Photos: Notre Dame at Lawrence boys basketball LAWRENCEVILLE — Will Foley calmly dribbled in front of a player five inches taller than him, stepped back behind the arc and buried a cold-blooded 3-pointer, forcing the home team to call timeout and then chest-bumping his teammates. The 6-foot junior guard lives for those moments. Notre Dame needed every one of them Friday night as Foley dropped 22 points to lift the Irish to a 42-38 win in a low-scoring CVC boys basketball opener at Lawrence. “It’s surreal. You do those plays in the backyard when you’re young,” said Foley, whose 3-pointer with 5:55 remaining gave Notre Dame a five-point lead. “I just practice it and I work hard, and I just showed what I can do tonight.” Foley, who has the potential to be one of the CVC’s top players, came within one point of matching his career high from last winter. His first step, quickness, ball-handling, passing and shooting are all improved from a year ago when he burst onto the scene as a sophomore. Foley connected on six field goals and was a nearly perfect 8-for-10 at the foul line. “The kid puts in so much time every day in season and out of season, so it doesn’t surprise me,” coach Tim Stevens said. “It’s who he is. He’s a basketball player through and through. He has confidence in himself, I have confidence in him, his teammates have confidence in him because of the work that he puts in.” Notre Dame needed a team effort, though, to ultimately grind this one out. Miles Rancan, Wyatt Moore and Musa Kamera all converted clutch free throws in the fourth quarter, which was critical because Lawrence trailed by only one possession in the final minute. “It was just a gritty win,” Foley said. “It shows the character of the team I think a lot.” Another key factor was that Josh Gatete, a 6-foot-5 senior forward, scored eight points, had timely rebounds and played tough defense to neutralize Lawrence in the interior. “Josh has great length,” Stevens said. “He’s such a good worker, he’s a skilled player. He want him to get a little bit more physical, and that’ll come with time.” Lawrence’s Marvin McNeil, right, shoots the ball over the defense of Notre Dame’s Wyatt Moore, left, and Musa Kamera, center, during a CVC boys basketball game on Friday night in Lawrence Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Marvin McNeil was the engine for Lawrence in terms of ball-handling and scoring as he finished with 18 points, but the Cardinals made only two 3-pointers and finished 6-for-11 at the foul line compared to Notre Dame’s 15-for-22 mark. “It was a very physical game; they were letting us go at it really well tonight,” said Stevens, who added that Moore did an “unbelievable job defensively” off the bench. “It’s a tough place to play and it was a great crowd tonight.” The game had eight lead changes and was tied with less than seven minutes left before Notre Dame pulled in front for good. Both teams shot less than 30 percent from the field and combined for close to 40 turnovers, but that is often the nature of opening nights in high school basketball after a short preseason. “This is my 22nd year coaching high school basketball. I’ve had 22 ugly opening nights like that,” Stevens said. “It is what it is. We’ve got a lot we’ve got to work on: offensively, defensively, especially help defense. So there’s a lot. We’re far, far, far from a finished product, but going out there fighting the way we did and finding a way to win on opening night is always difficult, and tonight was no different.” Notre Dame’s Josh Gatete, left, shoots the ball over the defense of Lawrence’s Noah Johansen, right, during a CVC boys basketball game on Friday night in Lawrence Twp. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Notre Dame had to find a way without senior captain Charlie Schurr, who is out with a short-term injury, and another starter in Julian Matera who got hurt at quarterback during football season. That was another testament to the leadership of Foley, who believes this season could be even better than Notre Dame’s 14-13 record last winter. “I put in the work in the offseason, so whenever I step on the court in a game, I just trust my work,” Foley said. “I think the feeling around the team is much more camaraderie. I think there’s a lot more leadership and I think we’re more of a team, and that goes a long way.” And the Irish are happy to have their clutch shot-making guard leading the way. “When we get the ball in Will’s hands, we feel pretty good about that,” Stevens said. “Not only that, other guys stepped up and took that pressure off him, so it was good to get out of here with a W against a very good basketball team.” NOTRE DAME (42) Foley 6-8-22, Gatete 4-0-8, Rancan 0-3-3, Moore 1-2-5, Ale 1-0-2, Kamera 0-2-2. Totals — 12-15-42. LAWRENCE (38) Kotta 1-0-2, M. Carrick 2-0-5, McNeil 8-1-18, Lafontant 1-0-2, Crowley 2-1-5, Johansen 0-3-3, Wilson 1-0-2. Totals — 15-5-38. Notre Dame (1-0) 7 13 8 14 — 42 Lawrence (0-1) 9 5 13 11 — 38 3-point goals: Foley 2, Moore (ND), McNeil, Carrick (L). *** Ewing 64, WW-PS 46 EWING TWP. — Joel Cineus scored 21 points to lead three players in double figures and the Blue Devils opened their season by sinking the Pirates at Emil Wandishin Gym. Terrance Traylor and Leslie Summiel added 11 points each for Ewing (1-0). The Blue Devils raced out to a 14-6 lead after one quarter and then put the throttle down with a 17-2 edge in the second quarter. Cameron Jones netted 21 points and Adriel Dominguez finished with 14 for South (0-1).