Janiary
29, 2007
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| After Indian Hills gave back all of an 11-point second half lead, Brad Zak gave his team the lead back for good with two free throws with 1:14 left. | |
PARAMUS -- Indian Hills was playing in its first Jamboree game in four years, which meant that it was a first for every one of its players. When Cresskill took its first lead since early in the first quarter with 1:40 remaining in the game, there was no telling what the Braves would do.
They didn’t collapse, they didn’t panic, they stayed true to their game and, in the end, they didn’t lose.
Scoring the last nine points of the game, 15th seed Indian Hills earned its ticket to the Round of 16 with a 61-53 victory over the Cougars. They will face 2nd seed Bergen Catholic at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday at Northern Highlands.
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| Cresskill senior Dan Egorow scored 9 of his 20 points in the third quarter. |
After leading by as many as 11 points midway through the third period, the Braves endured a Cresskill comeback that eventually got the Cougars the lead when Phil Mormon hit two free throws to make it 53-52.
“There was a little bit (of nerves),” shooting guard Andrew Strittmatter admitted, “but we were playing well and I was comfortable.”
IH worked the ball on the following possession for a Brad Zak drive on which he was fouled, and Zak gave his team the lead back with two from the line with 1:14 left.
After a Cougar miss, Justin Van Groww took a Zak pass inside for a layup and a three-point lead with 1:01 remaining.
Two more Cresskill shots missed the mark before Mark Tomat was fouled and hit two for a 58-53 advantage with :25.3 to go. Strittmatter then sealed the game with a layup and a free throw with seven seconds on the clock.
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| Andrew Strittmatter finished with a game-high 26 points for Indian Hills. |
Strittmatter finished with 26 points, including 4 of 10 from behind the arc, and he got help early from Tomat, who dropped in a trio of three-pointers in the first half on the way to a 13-point effort.
“This is the first time we’ve made the states or counties, and it’s an amazing feeling,” Strittmatter said, “especially to come out and get the (first win).”
The Braves got a putback by Van Groww in the final minute of the first quarter to take a 17-15 lead, and they were able to keep the Cougars at bay in the second period, heading off for halftime up 35-27.
“It was a big difference,” IH head coach Kevin McBain said of owning the lead.
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| Eric Torenberg scored 11 points, including three 3-pointers. |
Cresskill (9-5) began their comeback by dominating the boards to the tune of 19-8 in the second half and 36-21 overall.
“They’re a tough physical team,” McBain said, “and that’s one of the reason we wanted to try and get the tempo of the game up to our level. We felt we were a little quicker than they were.”
Dan Egorow was the main force in the charge, scoring 9 of his 20 points in the third quarter, including a three-pointer that got Cresskill within four. Eric Torenberg hit another trey with 21 seconds left in the third period to close the gap to 44-43.
To try and regain control in the paint, McBain used Van Groww and Mike Marscovetra, and each had five rebounds in the game, with a combined five of them coming in the fourth quarter
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| IH's Mark Tomat dropped in a trio of three-pointers in the first half on the way to a 13-point effort. |
“They’re sophomores, and they make some mistakes, but they worked hard and I’m proud of our kids,” McBain said.
Indian Hills (10-5) finished 19 of 44 from the floor and 12 of 14 at the free throw line. Zak also had five rebounds and four assists for the Braves, who were 9 of 20 on three-point shots.
Torenberg scored 11 points and Mormon added 11 points and 11 rebounds while Egorow grabbed 13 boards. Cresskill was 18 of 52 shooting (5 of 15 on threes) and 12 of 21 at the charity stripe.
FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM THIS GAME OR TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com.
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