Monday, February 6, 2012

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Wes Dickinson scored 23 points, grabbed 14 boards and blocked a last second shot to lead Dwight-Englewood in past Pascack Hills, 57-55, in the Jambo's Round of 16

TENAFLY – Having made it to the second round of the Bergen County Jamboree in each of the past two years, Dwight-Englewood Wesley Dickinson wanted nothing more in his senior season than to take his team a step further. But the likelihood of that happening in his final Jambo run looked bleak when Pascack Hills shot the lights out in the first quarter and built a lead that grew to as many as 15 points, but Dickinson never lost faith in in his teammates, who he would need to come through if the Bulldogs had any hope of advancing.

Dickinson dragged Dwight-Englewood to within striking distance and his teammates did the rest from beyond the three-point arc to finally get the score back even. With just 17 seconds to play, it was only fitting that it was Dickinson who found himself with the ball in his hands.

The 6-foot-6 forward pulled down an offensive rebound and laid it back in with 17 seconds left, then blocked a last-second shot attempt as seventh-seeded Dwight-Englewood’s only lead of the game was the only one it needed in a thrilling 57-55 triumph over No. 10 seed Pascack Hills in a Round of 16 Bergen County Jamboree game on Sunday at Tenafly High School.

Pascack Hills senior Jared Shill scored a game-high 25 points.

“Not the start we wanted, but we’ll definitely take the finish,” said Dickinson, who has several Division 1 offers on the table. “Pascack Hills is a great team and they showed how dangerous their shooters are in the first quarter. We just had to weather the storm and fight our way back every possession.”

Pascack Hills started off the game on fire from the perimeter, hitting its first four shots with two of them from three-point range, to take a 10-0 lead just 1:28 into the game. That lead grew to 15 when Andy Kovner hit his second three-pointer of the quarter and the team’s fifth of the opening stanza to make it 25-10.

“They shot the lights out in the first quarter, but there were still some things we could have done better,” said Dwight-Englewood head coach Eli Goldberger. “We gave them too many open looks and they also got a lot of second-chance opportunities that they capitalized on. It was an uphill climb, but we had three quarters left to do it, so there was still plenty of time.”

A breakaway dunk by Dickinson midway through the second quarter finally got the Bulldogs back within single-digits and they sliced the lead down to six, 37-31, by halftime.

Keion Osbourne scored 16 points for Dwight-Englewood.

The lead was still six early in the fourth quarter until Keion Osbourne scored inside and John Dargan’s only basket came in the form of a three-pointer to cut the lead to one, 53-52. Pascack Hills’ Steve Thorwarth dropped in a reverse layup, but Osbourne answered right back with another three-pointer to tie the game at 55.

“We got major contributions offensively from everyone in the second half when we really needed it,” added Goldberger. “I thought in the face of adversity, we showed great poise; which is something you have to do against a team like Pascack Hills and their great guard play.”

Both teams had several opportunities in the final 2:35, but neither team was able to put the ball in the basket. Dwight-Englewood looked to hold for the last shot until Osbourne saw a clear path to the basket. He missed a layup and then missed the follow as well, but Dickinson was right there to clean up the mess. He grabbed the rebound and laid it in with 17 seconds left for a 57-55 lead. Brian Horn tried to get up a floater with three seconds left, but Dickinson slid over to block it and give Dwight-Englewood one of its biggest victories in school history.

Brian Horn finished with 11 points for Pascack Hills, which fell to 13-4 on the season.

Dickinson finished with 23 points, 14 rebounds, and five blocks for Dwight-Englewood (14-2). Osbourne provided the necessary secondary scoring option for the Bulldogs with 16 points. Jared Shill had 13 of his game-high 25 points in the first quarter for Pascack Hills (13-4). Horn added 11 points and Cole Dorfman had nine.

Dwight-Englewood has finally made the leap into the Jambo quarterfinals for the first time since 2000 and will face off against second-seeded Don Bosco Prep. It is a shot that the Bulldogs have been hoping to get ever since the brackets came out and now the opportunity to prove itself against a perennial county powerhouse is right in front of them.

“Don Bosco is a great team and very balanced, so we want to see how we stack up against them,” said Dickinson. “Just to get past the second round finally is what we really wanted all year and we achieved that. Everything else now is just a bonus and I think that plays into our advantage looking ahead.”

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