Monday, February 2, 2009

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Dan Singson scored 19 points for Becton, which knocked off Lodi, 77-72, in its first appearance in the Bergen County Jamboree in more than a decade.

ORADELL –After winning just four games last year, Becton Regional’s Dan Singson and Brendan Hunte were simply tired being kicked around. They talked about what it would be like to gain entry into to the prestigious Bergen County Jamboree and make a run there. It may have seemed laughable, but the duo convinced each other that this year's team could do it if they worked hard enough.

Becton did earn the school’s first Jambo berth in over a decade, but to get a win they had to get past a Lodi team that was in the exact same boat, not having been in the Jambo since 1997.

As Lodi slapped on a full-court press and quickly erased a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit, Singson and Hunte felt their dream slipping away from them. But this team had worked too hard and come too far to let that happen. Led by their senior captains, the Wildcats refused to accept losing as an outcome.

Each hit a pair of free-throws in the final two minutes to give Becton the lead for good. The Wildcats survived a magnificent performance from Lodi point guard Ersi Bice and held on for a 77-72 victory at Bergen Catholic High School.

Ersi Bice scored a game-high 31 points and had Lodi in the game right down to the final minute.

“We were in trouble, but we found a way to get out of it,” said Becton head coach Bill Schoener. “We have played a lot of these types of games this season so far within our league. So I think that helped us in the last two minutes where we didn’t get rattled because we’ve been there before.”

Becton made a concerted effort to get the ball inside early to Hunte, a 6-3 wide-bodied center. Hunte hit his first four shots to give Becton an eight-point lead. Lodi got a little momentum heading into the second quarter when Bice nailed an 25-foot shot to end the first quarter to trim the lead down to five, 21-16.

Becton was still in good shape until late in the half when Hunte picked up his third foul was forced to the bench. From there, the 5-4 Bice used his quickness off the dribble to keep Lodi within striking distance as the Rams trimmed the lead to a single basket by halftime, 34-32.

“(Bice) is a real good player and we couldn’t do much to stop him from getting to the hole or getting his shot off,” added Schoener. “I could see just from how he was playing early on that he was going to get his points. We just tried to limit him the best we could, but he is definitely one of the better players we’ve seen.”

Early in the third quarter, Geri Gjika scored on a lay-up to give Lodi its first lead. The Rams led by as many as four until Singson shot the Wildcats back into the lead. His three-pointer broke a 46-46 tie and he nailed another triple to double Becton’s lead and put them ahead 54-48 going into the fourth quarter.

Thaddeus Beall (10 points) was one of four Becton starters to finish in double digits.

The Wildcats moved the ball well in their half-court sets and got one layup after another. Hunte’s layup with just under five minutes to play gave the Wildcats their biggest lead of the game, 67-57. With time running out, Lodi head coach Rob Terhune decided to slap on the full-court press and it got the Rams right back in the game.

Bice forced a pair of turnovers and clicked on a jumper to trim the lead down to four. Gjika then scored on a layup and Bice followed with a steal and a layup to cap a 10-0 run and tie the game at 67. It was a crisis moment for the Wildcats and Lodi had all the momentum in its favor.

Hunte hit a pair of free-throws with 1:45 left and Singson followed on the Wildcats’ next possession with a layup to give Becton a 71-67 lead.

The Rams’ had four shots on its next trip down the floor, but did not get the ball in the basket on any of them. They were then forced to foul late and the Wildcats hit their free-throws. Viktor Gashi hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to three points with less than a minute to play, but the Rams did not get any closer as Becton put the game away at the charity stripe.

“We knew we had to dig deep at the end,” said Singson. “We were a little nervous when they tied the game, but we didn’t show it. The most important thing for us to was to stay confident and play smart. The game was happening so fast that we didn’t have time to think, we had to keep playing hard.”

Viktor Gashi hit a three-pointer to get Lodi to within three points with less than a minute to play.

Hunte was a beast inside leading Becton (13-2) with a monster performance. The senior finished with 25 points and 18 rebounds to lead four Becton players in double-digit scoring. Singson netted 19 points, while Drakkar Kelly and Thaddeus Bell added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Bice did a little bit of everything for Lodi (9-4). The junior point guard had an outstanding game with 31 points, six assists, four steals, and four rebounds. Gjika was the only other Ram to reach double-digits in scoring with 15 points.

After not even winning 13 games combined over the previous two seasons, the Wildcats find themselves in the Jambo’s Round of 16. While this was considered an upset as far the seeds go, the Wildcats will have to pull off the upset of all upsets if they are going to advance any further. Next Sunday, they will take on the three-time defending Jamboree champion and No. 2 seed Don Bosco Prep.

It’s a daunting task, but that the Wildcats are excited to take on.

“To be the best, you have to beat the best and they are the defending champs,” said Hunte. “This is big and we stayed calm down the stretch. Noone expected us to be here. I’m real excited to play Bosco, we all are. I wish we could get back out on the court and play the game right now.”

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