Wednesday, February 3, 2010

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Jonathan Blue scored 15 of his game-high 18 points after halftime as Teaneck overcame a slow start and DePaul, 60-52, in an NJTCC matchup on Tuesday night in Teaneck.

TEANECK -- Having not played a game since losing to St. Joseph last Thursday night and losing the No. 1 seed in the Bergen County Jamboree in the process, the Teaneck boys basketball team was itching to get back on the court. But when they got there on Tuesday night against DePaul, they ran into a funky zone defense, some foul trouble and an early deficit.

The Highwaymen had 11 of the game’s first 14 points scored against them and saw leading scorer Jonathan Blue pick up his second foul on the Matt Miller and-one that gave DePaul an eight-point lead just 3:16 into the game.

“We made some bad decisions in the first half. We didn’t ball fake, we were just throwing the ball against their zone and they confused us a little bit,” said Teaneck head coach Curtis March. “I told our guys that every team that scouts us is going to play us zone, so get used to it. Settle down and be patient.”

Matt Miller's three-point play with 5:09 left to play brought DePaul back to within 47-45.

After settling in, Teaneck took a couple of shots at a blowout, but then had to hold on down the stretch of a 60-52 win against a resilient DePaul team that refused to go quietly.

Teaneck had rebounded from its slow start to grab a one-point lead by the end of the first quarter. Two straight hoops by Chris Jones, a layup off the hard work of Owen Barnes, who stepped through a well-sprung trap in the corner, and a three-pointer from the baseline gave the Highwaymen a 17-16 advantage. They opened the second quarter with a 12-2 run, held DePaul to just five points in the second stanza and threatened to pull away for the first time.

“We are not big and we are not as physical as they are inside. Their guards put a lot of pressure on our guards and we got beat up pretty well,” said DePaul head coach Bart Fazio, whose team was down by as many as 13 points early in the third quarter. “But we kept fighting and we got to within one in the third quarter and tied it in the fourth. We just gave up too many easy baskets each time we got close.”

Trailing 36-23 2:45 into the second half, DePaul responded with a 10-1 run to get back in it and then got two free throws from Wally Sajimi, a Teaneck native, and a coast-to-coast layup that turned into a three-point play for Josh Marquez that drew the Spartans to within39-38 with 1:24 left in the third quarter.

Owen Barnes was solid in handling and distributing the ball for Teaneck.

But that was when Blue, who played just 3:26 of the first half and had just five points to that juncture of the game, finally got going. He took the ball hard to the basket, was fouled and made both free throws and then rushed home a missed shot just before the third quarter buzzer to give Teaneck a 43-38 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

“Coach told me to go to the basket. My jumpshot wasn’t falling to I had to get to the basket and make shots that way or get fouled,” said Blue, a senior. “Luckily I was able to make my free throws and get myself going because this was a big game for us. DePaul is a good team and we knew they were going to be in it the whole way.”

Blue, who scored 13 of his game-high 18 points in the final 8:31 of the game, made both ends of a one-and-one 51 seconds into the fourth quarter to give Teaneck a 47-40 lead, but again DePaul got off the deck. Two free throws by Mike Minarik, a three-point play by Matt Miller and drive to the basket by Davon Jacobs made up the 7-0 run that brought the Spartans back even with 4:33 to play.

That was when Teaneck turned to Blue and he responded with five straight points, the last of which came on a fastbreak dunk off of DeQuan Russ’ steal and Anthony Upshaw’s assist. Russ then hit a floater in the lane, Kyle Steinbergin made two free throws and Blue scored inside off an assist from Owen Barnes to finally put the game away.

Davon Jacobs led DePaul with 14 points.

It was Teaneck’s first time back on the floor since a loss last Thursday to St. Joseph that likely coast the Highwaymen the top seed in the Bergen County Jamboree, which opened play with first round games this past Sunday. Teaneck, the No. 2 seed, will play No. 18 Lodi in the Round of 16 this weekend and the defending champion is looking to make another run at the title, even if this year’s team is quite different from the 2009 title team that put the ball in the hands of graduated point guard Javae King-Gilchrist and let him create.

“This year we use a lot more players. We have a freshman, Joel Hernandez, who has played well for us and a lot of sophomores like Christopher Hargraves and Chris Jones that have stepped in,” said Steinbergin. “We have more depth than we did even last year when we won a county title, so we are confident going into this year’s tournament that we can do it again.”

Blue led Teaneck with 18 points, all but four of them coming in the second half, Steinbergin had 12 and Russ added 10 to make it three Highwaymen in double figures. Jones scored all of his 8 points in the second quarter, Travon King finished with 7 points and Barnes finished with 3, but made his mark on the game with 6 assists against just two turnovers at the point.

DeQuan Russ scored 10 points off the bench for Teaneck.

“What I like about coaching this team is that they share the ball very well and that is something we have to do to be successful,” said March, whose team improved to 13-4 on the season and sits in a tie for first place in its division of the NJTCC. “Javae [King-Gilchrist] dominated the ball last year and that worked well for that team, but now all five guys that we have on the floor at any time can and do handle the rock. We are quick. It is tough for teams to match up against us when we move the ball, which is what we did well every time we grabbed the lead tonight.”

Jacobs led DePaul with 14 points and Marquez added 11 off the bench. Miller and Mike Minarik each finished with 9, Sajimi had 5 points in his homecoming and Chris Moore and Keith Ford each made field goals for the Spartans, who fell to 12-3 on the season.

While Teaneck is one of two favorites to win a county title, DePaul is a part of the chase pack in Passaic County, which is the home of nationally ranked Paterson Catholic, the two-time defending champion.

“To me, I think this is a year where Paterson Catholic is head and shoulders above everyone else,” said Fazio, whose team is the No. 5 seed and will open against Manchester in the Round of 16 on Saturday. “On our side [of the bracket] I don’t think that any of us can really play with them, but if we get a shot at them we’ll come to play and do our best.”

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