Friday, March 2, 2012

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Corey Buljeta hit a layup as the final buzzer sounded in overtime to give Ridgefield Park a 55-54 win over Rutherford in the North 2, Group 2 state sectional quarterfinals.

RIDGEFIELD PARK – Senior year, team trailing by one in overtime in the state playoffs and in the final huddle the play is called for you. What do you do? It's a scenario that has played out in mind of anyone who has ever picked up a basketball, but for Ridgefield Park's Corey Buljeta it was a stark reality on Thursday night against Rutherford in the quarterfinals of the North 2, Group 2 state sectional tournament. Make the shot or hand in the uniforms; simple as that.

So, how did it go? It is best told by Buljeta himself.

“Once I found out that the play was called for me, I knew I had to hit a shot for our season to go on because I didn't want it to end right here on our home floor,” said Buljeta. “I came off a staggered screen and the [defender] was right on me. He hit me when I went to take the shot and the ball was loose for a second, but I knew they weren't going to blow the whistle. I got the ball back, there were hands flying all over and I just saw an opening and laid it up. I heard the buzzer go off and saw the ball go in at the same time. It was crazy.”

It was crazy and Buljeta's layup at the buzzer gave Ridgefield Park a 55-54 overtime win, a spot in the state sectional semifinals where it will host West Essex on Saturday and a 23-4 record.

Rutherford's Darien Pannella lining up the three-pointer with 4 seconds left in regulation that forced overtime.

“Corey Buljeta had a great game tonight and the last play of the game was just him not quitting. He got the first shot blocked, he went after it and he carried us home tonight,” said Ridgefield Park head coach Chris Gaskin. “This was not a great game for us, we did not play very well and Rutherford did play very well, but Corey Buljeta's sheer determination to get to the rim and thankfully that shot went in right before the buzzer.”

But to just focus on the final tenths-of-a-second would be taking away from the rest of the game, which was just as fun to watch. Had Buljeta not made that final shot, the heroes would have been Darien Pannella, Brian Willis and Kevin McGorry and the three of them play for Rutherford.

Ridgefield Park came out on fire and immediately tested Ed Guy, Rutherford's assistant coach who found out that he would be in charge just about the same time he was getting on the bus for the ride over as head coach Ken Cavanagh missed the game with an urgent family matter. Guy did not panic as Ridgefield Park raced out to a 17-4 lead, burning just one time out along the way to falling behind 19-6 after the first quarter. He would need those timeouts later as the Bulldogs steadied themselves and set about getting back in the game.

“It got a phone call at about 5 o'clock today, just about when I was getting on the bus, and found out I was coaching the game. I just said to the kids, 'OK, let's go do it,” said Guy. “Coach [Cavanagh] had a game plan in place and we just went out and followed it. We didn't plan on falling behind like that, but they were making every shot in the beginning. But then we started to get some stops, we starting making some shots and we got back in the game.”

Ridgefield Park point guard Stevie Owens scored 11 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter.

Rutherford, which got off to a fast start only to falter down the stretch the last time these two teams met back on January 29 in the opening round of the Bergen County Jamboree, did just the opposite this time. Bryan Kelly's only basket of the game was a three-pointer to start the second quarter and that shot kicked off a 10-2 run that covered just about the entire the period. Ridgefield Park made just one field goal in the second quarter and need two Joe Haines free throws with eight seconds left to forge a 23-16 lead at the break, but Rutherford kept coming once play resumed.

McGorry made the first two field goals of the second half and Willis followed up a missed layup on the fastbreak with a follow-up layup to get the Bulldogs to within 23-22, but they could never get over the hump and could never grab a lead in regulation. With Ridgefield Park struggling mightily on the offensive end after is fast start, Buljeta finally got his team going. He hit consecutive jumpers from just about the same spot near the top of the key and then scored back-to-back baskets again, one one jumper from the corner and another on a slicing layup, to put the Scarlets up 33-26 and they led 35-28 after three quarters.

It looked like the game was going to follow the familiar script of the team that comes from all the way back gets close, but expends so much energy that it has nothing left when it finally gets there. Four straight points by Stevie Owens to open the fourth quarter put Ridgefield Park back up by double digits at 39-28, but then Willis took over. After two McGorry free throws cut the deficit back to single digits, Willis nailed two straight three-pointers from the corner to get the Bulldogs to within 39-36 with 4:53 to play.

