Monday, January 28, 2008

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Justin Maneri was dominant inside for Saddle Brook, which won its first Jambo game in over 20 years, 71-66, over Palisades Park.

PARAMUS -- With a lack of depth there was no way that Palisades Park, the next to last seed in the Bergen County Jamboree, could have pressed for 32 minutes against a team like No. 12 Saddle Brook. Pal Park would have gotten tired, it would have gotten in foul trouble and it might have gotten run right out of the gym against the Falcons and their difference maker, 6-7 center Justin Maneri.

But when it fell behind by 20 points 2:13 into the second half, Pal Park was forced into a corner and had no choice to press the action. And then the fun really began in Saddle Brook’s entertaining 71-66 win.

After Saddle Brook’s Anthony Gallo got all the way to the basket and scored to put his team up 43-23 with the first points of the third quarter, Pal Park went nuts from behind the three-point line, the only safe haven from Maneri, who was in complete control of the paint.

When Ariel Then hit a three-pointer to get Pal Park back within 17 points 2:28 into the third quarter it seemed like little more than a stat padder for the Tigers, who were still swimming upstream when Maneri converted for a 49-30 Saddle Brook lead 4:16 into the second half.

Ive Pavin's three third quarter 3-pointers kicked off Pal Park's comeback from 20 points down to with two points.

But the next 49 seconds turned a blowout into a nail biter. In less than a minute, Pal Park made three three-pointers -- one each by Adel Desic, Ive Pavin and Then -- on consecutive possessions, slapped on the pressure defense and got back in the game.

“We couldn’t put that pressure on in the beginning of the game because we would have gotten in foul trouble, which you saw because we were in it at the end,” said Pal Park head coach Mark Cieslak. “We had to kind of buy our time and try to keep it close, but they kind of went up more than we wanted them to and we had to go for broke. And how about the way my kids fought back? They showed me something.”

Pavin, who made three third quarter three pointers hit one of them with 1:55 to go in the third quarter to get the Tigers back to within single digits at 53-44 and hit another as part of the 8-2 run that the Tigers closed the third quarter with to get back to within 53-49.

And all of a sudden Saddle Brook, which was on cruise control for the better part of the first half, was in a dogfight.

“We came out strong in the third [quarter] and I thought we kind of withstood that first push out of the locker room, but in the second half of the quarter they caught fire,” said Saddle Brook head coach Brian Gelenius. “They continued to score against us and then we got sloppy.”

Anthony Gallo scored all six of his points in the second half to help Saddle Brook hold off Pal Park's furious comeback.

Pal Park proceeded to close within two points on two occasions in the fourth quarter, the last time when Then’s steal and assist to Aman Kumar cut Saddle Brook’s lead to 60-58 with 3:50 to play in the game. When Saddle Brook coughed up the ball on its next possession when a traveling violation was called, Pal Park had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead as the crowd, swelled at that point as many had showed up to see the second game between Park Ridge and Wood-Ridge, was into it.

But the Tigers missed a shot and their shot to get even or go ahead and, after first round exits in each of the last two seasons, Saddle Brook pulled it together in time to advance to the Round of 16. Marc Bonaventure hit a free throw and Maneri hit two more to push the SB lead back up to 63-58 with 2:45 to play in the game and maintained the advantage from the free throw line down the stretch.

“They must have hit five or six three pointers in the third quarter and they were contested three-pointers to. They just shot excellent in the second half and there wasn’t much we could do about it,” said Maneri, who made all four of his free throws in the final three minutes to help close out the win. “But this is huge. I think it is our first Jamboree win in like 20 years or something like that. We’ve never been a real basketball school except for the past four years and we haven’t been able to capture a win in the Jamboree. So to do it for the first time feels awesome.”

Pal Park's John Lee Diaz shared team-high honors with 16 points.

Pal Park got back into the game by hitting the open man and its final stat line bears that out. The Tigers put four players in double figures and another, Desic, had nine points. Diaz and Pavin shared team-high honors with 16 points each, Then finished with 12 points and Kumar added 11.

Maneri was the man for Saddle Brook as his 28 points came on 10 field goals and a 7 for 9 day on the free throw line. He also grabbed 13 rebounds and had three blocked shots. Mike DeVito finished with 8 points, Bonaventure and Mark Kirwan each had 7 points, Steve Beauhamais and Gallo had 6 points a piece and Frank Daniello added 5 for the Falcons, the No. 12 seed who was supposed to play No. 5 Hackensack in the Round of 16 before a conflict switched their next opponent to Pascack Hills.

“We’ve scrimmaged [Pascack Hills] the last few years. We’ve seen ‘em, my kids are familiar with them, and they are back to back state champions in [Group] 1 and 2,” said Gelenius. “We have our work cut out for us but I think having played them will take a little of the edge off.”

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