Wednesday, March 3, 2010

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Tyson Pickett and top-seeded Passaic made up an 11-point second half deficit and knocked off No. 16 Hackensack, 61-56, in the opening round of the North 1, Group 4 state sectional tournament.

PASSAIC -- As the top seed in a 16-team tournament a team can usually count on a few perks. The home court advantage is certainly one of them and another usually is a cupcake for a first round opponent. Passaic was playing at home on Tuesday in the opening round of the North 1, Group 4 state sectional tournament, but it was also prepared for a battle against Hackensack, a league opponent and long-time rival that was the exact opposite of a first round pushover.

“We get the No. 1 seed and we get Hackensack, a league team that we play every year. Give me Roxbury, give me Randolph, give me a team like that that has to come down here and play us. Don’t give me Hackensack,” said Passaic head coach Ken Slappy. “They have some good players on that team and we know how good they are.”

Hackensack was so good that it built an 11-point lead midway through the third quarter. But Passaic turned up the pressure with its man-to-man defense that looked to trap when given the opportunity and got itself back in the game.

Hackensack's Terik Bridgemen scored 16 of his 23 points in the first half.

A jumper from the elbow by Reginald Pennie with 4:01 to play in the game finally gave Passaic the lead for good as it survived the upset bid with a 61-56 win and advanced to the state sectional quarterfinals.

Hackensack’s Terik Bridgemen was dominant in the early going as he scored 16 of Hackensack’s 32 first half points and the Comets had a three-point lead at the break. He had a dunk off a lob pass on an inbounds play late in the second quarter and he scored two straight baskets, the second to finish a textbook possession on which all five Hackensack players touched the ball, with 3:49 to go in the third quarter that gave the Comets a 42-31 lead.

That forced a Passaic timeout and when the Indians got back on the court, the Indians switched to the trap and started turning Hackensack over.

“It was on the line. It was win or go home, but we had to take our time and stop rushing, stop arguing with each other and relax,” said Passaic’s Tyshon Pickett. “We played hard ‘D’. That is what I told my teammates to do before we leave this court. Leave everything out on this court, play as hard as you can and we’ll come out with a victory.”

Najee Salaam finished with 13 points for Passaic, which will host Vernon in the sectional quarterfinals.

For as much as Passaic’s trap worked to speed up the decision making processes of Hackensack’s guards, it also picked up the Indians’ energy, something that was lacking early in the game.

“We hadn’t played a game since February 17 because of the weather and cancellations, so we weren’t ready for the game’s speed,” said Slappy. “The trap just helped us pick up the speed of the game and get us more involved in it.”

After facing its largest deficit, Passaic responded with a 9-0 run to draw within two points. Pickett had five points during the spurt and his third chance putback with 1:23 left in the third quarter had Passaic within two points at 42-40. Alex George’s three-pointer bumped Hackensack’s lead back up to five, but Passaic got right back into the chase as Najee Salaam scored just before the third quarter buzzer and Pickett made two free throws to open the fourth and the Indians trailed by a single point at 45-44.

“We threw the ball away, simple as that. It’s disappointing because even though we have some young kids, at this point in the season we shouldn’t be throwing the ball away. We were ready for their trap, but we made some physical errors and mental mistakes,” said Hackensack head coach Scooter Whiting. “We got a little tight. We were playing the No. 1 seed, we had a lead late in the game and we got a little tight.”

Mensah Bright scored 15 points for Hackensack, which finished the season at 11-13.

Tightness aside, Hackensack scored four straight points, two on Mark Ellison’s fastbreak basket off an assist from Joe Zigrest and two on Bright Mensah’s driving layup, to push its lead up to 51-46 with 4:41 to play, but Passaic answered with a 14-2 run to take control down the stretch. Salaam and Andre Dixon combined to make four straight free throws before Pennie’s jumper gave the Indians the lead for good. Pickett followed with a steal and a layup to put Passaic in front 54-51 and the Indians made 7 of 13 free throws in the final two minutes, just enough to keep Hackensack at bay.

“I always try to bring a lot of energy to the team and we had the crowd behind us today. That helped us in the fourth quarter when we got on that run,” said Salaam. “Hackensack came out and kicked us in the butt a little but in the first half, but we came back and kicked it a little harder in the second half.”

Salaam (13 points) was one of Passaic’s three double-digit scorers as Pickett tied for game-high honors with 23 points and Dixon added 14. Four of Pennie’s 5 points came in the fourth quarter and Naji Mack made both of his free throw attempts to round out the scoring for the Indians, who will host No. 8 Vernon, a 62-47 winner over No. 9 East Orange Campus in the sectional quarterfinals on Thursday.

Andre Dixon's 14 points gave Passaic three double-digit scorers.

Bridgemen led Hackensack with 23 points; Mensah added 15 and George had four three-pointers among his 14 points. Ellison’s two second half field goals accounted for the other 4 points for the Comets, who finished the season with an 11-13 record but also with a bright future.

Hackensack was hobbled early by Bridgemen’s broken foot that cost him 12 games, nine of which were losses. But he will be back next season and the Comets figure to be too.

“He [Bridgemen] played the first two games of the season, then he broke a bone in his foot and we lost most of the games that he was out,” said Whiting. “But he will be back next season, we have a lot of guys coming back, and we bounce back and try to get us some more wins. We have a new schedule next year and I am looking forward to it.”

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