Rutherford's Brian Willis scored 13 of his 17 points after halftime.

Willis scored three more points in a row a minute-and-a-half later to make it a 41-40 and, after Owens answered with a three, Willis scored off a lob pass by Panella to cut RP's lead to 44-42 with 1:35 to go. The Scarlets were up four when McGorry hit a three-pointer off the dribble to make it a one-point game at 46-45 with 29 seconds to go before Owens hit both ends of a one-and-one eight seconds later.

That brought the game down a make-it-or-go-home scenario for the first time and Rutherford's first try at it did not go so well as a forced three-pointer from 25 feet came up way short, but the scramble for the rebounds sent players running in every direction. That left open space for Pannella, who took a kick out pass from McGorry, and buried a three-pointer from the wing with four seconds to go. Pannella's clutch shot tied the game for the first time since it was 0-0 and it fell through the net with four seconds remaining. The horn sounded as the ball bounced around under the hoop as RP was calling for a timeout, but only .4 seconds were put back on the clock and the game headed to overtime.

“I think we made a lot of bad decisions after we jumped on them early. We made a lot of bad decisions and we did not get the kind of play out of our back court, which has carried us all season, that we normally do,” said Gaskin. “When they caught us late in the fourth quarter, it didn't look too promising.”

Joe Haines scored 10 points for Ridgefield Park, which will host West Essex in the semifinals.

It looked even worse than when Steven Kinzler spun through the lane to make a pretty runner to open the overtime and give Rutherford its first lead of the night. Pannella then stepped through two defenders to give Rutherford a 52-48 lead with 2:20 left in the OT.

Three free throws and a second chance jumper from the corner by Buljeta put RP back in front at 53-52 with 58 seconds to play, but with 17 seconds to go McGorry cut off a screen, took a pass from Panella and made the basket that gave Rutherford it's final lead with 17 seconds left.

Ridgefield Park called a timeout, called Buljeta's number and the rest is now a part of Ridgefield Park folklore. For Rutherford, it was something different.

“I don't think I have ever seen anything like what happened on that last play. We had the shot blocked, but it just bounced right back into [Buljeta's] hands and he made a layup,” said Guy. “I guess you could say that the ball just didn't bounce our way, but our kids played as hard as they could and I told them to keep their heads up. We left everything out on the floor, just the way it should be in a state playoff game.”

And after the celebrating was done, as well as some extracurricular activity that happened in the midst of it, the fitting end to a classic high school basketball game came when the gym had been mostly cleared. Because the postgame handshake was skipped as the floor was cleared, Ridgefield Park's players waited outside the Rutherford locker room to get the handshake done. Rutherford's players returned the sentiment before heading for the bus.

Kevin McGorry's runner with 17 seconds left in overtime gave Rutherford its final lead.

“If you want to write about what tonight was really all about, write about that,” said Rutherford athletic director Dave Frazier, who can now consider it done. “That was all class by Ridgefield Park and that is what high school sports should be all about.”

Just to sum up the final totals, McGorry led Rutherford with 20 points and Willis scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half with 11 of those coming in the fourth quarter. Pannella and Kinzler finished with 7 points apiece and Kelly's second quarter three-pointer rounded out the scoring for the Bulldogs, who finished the season with a 16-10 record.

Buljeta finished with a game-high 21 points with 15 of those coming after halftime and he was 5 of 6 from the free throw line. Owens scored 11 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and Joe Haines (10 points) made it three Scarlets in double figures. Richy Espinal scored 5 of his 7 points in the first quarter and Sean Borkowski, the only player RP used off the bench, made a second quarter field goal.

So now it is off the state sectional quarterfinals where the third-seeded Scarlets will get another home game on Saturday night because 15th-seeded West Essex continued it surprising tournament run. After knocking out No. 2 Madison in the opening round, West Essex picked off No. 7 Hanover Park, 58-44. Fourth-seeded Newark Tech and No. 9 Shabazz are battling it out on the top of the bracket meaning that if Ridgefield Park wins on Saturday, it will be at home in the section final as well.

“Every morning when I wake up at this time of the year I think to myself that I am 0-2 in section finals and I would love another shot at it,” said Gaskin, whose team fell to Newark Central in last year's title game. “We've taken it one game at a time to get here and we will continue to do that until it is all over.”

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