Monday, January 28, 2013

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Matt Busch took a bad shot and then made a great steal to seal Mahwah's Jambo 51-48 win over Dwight-Englewood on Sunday.

ORADELL – Making physical mistakes on the court and then trying to overcome them is a challenge that every player who has ever laced up a pair of basketball sneakers has dealt with at one point during their high school career. But it is the mental errors that tend to stay with players for a much longer period of time. Mahwah’s Matt Busch experienced that first hand in the biggest game he’s ever played in.

Up by one with under a minute to play in his first-ever Bergen County Jamboree game, the normally heady Busch let fly a 3-pointer that was off the mark. The ill-advised shot gave Dwight-Englewood a last possession with a chance to take the lead or even win the game. Busch knew he would only have one chance to atone for his mistake and he took full advantage of it.

Busch denied an entry pass near midcourt, dove on the loose ball, and alertly called timeout to give his team possession back with 7.5 seconds left. Greg Rozar then knocked down two free-throws and a last-second heave was off the mark as 16th-seeded Mahwah led wire-to-wire, but was fortunate to escape with a 51-48 victory over 17th seeded Dwight-Englewood in a first-round Jambo game on Sunday at Bergen Catholic High School.

“We had to sweat that one out at the end, but our team just finds a way to win,” said Mahwah head coach Mike Branagh. “Matt is one of the toughest players I’ve come across and he’s our best defender. I thought Mike (Leniw) was great inside for us all day and Matt came up with the big steal at the end. To get to the Jambo and win a game is something we’ve worked towards all season and it’s a nice feeling to accomplish it.”

Eric Mourkakos led Dwight-Englewood with 15 points and 9 rebounds.

Mahwah came right out of the gate on fire from 3-point range. On three consecutive possessions, Kevin Tremblay nailed a 3-pointer and Busch connected on back-to-back long-range bombs as the Thunderbirds took control with a 19-4 advantage after one quarter.

The lead remained mainly in double-digits for most of the second and third quarters until Leniw picked up his fourth foul with just over three minutes to play in the third period and was forced to the bench. Dwight-Englewood closed that quarter with an 8-0 spurt capped by a layup from Eric Mourkakos to trim its deficit to a manageable seven points, 38-31, heading into the fourth quarter.

The Thunderbirds were able to hold off any potential Dwight-Englewood runs until, in a 26-second span, the Bulldogs shot their way back within striking distance. Keion Osbourne and Austin James hit back-to-back 3s from the wing to slice the lead all the way down to a single point, 49-48, with 46 seconds left.

Dwight-Englewood had several fouls to still to give did so until Mahwah had an inbounds near midcourt. The ball eventually ended up in the hands of Busch, who was wide-open in the corner. He had been hot from the outside all day and his natural reaction was to simply hoist it up, but with under a minute to play, it was not the best decision and the ball bounced off the rim before the Bulldogs secured the rebound and a last chance to steal a win.

Greg Rozar made the two free throws that helped Mahwah seal the win.

Luckily, Busch did not have much time to think about the miscue. The Bulldogs crossed half-court and let the clock run down before running a play toward the basket. Busch used textbook denial defense to deflect a pass then dove on it while calling timeout before he could get tied up for a jumpball that would have given possession back to Dwight-Englewood, which had the possession arrow in its favor.

“When I took the shot I felt confident about it going in, but it wasn’t a good feeling when it missed and they had a chance,” said Busch, a senior. “I had extreme confidence that we would come up with a stop at the end. I knew I made a mistake and I had to make up for it. Basically, I just anticipated the pass and got my hand in the passing lane. Coach (Branagh) always says if we’re in a bind like I was when I was on the ground with the ball to call timeout, so I did and it worked out pretty well.”

Rozar was then fouled and knocked down both shots from the charity stripe to make it 51-48 with 5.1 seconds on the clock. The Bulldogs still had a chance to tie the game, but Robbie Zeller’s desperation 3-point attempt was off the mark and the T-Birds survived.

“It’s definitely disappointing to come out of here with a loss,” said Zeller. “We didn’t start the way we wanted to and fell too far behind. Our identity as a team is that we’re going to keep fighting no matter what and we always feel like we’re in a game. It would have been huge for us to take the lead, but we never got over the hump. We have a lot of experience though, we’ll learn from this loss, and we’ll bounce back as a stronger team from here on.”

Robbie Zeller almost helped Dwight-Englewood come all the way back from a 19-4 deficit.

Leniw led all scorers with 20 points for 16th seeded Mahwah, while Busch added nine. Mourkakos led Dwight-Englewood with 15 points and nine rebounds.

Mahwah will face a much stiffer test in the Jambo’s Round of 16. The Thunderbirds will face off against two-time defending champion and this year’s top seed, Teaneck. That game will be played on Sunday at Tenafly High School at 3:15 P.M.

Although the Thunderbirds will be about as big of an underdog as a team can be in a tournament setting, they feel it could be something that works to their advantage.

“Everyone knows how good Teaneck is and it gives us a chance to prove ourselves against the best,” said Busch. “We’re as prepared as we could be possibly be for any challenge and we have nothing to lose. We’re going to play hard and just see what happens.”

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