Sunday, January 4, 2008

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Recently back from injury, point guard Justin Hourihan was effective in the half court and in the open floor as Wayne Hills improved to 4-1 on the season with a 44-32 win at No. Highlands.

ALLENDALE -- Chris Fonti is an asset that any high school basketball coach would be happy to have. He is all of 6-foot-7 and built like one would expect a standout offensive lineman, which he is in Wayne Hills' dominant football program, to be.

He's big, he is nimble for his size, he rebounds and he makes up for a lot of mistakes that his teammates might make by blocking and changing shots in the lane. But what Fonti, a junior center, is not on the talented Wayne Hills boys basketball team is a necessity, which his teammates illustrated in Saturday's 66-32 win over Northern Highlands.

Fonti helped his team get off to a solid start with seven points, three rebounds and two blocked shots in the first quarter. But when he was whistled for his second foul of the game trying to stop a put back attempt by Eugene Sidor 33 second into the second quarter, Wayne Hills really took off.

As Fonti made his way to the bench for the rest of the half, Sidor made one of two free throws to draw Northern Highlands to within 14-11. Starting with Justin Hourihan’s three-pointer from the top of the key the next time down the floor, Wayne Hills scored 16 straight points in the span of 4:41 on its way to its fourth victory in five games this season.

Kyle Linares finished with seven points for Northern Highlands.

“We do a lot of different things based on who is in the game and when Chris is out of the game we go to a smaller lineup that can be very effective like it was today,” said Wayne Hills head coach Jim Catalano. “With Chris in the game we are one type of team and with him out we have a lot of other options.”

And that is not a knock on Fonti, but more a compliment to a team who’s other four starters are seniors. In fact, the entire starting five is in tact from a year ago.

“My role is the guy who stays in the middle and tries to keep everybody else out of the paint,” said Fonti. “I can be aggressive because even if I pick up a couple of fouls the other guys do what they do. It gives me a lot of confidence to just go out and play hard.”

With Fonti in the game the Patriots are basically a three-and-a-half guard attack with Joe Russo, the lone forward, playing on the wing as one of their best long range shooters. It also makes it tough for a defense, which has to choose between a zone that can pack it in on Fonti and leave open shooters, or a man-to-man where ball-handlers like Justin Hourihan, Travis Della Volpe and Steve Lequerica can find lanes to exploit.

Wayne Hills' Joe Russo scored all 6 of his points during a decisive 16-0 second quarter run.

Northern Highlands found its best success early by changing up its zone defenses and forcing Wayne Hills to be deliberate on offense. Hills led from start to finish, but, after Hourihan’s coast-to-coast finish gave the Patriots a 12-5 lead 4:39 into the game the Highlanders got two free throws from Christian Marotta, a basket inside from Sidor and a free throw from Kyle Linares as part of an late rally to draw within 14-10 heading into the second quarter.

Sidor free throw that he made after drawing Fonti’s second foul proved to be the Highlanders’ high water mark, however, as Wayne Hills took control shortly thereafter as it started to force turnovers and take to the open floor.

Mike Quinn, who was the quarterback during Wayne Hills’ undefeated state championship football season, came on for Fonti, made it a four-and-a-half guard lineup and almost immediately made an impact when he went down low to score the basket that followed Hourihan’s three-pointer and gave the Patriots a 19-11 lead.

Lequerica scored six of the game’s next seven points and Russo scored the last four of the 16-0 run that gave Wayne Hills a 30-11 lead 2:31 left in the first half.

Highlands' lone returning starter, Tucker Diestel battled foul trouble and finished with 6 points.

“When Chris is in there he is too big and too strong. Nobody can match up with him,” said Russo, who scored all six of his points during the decisive second quarter run. “When he is not in there we can open it up on teams. We have an advantage both ways.”

Lequerica led Wayne Hills with 17 points and Fonti finished with 13, seven in the first quarter and six in the fourth when he was out there to get some work as much as anything else. Hourihan and Quinn added seven points apiece and Della Volpe had a basket to go along with four assists and four steals.

Wayne Hills’ bench saw ample time in the second half, a sign of a successful outing but maybe not what the Patriots need still early in the season as their football crew is still trying to get their basketball legs.

Wayne Hills has been to the state football final in 12 of the last 13 years and won five straight, meaning that the turnover in sports just about always comes for the Patriots on the very last day of the football season, which often times leaves them
playing catch-up early in the hoops season.

Steve Lequerica finished with a game-high 17 points for WH.

“We are still trying to get some of our football kids back in basketball shape. It’s always a tough thing for us, but we wouldn’t have it any other way because of the success of our football program,” said Catalano, whose team’s only loss this season came against Mahwah. “It’s going to take a little bit of time to get up to speed but today was a good step.”

Northern Highlands lost four starters from last season’s team that was the No. 3 seed in the Bergen County Jamboree. Tucker Diestel, the lone returning starter, finished with 6 points against Wayne Hills as he battled foul trouble. Harrison Klein led the Highlanders in scoring with 8 points off the bench and Kyle Linares finished with 7.

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