Monday, January 5, 2008

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

TEANECK – The question surrounding the Hackensack boys basketball team coming into this season was how would it replace Keon Williams, a four-year starter who was dominant in the paint? The answer was supposed to come in the form of senior Junior Solice, a rugged player who led Hackensack to a section final last month on the football field.

But when Solice went down with a broken foot, the task fell to Terik Bridgeman and whether he could handle the load inside would go a long way to showing how well the Comets will fair until Solice returns to the lineup in two weeks.

So far, so good.

Bridgeman broke open a close game against Englewood by force. He converted a three-point play and had four dunks in the third quarter alone as Hackensack scored a whopping 35 points in the period. Bridgeman finished with career highs of 33 points, 16 rebounds, four blocks, three assists, and three steals as the Comets cracked the 100-point barrier with a 101-73 blowout win over the Maroon Raiders in the opening game of the New Years’ Jump-Off at Teaneck High School.

“I started feeling it and my teammates kept giving me the ball,” said Bridgeman. “I had to wait my turn and I knew I’d get some chances on the offensive end. We started really playing team defense in the second half and I just happened to be the guy that scored on fast breaks. With Junior (Solice) out, I have to pick up my game.”

Neither team provided much resistance defensively in the first quarter of a fast-paced game. Hackensack opened up a double-digit lead at 34-23 spurred by a one-handed putback dunk by Bright Mensah. Englewood clawed its way back into the game with a 28-footer at the buzzer by Dequan Simmons that cut Hackensack’s lead to just a basket, 40-38, at halftime.

“I thought we fought hard and made a nice run to end the half,” said Englewood head coach Gerald Akridge. “But we didn’t take care of the basketball and didn’t build on how well we fought in the first half. It’s a learning curve for these guys and this is just another lesson for us to learn from.”

Any momentum that the Maroon Raiders had going into the locker room never came back out. Hackensack repeatedly created turnovers in the second half with its full-court pressure, with Bridgeman being the beneficiary of the numerous fast-break opportunities. He scored nine straight points in just over a minute, the last two of which came on a dunk off of an off-the-backboard pass by Romaine Wall to push the lead up to 18 points, 62-44.

“We had to step it up in the second half and it always starts on defense,” said Wall. “We had to come out on fire right out of the locker room. We knew (Englewood) wanted to get up and down the floor. If we could force some turnovers we felt we could beat them at their game. It took us awhile, but we gained confidence once we got going in the second half.”

Hackensack never looked back and continued to pour it on throughout the second half, eventually breaking the 100-point mark for the first time in the history of the New Years’ Jump-Off on a layup in the final minute.

Bridgeman hit 12 of his 15 second-half shots and finished 16 of 23 from the field for Hackensack (2-2). Wall, Mensah, and Alex George added 19, 16, and 15 points, respectively. Mark Ellison had seven points, five assists, and five steals.

Zach Anderson led Englewood (1-3) with 28 points. Brian Cobb had 16 points and Simmons added 15.
The win may be an early turning point for Hackensack. With one of Bergen County’s top backcourts of Wall and George already intact and now with Bridgeman emerging as a force inside, the pieces look to be coming together when Solice returns.

“We maintained our intensity in the second half and that brought us to victory,” said Hackensack head coach Scooter Whiting. “Terik (Bridgeman) was great tonight. If he can play like this and Junior (Solice) comes back, we’ll have a solid inside presence. I think this is a huge win for us for our confidence. When Junior comes back and he is 100 percent, we’ll be rolling.”

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