February
16, 2004
March 21,
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Cliffside Park's Mike Walker finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocked shots as the Red Raiders advanced to the semifinals. |
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PARAMUS - At an even six feet tall, Mike Walker is not the type of player who stands out at first glance. Once the ball is thrown up, however, he becomes a player who imposes himself on the game.
As he did in last week's Round of 16 win, Walker once again took command of the game at the key moments, and his efforts led Cliffside Park to a spot in the Final Four of the 48th Annual Oscar F. Thompson Memorial Basketball Jamboree.
The Red
Raiders moved on with a 62-48 defeat of BCSL-American Division rival Rutherford,
sending CP into Friday's semifinal against top-seed Don Bosco in an 8:15 p.m.
tip-off at the Rothman Center.
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| Jason Cameron kicked off Cliffside's decisive 11-0 run with a 3-pointer. |
Walker had 16 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocked shots in a solid performance, and he ignited the Raiders at the outset of the third quarter, scoring seven points in an 11-0 run to help stave off the last Rutherford challenge.
The Bulldogs (13-7) had the momentum swinging their way, as Brian Murphy canned a buzzer-beating three pointer at the end of the first half to get Rutherford within three at 28-25. They scored the first basket of the third quarter on a Chris Schule basket off a rebound to get within one.
"In the
last two minutes we did a lousy job of moving the ball and that let them back
in the game," said Cliffside Park head coach Frank Connelly. "Guys started
going one-on-one and that's not our game. When we move the ball around, we're
very difficult to stop."
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| Cliffside's defense was designed to limit Rutherford's Jon Guzman, who finished with 11 points. |
"There were some down faces," Walker said of the intermission locker room scene. "It bothered us, but we still had the lead and we didn't let it get to us too much."
Jason Cameron hit a three-point field goal and came back with a running basket in the lane on the next possession to open the Cliffside lead to six. Rutherford answered with two Jon Bigley baskets, the latter a dunk off a steal, to make it 33-31.
Cameron hit a jumper to begin the decisive run before Walker nailed the next seven, beginning with a three-point field goal. When Cameron closed it with a layup with 3:18 to go in the period, it was 44-31 Raiders.
"The confidence
that he's playing with, the ability to break his man down off the dribble,
his defense, he makes our team go," Connelly said of Walker, a senior.
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| Cliffside point guard Matt Emerson pushing the ball up the floor. |
The defense limited Rutherford to just 9 of 27 shooting in the second half after a 9 of 19 first half, and it stifled the Bulldogs' two biggest weapons.
"Our game plan was to limit (Alex) Kuchar and (Jon) Guzman's points," said Connelly, "and we did a good job defensively on those guys."
Guzman had 11 points but only three field goals, while Kuchar did not score until 55 seconds remained in the game, finishing with just two points.
"We went at them hard every time they had the ball," Walker added. "Mainly Guzman. We double teamed to force him to give the ball up and we held him down."
Cameron led all scorers with 17 points and Steve Jano had 10 points for Cliffside (16-1), which was 25 off 44 from the floor (13 of 19 in the second half) and 8 of 12 from the line. They also had a 34-14 rebounding advantage. Schule's 12 points led Rutherford.
"I've been going to those games for 15 years now," Connelly said of the Final Four. "It's nice to finally get to be down on the bench."
For more pictures from this event or to purchase a Collector's Print of this story, visit the NJS.com School Store!
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