Tuesday, February 26, 2008

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Wayne Cottle hit a three-pointer from the corner that ended a late North Bergen rally and gave Montclair the cushion it needed to close out a 75-55 win in the opening round of the North 1, Group 4 state sectional playoffs.

NORTH BERGEN -- It has just become official, North Bergen was back in the game. After trailing by as many as 21 points in the third quarter and by 14 heading in the fourth, the Bruins made a bid to get back in Monday night's matchup against Montclair in the opening round of the North 1, Group 4 state sectional playoffs. When North Bergen ripped off a 10-1 run to start the final quarter, it was a ballgame again and Montclair needed to find an answer.

Enter Wayne Cottle. Twenty-seven seconds after Lazaro Rivero's jumper from the corner brought North Bergen to within five points 1:21 into the fourth quarter, Cottle shook free in the corner in Montclair's offensive end and drilled the biggest shot of the night. His three-pointer put an end to North Bergen's comeback hopes as it kicked off a 10-0 run that Montclair used to restore order in a 75-55 win.

Montclair, the No. 10 seed, earns a shot at No. 2 East Orange in the North 1, Group 4 quarterfinals while North Bergen saw its season come to an end with an 11-11 record.

"It was hectic and we needed [that shot] because they were rallying and that three-pointer pushed them back," said Cottle, part of Montclair's four-guard starting lineup. "That three was big because it turned everything around. It gave us our moral back and our confidence back."

North Bergen sophomore Noel Allen scored a game-high 22 points and added 12 rebounds.

Montclair was certainly not wanting for confidence in the early going as the Mounties came out firing and nearly had North Bergen buried by the end of the first quarter. The Bruins had their only leads at 2-0 and 4-2 and Montclair took control shortly thereafter. Tyler Jones' three-pointer 1:20 into the game gave the Mounties a 5-4 lead and they never again trailed.

Jones' jumper provided the first three points in a 15-2 run that ended with another Jones triple and a 17-6 Montclair lead just over four minutes into the game. The Mounties led 24-10 after the first quarter, 36-22 at halftime, 49-35 after three quarters and looked like it was on the verge of locking up the win if it had not already done so.

But just 1:39 later, Montclair was scrambling just to stay in front as it succumbed to North Bergen's full court pressure and the Bruins' hottest stretch of field goal shooting. Also, Montclair was in some foul trouble and was caught in that kind of no-man's land between keeping its foot on the gas and backing off, trying to take time off the clock with each possession.

"That happens sometimes and I feel like if we would our free throws it never would have come to that," said Montclair head coach Major Jennings, whose team was a collective 23 of 36 from the free throw line and only 15 of 25 in the second half. "We also missed some shots that we normally would make, layup type shots, and to North Bergen's credit they took full advantage of that and then we got a little tentative."

Korey Fisher scored 20 points for Montclair, the No. 10 seed that will visit No. 2 East Orange in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

And North Bergen, playing without Bernie Costanos who was ruled ineligible a few weeks ago and two other contributors for unspecified reasons, did pounce when given an opening. The Bruins scored 10 of the first 11 points of the fourth quarter to give themselves a chance.

"We got back in the game at 50-45 and at that point you try to make the decision to keep pressing or maybe trying to slow it down and work something," said North Bergen head coach Kevin Bianco. "We took a shot. We figured our pressure got us back in the game and we continued with it. Unfortunately, [Cottle] knocked down a big three then we came back down and had a turnover and on two possessions in a row they got offensive rebounds off a missed free throw."

That was exactly what happened and as quickly as North Bergen had drawn within five points; it was down 15 again when James Pitts scored on the fastbreak, was fouled and made the free throw. That gave Montclair a 60-45 lead with 5:04 to go in the game.

From there it was a free throw shooting contest and the Mounties made just enough to maintain their cushion and earn a spot in the quarterfinals in another game in which they will be an underdog playing on the road.

Mike Mentor battling inside for North Bergen, which finished its season with an 11-11 record.

"We are scrappy and we have big hearts and we have been in most of our games," said Cottle. "We are seeded very low but we are very tough. We are one of the underdog teams because people look at our size and think that Montclair is going to be an easy win, but when they see us they should know that Montclair is a tough team, that we don't give up until the final buzzer and we want to show every team what we are made of."

Montclair is also a balanced team as Cottle and Korey Fisher scored 20 points apiece and Pitts and Jones each added 15 points. With starting center Travis Lane in foul trouble most of the night, the Mounties got production off the bench from Spencer Grayson (3 points) and McKenzie Miller (2 points, 6 rebounds).

Montclair upped its record to 15-11 on the season, a ledger forged by fire during a grueling NNJIL schedule that puts every team that plays it through the wringer, so much so that state tournament games on the road in hostile gyms in one-and-done situations are almost a relief.

"The NNJIL is such a grind every single game. People outside our conference, they have no clue. Out of 17 teams we had 13 teams qualify for the states," said Jennings. "We lost two [games] in overtime, one in double overtime. We've won two in overtime in our conference, we won another five [games] by four or less [points], we lost another five by four or less and then in the [Essex] County tournament we have to play Seton Hall Prep. So I have to be honest with you, our first round state games have been a relief compared to what we have to deal with in the NNJIL."

McKenzie Miller pulling down a rebound for Montclair, which improved to 15-11 on the season.

North Bergen's league is no cakewalk either as the HCIAA-Coviello Division was a balanced as it has ever been with quality teams top to bottom. The Bruins finished with a .500 record despite losing some quality players along the way that hurt not only their starting five, but also their depth, but they also may have caught a glimpse of what the future holds in Monday's loss.

Noel Allen, the Bruins' sophomore center, played maybe his best game of the season against Montclair and finished with a double-double, 12 rebounds to go along with a game-high 22 points.

Allen was the only Bruin to finish in double digits as Rivero added nine points off the bench, Mike Mentor and Xavier Mendez each added 6 points and David Abreu and Thomas Guaschino pitched in with three apiece. Danny Abreu made two free throws as part of the Bruins 15 of 30 overall effort from the charity stripe.

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