March
4, 2005
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| Jimmy Taranto's steal turned a three-point Rampo lead into a five point advantage and a spot in the North 1, Group 3 state sectional semis. | |
FRANKLIN LAKES -- Having scouted Ramapo a few times this season, Garfield head coach Chris Annibal knew that his team would not be able to run up and down with the Raiders on Thursday night in the North 1, Group 3 state sectional quarterfinals. So Annibal put together a plan and, well into the fourth quarter, the Boilermakers were sticking to it.
"They
just have too many weapons. Having seen them, we knew that they have five
guys that could make multiple 3s in a game so we had to take as much time
off the clock as we could," said Annibal, whose team was came into the tourney
as the No. 6 seed. "Our goal was to be within four or five points in the fourth
quarter, look to steal a win and then run right out of the building."
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| John Bajan (left) scored 15 of Garfield's 19 first half points. |
The plan looked awfully similar to the reality midway through the fourth quarter when Garfield was trailing by just three points and had possession of the ball when Annibal called for a timeout with 2:38 to play in the game.
But whatever was said in the huddle never came to pass as Ramapo's Jimmy Taranto made a steal off the inbounds pass and took it in for the layup that was the checkmate in the chess match that lasted for three and a half quarters.
"Taranto is one of the most clutch players I have ever seen and I have been around Bergen County sports for 20 years. He is just money," said Annibal. "That steal changed everything."
Indeed it did.
Garfield
never scored another point and Ramapo made eight straight free throws, the
only ones it was awarded in the game, in the final minute as the Raiders escaped
with a 44-31 win that was much closer than the final score. Ramapo, the No.
3 seed advanced to the sectional semifinals and will host No. 7 Teaneck, an
upset winner over No. 2 Parsippany Hills, on Saturday night.
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| Shooter Hunt scored 12 points for Ramapo and added a team high 7 rebounds. |
"It was a chess match and that team, I give them a lot of credit for coming in with a plan and forcing us into what they wanted to do," said Ramapo head coach Joe DelBuono. "But our kids have responded to everything that has been thrown at them this year and Jimmy came through when we needed him. That is senior leadership."
With Ramapo owning the quickness advantage and neither team having a true post presence, the game was played on the perimeter and, when Garfield had the ball at least, at a snail's pace. Despite Ramapo's best efforts to force the tempo, the Boilermakers weren't biting and, when John Bajan banked home a three-pointer for the last of his 15 first half points with three seconds to go in the second quarter, the teams went off tied at 19 at halftime.
AJ Pisarri,
who sat for all but 2:07 of the first half after picking up two quick fouls,
got into the flow early in the third quarter, scoring 8 of his 10 points in
a 4:21 span to start the second half. His second 3-pointer in the spurt broke
the game's final tie and gave Ramapo a 27-24 lead, which grew to six points,
32-26, after Jon Mirkovich hit a three to close the third quarter scoring.
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| Bill Bronander (right) did a solid job of limiting John Bajan's touches in the second half. |
The Raiders threatened to blow it open to start the fourth when Bill Bronander, who made his biggest impact on defense by playing Bajan head up for most of the second half, scored inside to put the Raiders up 34-26. But Garfield got a 3 from Josue Castillo and Bajan's only hoop of the second half off a cleverly designed inbounds play to get back within 34-31.
Garfield then forced a miss and got the ball back before Taranto's steal and layup put an end to the suspense. With most of the action taking place outside the key, the teams were whistled for just six fouls combined in the second half and by the time Garfield could put Ramapo into the bonus, there was less than a minute to go and the Raiders were perfect from the line down the stretch.
Taranto
led Ramapo with 15 points and also added 4 assists and 4 steals. Shooter Hunt
added 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds and Pisarri (10 points) made
it three Raiders in double figures. Mircovich chipped in with five points
and Taylor Van Orden provided quality defensive minutes off the bench when
he took over as Pisarri found foul trouble.
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| Luis Buron and Garfield were within three points with 2:36 to play in the game. |
Garfield (10-14), which overcame the loss of two all-league starters during the season just to make the postseason, was led by Bajan, who was on fire for the first 16 minutes. He scored 15 of his team's 19 first half points, but got little in the way of help on the offensive end. Erwin Cabrera had 6 points, Castillo added 5 and Luis Buron had a third quarter 3-pointer for his only points.
"We had a couple of shots bounce in and out and we had a couple of turnovers late that killed us, but coming up here is not an easy task and I am proud of my kids because we have gone through a lot," said Annibal, who was also without freshman point guard Michel Santiago, out with a broken leg suffered last week. "We had one kid transfer, we had another kid quit and these were all-league kids. For us to regroup, make the state tournament and win our league, I think we let a few people know that we have good kids and we play pretty good basketball in Garfield."
After losing four starters from last season's team, Ramapo is back in almost the same spot it was at this time a year ago. The Raiders are through to the section semifinals for the second straight year and have the same 19-6 record they had when last season ended. They finished second in Division 1 of the NBIL, won two games in the county tournament and gave eventual champion St. Joseph a tussle in the Jambo quarterfinals.
And it is not over yet as the home game against Teaneck on Saturday night will provide the winner with a trip to the section final.
"Teaneck is used to playing the Montclairs, the Ridgewoods, the Bergen Catholics, but this year we are too and it is not like we are going to be in awe," said DelBuono. "We've gone through a lot in replacing four starters and these kids have waited their turn and are now taking advantage of their opportunity. They enjoy getting out there and playing and I they want to keep this thing going."
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