February
7, 2005
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| Ricky Carroll helped carry the BC offense through foul trouble and past Cresskill in the Jambo's Round of 16. | |
TENAFLY - Any time you play against Cresskill's basketball team, you can expect to face a club that works hard for 32 minutes and plays with an energetic style that matches the personality of its head coach, Marty Rivard.
One way to offset some of that energy is to grab an early lead and force the Cougars to play catch up. Sixth-seeded Bergen Catholic did just that in its Round of 16 Jamboree game on Sunday at Tenafly High School, and it paid of with a win.
The Crusaders
finally wore down Cresskill with a 10-0 fourth quarter run on the way to a
62-42 victory that sends them to the quarterfinals to face third-seeded Paramus
Catholic in the 12:00 p.m. opener at Paramus High School. It will be the second
time in four days the two teams meet, as they are scheduled for a regular
season game on Thursday.
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| BC's Mark Wade (50) going up for a rebound behind Cresskill's Dan Egorow. |
In what seemed to be a recurring theme on Super Bowl Sunday, the two teams went after it hard and furious. There were 45 fouls called in the game, 24 on Cresskill, and both teams had players down with fouls.
"Their kids play very hard and so do ours," BC head coach Joe Dionisio remarked. "You had to be a very strong player to survive in that game today."
Bergen Catholic (11-6) saw point guard Nick Vier head to the bench just 1:14 into the contest with two fouls, and he remained anchored to the bench for 12 minutes. In his stead, freshman Ricky Carroll and Pete Kennelly were able to keep the offense moving.
The Crusaders
also got a big first half contribution from Pete Hoffman, who score all 10
of his points before halftime. He dropped in two three pointers that put BC
up 8-2 early, and his third trey allowed the Crusaders to maintain a 22-20
lead into the final minute of the half.
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| Sean Callandrillo getting position for Bergen Catholic. |
Vier, who had returned a couple of minutes earlier, then scored the last six points of the half, hitting a three-pointer and adding three free throws to make to 28-20 at the break. Cresskill again closed to within four at 28-24, but Vier hit a jumper and Matt Jordan canned a three to extend the margin, which was 42-33 entering the fourth quarter.
Dan Egorow's four consecutive points had Cresskill (14-2) down 44-37 with 6:14 to go, only to see the Crusaders put together their 10-point run. Vier and Virgil Gray each had four points, with Gray's layup making it 54-37 with 4:14 left.
"We need everybody helping, that's the only way we're going to get stuff done," Dionisio said of his team. "We can't rely on one or two guys, we have to have other people doing it, and we got that today.'
The Cougars never got their offensive rhythm, shooting just 15 of 45 from the floor. They were 11 of 16 at the free throw line, and Egorow's eight points were a team high. Cresskill was also guilty of 15 second half turnovers and 23 in the game.
Gray topped Bergen with 17 points and Vier added 16, while Kennelly had six rebounds and four assists. Carroll had four steals, including two in the 10-0 run.
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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