December
28, 2005
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| Senior Mark Schroback scored half of Hasbrouck Heights' points, including the last two with 38 seconds to play that gave the Aviators a 34-32 win over New Milford in the Group 1 Holiday Festival. | |
NEW MILFORD -- Had a game like the one that Hasbrouck Heights found itself in on Tuesday night taken place in either of the last two seasons, it would almost certainly have ended as just another knot in a string of tough losses for the Aviators. Having won just six games combined over the last two years, Heights was not well versed in the art of pulling out wins in the fourth quarter.
But in the semifinals of the Group 1 Holiday Festival on Tuesday night against host New Milford, Heights showed signs of turning the corner. Leading by two when the fourth quarter began, the Aviators held on to win by the same margin, pulling out a 34-32 victory that evened their record at 2-2 on the season.
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| Rich Bautista had the last shot of the game, a half-court heave that nearly gave New Milford the win. |
“It was a good win, but we are still a scary bunch. We missed a couple of layups that could have made it a little easier and we left their only three-point threat alone and he hit one to tie it,” said Heights head coach Bob Ciccone. “But that is part of learning how to win games and hopefully we are starting to turn it around.”
Leading 26-24 after three quarters Heights pushed its advantage to six early in the fourth when Mark Schroback dribbled through the New Milford (1-3) press and found Tim Thorne all alone for a layup and Schroback hit an 18 foot jumper from the top of the key. The four straight points gave Heights a 30-24 lead with 5:07 to play.
New Milford answered with a jumper by Todd Crispino and a three-pointer that Rich Bautista hit from the corner with a hand in his face to bring the Knights back to within a point with 3:12 to go. The teams then traded turnovers before Schroback again dribbled through the pressure and found Adam Atoot alone for a layup and a three-point Heights edge.
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| Tim Thorne made big basket for Heights early in the fourth quarter. |
But just eight seconds later, New Milford’s Dave Hellriegel ran his defender through a couple of screens and got free for a three-pointer that tied the game at 32 with 1:33 to go.
With less than 40 seconds to go, Schroback brought the ball into the front court, pulled up inside the free throw circle and buried the jumper that stood up as the game-winning basket, but the win wasn’t sealed just yet.
After a New Milford miss, Schroback went to the line for a 1-and-1, but missed the front end with four seconds left. Bautista got the rebound, took two dribbles and was just shy of the midcourt line when he heaved a prayer that was almost answered. His desperation three hit the rim before bouncing off.
“Last year or the year before this is probably a game we would have lost, but we sucked it up today and got through it,” said Schroback, a senior who scored half of his team’s points (17) and was the only player on either side to finish in double digits. “Both teams made mistakes at the end, but we were able to hold on and that is a good sign for us.”
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| Evan Eagleson lead New Milford with 8 points. |
Schroback had five assists to go along with his game-high 17 points. Atoot and Mike DeSimone, both juniors, had six points each for the Aviators while Thorne finished with four. Evan Eagleson led New Milford with eight points, Bautista had seven, Matt Norton had six and Crispino had two field goals before fouling out with 1:03 to go.
Heights will take on Emerson, a 45-37 winner over Lyndhurst in the opening game of the tournament, in the championship game on Thursday night.
“Hopefully we can build off of this. Two years ago they were 5-and-whatever, last year we were 1-21, but we feel like we are going to be better,” said Ciccone, who is in the second year of his second stint as the Heights head coach. “At this point for us it is about building the confidence to win close games and this is a step in the right direction.”
FOR MORE PHOTOS OF THIS GAME OR TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS GAME STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com.
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