Friday, February 19, 2010

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Donnie Fletcher and the rest of Ramapo's senior class enjoyed a 76-36 rout of Northern Highlands on Senior Night.

FRANKLIN LAKES -- Senior Night is always emotional for the players involved. It's a chance to be officially recognized by the home fans one more time and reflect on the impact they have had on the program during their high school careers. Joe DelBuono has presided over Senior Night festivities many times during his tenure as Ramapo's head boys basketball coach, but Thursday night's was different. It is now official that this will be DelBuono's last season as Ramapo's head coach.

“I won’t be coaching basketball here at Ramapo next year. I am going in a different direction. I am looking at some things in basketball that I am encouraged about,” said DelBuono. “I think it is time for me to move from here. This is my 13th or 14th year here as the head coach and it has been great. I feel good about what we have done and I think Ramapo wants to go in a different direction and I want to go in a different direction. It’s time and I am excited about other opportunities.”

DelBuono was also excited about the way his team played on Thursday night against Northern Highlands and the way it has rebounded from a 1-5 start to the season. The Green Raiders used a 26-0 run over the first 6:31 of the third quarter to turn an eight-point halftime lead into a blowout. Ramapo led 52-18 after the third quarter and coasted to a 76-36 win, its 11th in its last 14 games.

Kyle Linares had 17 points to lead Northern Highlands.

“I’ve watched Senior Night for the past two years and I know that it is really special. We get a chance to appreciate our parents for everything that they do on a daily basis, and we get to honor the cheerleaders, too. They do a great job all year,” said RJ Voorman, a three-year varsity player one of six Ramapo seniors who was recognized before the game. “A 26-0 run was not bad either and that is the way we should have been playing all year, not just tonight. We got some momentum, we got some shots to fall and then our defense just picked up. We played like I know we can play.”

Ramapo started five of its six seniors – Voorman, Warren Hartmann, Mike Berardo, Mike Gattoni and Donnie Fletcher – but it was junior Tyler Ward who turned the game in the Green Raiders’ favor for good. His three-pointer with 7:16 left in the second quarter put Ramapo in front for good at 10-8 and he hit another the next time down the floor to make the lead stick. Ward’s third trey of the first half gave the Raiders a 23-12 lead 2:04 before the break and he finished with a game-high 21 points.

“It was Senior Night and I knew I wasn’t going to be starting, so I came off the bench with a purpose. It was a close game at that point and I wanted to do something to help us win,” said Ward. “I got a couple of shots to fall and we started putting points on the board and pulling away.”

Tyler Ward came off the bench to lead Ramapo with 21 points.

Hartmann, the Ramapo senior who be presented with his appointment to the Merchant Marine Academy on February 26, hit a three-pointer 29 seconds into the third quarter and Voorman followed with a triple of his own 26 seconds later to kick off the second half surge that ended with TJ Hunt’s three-pointer with 1:40 left in the quarter that gave the Green Raiders a 49-15 lead.

James Hoag scored three straight points to finally break the scoring drought for Northern Highlands, but when Jacob Topler hit a three-pointer for Ramapo, it had opened a 52-18 spread heading into the fourth quarter.

“We feel that this is where we wanted to be early in the season, but maybe when you go through adversity it makes a team bond together. There were people chirping in my ear to write the season off when we were 1-5,” said DelBuono, whose team improved to 12-8 on the season. “We did not get into the [Bergen County] Jamboree, but maybe that made us more hungry for the [state tournament]. The kids have worked so hard at not giving up.”

Ramapo junior TJ Hunt established a new career high in points.

Ward was the only Raider to finish in double figures as the Green Raiders had a good time sharing the ball among 10 players who found their way into the scoring column. Fletcher scored 7, Voorman, Hartmann, Berardo and Hunt all finished with 6. Matt Bunting scored 5 points, Henry Borgeson finished with 4, Jacob Topler had 3 and Gattoni added a field goal for the Green Raiders.

Kyle Linares (17 points) was Northern Highlands’ lone double digit scorer, while Brandon Bovino finished with 8 for the Highlanders, who will try to regroup in time for the North 1, Group 3 state sectional playoffs, where they are the No. 7 seed and will host No. 10 Morris Hills on March 1.

DelBuono’s last spin through the state tournament as Ramapo’s head coach will also begin on March 1 in North 1, Group 3. The Raiders are the No. 12 seed and will visit No. 5 Jefferson in the opening round. That will be a rematch of a regular season independent matchup that Ramapo won in overtime.

After that, DelBuono is looking forward to some other opportunities. Whether his plans include coaching again he is not sure, but he is working on a concept called the Bergen Invitational Tournament, which he envisions as an in-season tournament to include teams that do not qualify for the Bergen County Jamboree.

“I am looking at a number of different options. My time at Ramapo has been great, but I think it is time to go,” said DelBuono. “I still have more I want to do in basketball and maybe it is the Bergen Invitational Tournament. The NCAA has the NIT and maybe we could have our own version and I will be looking forward to working with NorthJerseySports.com on that idea.”

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