January
11, 2006
 |
 |
| Dan Royce and Mahwah outrebounded Indian Hills by a 24-7 margin in the second half and used the extra chances to get back over .500 on the season. | |
MAHWAH -- Tuesday night’s NBIL boys basketball game between Mahwah and Indian Hills was a contrast in styles. The Thunderbirds brought a presence underneath, while the Braves came with a perimeter game. Both showed off their styles, but in the end, the big guys won out.
Playing much more aggressively in the second half, Mahwah used second chance points to overcome a three-point show by Andrew Strittmatter and knock off Indian Hills by a 59-53 score and move above .500 on the season.
The T-Birds exercised their size in the paint in the second half, outrebounding Hills by a 24-7 margin, with 15 of them coming off the offensive glass. That led to 18 second chance points and enabled them to offset Strittmatter’s 30 points and six three-point field goals.
 |
| Indian Hills' Andrew Strittmatter hit six three-pointers and scored a game-high 30 points. |
“Our best play was the offensive rebound,” Mahwah head coach Jim Taranto understated.
The Thunderbird trio of Dan Royce (22 points, 15 rebounds), Eric Kamback (12 points, 10 rebounds off the bench) and Tom Stripe (4 points, 5 rebounds) were the difference. Royce had Mahwah’s first 8 points of the fourth quarter, with the last basket giving the T-Birds a 44-42 lead.
Tom Gormley tied the game and Strittmatter banged a fall away three with 3:04 to go to give Indian Hills (2-6) a 47-44 edge.
Mahwah regained the lead only to have Strittmatter hit a free throw to knot it at 48 with 1:36 left. Royce was fouled, and he missed the front end of the one-and-one, but Kamback got the rebound. He lost control of the ball, but it went over his head to Phil DeLoof standing behind him. DeLoof calmly hit a short jumper for a 50-48 lead with 1:30 to go, beginning a 9-0 run that iced the game.
 |
| Mahwah's Andrew Stiehle driving from the wing. |
Mahwah (4-3) was 5 of 11 from the foul line in the final minute, though Kamback buried a pair with 45.4 on the clock to increase the lead to four.
“Coach always stresses that we have to make our foul shots,” Royce, who was just 4 of 12 at the line in the game, commented, “and I don’t know what happened.”
“We got 38 points from the three big men,” Taranto said, “and they played strong after the first period. Danny was steady throughout, Tom came up with some offensive boards in the third quarter and Eric gave us a spark in the fourth.”
The game was slow to get going, as neither team could find a basket in the first quarter, which ended with the Braves up 6-5. Mahwah was 2 of 14 from the floor and Indian Hills 2 of 10. Strittmatter then started finding the range, hitting a three and a layup to open an 11-5 Brave lead, which would be their biggest of the game.
 |
| Chris Zavodsky chipped in with 10 points for Indian Hills. |
Kamback scored eight second quarter points, including two off offensive rebounds, and his layup with nine seconds left put the Thunderbirds up 22-19 at the half.
“We boxed out better, we just didn’t try to jump up and get it,” Kamback said of the second half, “and we got a lot of points off those boards.”
“That’s what he’s capable of,” Taranto said of Kamback. “He’s a solid athlete who’s going to play football in college.”
Mahwah had its biggest lead until the final seconds at 28-19, but Strittmatter dropped in consecutive threes (he was 6 of 10 beyond the arc) to keep the Braves close. He then finished a 14-point third quarter with a trey and three free throws after being fouled on a three-point try that tied the game at 36. Gormley then hit a three with two seconds to go, sending IH into the fourth period with a 39-36 lead.
 |
| Mahwah's Eric Kamback scored eight second quarter pointsand his layup with nine seconds left put the Thunderbirds up 22-19 at the half. |
“We made a lot of mistakes,” Kamback said, “and we just have to go to practice and get better for the next game.”
The Thunderbirds benefitted from some strong play in their own end in the first four minutes of the final quarter that didn’t allow Hills to extend its lead.
“We made some big defensive plays,” Taranto related. “Danny had a big steal, Eric drew a big charge, and we had a couple of blocks.”
Mahwah finished 24 of 59 from the floor (1 for 6 from three) and just 10 of 21 at the foul line. Indian Hills, which got 10 points from Chris Zavodsky and six rebounds out of Strittmatter, was 19 of 41 from the floor (8 of 13 three-pointers) and 7 of 12 from the stripe.
FOR MORE PHOTOS OF THIS GAME OR TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS GAME STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com.
|
|
|
| About Us | Contact Us | Home |
Questions?
E-mail the editor editor@northjerseysports.com
All contents © copyright 2003-2006 HSSportsWeb.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
