January
30, 2006
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| Walter Mihalec scored 16 points and pulled down seven rebounds as Elmwood Park win its first Jambo game since 1973. | |
EAST RUTHERFORD – Roe vs. Wade dominated the headlines of every publication, The Sting with Robert Redford and Paul Newman won the Academy award for best picture, afros were in style, and You’re So Vain by Carly Simon topped the Billboard pop charts. The year was 1973.
Coincidentally, 1973 was also the year that Elmwood Park last won a game in the Bergen County Jamboree. Although the Crusaders have had several strong teams, including a section champ since then, none of them were able to notch a win under the bright lights of the Jambo.
Yesterday presented the Crusaders another opportunity, and this time they took advantage of it. Four players scored in double-figures led by Steve Herget’s 19 points and the Crusaders held off a game effort from Palisades Park, the No. 18 seed, to break the long drought with a 75-67 victory.
“This was a goal of ours all year and it’s nice to finally win one in this tournament,” said Elmwood Park head coach Pat Gabriele. “I thought the key was we didn’t come out tight. We came out strong in the first half and stayed patient against a team with athletic guards. This was a tough match-up for us, but we kept our poise and played to win instead of playing not to lose.”
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| Pal Park’s Aladdin Valdez hit back-to-back jumpers to cut the lead back down to four with two minutes to play. |
Both teams like to play an up-tempo game and each team showed off what they are capable of offensively in the early going. Pal Park’s Bryant Nixon and Ulises Centeno made it known early that they could get to the rim and finish when they got there. The two teams traded leads until late in the first quarter when the Crusaders started to get some separation on the scoreboard.
Gary Parajon was a big factor in the opening stanza and converted a lay-up off at the buzzer as Elmwood Park scored the final six points of the quarter for a 23-18 lead.
Pal Park scored the opening basket of the second quarter before the Crusaders ripped off their only big run of the game. Eli Tillerson started the 13-4 spurt with a three-pointer and Herget capped it with one of his own, giving Elmwood Park its only double-digit lead of the ball game, 36-24. Pal Park cut it to nine by halftime, 44-35, but wasted no time cutting into that lead when the third quarter began.
Centeno’s quick hands caused two consecutive steals in the backcourt. He turned them both into lay-ups at the other end, trimming the lead down to two points just 90 seconds into the second half, 45-43.
The scene was looking all too familiar for Elmwood Park, the 15th seed which blew a 17-point third quarter lead on Thursday in a loss to Waldwick. It got worse when starting point guard and team sparkplug Colin Van Rye picked up his third foul a minute later. But help was not far behind as Sean Rothenburger came off the bench and settled down the troops.
“That definitely crept into the kids minds’, I know it was in mine,” added Gabriele. “Again, the big thing was that we had to play under control and play to win. Colin is the engine that makes us go and the leader of this team. But it’s nice to have a luxury like Sean coming off the bench for us. I thought he did a great job at a time where we needed leadership without (Van Rye) being there to provide it for us. It made us that much better knowing that we had two pure point guards on the floor late in the game.”
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| Colin Van Rye battled foul trouble to lead Elmwood Park to its first Jambo win since 1973. |
Center Walter Mihalec came alive in the paint at that point and provided another scoring option to the Crusaders. He scored on a lay-up and a short jumper on consecutive possessions to give them some breathing room, going back up by eight points heading into the fourth quarter.
The lead stayed between six and nine points for the nearly the entire fourth quarter before Pal Park’s Aladdin Valdez hit back-to-back jumpers to cut the lead back down to four with two minutes to play, 68-64. But with Rothenburger and Van Rye on the floor together, the Tigers were not able to force any turnovers and were forced to foul Rothenburger with just over a minute to play.
On the line for the first time with the pressure of an entire community on his shoulders, Rothenburger calmly swished both ends of a one-and-one to bump the lead back up to six.
“My job is to come in and run the offense and hit a few free throws if I have to,” said Rothenburger. “I knew if I could hit them that we were in good shape. They had to shoot threes at that point and we closed out on their shooters pretty well all game. In the fourth quarter, it comes down getting stops and execution. We were able to execute and it feels good to get a win here.”
Edwin Cruz was fouled and answered on the other end with two free throws to trim the lead back down to four when the Tigers were forced to foul Rothenburger again. With 38 seconds left, he nailed two more throws. Pal Park had one last-ditch effort, but Mihalec stole it and Elmwood Park came away with just their second Jambo victory.
Herget’s 19 points were a team-high for Elmwood Park, which will face second-seeded and defending champion St. Joseph’s of Montvale in the Round of 16 next week. Mihalec and Tillerson each added 16 points and seven rebounds. Parajon recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards. Rothenburger proved to be a vital component to the team’s success with nine points, five rebounds, and four steals; most of that damage coming in the second half.
Centeno netted game-highs with 22 points and seven steals for Palisades Park. Nixon had a fine overall performance with 15 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists. Valdez and Cruz each chipped in with 13 points, with the latter grabbing a team-high 11 rebounds.
The task is a lofty one next week against state powerhouse St. Joe’s. But the role of the underdog is one that Elmwood Park has grown accustomed to.
“We have absolutely nothing to lose, so we’re just going to in there and play the way we feel we can,” said Mihalec. “The game of basketball is great where any team can beat any other team on any given day. We know that St. Joe’s is a very good team, I mean they are the defending champs. But we feel we’re a very good team as well. All we can do is show up and play our best. Noone is giving us a chance, but as long as we believe we have a chance, that’s all that matters.”
FOR MORE PHOTOS OF THIS GAME OR TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS GAME STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com.
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