Tyson Van Pelt scored 6 of his 12 points in the final 2:29 of the game to lead 9th-seeded Mahwah to a 37-35 win on the road at 8th-seeded Mahwah..
LODI – The 8/9 game in a 16-team bracket is supposed to be a tightly contested first round matchup, but Wednesday night’s North 1, Group 2 state sectional tournament opener took that to a whole new level.
Neither team had more than a two-point lead in the first quarter and that came when Mahwah’s Brian Appiah opened the scoring with two free throws. The game’s largest lead came in the second quarter when Lodi opened the period with five straight points to go up 10-4. Three points was the largest lead of the third quarter and in the fourth, when there were four ties and two lead changes, it was the same.
Obviously every point was at a premium and the six scored by Mahwah’s Tyson Van Pelt in the final two-plus minutes of the game were the difference. His long jumper with 2:19 to go got the Thunderbirds to within one point. His 3-pointer from the top tied it 35 seconds later and his free throw with :02.3 remaining was the last point scored in ninth-seeded Mahwah’s 37-35 first round victory on the road at Lodi High School.
“It was a [heckuva] fourth quarter. We were down going into it neither team could put the ball in the basket consistently,” said Van Pelt. “I just kept shooting and I finally got a couple of them to drop.”
It was an offensive grind the whole way as Lodi could never string together enough made baskets to pull Mahwah out of its favored defense, an active zone that limited the touches of Lodi center Will Ndio. Lodi’s defense, the traditional man-to-man, was also effective and the result was a first half stalemate. Lodi made just five field goals through the first two quarters and Mahwah made only four plus five free throws that led to a 15-all halftime tie.
Will Ndio had a double-double (10 points, 12 boards) for Lodi, which finished its season with an 18-7 record.
“Our defense has been our calling card all year. We didn’t fold under pressure and we got stops,” said Mahwah head coach Mike Branagh. “First half their big guy [Ndio] got a few [points off the offensive glass] and that was a point of emphasis in the second half. We had to limit their second chance opportunities and we did a great job of it after halftime.”
The difference on the scoreboard was paper thin all night, especially after the intermission when there were four lead changes and eight ties and there was never more than a one-possession lead for either side. Matt Kennedy hit a 3 from the top of the key to give Lodi a 28-26 lead heading into the fourth quarter and the Rams led 30-28 with 4:41 to go after Ndio scored in the post off a feed from Muhsin Alsadi.
After struggling to make shots most of the way, both teams got hot at the same time as each scored on three straight possessions, answering each time down the floor.
Mahwah’s Charlie Sariti tied the game at 30 with a jumper from the top of the key before Alsadi pushed the Rams back in front with a 3-pointer from the wing. Van Pelt followed with his jumper that drew the T-Birds to within a point, 33-32, ahead of a Lodi jumper from the foul line that made it 35-32 with just under two minutes to play.
Van Pelt’s second clutch jumper, his triple for just to the right of straightaway, tied the game at 35 and then Lodi blinked. It’s empty possession gave Mahwah to chance to forge in front, which it did when Appiah went 1-for-2 from the line with 29 seconds left.
Brian Appiah scored 12 points for Mawhah, which will visit top-seeded Ramsey in the North 1, Group 2 quarterfinals.
After a time out and moving the ball around in search of a quality shot, Lodi settled for a rushed 3-pointer with 8 seconds to go and a tie up on the rebound gave the ball to the Mahwah. Van Pelt made one of the two ensuing free throws, which left Lodi trailed by a par with :02.3 left and with the ball to inbound from under its own basket. Rams head coach Nico Velez drew up a play that got Lodi a decent, but hurried look from the wing and it bounced off as the horn sounded.
Appiah and Van Pelt each scored 12 points to lead Mahwah, which improved to 15-12 on the season, a tripling of its win total from a year ago. Appiah went 8 of 10 from the free throw line and the T-Birds were a combined 9-for-11 from the stripe. Joey DeMarco scored all 5 of his points in the third quarter, Sariti made two field goals after halftime and Ben Tomascovic and Mikey Branagh split the other four points for Mahwah.
“They were locking me up a little bit and I was having trouble getting a shot off, so I knew I had to take the ball to the basket and try to get to the foul line,” said Appiah, who was 8 of 10 from the line in the game. “Everybody chipped in. On defense we got our rebounds, Tyson [Van Pelt] made some big shots, Charlie [Sariti] was playing good defense and we got the win.”
Ndio finished with a double-double (10 points, 12 rebounds) for Lodi, Matt Kennedy made three 3s to account for his 9 points, Jahquin Harrison had two first half 3-pointers on his way to 8 points and Alsadi also made two 3s for Lodi, which finished its season with an 18-7 record.
Mahwah is on to the quarterfinals where it will play its longtime rival and defending sectional champion Ramsey, the top seed that hammered No. 16 Sussex Tech, 66-33, on Thursday. Ramsey will be the obvious favorite in what should be a frenzied atmosphere between the two rival teams that share a border, but Mahwah did pull a regular season upset of the Rams and its playing with confidence right now.
“They are a great team, defensively they are really, really good and size-wise they are enormous; 6-5, 6-5, 6-6, but we beat them a couple of weeks ago and our kids know we can do it,” said Branagh. “Now it’s icing on the cake, gravy for us and we will see what we can do.”
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