DeWayne Carter turned a couple of steals into lay-ups in the final minute to seal Elmwood Park's 60-52 win over Westwood in the opening round of the North 1, Group 2 state sectional tournament.
ELMWOOD PARK – As DeWayne Carter warmed up before his first state tournament game, adrenaline was rushing through his body. A starting guard for Elmwood Park, he was as excited as he could possibly be for this moment, but it did not go as planned as the junior fell into foul trouble early in both halves. Having barely played throughout a see-saw game against Westwood, all Carter could do was focus on being the best teammate he could be from the bench and hope that another opportunity came his way.
With just 50 seconds to play, head coach Steve Herget called his number and Carter was ready.
David Forzani rose to the occasion with 15 of his game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter to rally the Crusaders. Westwood stayed close until Carter’s emergence in the final minute. He made two backcourt steals and had two layups as seventh-seeded Elmwood Park turned back the clock and pulled out a 60-52 victory over No. 10 Westwood in the first round of the North 1, Group 2 state tournament on Monday night at Elmwood Park Memorial High School.
“This was a really exciting game, we were ready,” said Forzani. “Everyone played a hand in this win. Our bench gave us a big lift and big minutes. Our crowd was insane and we stuck together when the game was close, that was the biggest key to us winning.”
Westwood came into the game as a live underdog and showed that early. Edwin Fakik’s three-pointer capped a game-opening 8-2 run. Elmwood Park responded by forcing turnovers and turning them into points on the other end of the floor. Alex Picinich’s steal and layup helped the Crusaders take the lead at the end of one quarter, 15-12.
Edwin Fakik scored a career-high 27 points for Westwood, which finished the seasonw ith an 11-13 record.
The Cardinals regained control in the second quarter. Point guard Robbie Carcich had three blocked shots in the second quarter alone. Fakik and Connor Riche combined for 16 of their 19 points in the period as Westwood quieted the sell-out crowd and took a 31-23 lead into the locker room.
Carter picked up his third and fourth fouls just seconds apart early in the third quarter, forcing Herget to turn to Jahvel Watson off the bench and he delivered with solid defense throughout the game. Already facing a sizeable deficit and needing a spark, the Crusaders turned to a familiar blueprint for success. They let their defense create their offense. Steals by Picinich and Watson led to layups by Picinich and Forzani early in the second quarter help keep the Crusaders cut into the lead before Forzani’s drove through traffic pulled them back in front. This set up a wild seven-minute sequence that spanned the third and fourth quarters where the two teams traded leads back and forth,
“We needed to get stops, period,” added Forzani. “Westwood took it to us in the second quarter, but we never stopped grinding. We felt like we could score when we needed it, but we had to pull it together on defense in the second half.”
The Crusaders lost their composure on the first possession of the fourth quarter. A technical foul turned into four free-throws and a 42-38 lead for Westwood. Forzani refused to let his team fold. With the crowd going crazy and facing a deficit, Elmwood Park needed senior leadership and found it its back court of Forzani and Essem Assaf. Assaf was faceguarded all night but stayed patient. He hit a cutting Forzani, who flipped up a shot from just inside the foul line that got a friendly roll to drop through and give the Crusaders the lead. Then on the next possession, Assaf drove and found Forzani for a corner three-pointer to give Elmwood Park a 48-44 lead.
Even players who did not impact the scoring had their hand in the victory. 6’5” center Russ Skyrnyk altered shots throughout the second half and did all the dirty work inside. With a late lead, Assaf and Forzani were able to run over a minute off the clock before Westwood started to foul with 3:15 to play. The final 3:15 was essentially a free-throw shooting contest.
Alex Picinich scored a career high 16 points for Elmwood Park, which will visit Pequannock in the quarterfinals.
The Cardinals made it one-possession game on Roche’s floater in the paint to trim the lead to 53-50 with 1:03 remaining. After Forzani’s two-free throws and Picinich fouling out, Carter re-entered the game with just 50 seconds remaining saddled with four fouls. Having waited so long to get back on the court, he made sure he made an immediate impact. His steal and layup all but sealed the game before doing it again in the waning seconds to close out the win.
“I barely played in the game, but I stayed in the game mentally,” said Carter. “The whole game I was in foul trouble and I felt like I was letting my team down. When I got back in there with 50 seconds left, I knew I had to make a play. All I wanted was to win and keep our season going.”
Forzani’s 28-point effort was the second-highest scoring output of the season for Elmwood Park (17-7). Picinich dropped in a career-high 16 points for the Crusaders.
Fakik also had a career-high with 27 points for Westwood (11-13) and Roche added 15.
Elmwood Park will hit the road tomorrow to take on second-seeded Pequannock, a 76-53 winner over Pompton Lakes in the North 1 Group 2 quarterfinals. On this night though, it was about enjoying this night with their teammates and their fans.
“Isn’t this fun? This is what it’s all about, it’s high school basketball at its best,” said Assaf. “We’re going to the second round and it’s one step closer to winning our section. One down, three to go. We know we got a tough team ahead of us. But I love my boys, we’ll always stick together through tough games like this. Every possession means something, we’ve got to be ready. Our job isn’t done, it’s just getting started.”
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