December
20, 2006
MONTVALE -- The calendar may have read mid-December, but the boys basketball game between St. Joseph and Don Bosco in Montvale on Tuesday night had the distinct feel of a late February contest.
The gym was packed, the chants were going back and forth and the intensity on the court had Jamboree written all over it. They were playing this one for keeps.
The Green Knights turned around a seven-point deficit with a 15-0 run over a five minute stretch in the third quarter, and it proved to be decisive as they defeated Don Bosco by a 66-53 score. It was the first win over the Ironmen for Joe’s since the 2000 season, and while it is still early, it will have implications two months from now when they seed the Jamboree and these two teams once again find themselves on a collision course.
“It gives them confidence, and it gives us an idea of what we need to work on,” DB head coach Kevin Diverio analyzed. “They disrupted a lot of the things we wanted to do. Now it comes down to how much do we progress from here. Are we getting better or going stagnant. Only time will tell on that one.”
The Knights turned the game around after the Ironmen had opened the second half with a pair of driving layups by Kyle Smyth to take a 27-20 lead in the first minute. The run began with a Marc Mandara three-point field goal, and he added another later in the run to extend the St. Joseph lead to six.
“Coach always tells me to shoot, and I wanted to shoot a lot today so I could get a rhythm going,” Mandara commented. “Finally, in the third quarter, I felt good about my shot.”
Erol Belizaire hit his only two baskets of the game at key moments, hitting a layup with 5:03 left in the third quarter to tie the game and, after a Bosco miss, coming down and driving for the lead bucket with 4:48 to go.
“The game was going at a high pace, and we were getting looks but not hitting our shots,” SJR head coach Mike Doherty assessed. “Towards the end of the second quarter, I felt like we were getting better opportunities, and then we just finished our shots in the third quarter.”
St. Joseph had hit just 7 of 32 first half field goal tries, but went 8 of 13 in the third quarter. They continued to stretch the lead after Bosco’s Giorgio Milligan broke the run with a pair of free throws, scoring the next eight points.
“We just had to keep moving the ball,” Mandara said. “We had to get Noruwa (Agho) the ball, and we knew if he got enough touches, we could come back.”
Armed with a 43-30 lead heading
into the fourth quarter, the Knights never let Don Bosco any closer than seven
points and, at 50-43, they dropped seven in arrow to put the game out of reach.
“We felt over the last three quarters they really dictated the tempo
of the game,” Diverio related. “They were more physical, they
turned the tempo up and we played into their hands.”
The Green Knights won the battle of the benches, outscoring the Ironmen reserves by a 22-8 margin. Hakeem Williams had 14 points off the pines, including 11 in the second half and 9 in the fourth quarter.
“We went with 10 guys tonight,” Doherty said, “and we have confidence in every one of our guys.”
Milligan topped Don Bosco with 18 points and he added 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Smyth had 17 points and center Kristian Petric had 11 rebounds, 4 blocked shots and 3 assists but did not score. The Ironmen shot 22 of 46 from the field and 9 of 20 at the free throw line.
“We have to do a better job of playing under pressure,” Diverio said. “It’s a long season, and hopefully we’ll see them again.”
Mandara shared game honors with 18 points and added 7 rebounds and 4 assists, and Agho had 15 to go along with 13 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. The Green Knights were 20 of 59 on field goals and 23 of 37 on free throws.
“We’re going to take this game and use it as a building block toward February,” Mandara remarked.
“It’s been a long time since we beat them, and this gives our guys the confidence to know that they can do it,” Doherty said. “I fully expect we’ll see them again.”
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