January
31, 2005
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| In his introduction to the Jamboree, Leonia sophomore Ahmed Hassan went off for 24 points and added 8 assists and 7 steals in a win over North Arlington. | |
RUTHERFORD - Coming into the Jamboree, there was a quiet buzz surrounding Leonia's Ahmed Hassan. He had a 50-point game earlier this season, but there were still questions about whether or not the sophomore could produce on a bigger stage.
He put
some of those questions to rest on Sunday afternoon in the opening game of
the first round, scoring 24 points and adding 8 assists and 7 steals in a
60-49 Leonia win that puts the Lions into the Round of 16 against top-seeded
St. Joseph next Sunday at 3:15 p.m. at Tenafly High School.
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| Mike Petrocelli making a move in the paint for North Arlington. |
"He was a point guard last year," Leonia head coach Fran Orlowski said, "and he's been a point guard all of his life, so he knows how to distribute, but now he's learning that pull-up jumper as well."
If there was any doubt about Hassan's ability to take over a game, he made an early impression, going on a personal eight point run in just 22 seconds. He started with a three-pointer, then made two straight steals on the inbounds pass for layups and added a free throw after being fouled on the second basket.
When
Dan Solari canned a three, it was 13-2, but North Arlington fought back, getting
within 17-12 after the first quarter and within 19-15 with 5:55 to go in the
second. Hassan then came up with a jumper and another layup off a steal, giving
him 14 points and 5 steals in the first half as the Lions (12-2) went off
to the locker room up 27-20.
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| Fidel Frias and 16th-seeded Leonia advanced to the Round of 16 where they will face unbeaten top seed St. Jospeh Regional. |
The lead increased to 34-20 in the first two minutes of the second half as Frank Carillo sandwiched a pair of baskets around a Javier Labrada three-point field goal. Carillo had 8 of his 11 points in the third period, which ended with Leonia up 42-30.
"He's our captain and unsung hero," Orlowski said of Carillo. "He works the boards and gets the garbage inside."
With five minutes to go the Lions owned a 47-34 lead, only to see the Vikings (10-4) start chipping away. A trio of three-point field goals (two by Ryan Fasano and one by Eric Miller) got North Arlington within seven, and two free throws by Fasano made it a 52-47 game with 1:41 left
Hassan
then stepped up again, draining a 15-foot jumper from the left elbow with
1:29 to go before making to strong passes inside that resulted in fouls on
Shane O'Neill, who canned three of the four foul shots to extend the lead
back to 10. On the second foul, a Viking was whistled for a technical as well
and Hassan completed his scoring by sinking the two freebies.
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| Nick Valakas (5) led North Arlington with 12 points and 4 steals. |
The Lions shot 21 of 40 from the floor and 15 of 24 at the line. Carillo added 9 rebounds and Solari 8. Leonia did have 20 turnovers, though Orlowski shrugged them off to a degree.
"I thought we did a good job against their pressure," he commented. "I have confidence in Javier at the point, and it's like having two point guards on the floor."
Nick Valakas led the Vikings with 12 points and 4 steals, and Fasano added 11 points and Randy Lehman had five assists. NA shot 18 of 48, but was only 12 of 37 from the floor over the final three quarters. They did hit 10 of 14 free throws.
FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM THIS GAME OR TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS STORY, CHECK OUT THE NJS.com SCHOOL STORE!
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