February
14, 2006
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| Doug Parker knocked down 7 of 12 three-point shots on the way to a 27-point outburst that led No. 6 Old Tappan to a shocking upset of No. 3 Paramus Catholic in the Bergen County Jamboree. | |
PARAMUS -- You won’t get much of a debate if you were to say that Paramus Catholic has a more talented boys basketball team than Old Tappan. You would be just as hard pressed to find someone outside of Old Tappan that believed that the Golden Knights had a chance to win their Jamboree quarterfinal matchup with the Paladins.
Dennis Rossi knew that in order for his team to win, it needed to do two things -- shoot over 50 percent and keep their turnover total under 12. Even then, the Knights still needed the ball to bounce their way.
The turnover number stood at 10. They shot 11 of 19 from three-point range. Mission accomplished.
In one of the biggest upsets in recent Jamboree annals, sixth-seeded Old Tappan knocked off No. 3 Paramus Catholic by a 60-55 score, and did so on the Paladins’ home court to boot. The Golden Knights (17-2) will make their first-ever Final Four appearance on Saturday against the winner of Wednesday’s St. Joseph-Ridgefield Park quarterfinal game.
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| Terrell McKenzie was one of three PC starters to finish in double figures, finishing with a team-high 17 points. |
Rossi also becomes the first head coach to take three different schools to the Final Four, having won the 1981 Jamboree title at St. Joseph and reaching the semis in 1997 and the finals in 1998 with Bergenfield.
“We were the only people in Bergen County and Northern New Jersey who thought we could give them a game, never mind beat them,” Rossi said of his team and coaches. “I told them all week, they’re more talented than we are, they’re big and they have everything going for them. Let’s just play our game.”
That they did, working the perimeter with big three after big three. Doug Parker was the main gunslinger, throwing down 7 of 12 three-point shots on the way to a 27-point outburst.
“The momentum just kept building after every basket,” Parker said. “Someone boxed out, someone would take a charge, and the momentum of the defense carried over to the offense.”
It took a while for the Knights to get going as the Paladins (15-5) jumped out to an 11-2 lead before Rossi called a timeout with 4:34 left in the first period and his team reeling.
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| Ryan Veselsky scored 9 of his 11 points from the free throw line, from where Old Tappan put the game away in the fourth quarter. |
“I told them to relax and let the game come to you,” Rossi said of the timeout. “Whatever you do, don’t beat yourselves. Don’t go out there and be intimidated. Play what you’re capable of and if it’s not good enough, that’s OK.”
“We just decided to pick it up,” Parker said about coming out of that key timeout, “and we made a little run and we knew we could play with them after that.”
PC got another bucket before Parker dropped a trey, and he had another that made it 15-10 before Terrell McKenzie hit a three ball at the first quarter buzzer to put the Paladins up 18-10. Old Tappan kept after it, and Joe Massaro and Parker sandwiched three-pointers around two Ryan Veselsky free throws to pull the Golden Knights within 22-20 in the second period.
PC got it to 26-20, but Parker drilled a long three with four seconds to go before halftime, getting the score to 26-23 and giving his team a big boost going into the intermission.
“We’re hard-nosed, we don’t give up,” OT senior David Weinfeld said. “We have kids who want to play hard every night we’re out there.”
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Luis Guzman finished with 14 points and six rebounds for PC. |
Charlie Weinfeld then scored all 10 of his points in the third quarter, including a game-tying three to start the period's scoring and a go-ahead trey with 6:28 left. The Knights hit 4 of 5 threes in the quarter, which closed with OT up 39-35.
“We knew we were going to have a hard time getting the ball inside with their height, but we knew our strength was our shooting,” David Weinfeld noted. “The threes had to go in. We didn’t have a lot of other options against that caliber of team.”
Every time Paramus Catholic appeared on the verge of regaining control, an Old Tappan three was dropping in.
“They did a great job of spreading the offense, running their cuts and finding the shooter,” PC head coach Tony Campbell praised.
“You don’t want to give them a run of any kind,” Rossi explained. “That’s what I was afraid of. They’re so quick and put so much pressure on you, but we handled the pressure very well.”
The fourth quarter saw OT heading to the foul line 17 times to just 3 for PC, which was a sore spot for Campbell, who felt that the free throws had just as much if not more to do with the outcome as the three pointers.
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| Joe Massaro ran the point for the Old Tappan offense, which turned the ball over just 10 times in the game. |
Luis Guzman dropped in a Paladin three ball and McKenzie scored off a drive down the lane with 3:58 to go to put PC up by 49-48. After Veselsky hit 1 of 2 foul shots, Josh Hewlett scored off an offensive rebound to give the Paladins a 51-49 edge.
Again, Old Tappan worked the ball to Parker, who canned his seventh trifecta with 1:21 to go, giving the lead back to the Knights. Veselsky hit two free throws and Hewlett scored off another putback with 36.6 on the clock.
Veselsky was fouled and hit two, and David Weinfeld grabbed a rebound and was fouled with 23.4 ticks, with the foul being called intentional. That gave him two shots, which he made, and OT the ball, forcing PC to foul again. Veselsky hit one of two to make it 59-53 with 22.6 remaining.
Guzman hit a jumper with his toe on the three-point line to make it 59-55 at 13.6, and Veselsky closed the scoring with one of two free throws at 11.3.
“I’m never going to forget this game,” said David Weinfeld who missed last weekend's Round of 16 win over Wood-Ridge with a concussion. “My first Jamboree game, in this atmosphere. Against a team like that. This means a lot.”
McKenzie (17 points), Hewlett (16) and Guzman (14) were in double figures scoring for Paramus Catholic, which shot 23 of 53 from the floor (4 of 13 behind the arc) and 3 of 3 at the line. Hewlett and Guzman had 6 rebounds each.
“It was a great high school basketball game, and the bottom line is the best team tonight won,” Campbell admitted. “Take nothing away from Old Tappan, but the disparity in free throws hurt us.”
Old Tappan had seven less field goals, shooting 16 of 36 (just 5 of 17 inside the three-point line), but hit 17 of 23 free throws, including 13 of 17 in the final period. They also had an assist on every basket they scored, with David Weinfeld, dishing off five of them and adding seven rebounds. Veselsky had 11 points, going 9 of 15 at the free throw line, and Massaro added four assists.
“We had pretty much zero respect before this tournament,” Parker commented, “so, hopefully, it gives us a little bit.”
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