February
19, 2007
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| Senior Vinny Pernice was the unsung hero of the championship game, scoring 14 points and adding 5 rebounds as Don Bosco defended its Jamboree title with a 64-40 win. | |
HACKENSACK -- As February has progressed, so has the Don Bosco basketball team. The Ironmen have been playing the best ball in Bergen County, and they came into Wednesday night’s Jamboree final against Bergen Catholic on a roll, having won 16 of their last 17 games.
Part of the reason is the play of Vinnie Pernice, a forward who seems to get lost among the bodies on the court before suddenly appearing in open space and grabbing a backside rebound or scoring a back door layup.
Pernice was the unsung hero of the championship game, scoring 14 points and adding 5 rebounds as Don Bosco defended its Jamboree title with a 64-40 win that also gives the fourth-seeded Ironmen a measure of revenge for an early season loss to the Crusaders.
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| Jon Riggs finished with 15 points, the only BC player to finish in double digits. |
It also marks the seventh Jambo title for the Ramsey school and the 24-point margin of victory was the largest in the 51-year history of the tournament. Count the Bosco defense and Pernice’s contributions as major elements in the rout.
For Pernice, his efforts have been a “sticky” addition, at least according to his head coach and teammates.
“He’s our glue guy,” DB head coach Kevin Diverio said. “He battled (Westwood’s Corey) Raji (in the semifinals) and he battled (BC’s Jon) Rigg today and that’s what we need. He’s been a warrior all year, and he gets beat up and just comes back the next day and doesn’t flinch.”
“He’s like the glue for our team,” teammate Kyle Smyth concurred. “He keeps everybody together and he’ll do anything for the team, rebounding, setting a pick, and tonight he was scoring.”
“I know I’m not going to go out there and be the leading scorer,” Pernice said, “but I’m going to be the glue guy, the one who holds everybody together and tries to make everyone around me better. A lot of teams don’t notice me, but I’m happy doing all the little things to help us win.”
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| Don Bosco Prep used all it weapons, including Georgio Milligan (11 points), to post the largest margin of victory ever in a Jambo final. | |
Don Bosco (20-5) scored the first seven points of the second period, part of a 9-0 run that turned a 13-11 deficit into a 20-13 lead. Bergen Catholic (19-6) went scoreless for 3:50 during the run, and never recovered.
“We didn’t take a bad shot,” Diverio said. “We’ve been stressing high percentage shots, and they did that today. We talked about pulling it out against the zone and making them play man, and I thought we were doing some good things against it.
“So, we stayed with high percentage shots, whether it was a jump shot or inside. I was very happy with the way we executed.”
They dropped in six of nine field goal tries in the second quarter, with Smyth taking the offensive lead with eight points, including a pair of threes. The initial streak started with a big offensive rebound by Alex DeSanzo that led to an A.J. LoRusso three-point field goal that broke the 13-all tie to start the second quarter. DeSanzo hit a jumper in the lane and Smyth fed Pernice for a layup to complete the run.
“We were able to get the ball to Vinnie in the high post,” Smyth remarked. “He found me a few times, and even though we were making shots, we were still working from the inside out.”
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| BC's Ricky Carroll looking for an opening in the Bosco defense. |
The Ironmen held serve the rest of the half, taking a 30-23 advantage into the locker room. They committed only one turnover in the first half, another factor in their ability to keep the lead.
“I think they’re very good in transition,” Diverio explained, “so if we’re turning it over, they’re going to get out and have Rigg and Ricky running the floor. So, if we don’t turn it over and if we score, we’re going to win the transition game.”
“Their rebounding was critical coming in, and we didn’t do a good enough job of rebounding the ball,” said BC head coach Joe Dionisio.
“I’m not the biggest guy, but I try to be physical and take away the main people,” Pernice said. “People don’t expect me to shut them down, but I do what I can.”
Another seven-point run took the starch out of Bergen at the onset of the third period. Pernice got it going with a layup off another Smyth feed, Georgio Milligan hit two free throws and Smyth struck the dagger blow with a three ball. That forced BC to come out of its zone and play man, and the Crusaders worn out quickly.
“They’re a difficult matchup for us man-to-man,” said Dionisio. “When they started making those perimeter shots and took the lead on that, it was going to be more difficult.”
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| A.J. LoRusso hit a three-point field goal that broke a 13-all tie and gave Bosco the lead for good. |
The lead was 46-31 after three periods, and when Don Bosco started the fourth with baskets by Smyth and Pernice, it was only a matter of statistics the rest of the way.
“We ran out of gas a bit, and we lost some of our composure,” Dionisio said of falling behind by double digits. “I think we started worrying about not winning and it got worse before it could get any better.”
Smyth topped the Ironmen with 15 points and Milligan and LoRusso added 11 apiece. Peter Bonilla had four assists for Bosco, which was 20 of 41 on field goals (5 of 11 from behind the arc) and 19 of 25 at the free throw line.
Rigg was the only Crusader in double figures with 15 points and he shared the rebounding honors with Kyle Kahler at 6 apiece. Bergen Catholic hit 15 of 38 from the floor (3 of 11 on threes) and 7 of 9 at the line.
More importantly, BC turned it over 18 times compared to just 8 for the Ironmen, who had only one turnover in the first half and five total until the reserves came on with three minutes left.
“When you lose a championship game, it’s all about doubting yourself,” Dionisio analyzed. “The loss is predominant in your mind, and I just have to remind them how well we’ve played to get to this point. There’s still work to be done.”
FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM THIS GAME OR TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com.
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