Thursday, February 21, 2008

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

HACKENSACK – When Don Bosco leading scorer Kyle Smyth limped into the locker room holding crutches before last night’s Bergen County Jamboree final against Hackensack, his backcourt mates Georgio Milligan and A.J. LoRusso knew they had to slack to pick up whether or not Smyth took the floor.

Smyth did toss away the crutches and played most of the game, but was less than 100-percent. Milligan and LoRusso, on the other hand, were obviously at full strength. They were playing for their place in Bergen County history and turned in their best performances of the season in the process.

Milligan earned MVP honors with a game-high 23 points. LoRusso hit two jumpers in a crucial 12-0 second-quarter run as second-seeded Don Bosco Prep became the first team to win three consecutive Bergen County Jamboree titles since Hackensack did it between 1952-54 with a 73-58 triumph over the fifth-seeded Comets.

“The pressure was off of us once Kyle (Smyth) came out of the locker room,” said Georgio Milligan. “He was going to try and rest up for states, but we were glad to see him out there. I’m happy A.J was knocking them down. When he’s hitting and I’m hitting, it opens up the inside and we’re tough to stop.”

Through the first quarter-and-a-half, the Comets were able to control the tempo and make it a fast-paced battle. Milligan hit his first four shots and scored 11 first-quarter points, but Hackensack’s Junior Solis, who also got off a good start, matched him on the other end. His lay-up with 30 seconds left in the period gave Hackensack a 19-17 after the first quarter.

“To let up (19) points in a quarter is completely unacceptable to us,” said Don Bosco head coach Kevin Diverio. “We weren’t going to win a game where they were scoring close to 80 points. The beginning of the second quarter, we were able to get some easy baskets. We pressed them and it slowed their offense down. I’m really happy with what we did on the glass and we did a good job taking care of the ball.”

With Smyth garnering defensive attention as he always does and Milligan getting off to a torrid start, it forced the Hackensack defense to shift and give LoRusso just enough time to get off some open shots.

Alexander DiSanzo started off the biggest run of the game with a breakaway two-handed dunk and LoRusso added a pair of jumpers during the 12-0 run, which broke open a tie game and put Don Bosco ahead 34-22. Overall, LoRusso scored 10 points in the second period, hitting 5 of 6 from the field as the Ironmen grabbed a comfortable 39-26 lead at the half.

“After that run, it was too much of an uphill battle,” said Hackensack head coach Scooter Whiting. “I think we got too excited at times and we got ahead of ourselves. I thought we played pretty good defense, LoRusso just made some shots. (Don Bosco) is one of those teams that it’s really hard to come back on once they get a big lead.”

After a basket by Hackensack’s Keon Williams to open the second half, the Ironmen responded with six straight points to take a 17-point lead. Hackensack sensed that it needed to make a run and crashed the glass effectively for the rest of the quarter.

The Comets cut it down to nine and had a chance to cut it even further with less than a minute to play in the third quarter, but they missed the front end of a one-and-one and DiSanzo pulled down the rebound. Brandan Beckford scored on the other end to not only push the lead back up to double-digits.

“We have been getting a lot of help from our bench this season and we did again tonight,” said LoRusso. “They gave our guys a breather and they were giving us a boost by playing so well. We knew we had to focus on defense and take care of the ball. We wanted to make history tonight and we couldn’t let anyone take that from us.”

Don Bosco finished off the game at the foul line, where it is as good as anyone in the county as a team. The Ironmen shot a very respectable 29 of 37 (78.4%) from the charity stripe in retaining their Jambo title for the third straight year.

Milligan was efficient with his play on both ends of the floor for Don Bosco. The senior guard was 7 of 9 from the floor and 9 of 11 from the foul line for his game-high 23 points. He also had eight rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Beckford had a fantastic game off the bench with 16 points, six rebounds, and four steals. LoRusso scored 14 points and DiSanzo had 11 points and eight boards. Smyth added seven points, four assists, four rebounds, and two steals.

Williams was the only player on either team to record a double-double, leading Hackensack with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Ricky Carroll added 14 points, while Solis and Romaine Wall each added 12.

As they wrapped up the Jambo title with relative ease, the Ironmen did it with one of the most dominant tournaments in recent memory. They won all four of their Jambo games by at least 15 points, by a total of 76 points for an average win of 19 points.

The victory puts Don Bosco in sole possession of second place in number of Jambo titles with eight, one ahead of Teaneck (7) and one behind Hackensack (9). With that, their place as a dynasty in Bergen County history has been secured.

“Hackensack’s program is clearly back with the way they’ve played this season and getting to the Jambo final,” added Diverio. “If we can be mentioned up there in the same breath with Hackensack as a program, I’m happy with that.”

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