January
24, 2007
WOOD-RIDGE – Tuesday night's meeting between St. Mary’s (Rutherford) and Wood-Ridge was one of the most highly anticipated games with the two budding rivals going head-to-head. Each up held up their ends of the bargain before the contest by winning their first eight league games, setting up a showdown with first place in the BCSL-National on the line.
As close as they were in the standings, they were equally as close on the court with neither team holding more than a five point-lead throughout regulation.
It was apparent right from the opening tap that the game was going to go down to the wire with Wood-Ridge’s Anthony Taborda and St. Mary’s Ryan Cuccinelli getting off early. But as they battled tooth-and-nail through four quarters and then into a fifth, Cuccinelli refused to let his team lose.
The senior forward outscored the Blue Devils by himself in the overtime period, netting eight of his career-high 33 points as St. Mary’s snapped Wood-Ridge’s 27-game in-league winning streak and grabbed first place in the BCSL-National Division with an 87-79 triumph.
“We lost to them last year in overtime, and we were going to do anything to make sure it didn’t happen again,” said Cuccinelli. “We wanted to finish out the first half of the league schedule strong and to do that, we had to go through Wood-Ridge.”
The Gaels took the lead in the opening seconds of the game and held it throughout most of the first half, thanks in large part to the play of Cuccinelli on the inside and Da’Mon Merkerson on the outside. They were able to hold the high-scoring Taborda in check through a quarter and a half, but Taborda can heat up quickly and proved it over the final four minutes of the second period.
The Gaels held a five-point lead with 1:15 remaining in the half when Taborda, who had 13 points over those final four minutes, clicked on back-to-back conventional three-point plays. Dave Hammer capped a 9-2 run with a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Blue Devils a 34-32 halftime lead.
“When (Taborda) came in as a freshman, I never even heard of him on any level,” said St. Mary’s (Ruth.) head coach Matt Stone. “To go from not being a factor on the varsity at all, to being one of the better players in the county is a testament to how hard he worked and how hard (Wood-Ridge head coach Ed) Rendzio worked to get him to where he is now as a player.”
The teams went back and forth throughout the second half, with neither team able to get an advantage and each having a secondary scoring option rising to the occasion. After just two points in the first half, Wood-Ridge guard Christian Muniz got hot in the second. However, he was matched by 6’4” Chris Slager, who was doing it both inside and outside for St. Mary's. Meanwhile, both Taborda and Cuccinelli continued their torrid play from the field.
“Ryan (Cuccinelli) couldn’t do it all by himself, so I had to step up,” said Slager.
The lead changed hands eight times in the fourth quarter when St. Mary’s looked like it had finally taken control when four straight Slager points gave them a three-point edge in the final minute. The Blue Devils cut the lead to one and had the ball with a chance to take the lead, but Merkerson came up with a big steal. He hit both ends of the ensuing one-and-one to put the Gaels up 73-70 with 30 seconds left.
Everyone in the packed gym thought that either Taborda or Muniz was going to take the game-tying three-point attempt. But in Rendzio’s offense, whoever has the open shot has the green light to take it. It was Hammer who got an open look and knocked down a long three, just a step inside the hash mark to knot the score at 73 with 16 seconds left.
“I just had a bad feeling that they were going to hit that shot,” said Cuccinelli. “They aren't the league champs for nothing. It seems like they always hit the big shot when they need to. We just had to stay focused and keep playing hard.”
St. Mary’s had two cracks from close range in the final four seconds to win the game, but Merkerson’s short jumper and Slager’s follow both clanked off the back iron and the teams headed towards overtime.
The Blue Devils had the home crowd and all the momentum on their side, yet Stone felt a quiet confidence about his team’s chances due to one particular play that was working for them all night.
“It was a zero-zero game, we just had to go all out for four minutes and see what happened,” said Stone. “We run an offense called ‘Power’, that was pretty effective throughout the game. It basically tries to isolate either (Ryan) Cuccinelli or (Chris) Slager on the block. Cuccinelli was hot all game and we wanted to make sure he had the ball in his hands in overtime.”
Cuccinelli only took three shots in the overtime, but he hit all of them. Two of them came in succession to turn a two-point lead into six with just over two minutes to play. The big shots the Blue Devils were hitting all night stopped falling and they ran out of legs and time. As a result, their 27-game winning streak in league play came to a close and St. Mary’s grabbed sole possession of first place.
“We just had no answers for Cuccinelli inside,” said Wood-Ridge head coach Ed Rendzio. “When we score (79) points, we expect to win. But they just kept pounding the ball inside and we couldn’t stop them when we needed it most. In the end, our guys just got worn out and our shots didn’t drop in the overtime. Now we have a little adversity to face and we’ll have to raise our game another notch.”
Cuccinelli was extremely efficient from the floor for St. Mary’s, hitting 15 of 23 shots for 33 points. He also added 10 rebounds and five assists. Slager added 19 points and nine boards and the Gaels also got a big game from Merkerson. He was strong in all facets, recording 14 points, six assists, five rebounds, and three steals. Bernardo Torres added 12 points, all coming after halftime.
Wood-Ridge was handed its first league loss in nearly two years, despite shooting 55-percent from the floor as a team. Taborda showed why he as dangerous as any guard in the county. The 5-6 senior torched the Gaels for 31 points and 12 rebounds, on 13 of 20 from the field. Muniz and Kenny Andrade added 17 and 12 points, respectively.
For the Gaels, this game was about getting over the hump and proving that they were not only in the same class as Wood-Ridge, but that they could beat them.
“After being so close against them so many times, it was real important for us to get this win,” added Cuccinelli. “I knew I was going to get the ball in overtime. I relied on my strength and good positioning to make sure I got the ball and scored once I got it. We wanted this win real bad and it’s great that we were able to find a way to do it.”
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