Tuesday, December 29, 2015

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Wood-Ridge's Joe Sartori had 10 points and eight rebounds to help his team to a 71-67 win over Lodi on Monday night in the first round of the Herb Cohen Holiday Tournament in Wood-Ridge.

WOOD-RIDGE – The Herb Cohen Holiday Tournament has always been a safe haven for Wood-Ridge. In years past, the Blue Devils have used the tournament, played on their home court, to gain some momentum heading into the New Year. But after two surprising losses to start the season, Wood-Ridge was in a position it has not been in for quite some time -- a team desperate for a win.

Ryan Murrone got the home team off to a hot start hitting a trio of three-pointers in the first quarter. Then, late in the third quarter, Joe Sartori hit back-to-back threes to help Wood-Ridge take a commanding lead before holding off a furious rally in the final three minutes to pick up that much-needed first win of the season, 71-67, over Lodi in the first round of the Herb Cohen Holiday Tournament in Wood-Ridge on Monday night.

Murrone had the hot hand early and his teammates kept finding him open in the corners. He nailed all three of his three-point attempts in the opening stanza, the last of which gave the Blue Devils the lead for good with the score 13-10 after one quarter.

Lodi's Carlos Pepin had career-highs of 27 points including this thunderous second quarter dunk.

“I was trying to play inside my role and I knew what I had to do,” said Murrone. “I knew I could shoot and my teammates gave me the opportunities to shoot.”

After a quiet first quarter, and despite both being in foul trouble, the backcourt of Josh Paez and David Guerra started to gain some traction as Wood-Ridge padded its lead going into halftime, 30-22, before taking control late in the third quarter.

Murrone drilled another three-pointer followed by a driving layup from Guerra to offset a pair of baskets by Lodi’s Carlos Pepin, who was a dominant in the paint all night. Sartori hit two huge rainbow three-pointers as the Blue Devils took what looked to be a comfortable 53-38 lead going into the fourth quarter.

“We want to let the game come to each and every single one of us,” said Guerra. “I thought the more patient we were, the more we saw success. We’re a much better team when we show trust in each other and everyone contributes.”

The lead grew to 18 points with just over three minutes to play but the Rams rallied and nearly stole the game. Melvin Florian hit a pair pull-up threes with a hand in his face sandwiched around Pepin’s first career three-pointer. The second of those aforementioned three-pointers from Florian sliced the lead down to four with 40 seconds to play. It never got any closer, however, as Guerra hit 3-of-4 from the foul line to ice the game.

Lodi's Edwin Alvarez had 10 points and 12 rebounds.

Along with his team-leading 24 points, Guerra had five rebounds, three assists, and three steals for Wood-Ridge (1-2). Murrone added a career-high 15 points with Paez and Sartori each adding 10 points.

Pepin, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, posted career-highs of 27 points and 20 rebounds (14 offensive) for Lodi (2-1). Florian had 14 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter. Edwin Alvarez had a solid effort with a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out in the final minute.

Wood-Ridge advances to Tuesday’s Herb Cohen Holiday Tournament championship game where it will face-off against Dumont; a 70-54 winner over Wallington in the other first-round game.

 “It feels great to get a win and hopefully we keep it going this way,” added Murrone. “This is a big start for us and we’ll try to continue playing this way throughout the season.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM THIS GAME. TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com.