February
14, 2005
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PARAMUS -- It would come down to who was going to step up and take charge. Nick Vier did just that for Bergen Catholic, but it was Rich Grant off the bench that made all the difference for Paramus Catholic. He dropped in 10 first half points, keeping the Paladins out in front with a big second quarter, then watched his teammates break it open in the fourth quarter as the Paladins moved into the semifinals next Friday with a 66-49 victory.
The third-seeded Paladins (16-3) will now face NNJIL rival Don Bosco, the second seed, in the 6:00 p.m. opener at the Rothman Center. The two teams have not met in the regular season to date.
Looking to combat the Paladin speed that took them out of their previous contest on Thursday, Bergen Catholic (12-8) took a more methodical approach, looking to move the ball around in the halfcourt offense. What it also got was a very hot Vier, who scored all 10 Crusader points in the first quarter, including a pair of three-point field goals on the way to a 24-point night.
"The difference between this game and the last one was two things," PC head coach Tony Campbell assessed. "The first was the venue, with the atmosphere of the county tournament and the big crowd. The second was Nick Vier. I don't know where he was the other night, but we knew where he was tonight."
PC owned a 12-10 lead after the opening period and extended that to 20-10, using a 10-0 run over 7:50 spanning the first two quarters. While the Crusaders couldn't find a point, the Paladins were not able to fully exploit the dry spell.
"They did a good job of switching up the zone and the triangle (defenses)," Campbell said. "We had to make some adjustments to it."
"We decided to go a little smaller so we could match up better in the man-to-man," Campbell said of Grant's insertion. "He was the X-factor. He was the guy who came into the game and made the difference."
The only one who seemed unfazed was Grant, who had five of the points in the streak and also added five more in the late stages of the second quarter. He also added five rebounds and a steal.
The Crusaders stayed stubborn, using a Sean Callandrillo three-point field goal to beak the drought and got within 20-17 before heading off the floor at the half on the short end of a 27-21 score.
"We're never pleased being down," BC head coach Joe Dionisio said. "We didn't come here to stay close, and we had our chances in the fourth quarter, but a couple of easy baskets hurt us."
The Paladins came out and made two steals and baskets to start the third quarter, the first a steal and hoop by Terrell McKenzie and the second a steal by Guzman that turned into another McKenzie bucket. Once again, Vier kept the Crusaders in it, hitting back-to-back threes to get Bergen Catholic within 33-31 with 4:40 to go.
Virgil Gray, saddled with foul trouble and scoreless in the first half, dropped in a pair of inside baskets, the last with 1:42 to go that cut RC's lead to 38-37 with 1:42 to go. McKenzie came right back and hit a jumper in the lane, igniting a 9-0 run that carried over into the fourth quarter that finally took the energy out of the Crusaders.
"Once hey had that early run in the fourth quarter, that was it," Dionisio added.
Guzman scored twice off layups and Rich Posluszny added a banker that pushed the lead to 47-37 with 5:24 left. The Paladins stretched it out from there, shooting 11 of 12 from the floor in the fourth quarter.
Paramus Catholic finished the game 28 of 52 from the floor and 7 of 16 at the free throw line, with Lawrence Williams scoring 17 points, Guzman 13 and McKenzie 10. Grant totaled eight rebounds, and McKenzie added five assists.
Vier was 8 of 15 shooting, part of BC's 19 of 42 from the floor. They were 5 of 9 at the free throw line. Gray had 11 points and Pete Hoffman contributed four assists.
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