February
9, 2004
March 21,
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Cliffside Park's Matt Emerson getting into the lane during theRaiders' win over Hackensack in the Jambo's Round of 16 |
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TENAFLY - When Jamboree time comes around, the talk usually centers around the NNJIL and its stronghold on the tournament. With the last 10 champions and 16 of the last 18 titlists coming from that league, the respect is earned.
This year, there is another league looking to grab the spotlight as the BCSL American continues to be a major player. With a 6-3 record in the tournament so far, the American has put three of its teams into the quarterfinals.
The third
team to make it through to the Elite 8 was Cliffside Park, and the Red Raiders
struck a blow to the NNJIL with a 64-54 win over Hackensack. That sends them
up against fellow American rival Rutherford in the quarterfinals next week
at Paramus High School at 5:00 p.m. Cliffside Park defeated Rutherford 60-55
in Rutherford on January 23rd.
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| Justin Henry's dunk capped a 14-2 run that got Hackensack to within one late in the third quarter. |
Cliffside got a tremendous effort out of Jason Cameron, who drove the lane and drew foul after foul. He converted on 16 of 19 free throws on the way to a 28-point game, and head coach Frank Connelly said that, "when he realizes he can go down low. He's very difficult to stop. He just pounded the ball down and scored or got fouled."
Cameron began to make his presence felt in the second quarter after Hackensack (10-9) had taken a 17-16 lead after one period. The teams see-sawed through the quarter before Cameron scored the final eight points before the half to make it a 33-26 game.
He put
home a long three-point field goal to give CP the lead at 28-26 with 2:59
left, then scored on a drive and was fouled, hitting the free throw. He dropped
in two foul shots with five seconds to go. Mike Walker (18 points) opened
the second half with two baskets in the first minute to send the Red Raiders
(13-1) out to a 38-26 lead, but the Comets put together a 14-2 run that had
them a point down at 40-39 with 2:21 on the clock.
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| Jason Cameron pounded the ball inside and came away with a game-high 28 points for Cliffside. |
Again it was Cameron at the line, hitting three of four to put Cliffside up by 43-39 entering the fourth quarter. The Raiders kept switching up their defenses in the second half, alternating between zones and man-to-man, and it gave the Comets' perimeter shooters fits. Justin Henry was held to 11 points and 10 shots and Hackensack was 23 of 58 from the floor, with a number of forced shots (Cliffside finished 18 of 37).
"We came in looking to change defenses as much as possible," Connelly said of the game plan, "and try to make them react to it. We kept a hand in their shooters' face, we didn't wilt under their pressure, we moved the ball around, got it down low and things worked out."
The fourth
quarter became a foul line parade for CP, which was 12 of 14 in the period
and 25 of 31 overall. Hackensack was just 6 of 8, with the Comets being whistled
for 22 fouls to Cliffside's 12. "We're shooting over 70 percent as a team
on the season," Connelly said of the Raiders' free throw prowess.
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| Hackensack's Garel Craig taking the ball to the basket. |
Hackensack was within 49-43 with 5:09 left, but Walker again stuck back-to-back jumpers to pad the lead to 10 and Cameron hit a dagger three with 3:29 to go to make it a 12-point game and take any wind left in the Comets' sails.
Cliffside Park also benefited from a solid game by Sarkis Berberian, who had three big baskets in the second quarter and finished with 8 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.
"Sarkis is great around the basket," Connelly added. "He knows where to be for that little putback, he got a nice touch and he rebounded well."
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