Monday, February 8, 2010

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Mark Richards scored 16 of his game high 25 points in the first half as Bergen Catholic had its 72-39 win over Cliffside Park in the Jambo's Round of 16 locked up by halftime.

TENAFLY – The Bergen Catholic basketball program has more wins than any other in the 54-year history of the Bergen County Jamboree. The Crusaders are perennial contenders and are tied for second place all-time in number of tournament championships (8). They are also an at large team this season, one that was below the prerequisite .650 winning percentage required for automatic entry on cutoff day.

But head coach Joe Dionisio did not feel that his team needed to make a statement that it had to justify its No. 7 seed and first round bye. Nope, Dionisio and his Crusaders were just trying to win a ballgame on Sunday when they took the floor against No. 10 Cliffside Park.

“No statement, that was not our intent and we didn’t feel like we had to make one,” said Dionisio. “We always feel like we can make a run in this tournament and if there was one motivation for us it was for Dougie [Rigg]. He is sick, couldn’t get out of bed today, and the guys discussed before the game that Dougie is a senior and we had to win him a chance to play a game in the county tournament this year. We just talked to him and he is excited that he is going to get that chance next week.”

To get there, Bergen Catholic leaned on it defense. After falling behind by a basket 2:35 into the game, the Crusaders held Cliffside Park scoreless for the next 8 minutes and 20 seconds. Koko Karejelian hit a three-pointer and a free throw on the next possession to give Cliffside Park a 6-4 lead. When the Red Raiders next scored a point, with 5:05 left in the first half, Bergen Catholic had already built a 17-6 lead and was well on its way to a 72-39 win and a spot in the quarterfinals opposite defending champion Teaneck in next weekend’s quarterfinals.

Joe Koonce led Cliffside Park with 8 points.

Eric Flanagan scored on the fastbreak to tie the score at 6 with 4:49 to play in the opening quarter and Sean McGuire’s free throw 54 seconds later gave the Crusaders the lead for good. BC grabbed a 14-6 lead by the end of the first quarter, a 32-14 lead by halftime and cruised home.

“I think their physicality was the difference. They took away our wing players very well. Once they caught [the ball] they were all over us and once that happened that just hampered us offensively,” said Cliffside Park head coach Brian Cameron. “We never were never really able to get our shooters open for quality shots.”

That was no accident as Charles Wingate drew the assignment of guarding Karejelian, who came in averaging over 20 points a game and left the floor Sunday with just six, four of them in the first quarter.

“In practice two days before the game coach told me I was going to go one-on-one with No. 15 [Karejelian]. I took it as a challenge to shut him down because he is such a big part of what they like to do on offense. That was my job,” said Wingate. “I was just trying to force him baseline, make him put it on the floor and swipe at it.”

Bergen Catholic also got what it wanted offensively as its ability to force turnovers led to opportunities in the open floor and its hard work on the glass gave it plenty of second chances. Mark Richards was a force in the post as he 16 of his game-high 25 points in the first half. He scored the last four points of the second quarter on a put back and two free throws as the Crusaders walked to the locker room with an 18-point advantage.

Charles Wingate was a key part of Bergen Catholic's lockdown defense.

“I thought our energy was outstanding, I thought our defense was great. We knew they had shooters, we knew they had guys that took the ball to the basket strong and I thought our guys just executed perfectly,” said Dionisio. “We’ve been defending better of late and that helps you win when you don’t shoot well. Now we shot the ball well today, too, but it all came off our defense.”

Richards and Flanagan (13 points) were the game’s lone double digit scorers, but most of the BC starters were off the floor late in the third quarter. Maurice Grant finished with 8 points and Wingate and Chris Quinn each finished with 7. McGuire (4 points) was smooth at the point and Steve Ferreri and Rich DeLuca each added fourth quarter three-pointers for BC.

Joe Koonce scored 8 points, while Karejelian, Josh Alvarez and Ryan Loughlin all netted 6 points for Cliffside Park, which has to find a way to quickly put this loss behind it and resume its chase for the BCSL-American Division title. The Red Raiders are one game behind league leading Tenafly.

“I think we just have to realize that we have a league title to win. We are one game out and we have a game against Tenafly coming up,” said Cameron. “We have to just set our sights on our next goal. This was a tough loss, but we’ll put it behind us and move on.”

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