January
24, 2007
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| John Tello had 14 points to lead Ridgefield Park, but more impressive was the Scarlets' ability to share the ball and score in the halfcourt during a 54-43 win over Queen of Peace on Tuesday night. | |
RIDGEFIELD PARK -- They are five seniors and they all have defined roles. Michael Berrios is the scrappy point guard with a knack for getting in the passing lanes. Pat Panetta, the two-guard, is the defensive stopper and secondary ball-handler. Nico Velez is the spot up shooter from the small forward spot, and center Balawal Sohail’s job is to crash the boards, make layups and play defense. John Tello is the go-to guy, the All-County player who is supposed to pile up the points.
On Tuesday night in a game they needed to stay close in the BCSL-American Division title race, Ridgefield Park’s 'Fab 5', its all senior starting lineup, went the distance, each playing the full 32 minutes in a 54-43 win over Queen of Peace.
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| Al-Don Mohammad led all scorers with 21 points for Q of P. |
“We have five seniors on the floor that are experienced and that is certainly an advantage for us,” said RP head coach Chris Gaskin. “Everybody focuses on John Tello, he is a great player, one of the best in the county, but on a night when your best player is getting doubled or not shooting the ball well, we have no hesitation in turning to the other guys and letting them carry us. Tonight I thought we played a tremendous team game all around.”
After spotting QP an 8-2 lead as Al-Don Mohammad came out and scored 8 points in the first 1:37, including two three-pointers, Ridgefield Park kicked it into gear. When Velez scored after Sohail’s offensive rebound and assist to get RP within 13-12 at the end of the first quarter, then hit a three-pointer to start the second, it was the start of a 12-2 run that the Scarlets used to take control of the game.
All five of the Scarlet starters scored in the second quarter. Tello and Sohail did it from the free throw line, Berrios’ three-pointer with 4:42 to go put RP up 22-15 and Panetta’s fastbreak basket closed the first half scoring and gave Ridgefield Park a double digit lead at 27-17.
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| Banawal Sohail's 11 points and 10 rebounds were a part of Ridgefield Park's all-around team game. |
“Our main thing is to get JT (Tello) the ball, he’s our main guy. Everything works when he has it because Nico [Velez] can get open for a shot, lanes open up for cutters or drives, [Sohail] can get offensive rebounds and Mike handles the ball,” said Panetta. “When that happens, that is when we are playing our best.”
Despite running just five players, RP, which has gone as many as eight deep in games this season, never wore down as evidenced by two baskets late in the third quarter. That was when Sohail, the biggest guy on the floor, beat every down the other end for consecutive baskets on the fastbreak with both assists coming from Berrios, who finished with six of them.
Panetta scored cutting to the basket as the final option on the secondary break with four seconds to go in the third quarter as RP built its lead to 42-27 heading into the fourth. Queen of Peace put together a 7-0 run midway through the final period and Corey Kearney’s three-pointer with 3:39 to play got the Griffins to within 48-40, but Tello then scored inside and hit both ends of a one-and-one for the final answer.
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| Javae Gilchrist and Queen of Peace have already qualified for the Jambo and can still be a factor in the BCSL-American Division. |
While Ridgefield Park’s rotation was short by design, Queen of Peace was playing with a short bench for a different reason. Bilal Dixon, the 6-7 center, and Zaire Harris, the Golden Griffins’ steady sixth man, were serving the back end of a two-game suspensions drawn by disqualification in a game last week against Fort Lee.
QP head coach Bill Schoener was not a fan of the ruling that left him short-handed and with a two-game losing streak, saying “the situation was mishandled, it should never have been like this,” but he tipped his cap to RP, which swept the season series between the two teams.
“They are a good team. They are hard to play junk [defenses] against because what they have is kids that can make open shots if you take away Tello and their big guy [Sohail], in key situations, he just killed us,” said Schoener. “Having our big kid would have made a difference in a game like that.”
That left few options for QP, which couldn’t run with Ridgefield Park because of the lack of depth and slowing it down didn’t help much either as the Scarlets are deadly in halfcourt sets when they can space the floor, feed the post and kick the ball out to open shooters.
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| Michael Berrios scored 12 points and handed out 6 assists for Ridgefield Park, which improved to 10-2. |
Tello, after a slow start, came back to lead the Scarlets with 14 points, but the final numbers showed RP’s balance. Sohail finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds, Berrios made it three in double figures with 12, and Velez (9 points) and Panetta combined for 17.
Queen of Peace was led by Mohammod’s 21 points and Kearney finished with 10. Dwayne Moffatt (6 points) made three field goals and Javae Gilchrist and Josh Casteneda each made a three-pointer to account for the Griffins’ other six points.
The loss dropped Q of P to 10-4 on the season, but it has a spot in the Bergen County Jamboree already secured and the Griffins still can be a player in the BCSL-American Division as, back at full strength, they will take on defending champion Westwood, which is currently atop the league standings
“I have to keep things in perspective because we have already qualified for the Jambo and that was a big goal, but now we are dealing with a two-game losing streak that I was not expecting,” said Schoener, who is in his second season as the QP head coach. “It’s a little frustrating, but we have a big one against Westwood on Thursday night. I am hoping with everyone back that we can go in there and battle them.”
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| Pat Panetta scored 8 points for Ridgefield Park, which is one game behind Westwood in the league standings. |
The win upped Ridgefield Park’s record to 10-2 on the season and it stayed a game back of Westwood in the league standings. The Scarlets handed Westwood its lone league loss of the season, but two league losses -- at Englewood and in overtime to Fort Lee -- both without Berrios, who was injured, have left the Scarlets in chase mode.
Having already qualified for the Jambo and, after having been there last season, the Scarlets could be poised to make a run. They’re ability to thrive in a half-court game is nothing but a positive heading into the tournament where the ability to grind out games possession by possession is a necessity.
“I don’t even know how many [points] I had tonight, but it doesn’t matter because everybody else around me stepped it up,” said Tello, who is receiving interest from a host of Division 2 and Division 3 schools, but is letting his options pile up before deciding on a college. “That is a good sign, especially going into the Jamboree. If teams double or triple team me, there is not much I can do about it, but that is going to leave other people open and, as you saw tonight, we have other guys that can score.”
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