Peyton Seals' 3-pointer 25 seconds into the game gave Ramapo the lead for good as it won its fifth straight state sectional title with 50-34 win over Northern Highlands in the North 1, Group 3 final.
FRANKLIN LAKES – North 1, Group 3 used to be one of the state’s most unpredictable brackets. In the 2010s six different programs won state sectional titles. Northern Valley/Old Tappan, Northern Valley/Demarest, Passaic Valley, Bergenfield and Ramapo all won championships around the Teaneck dynasty that won four.
Since the 2020s started, however, it has all been chalk.
With a 50-34 win over Northern Highlands in which it led from wire-to-wire, Ramapo won its fifth state sectional title in the last six years and their fifth in a row when 2021 is eliminated because COVID killed the state tournament. Every year since 2019, when the tournament has been played the Green Raiders have gotten at least as far as the Group 3 Final 4. Last year they won the outright Group 3 state championship and overall they have now won 10 straight state playoff games.
“It hasn’t set in yet because we still have two more games. We want to win those two games and then we can think about it,” said Ramapo senior Wyatt Eglinton Manner, who will play at Johns Hopkins University next year. “It’s been a great four years. I love playing with these guys and I think it shows in games like this, especially in the end. We had the poise to get it done.”
It showed in the beginning, too. Peyton Seals, the Princeton-bound senior point guard, hit a 3-pointer from the side 25 seconds into the game to open the scoring and give the Raiders the lead for good. From there it was a smothering defensive effort that propelled them into Wednesday’s Group 3 state semifinal where they will take on Colonia at Bloomfield High School.
Ramapo held Highlands to just four first half field goals, all of which came in the first quarter that ended with the Raiders up 14-10. Highlands mustered just two made free throws in four second quarter attempts and went into halftime trailing 21-12.
Junior point guard Lucas Dipasupil, who has led Highlands' resurgence. scored a team-high 13 points.
“That is not by chance. This group of seniors has been together for the last four years and so [the defense] has been learned over a lot of year. It takes a lot of trust, a lot of hard work and discipline and I thought we did a great job executing defensively,” said Nick Vier, who has been the Ramapo head coach for the last three section titles and was an assistant to Joe Sandberg for the other two. “I don’t know the true historical significance, but I know that this is special.”
Junior point guard, Lucas Dipasupil, has led the resurgence of Northern Highlands and he finished with a team high 13 points, but he had to work for every one of them, first against Eglinton Manner and then against Zach Schnorrbusch, a Division 1 football recruit who came off the bench for defensive purposes.
It was nothing fancy in the second half. Ramapo held the ball without stalling and played fast without hurrying. The Raiders got good shots and even if they did not make as high a percentage as maybe they would have liked, just about all of them came at the end of a quality possession where the ball moved and multiple players got touches.
“It was a fun game, a rivalry game and for us seniors it was our last game on this home court in front of our fans. We stuck to the game plan and got the win,” said Seals. “This is what we wanted, but it was not the ultimate goal. We are still focused on the next one.”
Seals hit a 3 with 5:30 left in the third quarter to make it 28-16 and a Charlie Wingfield free throw and a Chris Cervino bucket from the baseline to close the period assured the margin was still double digits at 31-21 going into the fourth quarter.
Ryan Goldman scored 6 points for Ramapo, which will play Colonia in the Group 3 semifinals on Wednesday in Bloomfield.
“Us three [Cervino, Seals and Eglinton Manner] have been on varsity since freshman year and we are all best friends, so to get this three-peat -- sophomore, junior and senior year – it just feels amazing,” said Cervino. “To get the win on our home court in our last home game feels nice.”
Cervino hit a 3 to open the fourth quarter and Highlands never got back to within single digits the rest of the way. He also set up Seals for the capper; a one-handed dunk with 2:03 to go that facilitated an emptying of the benches.
Northern Highlands finished the season with a 21-8 record that included a trip to the Bergen County Jamboree semifinals, where it pushed top-seeded and eventual champion Don Bosco Prep well into the second half after leading at halftime.
Dipasupil and Sawyer Chapler (10 points) finished in double figures to lead Highlands. Jeffery Weinberg scored all 7 of his points in the second half.
Seals (19 points) and Cervino (12) led the way for Ramapo. Ryan Goldman, who made all four of his free throw attempts, added 6 points and Eglinton Manner and Peter Keith each finished with 5. Wingfield had the other five points for Ramapo, which improved to 23-8 on the season heading into the Group 3 semifinals on Wednesday.
“We just have to stick to our game plan, play hard and get the job done,” said Cervino. “We are looking for that 2-peat state championship this year.”
FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM THIS EVENT PLEASE CLICK HERE. TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS STORY PLEASE VISIT 4-FeetGrafix.com.
