February
2, 2004
March 21,
RUTHERFORD - When the Bergen County Jamboree brackets came out on Friday, the Hackensack versus Leonia first round matchup stood out as an illustration of what the tournament is all about.
Hackensack is the perennial powerhouse, a Group 4 school that plays in the mighty NNJIL and was a county finalist last season. Leonia is from the small school BCSL-Olympic Division, and although it has made the Jambo in 5 of the last 8 seasons, it has not been a favorite in any tournament game since making a run to the semifinals in 1992.
It was a matchup of big versus little and Hackensack got off to a quick start, forcing four turnovers and jumping out to a 6-2 lead. Steady guard Garel Craig got the wheels on Hackensack's dangerous press turning from the get-go. He converted a pair of turnovers into lay-ups as the Comets got off early.
But by the halftime came around the upstart Lions showed that they were not in over their heads, but rather had upset hopes dancing around in them.
Leonia's Rafael Abreu kept the Lions afloat by scoring all 10 of his points in the first half on 5 of 7 shooting from the floor. Two of his field goals pulled the Lions to within one before Dan Solari stuck a three-pointer to give Leonia the 25-24 lead that they took into halftime
"We felt very confident going into the second half," said Leonia head coach Fran Orlowski. "I was pleased with the fact that we were able to run through our offense and also get a few fast break lay-ups. But when it's a close game, you have to make big shots. The shots we made in the first half, we weren't able to make in the second and we got out of a rhythm."
Hackensack's Justin Henry shook off a nightmare-like first half to cap a 10-2 run spanning the third and fourth quarters with a follow-up, two-handed dunk as the 12th seeded Comets survived a scare and got out of the gym at Felician College 46-38 victory. Hackensack, the No. 12 seed, will take on No. 5 Cliffside Park, which had a first round bye, next weekend in the Round of 16.
"I felt that personally I had to step up because I was letting the team down in the first half," said Henry. "We spent so much energy just getting into the this tournament that maybe we came out flat. But we realized quickly that anybody can beat anybody in the Jambo, so I wanted to put the ball on the floor and try to make something happen."
After going 1 of 7 from the floor in the first half on solely outside shots, Henry dribbled through Leonia's 2-1-2 zone and was successful getting to the rim. He outscored the Lions by himself in the third quarter, netting nine points in a 16-7 outburst.
Leonia's Jordan Dreyer hit a bucket to pull Leonia within two, 32-30 with just over two minutes left in the third, but Hackensack stretched that lead out to eight by quarter's end. Henry provided the highlight of the game one minute into the final stanza by following a missed lay-up by Rashod Anderson with a two-handed flush to push the lead up to 10. Hackensack kept Leonia hanging around by going 6 of 17 from the charity stripe, but the game Lions were not able to mount a serious charge in the final quarter
Hackensack (10-6) has now won four straight, fueled once again by the guard play of Henry and Craig. Henry netted a game-high 15 points, going 5 of 7 from the field in the second half. Craig added 14 with 10 of those coming in the first quarter. Anderson added nine points and four rebounds off the bench.
Abreu was the lone double-figure scorer for Leonia (11-5) with 10 points. Solari added seven points and seven rebounds. Standout freshman point guard Ahmed Hussan chipped in with six points, three assists, and two steals.
"I give all the credit in the world to Leonia, they are very well-coached and they weren't just happy to be here, they came to beat Hackensack," said Hackensack head coach Darryl Harris. "I hope this is a big wake-up call for us. Next week will be a big measuring stick for us. We have Teaneck and Don Bosco before we have Cliffside Park, so we have to take things one game at a time."
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