah Gordon. The ball hit the bottom of the backboard and caromed back to Lewis, who threw up a reverse layup with 0.5 seconds left. The ball rolled around and dropped in for the thrilling victory.

“Trey (Lewis) has come up with some huge offensive rebounds for us all year and tonight was no different,” RC coach Todd Decker said. “I don’t know what he’s listed at but he plays like he’s 6-foot-9. He’s got the heart of a giant.”

The game was a rematch of last year’s final, which Plainfield captured, 66-53. Just like in Saturday’s game, the Lions (20-6) held the upper hand in the regular season battle on Jan. 13 with a 71-63 overtime victory, in Roselle.

Chase Bray contributed 15 points, five assists, and three steals, and Caleb Jones added 13 points for the Lions, who have won 12-consecutive games.

“That’s a tough team but we just played harder,” Lewis said. “We have to keep going and keep up the intensity as we continue in the state playoffs.”

After facing a seven-point deficit, Plainfield (20-6) appeared to have all of the momentum after Richards drained a three-pointer and then added a pair of free throws to put the Cardinals up 61-55 with 1:48 left.

But RC clawed back as sophomore Bray hit a running three-point shot and Tyrease Hunter converted a three-point play with 28.1 seconds left to make the score 63-63.

Roselle Catholic also persisted through foul trouble as four players had four or more fouls in the gam

“We found a way to win,” Decker said. “I told my guys that we had been through so much and they needed to keep battling and they did.”

Gordon netted nine of his team-leading 20 points in the fourth quarter for Plainfield, which ended a three-game winning streak. The Cardinals struggled from the free-throw line, hitting just 16-of-26 attempts. Many of their trips to the line came courtesy of their speedy guards, who drove in and drew contact throughout much of the first half.

“RC is a great team, but I’m not happy with the inconsistency with fouls that were called in the game,” Plainfield coach Michael Gordon said.

Roselle Catholic responded with a stronger defensive presence in the paint as Plainfield was held without a field goal in the final 2:31 of the game.

Strong fourth-quarter performances fueled the Lions past two victories in the UCT. The squad had 23 points to down Linden, 69-57, in the semifinals and went on a 8-1 run to close out the final.

“Micah (Gordon) does such a good job at making the right play, and we were helping a little too much,” Decker said. “We adjusted and did a better job against some of the guys who were going to the lane in the fourth quarter.”

Plainfield, the reigning Group 4 champions, opens the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 tournament Tuesday at home against Bridgewater-Raritan, while Roselle Catholic awaits the winner of Timothy Christian-Koinonia in the quarterfinals of the North Jersey, Non-Public B.