Friday, January 10, 2014

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Sean Kelly scored 14 of his 17 points in the first half for Cresskill, which improved to 5-2 with a 63-58 win at Saddle River Day on Thursday.

SADDLE RIVER – There was more than one occasion when it looked like Cresskill's boys basketball team was going to blow out Saddle River Day. The Cougars were on the road in a on a tight playing surface, but looked more than comfortable when they scored the first eight points of the game, needed just over six minutes to open a double digit lead and were up by 10 by the end of the first quarter. Cresskill extended its advantage to as many as 14 points twice in the second quarter and once in the third as the home team was just trying to find a way to hang in there.

But after scoring just 27 points through the first three quarters of the game, Saddle River Day was down to one final strategy and that was to extend the defense and either come up the steals that would get the Rebels some extra possessions or put Cresskill on the free throw line and hope the Cougars missed often enough to close the gap.

There was a little bit of both as Saddle River Day went from down 11 with 6:38 to play to down by just 4 points twice in the final two minutes, but Cresskill, and specifically Matt Flood, made just enough plays down the stretch eke out a 63-58 victory, an important road win in an especially balanced league. And it was certainly physical as Saddle River Day tried to inject itself back into the game.

Chris Cosgrove finished with a team-high 20 points for Saddle River Day.

“We made it close. We had it handled early and we were up by [14 points] a couple of times and we let them stick around. Then it became a ugly game; really chippy and ugly in the fourth quarter,” said Cresskill head coach Mike Doto. “We had to find a way to keep our composure and we were eventually able to do that and get out of here with a nice win.”

There were a bunch of times when it looked like Cresskill had delivered the knockout blow like when Zac Garcia hit a 3-pointer to close the third quarter scoring and put his team up 43-31 with eight minutes to go in the game and Adnan Jaloudi's putback had Cresskill up 45-34 with 6:38 to play. But with desperation setting in for Saddle River Day, which never had a lead in the game, the Rebels extended their defense and it paid off.

A quick 7-point spurt with five of those points coming off Cresskill turnovers got SRD right back in the game. Chris Cosgrove hit a jumper in the lane, Greg King followed up a missed shot with a 3-point play and Alex Stein's steal and layup with 5:23 to go had Saddle River Day to within 45-41. It was then that the game got heated as an SRD player was called for a technical foul while in a pile chasing a loose ball. Matt Flood, who had scored just five points heading into the fourth quarter, made one of the two technical free throws, the first of 10 free throws he would make in 12 fourth quarter chances. He made two more to make it 48-41 with 4:15 to play.

Matt Flood made 10 of his 12 fourth quarter free throws to help Cresskill hold its lead.

“We are still a very inexperienced team. A lot of these guys are coming off a great JV season last year and they are all talented, but we do not have a lot of varsity experience and this was the kind of game we needed,” said Flood, a junior and one of only two returning starters from last year's team that won a game in the Bergen County Jamboree and got to a state sectional semifinal. “I think the pressure they put on us late in the game and to get through it and win can only help us. It's going to get us better for the next time we are in that situation.”

While Flood showed poise by making 10 of his 12 fourth quarter free throws, the rest of the Cougars combined to shoot just 3 off 11 from the stripe in the period and kept leaving the door open for Saddle River Day, which just kept hustling. Cosgrove's 3 from the corner with 3:20 to play got the Rebels to within 50-46 and they trailed by as few as four points at 52-48, 54-50 and at 57-53 after Stein, who scored 9 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter, hit a 3 with 1:26 left in the game.

“We were coming off a tough loss on Tuesday night against Waldwick and I am a lot happier, and I don't usually say I am happy after a loss, with the way we play tonight. They were close to blowing us out, we were down 14 a couple of times and we fought all the way back,” said Bill Schoener, who is in his first season as Saddle River Day's head coach after a one-year stint at Kearny after a successful run in Becton. “We can go big, we can go small, we can go pretty deep and we have some options. We tried everything we could tonight and our pressure late in the game showed me something about these kids that I was happy to see. We just couldn't get all the way back.”

Greg King scored all 8 of his points during Saddle River Day's second half comeback.

Stein hit a jumper with 54 seconds left that got SRD to within 59-55 and Mike Nova's driving layup made it 62-58 with 20 seconds left, but the Rebels were never able to make it a one-possession game despite the late rush. Sean Kelly's offensive rebound that led to a made free throw with 11 seconds left and both teams out of time outs finally put the game in the win column for Cresskill, which improved to 5-2 on the season.

“We are starting to get a handle on playing against pressure. When we played Ridgewood we couldn't deal with their press, but tonight we did better at the end because we kept attacking it and we made a couple of free throws,” said Kelly. “The fourth quarter was about keeping our composure and we did that. We are putting the pieces together, we are looking good as a team and we are going to do well this season.”

Flood scored 18 of his team-high 20 points in the second half and Kelly scored 14 of his 17 in the first half. Garcia (11 points), Cresskill's sophomore point guard, made it three Cougars in double figures. Austin Cardo chipped in with 5 points, Jaloudi and AJ Gentile each scored 4 and Tyler Eilenberg's two second quarter free throws rounded out the scoring for Cresskill.

Saddle River Day was led by Cosgrove (20 points) whose ability to get into the lane and hit a variety of short jumpers and flipped-in layups. Stein (12 points) and Matt Klein (10 points) also reached double figures. King scored all 8 of his points in the second half for the Rebels (3-2), who are just getting into a rhythm after missing out on the Holiday Tournament circuit.

“My goal going into the season was to be a contender in the league. Even though we are 0-2 in it right now, I still believe we can be. I would be surprised if anybody, and Hawthorne Christian and Cresskill are both very good, can get through this league undefeated. I still think it is wide open,” said Schoener. “The Jamboree is always a goal and I think we can make some noise.”

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