Sunday, January 5, 2014

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Stefan Minic scored a game-high 20 points for Passaic Valley, which won for the first time at Wayne Valley in more than 20 years with a 62-52 win on Saturday afternoon.

WAYNE – In the 10 years that Rob Carcich has been the head boys basketball coach at Passaic Valley, the program has grown by leaps and bounds and there have been a slew of accomplishments achieved along the way. But there is one feat has eluded Carcich and the Hornets during his tenure: a road win against Big North Conference- Independence Division rival Wayne Valley. In fact, it has been over 20 years since any Passaic Valley boys basketball team has won at Wayne Valley.

If the Hornets going to achieve the lofty expectations they have put upon themselves, beating the Indians on their home floor on Saturday might serve as a solid first step.

Stefan Minic scored a game-high 20 points and fellow senior Zach Damiano scored all eight of his points in the final 90 seconds of the first quarter as Passaic Valley grabbed the lead and never gave it back in getting that elusive road win, 62-52, in Wayne.

Wayne Valley got off to a hot start with Liam Connors and Kyle Greve hitting consecutive threes to put Wayne Valley ahead, 12-9. With less than three minutes to play in the period, Damiano came in and gave the Hornets an immediate spark off the bench. He hit a pair of threes and scored on a driving layup in a closing 14-4 run to give Passaic Valley a nine-point lead that they stretched out to 11 by halftime, 36-25.

Kyle Greve's 3-pointer gave Wayne Valley its last lead of the game at 12-9.

“Zach is a two-year captain and he’s really our energy guy,” said Carcich. “He brings it every single game and our whole team feeds off of his effort. Usually he is a guy that settled us down and plays solid defense. Today we got great offensive production from him when we had to get a spark.”

Wayne Valley trailed from the two-minute mark in the first quarter on, but never let the game get out of hand; in large part due to the hot shooting of Greve. He hit a pair of off-balance threes to cut the lead to five with less than five minutes to play, forcing Carcich to call timeout. It was the respite the Hornets needed as, 25 seconds later, the lead was back up to double digits.

Coming right out of the timeout, Minic came off of a staggered screen to can a three-pointer. Freshman Tito Ramirez followed with another three on the next possession to bump the lead back up to 11. Wayne Valley clawed back to within six late and had two chances to cut the lead even further but both shots misfired. Passaic Valley’s Jihad Wright scored, then stole the ensuing inbounds pass and scored again to make it once again a double-digit lead and the Hornets were never threatened the rest of the way.

“During the timeout we called a play for Stef and we ran that play exactly how we wanted it to be run,” added Carcich. “Those threes by Stef and Tito were huge. That gave us some breathing room with only a few minutes left. For us, it comes down to shot selection and for the most part we took pretty good shots.”

Zach Damiano provided a spark off the bench for Passaic Valley, which improved to 3-1.

Minic led all players with 20 points and Ramirez sparkled in his first varsity start with 13 points for Passaic Valley (3-1). Wright and Shawn Ulrich added eight and seven points, respectively. Greve and Connors each scored 16 points for Wayne Valley (3-2). Forward Adam Brody added 10 points and sophomore point guard Nick Giuliano had nine.

The win starts a four-game stretch that will be a big measuring stick for Passaic Valley. The Hornets will play three-time defending Bergen County Jamboree champ Teaneck on Sunday night at 6:30 at Paterson Eastside before taking on the only other undefeated teams in the Big North-Independence Division, Wayne Hills and West Milford, on Tuesday and Thursday.

“We have a big stretch of games coming up and that starts with Teaneck,” said Damiano. “To beat those teams, we’ll need contributions from everyone. We have to clean up our mistakes though. We have to take care of the ball for eight minutes every quarter or a team like Teaneck will take advantage of that. Hopefully we can represent Passaic Valley basketball in a positive way and come out with a victory.”

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