February
6, 2006
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| Xavier McAden scored a career-high 28 points as the Bridgemen fought back from a double digit deficit to knock off Leonia in the Round of 16 at the Bergen County Jamboree. | |
TENAFLY -- For the first time in quite a while, a small-school, all public school matchup took center stage in the Bergen County Jamboree. While Fort Lee and Leonia did battle, there was the game within the game, the shootout between two of the top scorers in the county.
Ahmed Hassan and Pedro Burgos did enough to warrant the pre-game hype, and where Hassan owned the edge in the battle, Fort Lee had the X-factor that won the war. Xavier McAden was the catalyst as the Bridgemen overcame an incredible Leonia run and a double digit deficit in the second half to advance to the quarterfinals with a 73-67 win over the Lions.
Fort Lee will face BCSL American rival Westwood in the Elite 8 next weekend at Paramus High School. Ironically, the two teams will face each other in a league game on Tuesday that has major implication on the league title.
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| Leonia's Ahmed Hassan had 26 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a steal. |
McAden turned the attention away from the other two with a career-high 28 points, 21 of them coming in the second half. He took advantage of the attention paid to Burgos and swung the game in the Bridgemen’s favor.
“People were saying it’s all about Burgos and Hassan,” McAden stated, “and that’s what they came in thinking, and they didn’t have an answer for the rest of our team.”
The Burgos-Hassan battle saw both make some big-time shots, and the statistical battle went to Hassan. He had 26 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal, shooting 10 of 24 overall and 2 of 10 from three-point range. Burgos had 19 points, a rebound, an assist, and shot 7 of 20 overall (5 of 9 from three).
The Lions simply had no answer for McAden and Gerald Soriano, who scored five of his seven baskets on putbacks on the way to 15 points and 14 rebounds.
“That’s my job,” Soriano said.
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| Fort Lee's Gerald Soriano scored five of his seven baskets on putbacks on the way to 15 points and 14 rebounds. |
“We had nothing to lose, and they had everything to lose,” Lions head coach Fran Orlowski said, “and we played loose, but you have to given them credit. They played well in the second half, and we couldn’t stop the point guard.”
The Bridgemen (15-3) had an early advantage, storming out to a 23-13 lead after one quarter, with McAden scoring seven points and Soriano six.
When Max Reznik dropped in a three-point field goal with 3:58 left before the half, Fort Lee appeared ready to take command. Instead, Leonia came storming back, scoring the final 17 points of the third quarter to go into the locker room up 39-33.
“We relaxed on defense,” Burgos admitted.
They also relaxed on offense, as the Lions had three straight steals in the final minute that produced baskets. Hassan had 10 of the 17 points, including back-to-back threes that got the game tied.
“He made some unbelievable shots, shoot, we were all over him,” Ziemba marveled.
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| Javier Labrada hit a line drive three-pointer with 36 second left to get Leonia within one possession. |
“We had one good quarter,” Orlowski acknowledged. “The other three we couldn’t get any consistency.”
Leonia scored the first four points of the third period to make it a 21-0 run before McAden broke the streak with a short jumper in the lane, a shot that he was continually able to get in the second half.
“Coach told me to try and slow the game up and play at my pace,” McAden related. “I knew I was quicker than their guard, and I used that to my advantage.”
“That little shot that he makes now,” FL head coach John Ziemba commented, “he used to hold the dribble and throw it up. Now, he stops in the lane and can shoot or pass. He’s so small (listed at 5-foot-7), but he’s dynamic.”
There was still the issue of overcoming the Lion lead, which McAden and Soriano took turns whacking away at.
“I just told them let’s get it under 10,” Ziemba recalled. “It was going the wrong way, and I felt that we had until three minutes were left in the game to get it tight.”
With 1:46 left in the third, the Bridgemen tied it on a pair of McAden free throws, and a Burgos three-pointer had them in the lead, though a Hassan basket had Leonia (13-4) ahead by 55-54 after three quarters.
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| Pedro Burgos had 19 points, a rebound, an assist, and shot 7 of 20 overall (5 of 9 from three). |
Burgos then made the plays he’s noted for, sandwiching a basket by the Lions’ Dooley Watts with two threes, putting the Bridgemen up 65-61 with 3:47 to go. He had 12 of his 19 points in the second half, all on three-balls.
“Teams are always playing a box and one on me, so I’m used to slow starts and then heating up in the second half,” Burgos explained.
“He’s learned to trust his teammates,” Ziemba said. “That’s a sign of maturity. Look, we didn’t win anything the last two years when it was just him.”
McAden scored two from the foul line with 1:16 remaining to make it 67-61, then Javier Labrada hit a line drive three-pointer with 36 ticks on the clock for Leonia to make it a one possession game.
McAden was fouled and hit both with 33 seconds left, and Jairo Amparo countered with another Leonia trey from the left baseline with 22 seconds to go. McAden again was fouled and hit two, completing a 12 of 13 on the afternoon at the stripe, then stole an inbounds pass and scored a layup to finish off the game.
Leonia shot 25 of 55 from the floor (5 of 16 from three) and hit all 12 of their free throws. Fidel Frias had 12 points despite spending considerable time on the bench with foul trouble and eventually fouling out with 1:16 to go. Watts had 8 rebounds and Labrada added four assists.
The Bridgemen were 26 of 49 from the field (6 of 11 behind the arc) and 15 of 23 at the line. Ilja Dejanovic had 7 boards and Reznik, playing with a flu that had him well under the weather, had three assists.
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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