February
26, 2006
 |
 |
| Mike Friedberg scored the first field goal of overtime to give Pascack Hills the lead for good on the way to a 58-46 win over Don Bosco Prep in the final of the Junior Jambo. | |
PARAMUS -- Three times Pascack Hills had the opportunity to put the game away in regulation and three times Don Bosco Prep got off the deck. The Cowboys opened seven-point lead in the fourth quarter, had two free throws with just over one minute to play in regulation and two more with less than one second left in the fourth quarter, but when none of those scenarios led to a win, Pascack Hills had to wait until overtime to drop the hammer.
After Bosco’s Max Brewer gave Bosco its last lead with a free throw to open the overtime scoring, Pascack Hills’ Mike Friedberg got free on the fastbreak and scored the first two points of a 7-0 run that the Cowboys used to break open what had been a classic final of the Bergen County Freshman Basketball Tournament, otherwise known as the Junior Jambo.
 |
| Bosco's Brandon Beckford scored nine fourth quarter points, including the three-pointer that tied the game at 43 and forced overtime. |
PH point guard Jake Wolfin scored nine points in overtime, including six straight free throws in the final 36 seconds of the extra session to lead the Cowboys, the No. 2 seed, to a 58-46 win and the freshman county title.
Pascack Hills spent the first quarter trying to adjust to Bosco’s team speed and its relentless full-court press, but used the rest of the game to exploit it. The combination of Wolfin, Sean Murphy, Brian Thorworth and Sam Katz carried the load of getting the ball into the front court and setting the offense.
Bosco scored 9 of the game’s first 11 points and built an 18-9 lead by the end of the first quarter as Brewer hit two three-pointers in the opening eight minutes to help the Ironmen forge in front. But Pascack Hills was able to settle in shortly thereafter and, when Bosco’s leading scorer Brandon Beckford picked up his second foul midway through the second quarter, PH was able to make some headway.
 |
| Jake Wolfin and the Pascack Hills backcourt stood up to the challenge of Bosco's fullcourt pressure. |
“We have big guards that can pass over the zone and pass over their press,” said Wolfin. “We can all handle the ball and that helped because they just kept coming. They tried to press us all game and we were ready for that, we practiced against that all week.”
The Cowboys drew to within 24-23 at the half and opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run, capped by two technical free throws, to take a 31-24 lead. But Bosco used the last 4:00 of the third quarter to rip off an 8-0 run of its own. Mike Dudas hit two free throws with :03 left to give the Ironmen a 32-21 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but Bosco never again led in regulation.
Wolfin opened the fourth with a three-pointer, Friedberg followed with a free throw and Matt Zaretti scored on a putback to give Pascack Hills a 37-32 lead. Just over a minute later, Wolfin drew the defense to him on a drive to the basket before dropping in a pass down low to Friedberg, who scored to put PH up 41-34 with 4:44 to play.
 |
| Max Brewer's free throw to start overtime gave Bosco its last lead. |
Beckford then scored two straight hoops, one from the block and one on a pretty turnaround jumper, to get Bosco back to within three points and Brewer’s midrange jumper with 2:08 left got the Ironmen back to within 41-40. Bosco was down three with 1:22 to go before Beckford tied the game at 43 with a three-pointer that were the last points of regulation.
Bosco’s last fourth quarter possession ended in a turnover and Pascack Hills had a chance to win the game outright when a foul was called with less than one second showing on the clock, but the Cowboys came up empty from the free throw line and had to wait until overtime to seal the upset of the top-seed.
“It was tough. We had a chance to win it, but we didn’t. That didn’t matter anymore once the overtime started and we just had to keep playing," said Wolfin. “We were still confident when we went into overtime and we knew we had it as soon as we scored that first basket. This feels great. It was a great game and it feels great to win a county championship.”
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.
