Thursday, January 29, 2015

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Gabriel Valerio clinched Cliffside Park's place in the Jambo with his two late free throws that gave the Red Raiders a 50-47 win over Lodi.

CLIFFSIDE PARK – As Cliffside Park's Gabriel Valerio walked up to the foul-line for the biggest free-throws he has ever taken, a million thoughts could have run through his mind. With just 31 seconds remaining and the Red Raiders clinging to a one-point lead against pesky Lodi with a berth in the Bergen County Jamboree on the line, Valerio did what any poised player on any level of basketball would do; he took a deep breath, cleared his mind and focused on the task on the hand.

The junior guard calmly knocked down both foul shots and Cliffside Park survived a pair of game-tying three-point attempts to earn its second straight bid to the Bergen County Jamboree with a 50-47 victory over Lodi on Wednesday afternoon.

“We had a lot of confidence coming into this season and coming into this game,” said Valerio. “Our Jambo started today.”

Cliffside Park came out on a mission, hitting seven of its first eight shots led by six points from Jafet Lamouth to grab a double-digit lead after one quarter, 20-10.

Shooting guard Melvin Florian kept Lodi in it as he netted all 11 points in the first 3:47 of the second quarter in an 11-2 run that cut the lead to one. Christian Carranza's only basket of the game gave the Rams their first lead, but Valerio answered with a baseline drive with five seconds left as Cliffside Park regained the lead going into halftime, 26-25.

The Rams flipped the one-point deficit to a one-point lead heading into an action-packed fourth-quarter. In a two-minute span, outside shooting for both teams was on full display. Aaron Bell nailed a three-pointer for Lodi only to be answered seconds later by Red Raider guard Shant Karajelian. On the ensuing possession, Bell came right back down the court the stroked another three. Once again, though, the Red Raiders answered with a basket inside from Marquis Wright and a three-pointer from the wing by Roy Danis that put Cliffside ahead, 46-45.

Lodi's Melvin Florian scored all 11 points in an 11-2 second quarter run.

“If we could have gotten a stop and then a score when we were up four, it could have been a very different game but we didn't get it,” said Lodi head coach Rob Terhune. “Our offense wasn't the problem today and it hasn't been all year really. We just didn't get enough stops at moments where we really needed them. I thought we played hard as we always do and so far we haven't had any bad losses this year. We've played so many tough teams close, now we have to turn the corner and start turning some of those losses into wins.”

Lodi took its last lead and scored its last points of the game on a nice interior pass from Florian to Edwin Alvarez for a layup with 2:07 to play.

As they did throughout the second half, the Red Raiders responded once again with a key basket in a big spot. This time it was off an inbounds play with Wright sneaking in from the weakside underneath to score that put them back in front. Then after a missed shot by the Rams, they used another out-of-bounds play that eventually padded their lead. They brought everyone to one side side of the court and got the ball to Valerio, who instinctively spun and had no one between him and basket. He was fouled going up for the layup and went to the line for two huge free-throws with the game and the Jamboree bid hanging in the balance.

“I went to the line and pretended it was just me shooting in the gym like I would if I was just practicing free-throws by myself,” said Valerio. “I believed in my teammates and I knew they believed in me to knock down those free-throws. We came into this game knowing that this was our time and everyone had to make plays to win today. Last year, we surprised everyone but now people know who we are and what Cliffside Park can do on the court. We woke up this morning and went through the whole school day knowing what we had to do, now it was time to get it done.”

Valerio nailed them both with 31 seconds to play to make it 50-47, but Lodi had a chance to tie the game and nearly did so. The Rams missed a three-pointer but got the rebound and had another chance that was right on line. Fortunately for the Red Raiders, it hit off the back rim and Wright secured the rebound as time expired with Cliffside Park earning a second straight Bergen County Jamboree bid after a three-win season in 2012-2013.

Jafet Lamouth and Cliffise will take on St. Mary in the opening round of the Jambo.

Valerio led all players with 18 points for Cliffside Park (8-4). Lamouth battled through foul trouble to finish with 10 and Wright added eight points.

Joe Rodriguez hit 7 of 10 shots from the field to lead Lodi (4-7) with 14 points. Florian and Alvarez pumped in 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Cliffside Park, who was given the No. 20 seed, will face a strong test this afternoon in 12-1 Ramsey before taking on 13th seeded St. Mary's in the first round of the Bergen County Jamboree on Saturday. That game is a rematch of last year's first round Jambo game, won by Cliffside Park, and will be played at Northern Valley/Old Tappan High School with a scheduled 2:30 P.M opening tip.

While the Red Raiders are nor merely happy to get into the tournament, head coach Sean McIssac is aware of what an accomplishment qualifying for the Jamboree means to this team and this community.

“As long as we work hard and we're doing the right things, then I consider us to be successful. But for them, they want to see results and see their hard work paying off, making the Jambo does that,” said McIssac. “We're still getting adjusted to coming onto the floor and being expected to win important games. We're more comfortable playing from the underdog spot and we're in one now. We need these kind of opportunities to give us that little extra bit of motivation. Overall, we're excited for the opportunity and we're happy to be back in the Jambo.”

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