Sunday,
March 9, 2014
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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Rob Tonelli scored 8 of his 10 points in the first half as Pascack Hills led almost wire-to-wire in a 59-43 victory over Ramsey in the North 1, Group 2 state sectional semifinals. |
MONTVALE – In all of the 20 sections that make up the boys basketball state tournament, there maybe no team that was less likely to still be playing in the semifinal round then Ramsey. This is a team that started the season by losing 9 of its first 10 games and it was even denied a bid to the Bergen Invitational Tournament, which is supposed to be the consolation prize for teams that are unable to qualify for the Bergen County Jamboree. The Rams were left out on account of lack of wins through mid January.
But in one of the most remarkable in-season turnarounds in recent memory, Ramsey got hot. The Rams went 8-4 to close out the regular season and then made the most of the No. 11 seed they were given in the North 1, Group 2 state sectional tournament. Ramsey went on the road to Sussex County and upset No. 6 Newton in the opening round and then pulled off a quarterfinal shocker when it beat No. 3 Glen Rock, the darling of the Jambo that won two county tournament games, by a point to make it two state tourney wins by a combined total of three points.
Crazy, right?
“It was, no doubt, a slow start to this year with an injury, playing some tough teams early and a combination of things in a 1-9 start,” said Ramsey head coach Kevin McGuire. “But to be able to get it together, to be able to go on the road and pull a couple of upset wins in the states and get Ramsey into the semifinals is really a credit to [our seniors] for the work they have put in over the past four years, but especially this year.”
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Ryan Blake scored a team-high 11 points for 11th seeded Ramsey, which had pulled two straight tourney upsets to reach the semis. |
Ramsey's story almost reads like fiction, but Pascack Hills is busy writing concrete history. The second-seeded Cowboys are the three time defending state sectional champion and, in their hunt for four in a row, they ended the Rams' charmed run with a just about wire-to-wire 59-43 win on Saturday night in Montvale.
Pascack Hills' Andrew Nathin scored the game's opening basket before Ramsey's Pat Mullane tied it with two free throws. Rob Tonelli then scored on the fastbreak to give Pascack Hills a 4-2 advantage 3:20 into the game and it led the rest of the way. Senior Gavin Murphy hit two 3-pointers in the midst of a 10-2 run that Pascack Hills closed the first quarter with to take its first double digit lead at 18-8.
Ramsey was able to slow the Cowboys down some with its zone defense through the first two quarters, but its offense could quite keep up. Trailing 29-14 at the break, Ramsey had to switch to the man-to-man in the second half and that is when Pascack Hills is at its best as it looks to go back door from every angle with any player capable of and willing to throw the pass.
Trying to stop the Cowboys' offense is kind of like trying to hold back a waterfall. The water will always find a way through.
“At the end of the first half we started getting out on the fastbreak and shooting the ball a little bit better. First they had to extend the zone and then they had other no choice but to come out and play us and we got what we wanted,” said Jordan Lazarus, one of Pascack Hills' four senior starters. “Every night is it someone different that steps us for us and we don't care who it is. A couple nights ago it was [Evan] Schumer and [Noah] Tucker and tonight it was Murphy or [Nick Hallowell], [Rob] Tonelli or myself. We are a well rounded team that does not have one superstar that goes out and gets 20 [points] a game. If a couple of us get 10 and we get a victory, that is good enough.”
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Andrew Nathin scored 10 points for Pascack Hills, which will play at Westwood in the section final for the second straight year. |
If there was one tense stretch for the Cowboys it came right out of the halftime when Tonelli picked up his third personal foul when he was called for an illegal screen on the first possession of the third quarter and Ramsey proceeded to rip off seven straight points in the span of 1:16 to sneak back to within single digits for the final time at 29-21.
But an experienced team like Pascack Hills is not easily rattled and it came out of the timeout called by head coach Kevin Kirby and scored six straight points to push the lead back to double digits for good. The Cowboys led 43-29 after the third quarter and were up 53-34 before emptying the bench with 2:13 left in the game.
“Ramsey played some zone and we were probably 4-for-25 on 3s, which is uncharacteristic for us, but we didn't stop. We hit the offensive glass pretty hard, we played good defense, we got out in transition and I am happy for the kids that they are going back to the section final,” said Kirkby, who is in his fourth year as the Pascack Hills head coach and is 15-0 in the sectional phase of the state tournament over that span. “Every kid has a role and every kid believes that they can help us win. It's a different guy, it seems like, every game. Noah Tucker has been playing great since he came back [from injury] and the other guys have been doing it all year. Gavin Murphy stuck two big 3s early in the first half and they all believe in themselves and they all believe in the team.”
Where Pascack Hills is is where Ramsey wants to go and the Rams certainly turned the corner over the last half of the season. Ryan Blake scored 11 points to lead the Rams on Saturday while Pat Mullane added 10 and Mike Pepper finish with 9 for Ramsey, which turned the 1-9 start into a successful 11-14 season.
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Pat Mullane scored 10 points for Ramsey, which started 1-9 before winning 10 if its final 15 games of the season. |
Pascack Hills got its usual balance as Lazarus (13 points), Nathin (12 points) and Tonelli (10 points) all finished in double figures followed closely by the 9 that Murphy scored. Tucker chipped in with 6 points, Hallowell had 3 and Zach Bernstein, Josh Sairo and Jason Shill evenly split the Cowboys other six points.
Pascack Hills joins Teaneck as the two Bergen County teams that will play for their fourth straight state sectional titles early next week. The Cowboys will face a familiar foe in top-seeded Westwood on the road on Tuesday night. It will be a rematch of last years section final won by Pascack Hills and the third matchup this season between the two teams as they split the regular season series with each winning on the others' home court.
“Home or away it doesn't matter; we are ready to go play them. They got us once this year, we got them once this year, so we know each other well. We have to stick to what we do best to be successful against them,” said Hallowell, another of Pascack Hills' 12 seniors. “We are going to play defense, try to get stops and then try to get out in transition and get our easy baskets to keep the pressure on them.”
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