January
24, 2007
ELMWOOD PARK – This season has been full of surprises for both the Elmwood Park and Paterson Catholic boys basketball teams. Elmwood Park was expected to be good, but few could have guessed it would be one of four remaining unbeatens in North Jersey. On the flip side, Paterson Catholic has had to battle through injuries and one of the state’s toughest schedules.
When the two teams clashed on Tuesday night in a B-PSL showdown, both showed they had plenty of talent. But as the game wore on, the game came down to two seniors determined to earn a measure of respect.
EP guard Eli Tillerson lit up the scoreboard all night and tied the game inside the final two minutes, but it was Paterson Catholic point guard Jare Adams that ensured his team would walk off the court with a victory. He drained seven three-point shots, but it was a conventional three-point play that gave the Cougars the lead for good.
Adams got fouled on a transition lay-up and hit a free throw with 40 seconds left that was the difference as Paterson Catholic knocked the Crusaders from the unbeaten ranks with a thrilling 77-73 victory.
“This is a big win because of the way we kept our composure down the stretch,” said Paterson Catholic head coach Damon Wright. “To come into a packed gym against an undefeated team and come out with a win shows how calm we stayed under the pressure. Jare (Adams) hit a lot of big shots for us and really carried us throughout the second half.”
Coming off an upset loss to Glen Rock, its first in the first in its on-again, off-again association with B-PSL during this decade, Paterson Catholic came out strong over the game’s first 12 minutes. This was largely due to the play of 6-8 center Matt Washington. He hit his first four shots from the field, which helped Adams get some breathing room from beyond the arc.
“Matt got going in the first quarter and I thought that was the key to the whole game,” said Adams. “Their defense had to pay attention to him, which opened up our whole offense from the perimeter.”
Adams drilled a three-pointer and Washington hit on a reverse lay-up to give the Cougars their largest lead, 28-16. The Crusaders struggled mightily all night on their three-point shots, so they turned to Tillerson and he single-handedly got them back in the game. He scored 11 points during a 19-9 run to end the half as the teams went into the locker room tied at 37.
“Tillerson can flat out play, no question about it,” added Wright. “I read about him today and I knew he was pretty good. But I didn’t know how explosive he was. He proved to me and to the rest of us that he is for real. We couldn’t stop him from getting to the basket.”
But on the final play of the half, Adams and Elmwood Park’s Sean Rothenberger went for a loose ball and collided. Rothenberger was hit with an elbow and immediately started bleeding from the back of the head and was taken to the hospital for stitches. He did not return, which was a blow for the Crusaders, who were getting steady play from their senior point guard.
The Cougars were like a reeling boxer that was getting beaten badly at the end of a round before the bell rang. With one of the state’s top juniors, PC’s Jordan Theodore, out with an injury, the Cougars desperately needed a spark from the perimeter. But they showed their resiliency by coming out strong in the third quarter.
Adams handled that as he hit consecutive three-pointers to bump a five-point lead up to 11 late in the third quarter. Elmwood Park scored three quick baskets to get it back down to five before Adams hit an NBA-range triple at the buzzer to get the lead back up to eight going into the fourth quarter, 57-49.
Now it was the Crusaders who were
on the ropes, but Tillerson helped them fight their way out of trouble. He
hit one acrobatic shot after another to keep his team within striking distance.
EP was within four points with 4:26 to play when he took a hard tumble while
getting fouled on his way to the basket. He had to come out of the game and
by the time he went back in with two minutes later, Adams hit just his seventh
three-pointer of the night to push the lead back up to seven.
The Crusaders refused to fold and it was Tillerson’s turn to take the
reigns of the game of ‘can you top this?’ that he and Adams seemed
to be playing all game long. After Elmwood Park cut the lead to four, Adams
went to the line and hit one of two free throws. The second clanged off the
rim and Ryan Belisle pulled down the rebound. He fed Tillerson, who pumped-faked
to get a defender in the air and drew a foul from behind the three-point line.
He hit all three shots to tie the game at 70 with 1:28 to go.
Lance Brown put the Cougars back in front seconds later and it looked like Tillerson was about to respond, but his runner from just inside the foul line circled around the rim twice and spun out. Washington secured the rebound and threw an outlet pass to Fuquan Edwin, who found Adams streaking to the basket. The 5-9 senior connected on the lay-up as he got fouled and hit the foul shot to put the Cougars up five with 28 seconds to play.
Elmwood Park had one last shot when Jimmy Schmitt hit a tough three-pointer from the deep corner to trim the lead back down to two, 75-73, with 16 seconds left. The Crusaders were forced to foul on the inbounds, and Adams went to the line. With ice water in his veins, he hit both free throws to ice the game and provide the final margin.
“(Jordan) Theodore gets a lot of the press, but Jare Adams is a heck of a player,” said Elmwood Park head coach Pat Gabriele. “He can get to the basket, he can defend, and he can shoot the lights out. We’re disappointed with losing, but I’m not disappointed with the way we played and how hard we fought. I hope we showed that we’re not just a good Group 1 team, but a good team in general.”
Adams netted a season-high 28 points for Paterson Catholic (10-5), including an eye-popping 7 of 9 from three-point range. Washington finished with 16 points and seven rebounds. Fuquan Edwin did a nice job stepping into the starting lineup for Theodore, recording a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds. Brown also had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Tillerson played brilliantly in a losing effort for Elmwood Park, which fell to 14-1. He scored a game-high 32 points, hitting 13 of his 22 shots from the floor. Belisle, a freshman, came off the bench to reach double-figures in both points and rebounds with 13 and 11, respectively.
While the loss to Glen Rock was a shocking on for the Cougars, Adams feels it mentally prepared them for this game and for the rest of the season.
“Losing to Glen Rock really opened our eyes and put our season in perspective for us,” added Adams. “It was a hard loss. It showed that if we don’t play our best that we could get beat by some of the teams in the league, which is something we haven’t had to worry about since I’ve been here. The adrenaline was there for us tonight and I felt in a rhythm right from the start.”
“Take nothing away from Elmwood Park, they kept coming at us and they are a very good team. Without Jordan (Theodore) in there, the rest of us just had to step up and raise our game to a higher level. I think the loss the Glen Rock could eventually be a good thing for us and I think this win will get us back on track.”
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