Both of those components were on display on Sunday in the opening round of the Jamboree, as the Maroons came out firing and never looked back in an 84-55 rout of Ridgefield.

The victory, their first in the Jambo since 2002, moves the 12th seeded Maroons into the round of 16 next Sunday where they will face fifth-seeded Ridgefield Park in a 1:45 p.m. start at Tenafly High School.

The 21st seeded Royals (9-4) were no match for Ridgewood’s Tobin Haase inside as he dropped in 28 points, with 25 of them coming in the last three quarters. He was 11 of 15 from the floor and added 12 rebounds.

“In the last five games, he’s really been asserting himself,” Ridgewood head coach Mike Troy said of his 6-foot-6 senior. “I have very lofty expectations of him, whether they’re fair or not I don’t know, but in the last two weeks, he’s really lived up to what I believe he can be.”

It also didn’t hurt that the Maroons were on fire as a team, hitting 10 of 15 first quarter shots on the way to a 33 of 57 (58 percent) shooting performance. Their trio of shooting guards -- Randy DeFeo, Justin Greenstone and Justin Akridge -- did the damage in a 22-15 first quarter.

“They were playing a 2-3 zone, and the others were shooting well, so I wasn’t really getting frustrated,” Haase said of the early inactivity. “I knew (the ball) was going to come to me eventually, it was just a matter of time.”

It did midway through the second quarter, with Haase scoring four straight baskets at one point and 12 points overall as Ridgewood (9-6) extended its lead to 45-34.

“We’re starting to work well together, we’re meshing as a team,” Haase related. “We’ve really gotten to know each other.”

They blew the game wide open with a 19-0 run to start the third quarter, racing off to a 30-point lead and coasting in from there. Haase had seven point and Akridge five in the streak that lasted 5:35 before Chris Gibaldi finally picked up a basket for the Royals.

“We haven’t shot the ball as well from the outside recently, and now we’re not living and dying by the three,” Troy said. “It’s really a complimentary system.”

Akridge and Greenstone had 14 points each and DeFeo added 11 and 6 assists. The Maroons were also perfect as a team at the free throw line, canning all 13 of their attempts.
Josh Morales topped Ridgefield with 17 points and Anthony Delacruz scored 13 points and ripped down 11 rebounds. The Royals were 24 of 63 from the floor and 4 of 7 at the line in losing in the opening round for the second straight year. Their only Jamboree win came back in 1979.

It will be an interesting battle for Haase in the round of 16, where he comes up against highly regarded John Tello of Ridgefield Park.

“I like those challenges, it makes me step up my game to the next level and play harder,” Haase said.