Wednesday,
January 29, 2014
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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Cesar DeJesus scored 15 of his game-high 29 points in the third quarter as Teaneck won its 11th straight game, 68-60, on Tuesday night. |
TEANECK – On the final day before the Bergen County Jamboree field is selected two teams in entirely different circumstances met up looking at the upcoming tournament from different angles. Teaneck, the three-time defending champion, came in on an 10-game win streak looking to keep the momentum moving in the direction of a top seed and a third straight defense of its title. Northern Valley/Old Tappan came in just a game over .500, but as healthy as it has been all season. A win over a team like Teaneck on the road could have been the type of resume item that might sway the committee toward an at large bid.
Old Tappan hung in there just about the whole way, but this year's version of Teaneck has too many answers. No longer a team with one or two 'Go-to' guys, Teaneck now goes through everybody until it finds the right shot. Throw in some easy baskets created by their opportunistic defensive traps and the Highwaymen continue to roll right into the Jambo after a 68-60 win on Tuesday night.
“I believe that this year going into the Jambo for the first that I have been here, we are really battle tested. We have not had a bunch of blowouts, we've had to play close games and that makes us better prepared for what we will see going forward,” said Jerome Smart, who has never lost as Jambo game in three years as Teaneck's head coach. “We were a little bit short-handed tonight without Myles [McLeod], but our other guys stepped up and that has been a strength of this team.”
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Senior Troy McLaughlin scored a team-high 22 points for Old Tappan. |
McLeod was out with an illness and his two replacements on the interior, Malik Davis and Tyler Pryce held the fort, but Teaneck is not the type to pound the ball into the post anyway. The Highwaymen use a four-guard starting lineup and all four of them are tough matchups, including freshman Leondre Washington, who is content to run the show and set up others, but also has the feel for the big moments when points are needed from the point guard position.
Teaneck (14-2) had built a 16-9 lead after the first quarter, but Old Tappan responded by scoring the first seven points of the second. Tyler Sokolich scored on a back door cut and feed from Alex Ward, Troy McLaughlin hit a 3-pointer and Dan Fitz tapped in his own missed shot to get the Knights back even in the span of 1:37. The next time down the floor, Washington hit a 3-pointer, his only one of the game from the corner to break the last tie of the game. That kicked off a 12-3 run that put the Highwaymen up 28-19 when Lavrone Green-Reels scored on the fastbreak with 2:20 left in the half. When Old Tappan got to within four points, Washington went hard to the hoop for the final points to the second quarter to give Teaneck a 33-27 lead at the break.
Washington wears the same number and, unless Teaneck got new uniforms this season, then the same jersey, as Shakir Lindsey, the point guard who graduated last year after leading the Highwaymen to three straight Bergen County titles. Although he still has plenty of room to grow physically, Washington has shown that he is more than mentally capable of handling the premier position on the premier public school program in Bergen County.
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Freshman Leondre Washington scored 11 points for Teaneck, all of them at important times. |
“Replacing Shakir is impossible because of everything he did here, but I am just trying to make sure I do my job. It's a tough job because you have to control the team, make sure every body is in the right place, make sure everybody is getting the ball and getting their share. I understand that and I am trying to lead us to a fourth straight Jamboree title,” said Washington, who hit the ground running as a starter from Day 1. “In AAU I played on high level teams. I went to Virginia, I went to Nationals, I went everywhere you can go. I play with The Playaz, and they are a high-level organization, so I played against the best already and that got me ready for high school ball.”
Teaneck's Cesar DeJesus went off in the third quarter when he scored 15 of his game-high 29 points, but Old Tappan just kept hanging around. McLaughlin set up Sokolich for a layup and Dan Fitz hit a free throw to get the Knights to within 39-35, but Washington stabilized his team once again. He sliced in a for a layup and added a steal and a layup to double the lead back to 8 in the span of just 12 seconds. DeJesus showed off his full arsenal in scoring the final eight points of the quarter on two free throws, a 3-pointer, a pull-up jumper and a fastbreak basket that gave the Highwaymen a 52-41 lead heading into the fourth.
Old Tappan fell behind by as many as 11 in the fourth quarter, but found a way back in through McLaughlin, who scored a team-high 22 points and made a 3-pointer to kick off a mini 5-0 spurt for the Knights that could have been more. Sean Brophy tapped in a miss after Fitz made a steal and got to the rim to make it a 58-52 game and Old Tappan got a stop on the defensive end with a chance to make it a one-possession game, but DeJesus sneaked in to steal the ball from the rebounder. Davis blocked a shot to set up a a DeJesus basket in transition to make it 60-52 with 2:48 to go.
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Sean Brophy scored 11 points for Old Tappan, which fell to 7-7. |
“We came into this game wanting to win it, not just to play well against a good team. We put in ourselves in a lot of situations that we needed to to win, but we missed a couple of big shots, free throws hurt us, but the effort that my guys gave and the hustle was everything we wanted,” said Old Tappan head coach Craig Ferraro. “We just had to hit a couple more of those open shots to beat a team like Teaneck. We came up a little bit short.”
Old Tappan got back to within four points one more time at 60-56 with 1:13 to play, but it had to gamble on defense after that and Green-Reels three fastbreak layups in the final 1:06 to put the game away for Teaneck, which was top-heavy in terms of its offensive balance. Behind DeJesus' 29, Green-Reels (18 points) and Washington (11 points) made it three Highwaymen in double figures. MJ Richardson added 8 points off the bench while Pryce accounted for Teaneck's other field goal.
McLaughin (22 points), Sokolich (13 points) and Brophy (11 points) paced Old Tappan. Fitz scored 7 points off the bench, Zach Al Sharif, who recently signed his letter of intent to play football at Colgate, made a 3-pointer and Viti and Brian Dwyer split the other four points for the Knights, who are now 7-7 and on the bubble for a Jambo spot. A .500 record against a tough schedule that included two games against Teaneck before the cutoff at least puts Old Tappan in the conversation.
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Lavrone Green-Reels scored 18 points for Teaneck, which is now 14-2. |
“We put in and we are hoping that with the schedule that we have played we have a shot. Our strength of schedule is right up there at the top, we've played Teaneck twice before the cutoff and we have played everybody tough,” said Ferraro. “We've battled through some injuries, but now we are back playing our best basketball and we hope we can get in.”
There is no doubt that Teaneck will be in, the only question is where. The Highwaymen are the three-time defending champion and they have not lost to a Bergen County team all season. While Don Bosco Prep is undefeated, Teaneck's lone losses have come to Eastside, a team that beat St. Anthony this season, and Roselle Catholic, the reigning Tournament of Champions title holder.
It's either a No. 1 or a No. 2 seed for Teaneck. Does it matter?
“I am really looking forward to the Jambo this year because I can make a name for myself and keep Teaneck on the map because everybody thinks that Bosco is the team to beat this year. We still think that it is us,” said Green-Reels. “If we don't get the No. 1 seed we won't be upset. It will just motivate us to work harder.”
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