Wednesday,
February 19, 2014
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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Troy McLaughlin finished with 33 points to go over the 1,500-point mark as Old Tappan beat Hackensack, 56-45, on Senior Night. |
OLD TAPPAN – The home team spent the evening celebrating its seniors, while the visiting side has spent the season developing its youth. It was Senior Night at Northern Valley/Old Tappan, which is looking to make one more run behind Troy McLaughlin, the leading scorer in the history of the boys basketball program. Hackensack said goodbye to one of its most successful senior classes last June and is at the early stages of its reemergence as it now sports a roster that includes five freshmen and two sophomores and zero returning starters from last year's county final and state sectional championship team.
Hackensack has improved as the season has progressed, while McLauglin is finishing strong. With 33 points in Old Tappan's 56-45 win, he surpassed another career milestone as he went over the 1,500-point mark.
“It's been a fun four years starting from when I was a freshman when I had my brother [Shane] here to teach me about high school basketball and I have had a lot of good coaches over the years. I've played with great players that have helped me have a great career here,” said McLaughlin, who got to the 1,500 point mark with two made free throws 1:06 into the fourth quarter. “When you get close to 1,000 [points] or 1,500 points it is something in the back of your mind, but you just try to win the game that you are playing and if it happens it happens.”
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Sophomore Edward Emedoh scored a team-high 14 points for Hackensack. |
It was in the second quarter that McLaughlin started to pile up points as Hackensack led 15-10 after the first quarter and 17-11 37 seconds into the second before hitting a drought. McLaughlin scored 14 points in the second quarter and 13 points in a 19-2 run that lasted the rest of the half and gave Old Tappan the 30-19 lead it took into half time.
“It's been consistent throughout the season that in every game we go one long stretch without scoring. We are a better than average defensive team, but it is kind of hard to win games when you play good defense and you just can't get the ball to fall for you,” said Hackensack head coach Aaron Taylor. “I don't think that any team can withstand these long droughts and win games consistently no matter how well you lock up defensively. We are young and we work on shooting every day, it just hasn't clicked for us yet.”
McLaughlin scored on a drive to the basket to open the second half and push Old Tappan's lead to 13, but Ahmed Bailey, one of Hackensack's talented freshmen, scored the other way on the fastbreak to get the Comets back on track offensively. A 12-4 run capped by Phillip Hammond's inside basket got Hackensack back to within 36-31, but Old Tappan regained control with a 6-2 run to close the third quarter and the Comets never got closer than seven points in the fourth as the Knights pulled away for the victory on a night when it had all four of its seniors – McLaughlin, Sean Brophy, Zach Alsharif and Tristan Gambuti – in the starting lineup as it got back to .500 on the season at 10-10.
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Tyler Sokolich scored 9 points for Old Tappan, which got back to .500 at 10-10 on the season. |
“I have bled blue and gold for four years. I really do love my school and this team and to get a win on Senior Night really does mean a lot to me and to my family. I get to share it with my teammates and this was a good 'W,' “ said Brophy. “We still have some time left to work on some things before the states and that is what we are focused on. We want to be playing our best basketball right now at the end of the season because we still have some big games to play.”
McLaughlin led all scorers with his 33 points and Tyler Sokolich added 9. Zach Weinberg had 6 points, Brian Dwyer scored 4 in the fourth quarter and Brophy and Mike Vitti each had 3 points for the Golden Knights, who have regular season games left against Ramapo and Northern Highlands and possibly a third before, as the No. 16 seed, they visit top-seeded Teaneck in the opening round of the North 1, Group 3 state sectional tournament on March 3.
“We need to spend the next week-and-a-half getting ready and tonight was good for us because Hackensack puts a lot of pressure on the ball and that is similar to what we are going to see down the stretch here. We did a pretty good job of handling it, but obviously we can do better and that is what we are going to work on,” said Old Tappan head coach Craig Ferraro. “Our kids get up for the type of challenge of playing Teaneck and they know it would be a huge win if they could pull it off. We have been close the first two times we have played them, so we know if we can hang in there. Now we have to see if we can get to the point where we can beat them.”
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Phiip Hammond had 5 points for Hackensack, which will play PCT in the opening round of the state tournament. |
Hackensack (7-14) was led by Edward Emedoh's 14 points followed by 6 from Bailey, but no other Comet had more than two field goals. Hammond (5 points) had the lone 3-pointer for the Comets, who will enter the North 1, Group 4 state sectional tournament as the No. 11 seed with a road game at No. 8 Passaic County Tech on March 4.
Hackensack is the defending champion, but of the five starters from a year ago, three of them graduated, one ran out of eligibility and the other, Anthony Uribe, is now playing at Bergen Catholic. Other than top-seeded Eastside, which is the overwhelming favorite, Hackensack is grouped with a host of other teams that have had up and down seasons. Any of them could get hot for a week or so and make a run and the Comets are on the opposite side of the bracket from the No. 1 seed.
“We'll go into the states with no pressure and we'll spend the next couple of weeks in the gym shooting and continuing to work. Our record and our results are not a great depiction of what these kids do. They work hard. We had two sessions yesterday and they all showed up ready to go. It's tough to take the losses, but we leave the locker room knowing that these guys are giving us all they have,” said Taylor. “Eastside is above and beyond every one else in our group, but Kennedy is the No. 2 seed and we played a tough game with them. Outside of Eastside there is nobody that is going to blow everyone out the water, so if we can just be on one day, we'll have a chance to advance.
“That is the great thing about basketball. You only have to be on on that day and you can win. We'll prepare for it, we will be ready and we are not going to give up on the season yet.”
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