Photo courtesy of Abby Reiniche

 

SOMERSET — Colten Pacheco smiled as he glared at the large gathering packed inside of Veterans Gymnasium.

 

Little did the Somerset Berkley sophomore backup guard realize he would play a major factor in Tuesday's Division 2 Sweet 16 game against Canton.

 

"It was hectic out there tonight," said Pacheco after the fourth-seeded Raiders advanced to the Elite 8 with a dramatic 53-50 over the 13th-seeded Bulldogs. "It took me a while to get the hang of it but I finally did. This was the biggest crowd I've ever played in front of."

 

With the victory, SBR (20-2) moves on to face either fifth-seeded Mansfield or 12th-seeded Burlington. This is the farthest the Raiders have advanced in the state tournament since 2003 team led by Tony Gaffney, who helped lead SBR to a South Sectional championship and Final Four appearance.

 

Read more from Steven Sanchez at heraldnews.com.