Saturday, January 24, 2015

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Anas Zubi scored a team-high 22 points and had the assist on the game-winning bucket for Ridgefield, which erased a double-digit deficit in a 66-63 win at Pal Park on Friday night.

PALISADES PARK – Ridgefield's rotation goes about seven deep, so full court pressure for 32 minutes is not a strategy that the Royals can afford to pursue. But when the situation calls for it like it did on Friday night facing a double digit second half deficit it a rocking gym in Palisades Park, Ridgefield can create chaos when it needs to.

“We only press when we have to. We had to do it against Harrison yesterday when we were down 18 and almost came back to win and we had to do it tonight,” said Ridgefield head coach James Casciano. “Tonight it was out of desperation. We had to do it to get back in the game and it worked out for us.”

Almost buried early by an avalanche of Pal Park three-pointers, down by as many as 14 points late in the third quarter and by nine with with 5:48 left in the game, Ridgefield turned up the pressure and turned the game around. A 10-0 run capped that included a Kevin Stuckey 3-pointer, and six straight points by Anas Zubi pushed the Royals in front with three-and-a-half minutes to play and Stuckey came through again just over a minute later to choke off Pal Park's attempt to return serve.

Just 12 seconds after Christian Digby hit a 3 to pull the home team back even with 2:12 to play in the game, Stuckey buried his own 3 from the corner to put the Royals finally in front for good in a 66-63 victory that changed the fortunes of both teams.

Using his killer midrange game, Pal Park's Will Taylor scored a game-high 31 points.

“Everything started off with the press. That is how we came back and then I got a dish from by senior captain, Anas [Zubi], and I was wide open in the corner,” said Stuckey. “ I had to hit it, it was a wide open shot and, to be honest, I knew that once we got that lead we were going to keep it. Everything had shifted towards us right there.”

Ridgefield lost to Harrison on Thursday and that pushed it a game behind Dwight-Englewood in the league standings. Another loss on Friday would have meant a two-game deficit against the Bulldogs, which would have taken the shine off the showdown coming up this week between the two teams. For Pal Park, it was a tough loss to swallow as a win would have put it in the Bergen County Jamboree with the required .650 winning percentage. Now to get there the Tigers will have to beat Cresskill, one of the best Group 1 teams in the state, on Tuesday.

“If we can beat Cresskill, maybe we belong in the Jamboree. It's a good measuring stick, Said Pal park head coach John Wiseman. “If we win we are in. If we lose then maybe we don't deserve to be there.”

The way Pal Park started out it looked like there was no denying that they should be included in Bergen County's premier event. After spotting Ridgefield five points to start the game, the Tigers, and especially junior Kevin Taylor, put on a shooting clinic that would be hard to do against no defense, let alone that of a rival with the tin roof holding in the sound to the tune of just above deafening.

Ridgefield's Sammy Cecik was a perfect 6 of 6 from the free throw line on his way to 14 points.

Pal Park hit six straight shots, four of them from distance and three of them right in the span of just 51 seconds. Twice from straight on at the top of the key and then with one just a step or two to the left, Taylor buried three straight 3s. Will Taylor's foul line jumper, Carl DeRosiers' fastbreak hoop and Michael Chelo's triple with 2:00 left in the first quarter made up the rest of the run and took Pal Park from down 5-0 to up 16-5 and it took all of 2:24 of game clock.

Pal Park held off a couple of Ridgefield runs and managed the lead well into the second half. The Tigers led 18-11 after the first quarter, 33-22 at the break and then by 48-34 when Will Taylor scored four straight points, the last two while filling the lane on a fastbreak with 2:16 left in the third quarter.

Ridgefield was still down by eight a minute into the fourth quarter but one play in particular showed that the Royals were up to the challenge. On one offensive possession, the Royals grabbed four offensive rebounds and with the fifth shot of the sequence, Stuckey sliced the disorganized tangle in the lane and made a layup that made it 52-46 with 6:53 to play and, at that point, the comeback was officially on.

Sammy Cekic flipped in a lay-up and made two free throws and Stuckey made a 3 from his favorite spot in the corner to kick off an 11-0 run. Zubi had the final four points of the spurt and when it was over Ridgefield had a 58-56 lead, its first since 5-2, with 3:33 to play.

This matchup between two Group 1 schools located about a mile apart used to be a twice-a-year event, but since league realignment, this is now a one-off independent matchup as the coaches were wise enough to keep it alive even after the NJSIAA, in all its wisdom, tried to end it. It would have been a real shame if this game never happened as Ridgefield's away section encompassed two full sets of bleachers and Pal Park supporters filled the other two almost completely.

Pal Park's Kevin Taylor made four first quarter 3-pointers, three of them in the span of 51 seconds.

And it was an absolute madhouse down the stretch as Ridgefield's pressure took hold and Pal Park desperately tried to fend off the challenge and make the Jamboree.

“We knew how crazy this game was going to be with all of the people here and we knew what was at stake for both teams,” said Zubi, who shrugged off the late game pressure by making 3 of his 4 fourth quarter free throws and 10 of 12 in the game. “If they won the would have been in the Jambo, if not they were not going to be in the Jambo and that was our motivation.”

It was Zubi who drew the defense and then dished to Cekic for the bucket that made it 62-59 and Zubi who found Stuckey in the corner for the dagger right after Digby had tied the game.

Ridgefield (9-2) needed everybody it ran out there to help complete the comeback and they all responded. Zubi scored a team high 22 and Stuckey and Cekic (14 points) made it three starters in double figures. Those three players were also a combined 17 of 20 from the free throw line. Cekic was a perfect 6-for-6 and the Royals were 20 of 24 as a team. John Biggiani chipped in with 9 points and Justin Rivera, Henry Smalls and Louis Correa split Ridgefield's other six points evenly.

Pal Par was led by Will Taylor's game-high 31 with his mid-range jumper doing most of the damage. While many players are tempted to attack the basket or step back for 3s, Will Taylor is content to catch the ball in an open spot and take 10-15 foot jumpers, a shot which he has near perfected. After his Brilliant start in which he made four first quarter 3-pointers, Kevin Taylor finished with 13 points. Digby added 7, Chelo had 4 and DeRosiers and Christian Gomey split the Tigers' other four points.

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