Monday, February 9, 2015

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Matt Flood went off for 27 points to pace No. 10 Cresskill, which beat Hackensack, 64-52, in the Jambo's Round of 16 on Sunday morning.

TENAFLY – Having been to a state sectional final last season and having four senior starters back from that team along with a couple of other productive members of the Class of 2015, Cresskill had the feeling that this year could be a special one. The Cougars scheduled up their independent games as best they could all in preparation for days like Sunday when they would get to test themselves against a traditional power in a winner-take-all setting.

Group 1 Cresskill was seeded a little lower than it might have liked but was given a measure of respect when it got a first round bye. That meant that their first Jambo game would be in the main draw against another deserving team, No. 7 Hackensack, a Group 4 school with a host of quality wins this season.

Cresskill's seniors have been playing together since third grade all the while building toward the opportunity that lay in front of it at Tenafly High School. How would the tight-knight small school fair against the perennial big school power? It was 10 years of sweat all poured into 32 minutes of high pressure basketball and the Cougars seized the moment.

Matt Flood hit 3-pointers at the buzzer to end the first and second quarters and that was all the momentum the Cougars needed. Flood went off for 27 points and Hackensack crumbled as No. 10 Cresskill advanced to the Jambo quarterfinal round with a 64-52 victory in front of a packed house.

MJ Richardson had 15 points for Hackensack, which fell to 12-7.

“I’ve been around the same group of guys since I was like 8, so we came into this season and this game with big goals and high expectations,” said senior forward Matt Ferrara, who helped Cresskill reach the state sectional final in football this past fall. “We didn’t like the seed we got before the tournament began, but you can’t change once you’re seeded. If you’re going to make a deep run in the Jambo, you’ll have to get through some really good teams no matter what seed you are.”

There was no shortage of energy from either side right from the opening tip. Hackensack held a one-point lead until Flood hit a 3 at the buzzer to give his team the lead for good, 14-12, at the end of one quarter of play.

The lead was four when Hackensack tried to hold for the last shot of the half, but took it a bit too early. The shot bounced off and gave the Cougars enough time for a last shot of their own. They got the ball up quickly to Flood in the corner and the 6-foot-3 guard banged a 3 to give Cresskill a huge boost and a seven-point lead at the half, 27-20.

“You know how much hitting shots to beat the buzzer gives your team a lift and it demoralizes the other team a bit,” Cresskill’s Sean Kelly. “When you have a player like Matt (Flood) and he’s hot, you have to get him the ball. To beat a team like Hackensack though, it all comes down to playing defense every single possession.”

Sean Kelly and the Cresskill senior class will get another shot at St. Joseph Regional in next week's quarterfinal round.

Hackensack battled back on three separate occasions in the third quarter to cut the lead to four, but with a senior-laden squad chock full of experience, the Cougars never felt any pressure. Flood scored on a drive to the basket and Zach Garcia hit consecutive layups to quickly bump the lead up to 11. Kelly scored inside and Flood added a conventional 3-point play with just over two minutes to play to clinch the victory.

“We came out ready to play today and I’m really proud of how we took advantage of opportunities when we had them,” said Cresskill head coach Mike Doto. “Our heart was tremendous and Matt shot the lights out. We’ve stressed all year to finish the quarter strong and we did a great job of that in three out of the four quarters against a good Hackensack team.”

Flood’s 27 points were the catalyst for Cresskill (17-1). Kelly was a force inside, adding 18 points. Ahmed Bailey finished with 18 points and MJ Richardson had 15 for Hackensack (12-7).

The level of competition will rise once again for Cresskill as next up is second-seeded St. Joseph Regional with a spot in the Jambo Final 4 given to the winner. Even though the two teams have not played in recent memory on the varsity level, Cresskill's senior call does have plenty of motivation going into the game.

“When we were freshmen our freshman team was 23-0 before we lost to St. Joe’s in the county final,” said Flood. “We’ve been waiting for another shot at them ever since then and now it’s right in front of us. They have a lot of seniors who played in that game and so do we. This is our last shot in the Jambo here. After three years of thinking about losing that freshman county championship to them, it would be great to get them back now. It will be a lot of fun to be a part of either way.”

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