Wednesday, January 18, 2012

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Rich Van Cleft was a force down low for Cresskill, which handed Hawthorne Christian its first loss of the season, 43-38, on Tuesday.

CRESSKILL – Throughout its nine-game winning streak to start the season, Hawthorne Christian Academy has had an advantage inside just about every time it took the floor. With 6-foot-6 sophomore Alex Thomas and his running mate in the paint, Paul Little, the Defenders can usually count on a decided size advantage, especially inside the NJIC- Patriot Division. But on Tuesday night, HCA ran into Rich Van Cleft, Cresskill's senior center who knows a thing or two about low post play.

Using positioning and an array of old school interior moves, Van Cleft scored just enough to keep Cresskill in front from just about start to finish. While both teams were plagued by turnovers, Van Cleft was consistent all the way through as the Cougars led for all but the first 2:24 of the game on the way to a grind-it-out 43-38 win at Cresskill High School.

“Their big guys are good. Both of them are averaging about 17 points a game and they are on a 9-0 team. We knew it was going to be a challenge,” said Van Cleft. “I tried to use every move I have because I knew they were going to be jumping. I had to pump fake, get them off the floor and try not to get my shots blocked. They got me a couple of times, but I just had to stick with it.”

HCA's Paul Little scored all 7 of his points in the fourth quarter.

Van Cleft's coup d' grace was an up-and-under that he finished with his off-hand and answered a 6-0 run that Hawthorne Christian used to close the third quarter and open the fourth. The Cougars had built a 10-point lead, their largest of the night, when Van Cleft made the most of a Alex DeCandia entry pass to make it 29-19 with 51 seconds to go in the third quarter, but Hawthorne Christian, which had made just eight field goals through the first 23-plus minutes of the game, finally got some shots to fall.

Jake Hart hit a jumper from the corner to get HCA to within 29-21 after three quarters, Thomas opened the fourth quarter with a layup and Little putback his own missed shot to get the Defenders back in the game at 29-25 with still 6:51 to play and the Defenders made it a one possession game on three separate occasions down the stretch, but Cresskill answered every time.

Two straight baskets, the first inside from Thomas off an entry pass from Nick Aust and the second on a lob in transition from Aust to Little got HCA to within 34-32 with 4:00 minutes to go, but DeCandia responded on the offensive glass on the other end. With under a minute to play, Jake Hart hit a three-pointer to make it 38-35, but Cresskill's Steven Olivio made both ends of a one-and-one to push the Cresskill advantage back to 40-35 with 47 seconds left. HCA's final field goal was a contested three-pointer from the wing made by Aust, but Van Cleft made two of his four free throw attempts in the final 13 seconds to hand Hawthorne Christian (9-1) its first loss of the season.

Dom Wilson scored 9 points for Cresskill, which improved to 9-2.

“Our guys have been fortunate enough to to shoot well from the outside for the most part this season and we didn't do that tonight. We hit a few threes late, but that was about it,” said HCA head coach Kevin Standford. “This was the most physical team that we have played so far and Van Cleft is a beast inside. Our big guy [Thomas] was moved around a little bit more than he has been all year, so he was out of his comfort zone a little bit. I give all the credit to Cresskill. They took us out of what we wanted to do, it wasn't that my guys weren't trying.”

What Cresskill wanted to do was take better care of the ball early. The Cougars turned the ball over 13 times in the first half, 20 times in the game, and it kept them from pulling away when they had their chances to do so. Cresskill led 13-8 after on quarter and took a 19-10 lead when DeCandia put back a missed shot with 3:37 to go in the second quarter, but did not score in the final 3:37 of the first half and had to settle for a 19-13 lead at the break. Their 10-point lead late in the third quarter was cut to three just over two minutes into the fourth.

“A win is a win and we will take it any way we can get it, especially against an undefeated team. We turned the ball over 20 times and we had some bad mistakes, but we were able to pull it out because I thought my big man, Rich Van Cleft, played great. He was strong and aggressive and I think we played great team defense,” said Cresskill head coach Mike Doto. “We hustled and we boxed out which helped us overcome our lapses in not taking care of the basketball. They made a couple of little runs, but we kept it together and it is a great victory for us.”

HCA sophomore Alex Thomas finished with 10 points.

Van Cleft was the only Cresskill player to reach double figures as he finished with a game-high 16. Dom Wilson and DeCandia each added 9, Tyler Jackson (3 points) and Ryan Feulner (2 points) each added field goals and Olivio provided the only bench points for either team and he scored all four of his points in the fourth quarter. The win pushes Cresskill's record to 9-2 on the season and it will look good on the Cougars' resume for the Bergen County Jamboree. With three seniors – Van Cleft, DeCandia and Feulner – in the starting lineup, Cresskill is looking forward to making a run in the Jambo, which is wide open after Teaneck and Don Bosco Prep claim the top two spots.

“We definitely want to get a high seed and make a run, but we still have a few games to go before the cutoff and we have to win out and focus game to game,” said Feulner, Cresskill's starting two-guard. “When we get to the Jambo we will be confident. Hopefully we are playing good basketball, hopefully we are hot at the time and I think we could be poised to make a good run.”

Hawthorne Christian was led by Nick Aust's 12 points and Thomas added 10. Hart finished with 9 points and Little, who was held scoreless through the first three quarters, rally to score all 7 of his points in the fourth. The Defenders are still in first place in the NJIC Patriot Division B and, stuck in a Passaic County Tournament loaded with perennial powers and in a state sectional bracket that includes the likes of St. Anthony, a league title is first on the minds of the small parochial school.

“Because of the county we play in and the state bracket we are in, the league title is so important to us. Up until three years ago we weren't in any league at all and now we really have something to shoot for,” said Standford. “This was a big game and I will never say that a loss is good, but I will say that we didn't come into this season expecting to go undefeated. The tough games were going to come and hopefully this is a little bit of a wake-up call for us because we have a tough one against a good Ridgefield coming to our place on Thursday.”

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