Wednesday, December 30, 2009

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Casey Diestel shot Northern Highlands into its own holiday tournament final on Monday and then scored a team-high 16 points in a 72-39 win over Fair Lawn in the championship game on Tuesday afternoon.

ALLENDALE -- It took a Casey Diestel three-pointer with seven seconds left in regulation for Northern Highlands to pull what could be considered an upset of Wayne Valley in the semifinals of the Northern Highlands Holiday Tournament on Monday. There was considerably less drama for the Highlanders in the championship game on Tuesday against Fair Lawn.

Kyle Linares converted a conventional three-point play to break a 7-all tie with 3:44 to play in the first quarter and Diestel and Chris Ward hit three-pointers on consecutive trips down the floor as Northern Highlands ripped off a quick 9-0 run that put it ahead for good in a 72-39 win that gave the Highlanders a trophy to go along with its 4-0 start to the season.

It was Diestel who got the Highlanders into the final and Diestel who led them on Tuesday with 16 points, 11 in the first half as Highlands pulled away.

“I don’t think anyone in the gym thought we were going to win the game [against Wayne Valley] and rightfully so. They have been a good team for four or five straight years and we were even down by nine in the fourth quarter,” said Diestel, a junior. “Beating Wayne Valley was big for our confidence because now we know that if we play well, we can beat anyone and I think that carried over right into today.”

Bryan Alvarez scored 12 of his team-high 15 points in the first half for Fair Lawn.

Northern Highlands’ strength is in its numbers as it has the kind of depth, especially in the backcourt, that makes foul trouble a not-so-scary proposition. The Highlanders start three guards in Diestel, and seniors James Kopfensteiner and Harrison Klein and can bring in players like sophomore Joey Grey and Stephen Koleff and Chris Ward, a pair of juniors who combined to scored 16 points, off the bench in any situation.

“That is what I love about this team, they trust one another. It doesn’t matter if it is a senior or a junior or a kid like Joey Grey who is a sophomore, they have great chemistry and that helps a lot when you trust your teammates,” said Northern Highlands head coach Mike Stone. “Today we told them in our scouting report that we needed the inside to open up the outside. They recognized that they weren’t going to be able to force the ball into [Brandon] Bovino down low and the outside shots were going to be there. Fortunately, we were able to knock them down.”

Fair Lawn came out in a 1-2-2 and it kept Bovino from getting on track, but Highlands but the zone by either pushing the ball up the floor and getting transition baskets before the defense could set itself up, or by moving the ball quickly in the half court and making shots from the wings. Koleff connected on a three-pointer from the win 1:16 into the second quarter to give NH its first double digit lead at 19-9.

Kyle Linares finished with 10 points inside Northern Highlands' balanced offense.

”I thought we had some opportunities, we had some good looks inside early that we were unable to finish and we had a few steals that we were unable to finish on the break,” said Fair Lawn head coach Jim Ponchak. “Those things came back to haunt us and it kind of snowballed a little bit. Highlands built a lead and we were never really able to get back into the game.”

Bryan Alvarez kept Fair Lawn hanging around as he scored 12 of his team-high 15 points in the first half. He scored back-to-back baskets, one on a slicing move through the lane and the other on a little pull-up jumper, to get the Cutters back to within 23-16 and force a Highlands timeout. But the Highlanders regrouped and closed the first half on an 8-0 run with four different players chipping in.

Kyle Linares hit two free throws, Diestel dropped in a three-pointer, Alex Perez scored inside off an assist from and Koleff and Koleff made a free throw all in a span of 2:41 to give Northern Highlands a 31-15 halftime advantage. The Highlanders pushed the lead to as many as 30 points at 64-34 when Jonathan Tarabocchia made two free throws with 2:03 remaining in the game.

Luilly Marter and Fair Lawn will look to get back on track against Paramus on Monday.

Northern Highlands got contributions on the offensive end from just about everyone as 11 of the 12 players on its roster scored at least two points. Diestel and Linares (10 points) were the only two players in double digits, but Koleff, Ward and Perez and James Hoag all finished with 8 points. Bovino scored a patient five points, allowing himself to draw attention and kick to open shooters and then hitting the glass. Grey and Meyer Yagyaev both added field goals, as did Harrison Klein, who also made a free throw.

While Highlands now has quality wins over West Essex, Pascack Hills, Wayne Valley and Fair Lawn in getting to 4-0, next week it is back to the meat-grinder that is the NBIL as the Highlanders’ next three opponents are Old Tappan, Paramus Catholic and Ramapo.

“Some things have gone our way, no doubt. We won close games against Pascack Hills and West Essex, both of those games went down to the last 30 seconds, and Wayne Valley went down to the final seconds and that was a huge win for us,” said Stone. “But when we come back [after the New Year] it is not going to get any easier. We can enjoy this win, but we have to get right back to work.”

The loss dropped Fair Lawn to 2-3 on the season, but the Cutters are on the upswing under Ponchak.

“The kids are working very hard and I am pleased that we have been able to get out of the blocks and get a couple of wins,” said Ponchak. “I’ve seen improvement, they are coming to work for me, they are getting better every day and we are going to continue to do that. We are going back to work tomorrow, 11-1 [o’clock], and we are going to get ready for Monday against Paramus and try to get another win.”

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