February
7, 2005
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| Alvin Mofunanya putting home a dunk during Englewood's easy in over Lyndhurst in the Jambo's Round of 16. | |
TENAFLY - The last thing an opponent wants to do is give the Englewood basketball team the idea that it can play its favorite run and gun style with little resistance. When James Anderson drained a three-point field goal five seconds into the game, the Maroon Raiders knew they were off and running.
They scored the first 12 points and never looked back, using a blitzing third quarter to turn the game into one of the biggest routs in Jamboree history with an 85-37 defeat of Lyndhurst in a Round of 16 game at Tenafly High School.
Englewood
improved its record to 14-1 and the fourth-seeded Raiders will now play 12th
seed Cliffside Park in a meeting of BCSL American teams at 5:00 p.m. next
Sunday in the quarterfinals at Paramus High School. The two teams have already
met once before in the regular season, with Englewood blowing out Cliffside
Park on its home court.
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| Mike McTigue going up for a layup as Lyndhurst tried to stay close in the first half. |
The Raiders were without the services of two starters, as Michael Thompson was out completely and Aaron Dorrell played only the first couple of minutes, with both fighting illness. Knowing they were up against an opponent that could not match their size or speed, the Raiders took care of business early. Anderson's three was followed by a pair of free throws by Dorrell, his only points of the game.
Anderson then had consecutive steals, the first resulting in a basket and the second a pair of free throws to make it 9-0.
"Once we understand that defense is the most important thing, we're okay," Englewood head coach Gerald Akridge commented. "That sets up all of the offensive stuff, and when we concentrate on defense, we're pretty good."
Alvin
Mofunanya then finished the run with a free throw and a jumper before Mike
McTigue put Lyndhurst on the scoreboard with a layup 4:13 into the game.
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| Fourth seeded Englewood advanced to the quarterfinals where it will take on No. 12 Cliffside Park. |
"We didn't want to have any kind of letdown today," Akridge said. "Our guards played well and we had a strong second half."
Englewood continued to pour it on, going out to a 21-4 lead at the end of the first period. Akridge was substituting liberally in the second period, with the Maroon Raiders still increasing the lead to 34-12.
Lyndhurst then closed the first half with a 9-0 run over the final 2:05, beginning with a pair of free throws by Bobby Peeters on a technical foul. Bobby Galarza hit three foul shots and Brian Kapp a jumper before Peeters closed the half with a layup.
If there
were any thoughts that the Golden Bears could make it a game, Englewood snuffed
them out in a 31-7 third quarter bombardment. The Raiders blew it open with
a 23-5 run in the first 5:27, with Anderson scoring 8 points. The Raiders
drained four threes in the streak.
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| Brian Kapp and the Lyndhurst backcourt bore the brunt of Englewood's all out press. |
The relentless pressure on both sides of the court finally wilted the Bears, who were unable to keep up the pace. They hit just 7 of 30 second half shots and missed both of their free throw attempts while finding themselves on the short end of a 42-20 rebounding tally.
Peeters was the lone Lyndhurst player in double figures with 13 points, as the Bears were 14 of 50 shooting and 7 of 12 from the foul line. Anderson was the game's top scorer with 22 points, while Mofunanya (15 points, 11 rebounds, 4 blocked shots) and James Williams (11 points, all in the second half) joined him in double figures.
Englewood finished the game 32 of 66 from the field, including 8 of 15 from three-point range. The raiders were 13 of 17 at the free throw line, going 8 for 8 in the second half.
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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