Monday, February 8, 2010

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Thomas Messina celebrates after Old Tappan dodged a bullet, 48-45, against Dwight-Englewood in the Round of 16 of the Bergen County Tournament.

OLD TAPPAN – Dwight-Englewood followed the underdog’s playbook to a tee. The Bulldogs, the No. 19 seed in the Bergen County Jamboree, scored 11 of the game’s first 13 points to show they weren’t intimidated; they answered when Old Tappan, playing on its own home floor, went up by double digits in the third quarter and forced the favorite into a possession by possession game in the fourth quarter.

Not to mention, Dwight-Englewood had Zach Hodges, the junior point guard who was unstoppable on the offensive end in the second half.

With all of that going against it, Old Tappan never lost its cool and, as a result, it didn’t lose its spot in the quarterfinals. The Golden Knights got two free throws from Shane McLaughlin with 6.7 seconds left in regulation then watched as Dwight-Englewood’s last shot at a tie bounced off the rim as the No. 3 seed held on for a 48-45 victory that pits it against No. 6 Don Bosco Prep in next weekend’s Round of 8 at Ramapo College.

“We knew coming in that it was going to be a tough game and trust me when I tell you, we did not take them for granted,” said McLaughlin, Old Tappan’s junior point guard. “We knew who they have over there. They have two great players, Zach [Hodges] and Wes [Dickinson] so it was no surprise how well they played us.”

Dwight-Englewood's Zach Hodges shot the lights out, scoring all 19 of his points after halftime.

It was Dickinson who did the early damage for Dwight-Englewood, which had to win on the night before the cutoff just to get into the tournament before knocking off St. Mary in the opening round last weekend. He scored inside off an assist from Colby Podesta and then off the offensive glass to give the Bulldogs the early 11-2 lead.

But for all of the fireworks that came in the final 16 minutes, it was Dwight-Englewood’s inability to score in the second quarter and Old Tappan’s willingness to get after over that same span that turned out to be the difference between an upset and what the end result eventually became. With Thomas Messina guarding Hodges and holding him scoreless in the first half, Old Tappan outscored D-E 19-5 in the second quarter to grab a 25-16 halftime lead.

It was Chris Besserer’s steal and layup that followed his own three-pointer that gave Old Tappan its first lead of the game at 13-12 with 6:45 to go in the first half and, even though the could never get truly comfortable, the Golden Knights never gave it back.

“In the second quarter they turned up their pressure and we turned it over a few times. We panicked a little bit and we let them make their run,” said Dwight-Englewood head coach Eli Goldberger. “My kids didn’t fold and give them credit for that, but that second quarter showed the difference between a team that has been here before and one like us that is young and just learning what it takes to play in these big games.”

Nick Bianco did his part as a piece of OT's balanced offense.

Old Tappan led 25-16 at the half and stretched the lead to double digits for the first and only time when Tim Brophy hit a jumper from the corner with his foot on the line to give the Knights a 31-20 lead 4:36 into the second half. But then the fun began.

Hodges caught fire right after that, knocking down two three-pointers in succession, one from the wing and the other when he scraped a screen and pulled up from the top of the key to cut the OT lead to 31-26, which grew to 34-26 heading into the fourth quarter on McLaughlin’s free throw and a Daniel Brogan’s fastbreak basket.

But Hodges, who scored eight points in the third quarter, never cooled down. He spun before hitting a pull up jumper to open the fourth quarter and he made two three pointers on in a span of 57 seconds, the second of which brought the Bulldogs to within 38-34 with 5:53 left.

“I was just running on adrenalin. I was even cramping up and I am not really sure what happened or what I was thinking. I was just playing the game,” said Hodges, who scored all of his game-high 19 points after halftime. “We fought all the way through, but that just shows how good Old Tappan is. They are so disciplined. We kept making runs and they kept answering.”

Wes Dickenson's hot start helped Dwight-Englewood get off to an 11-2 lead.

While Hodges was keeping his team in it, Old Tappan just kept executing in the half court as it began to steadily solve the Dwight-Englewood zone. Brogan scored off an entry pass by Sam Elias to put OT up six with 5:38 to play, but D-E wasn’t going anywhere. A bucket by Redmond and two free throws by Dickinson left the Bulldogs trailing by just two, 40-38, with 4:41 left in regulation.

Old Tappan got up by as many as six in the final minute, but Redmond’s baseline drive and Hodges’ improbable three-pointer with a hand in his face after an offensive rebound by Dickinson had Dwight-Englewood behind by just a single with nine seconds left. Forced to foul, Dwight-Englewood put McLaughlin on the line for a one-and-one with eight seconds left, similar to the situation he found himself in last season’s North 1, Group 3 state sectional semifinal against Teaneck.

Last year McLaughlin hit both to give his team a lead only to see Owen Barnes go coast-to-coast for the game-winning, buzzer-beating layup. This time around, McLaughlin also made both to push his team’s lead to 48-45 and OT head coach Dennis Rossi knew what he wanted to do through experience.

“We got the time out we wanted this time,” said Rossi, who set his defense to pressure the inbounds, force Hodges to move the ball up the floor under duress and take a contested three-pointer, which for once in the second half, didn’t fall.

For Old Tappan, it was crisis averted. For Dwight-Englewood, it was lesson learned.

Shane McLaughlin, still battling an ankle injury, hit the two free throws with 6.7 second left that gave Old Tappan its winning margin.

“I am happy that our seniors got an opportunity to play in a big county game because they have suffered through some losing seasons,” said Goldberger. “And for our underclassmen, as much as it hurts right now, they have to realize that if they work hard and keep developing their skills, they are right there with anybody. Old Tappan is a deserving No. 3 seed, but now our kids know that they can hang.”

Hodges finished with five second half three-pointers among his 19 points, Dickinson finished with 15 points and Redmond had nine for the Bulldogs, whose only other points came on a first quarter field goal by Colby Podesta.

Messina led Old Tappan with 17 points and was the Knight’s lone double digit scorer in a balanced offensive performance to which a bunch of OT players contributed. Brophy and McLaughlin, who is still feeling the effects of an ankle injury that kept him out of five games, each scored 8 points. Chris Besserer, who earned his varsity chops as McLaughlin’s understudy but has now carved himself a niche in the lineup, added five points, Brogan had a pair of second quarter field goals and Elias had a third quarter basket for Old Tappan, which will get a shot at Bosco next weekend at Ramapo College.

That is just fine with Messina, who played two seasons as Bosco before transferring back to OT last.

“I would love to play them, absolutely,” said Messina. “It is not going to be easy, that is for sure, but I still have a couple of friends on that team and it will be fun to play them. It’s not just me, but all of us are looking forward to it because it means we are still in the tournament.”

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