Febriary
4, 2007
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ALLENDALE -- As it headed to the locker room at halftime, Bergen Catholic knew that the 25-23 deficit it was facing was a direct result of how it had played. BC’s own lack of energy had given Indian Hills the upper hand, and the Crusaders knew that if they were going to avoid an upset, things had to change.
It was a more up-tempo Bergen contingent that emerged for the second half, and there was a distinct crispness to their game. The passes seemed sharper, there was a bit more bounce to their step, and their defensive pressure increased.
It all added up to a 70-53 Bergen victory, sending the second-seeded Crusaders into the quarterfinals next Sunday at Ramapo College against NNJIL rival Hackensack.
“They took the play to us, their energy was better and they played harder,” BC head coach Joe Dionisio remarked. “At halftime, we were right where we belonged to be, because they played harder than us. They deserved the lead.”
The Crusaders (14-4) shot only 8 of 22 in the first half, but Indian Hills (10-8) could not take full advantage of Bergen’s misfortune, hitting only 8 of 23 shots themselves. Both Andrew Strittmatter and Mark Tomat were a bit cold from the perimeter, but a Tomat three followed by a Brad Zak bucket and a Strittmatter free throw sent them off with the halftime lead.
“We didn’t get it going until the second half,” Carroll admitted. “We started passing the ball better, taking it stronger to the hoop.”
A Ricky Carroll steal and layup got the game tied at 32 in the third period, and Jonathan Rigg went end-to-end off a long rebound and threw down a dunk to give the Crusaders the lead, but a pair of Strittmatter free throws got the game even again at 36.
Bergen Catholic then straddled the third and fourth quarters with a 10-point run to seize the lead for good. Marc Rogalski broke the tie with a layup and Dan Marconi knocked down a trey to close the third before a Bobby DiPiazza jumper and a Carroll layup and free throw started the fourth.
Carroll had only six points in the first three quarters, but he racked up 15 in the final stanza, including a three-point play and a three-point field goal back-to-back that stretched the lead to 55-38 with six minutes to go.
While his 21 points led the Crusaders, it was his defense on Strittmatter that keyed the Bergen Catholic effort. Strittmatter finished with 22 points, but 10 of them came after BC had established an 18-point fourth quarter bulge.
“Coach felt that I could cover him,” Carroll said of the assignment. “My main focus was just staying on him and making sure he didn’t catch fire. I think my intensity was a little higher and that gave me the edge. It was a trade-off. I would rather score less than 10 and get the win than score 20 and lose.”
“A guy who can put his team on his back like he can, we certainly wanted to pay a lot of attention to him,” Dionisio noted. “The problem was the other people. We just weren’t guarding them, not contesting passes, reaching and fouling instead of moving our feet and defending.”
Once that changed in the second half, Indian Hills was doomed. Forced to foul in the fourth quarter, they watched BC can 14 of 22 free throws, with Marconi dropping 7 of 11.
Strittmatter was the lone Brave in double figures, as Hills went 18 of 42 from the field and 11 of 17 on the free throw line. Strittmatter had 8 rebounds and Zak had four assists.
Marconi had 13 points and Rigg added 12 for Bergen Catholic, which hit 15 of their 21 second half shots to finish the game 23 of 43. They went 20 of 33 on the foul line. Rigg grabbed 7 rebounds and Marconi added 5 assists.
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