Freddy Herbst scored a game-high 29 points in Dumont's 66-43 win over New Milford, the Huskies first Jambo win since 2002..

DUMONT – Dumont had not won a game in the Bergen County Jamboree since it did it in back to back seasons in 2001 and 2002. New Milford had not won in the Jambo since 2004, so when they met on Thursday night in the opening round one of those streaks would be consigned to history.

New Milford, which brought a nice crowd with it up New Milford Avenue and into Dumont High School and the Knights are playing with confidence after clinching their first league title since 2014 last week, got a 3-pointer from Amaurys Beato and a conventional 3-point play by Jake Johnson in the first two-plus minutes to take a pair of three-point leads, but Dumont has eight seniors on its roster that have been through more adverse situations than a quality opponent making a couple of early shots.

The Huskies stayed the course, which means they put the ball in the hands of senior 1,000-point scorer Freddy Herbst as many times as possible and the 6-foot-7 left-hander delivered. Herbst scored 12 points in a 15-0 Dumont run that turned the game in his team’s favor.

“When Freddy gets going it is amazing. He is a guy that can score whenever he wants and he can do it in a lot of different ways,” said Dumont point guard Derek Martoral, one of the Huskies’ five senior starters. “You get him the ball and he is going to do work for you. We have seen it so many times.

Herbst finished with a game-high 29 points in a 66-43 victory that has been a long time coming for Dumont in general and its head coach in particular. This is the fourth time in Kenny Martoral’s 13 seasons that the Huskies have qualified for the Jambo and the first time they have won their way through to the Round of 16.

Luis Placido scored 13 points for New Milford, which will play Old Tappan on Saturday in the BIT.

“When I got here all I heard about was Jamboree, Jamboree, Jamboree. That was always the goal and we have bad luck every time we have played in it. Last year it was Elmwood Park, who came in here and was phenomenal,” said Martoral. “Tonight it was exciting and I am happy for these kids. I have been with them since they were in third grade not as their head coach, but watching them grow up. My son is in there with them and it is special. To see them pull through with the first Jamboree win since [2002], we are proud, proud as a program and proud as a community.’

After Herbst did is damage in the middle part of the first quarter Jackson Angeles added a free throw, Gabe Victoria added a steal and a layup and Dino Vasilakis scored off the offensive glass to extend the run. Dumont (12-5) went from down 6-5 to a 25-8 lead after the opening period.

“This feels great. We came out and did what we had to do. We locked down on defense and that led to offense and fastbreaks,” said Vasilakis. “It was a slow start, but we picked it up and we were able to start turning them over and we got some easy baskets out of it.”

New Milford opened the second quarter with an 8-2 spurt to slide back to within 11 points, but there was just no answer for Herbst, who scored on a jumper from the baseline, a 3-pointer off the dribble and two free throws all in the 1:48 span inside the final two minutes of the first half. Dumont went into the locker room with a 37-19 lead and Herbst had more than half of those points (19).

“Everybody knows that Freddy is our offense. As Freddy goes we go and everybody else plays off of him. When he is doing well, teams have to double [team] him and that leaves other guys open,” said Martoral, the head coach. “In the games that we have won we have been able to have those other guys make those shots and on the nights we lose we just can’t hit shots. Tonight was a good night.”

Derek Martoral and Dumont will face No. 5 Northern Highlands in the Round of 16.

New Milford, which now drops into the Bergen Invitational Tournament where it will play Northern Valley/Old Tappan, was led by Johnson, who scored 11 of his team high 15 points in the first half. A man on an island, Johnson is the lone big surrounded by four guards in an offense that does not make paint touches a priority. A slugger inside, Johnson scored 8 of his first half points off the offensive glass. Luis Placido scored 11 of his 13 points after halftime, Daniel Lirazo shook off a rolled ankle to finish with 10 points and Beato had the other 5 for New Milford.

Dumont ran 10 players out there during the competitive portion of the game and eight of them scored. Dino Vasilakis was the secondary scorer with 14 points, his twin brother Nick kicked in 8 points and Victoria added five. Nick Giangregorio made two second half field goals, Ryan Gilmartin added a fourth quarter bucket and Jackson Angeles made a free throw for the 12th-seeded Huskies, who move on to the Round of 16 where they will play No. 5 Northern Highlands on Saturday in the Round of 16.

On a side note, Northern Highlands head coach Jonathan Schmitt did his student teaching under Kenny Martoral at North Bergen High School. It will be teacher versus mentor with a spot in the quarterfinals on the line.

“We’ve played them the last two years a bunch of times and we have split with them,” said Kenny Martoral. “That game is going to come down to who makes less mistakes and who makes more shots. They play hard, we play hard and I love their coach, so I am really looking forward to this one.”

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