Monday, February 8, 2010

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

After being held scoreless against Cresskill on Sunday and scoreless for a half on Tuesday, St. Joseph Regional senior Kai Dominguez broke out for 19 points in the second half of the Green Knights' 50-46 win over Passaic.

MONTVALE -- Just to clear up some misconceptions from what was perceived to be a lackluster win over 16th-seeded Cresskill in the Bergen County Jamboree's Round of 16 this past Sunday, St. Joseph Regional, the Jambo's top seed, felt like it had nothing to apologize for. Instead, the Green Knights took a refreshing tact; they credited the opposition.

“I think people are doing a disservice to Cresskill, quite honestly,” said St. Joseph head coach Mike Daugherty. “They had good matchups, they are a tough club and they are putting together a great season. I give credit to Cresskill and I am just happy that we got on a little run in the fourth quarter. We weren’t disappointed with that win, we were happy to get it.”

St. Joseph showed that it was far from a sputtering, overrated top seed on Tuesday night when it took on a team with unquestioned credentials. Passaic, No. 4 in this week’s NorthJerseySports.com Great 8 rankings, had a lead on the Green Knights with 4:29 to play in the game. But once again SJR gutted out, clamping down on defense and finding just enough offense, most of it from senior Kai Dominguez, to overtake the Indians in a 50-46 win in Montvale.

Tyshon Pickett's free throw to start the third quarter scoring gave the Passaic senior his 1,000th career point.

Dominguez, who was held scoreless by Cresskill on Sunday and again through the first half by Passaic, broke out in a big way over the final 16 minutes and made the second half his own personal showcase of hustle and a knack for making the big shot. Dominguez scored all of his game-high 19 points in the final two quarters, 12 of them from behind the three-point line and the other seven from the charity stripe. He also came up with a huge offensive rebound with 17 seconds left in a one possession game and with his teammate having just missed the front end of a one-and-one.

“My teammates and my coaches just kept telling me to be confident and to keep taking my shots when I was open. My teammates helped me out by showing the confidence in me and I finally got some [shots] to go in,” said Dominguez, the SJR senior who will play football at Louisville next year. ”I just needed one to go down. I didn’t hit anything against Cresskill and I didn’t get one in the first half tonight, but once I got that first one to fall I knew that they were going to keep coming.”

With Dominguez facing a box-and-one for most of the first half, Passaic held the Knights to just 15 points over the first 16 minutes and had a 21-15 advantage at the break, but when Passaic switched to a straight zone to start the third quarter, Dominguez finally found the space he needed, canning a three-pointer from the wing to kick off an entertaining period.

SJR's Joe Efese battled inside all game long.

There were four lead changes and three ties in the third quarter as Dominguez hit three from behind the arc and Passaic continued to pound the ball inside. A short turnaround jumper by Reginald Pennie and two free throws from Tyshon Pickett gave Passaic a 35-31 lead at the end third quarter and another Pickett free throw to start the fourth gave him his 1,000th career point. It also marked the Indians’ largest lead of the second half.

Joe Efese flipped in a short jumper to kick off a quick 6-0 run as St. Joseph moved in front. Naji Mack’s coast-to-coast push and assist to Najee Salaam gave Passaic the lead back at 38-37 with 4:29 to play, but 58 seconds later St. Joseph took the lead for good.

Dominguez hit the last of his four second half three-pointers, this one from deep on the wing with 3:31 to play. That was followed by an ill-advised alley-oop attempt that went awry for Passaic. Two free throws by Mike Marchman and a fastbreak basket by Efese off an assist by Alex Aitkens gave the Green Knights a 44-38 lead and forced a Passaic timeout.

Shakir Rhodes finished with 10 points for Passaic, which fell to 17-4 on the season.

It was inside the final minute that St. Joseph showed it toughness, making all of the key plays down the stretch, the opposite of what Passaic head coach Ken Slappy saw from his team down the stretch.

“I told my kids before the game that it was about toughness; not physical toughness but mental toughness. We weren’t mentally tough for like a two-minute stretch of the fourth quarter and that is all it takes to lose a game against a team like St. Joe’s,” said Slappy. “It was a close game and mentally we caved in and that was the deal. The bright side is that I know we are talented, now to win championships we have to step up to the plate mentally.”

St. Joseph did all of the little things in the final minute to hold on as Passaic saw a couple of opportunities slip through its fingers. After SJR missed the front end of a one-and-one leading by 47-44 with 30 seconds to play, two Indians converged on the rebound, neither could control it and the ball went back to the Knights, leading to another one-and one situation.

The first free throw was off the mark, but Dominguez split two defenders to grab the miss and was sent to the line himself, where he made both to essentially seal the game with 13.5 seconds to play. Passaic’s Shakir Rhodes looked like he made a three-pointer that would have cut the SJR lead to two with eight seconds left to play, but the refs ruled it a two-pointer. That meant that when Dominguez was fouled and made one of two free throws with 5.7 seconds left, SJR had a four-point lead and Passaic did not have enough time for two more possessions.

“We just had to keep our heads. We knew it was going to be a battle all game and we had to just worry about making the next play,” said SJR’s Joe Efese. “It’s the same thing we did against Cresskill. We got a win and we are just going to keep moving on.”

Greg Torchon and SJR, the top seed in the Bergen County Jamboree, will take on No. 9 Elmwood Park in the Sunday's quarterfinal round.

Dominguez and Efese (11 points) were St. Joseph’s only two double digit scorers, while Marchman (7 points), Iyoha Agho (5 points) and Aitkens (4 points) and Nick Gardener (4 points) rounded out the scoring for the Knights, who shot a combined 14 of 18 from the free throw line and six three-pointers.

“We believe that we have a hard-working team, but it is no secret that Kai is our difference maker. Every big game we have had he has been the best player on the floor. When we beat Teaneck he knocked down a couple of threes to turn the tide and it was eerily similar to tonight,” said Dougherty, whose team improved to 17-2 on the season. “I thought Alex Aitkens and Mike Marchman had a great sense of where Pickett and Salaam were. I thought Greg Torchon and Joe Efese, even though they are undersized, did real well defensively in the middle and it was great to see Nick Gardener back after almost two weeks give us some real good minutes. Iyoha Agho, Danny McKinless…to win a game like this you really need everybody and I thought our kids stepped up.”

St. Joseph will play Bergen Tech on Thursday as its final tune-up before its Bergen County Jamboree quarterfinal matchup against No. 9 Elmwood Park. Passaic, which was led by Pickett’s 14 points and 9 from Rhodes and 8 from Salaam, fell to 17-4 on the season.

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