Monday, January 30, 2012

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Playing in the first round of the Jambo for the third time in the last four years, Vilson Gashi helped lead Lodi to a 56-43 win over Bergenfield on Sunday in Old Tappan.

OLD TAPPAN – It was anything but a ho-hum opening round game at the Bergen County Jamboree. There was a three-pointer released after the first half buzzer that counted, a free throw shot between periods that was the basketball equivalent of a do-over, Bergenfield had two starters on the floor playing with three fouls in the second quarter and one of them picked up his fourth before the first half ended.

Some of the unique qualities of the game worked in Lodi's favor, others against it, but when it was all over the Rams were the only lower seed to win in the opening round, closing the game on a 20-1 run and pulling away for a 56-43 win on Sunday at Northern Valley/Old Tappan High School.

“We have been underdogs all season. We started off 2-4 and and nobody was thinking too much about us. We didn't care. We are on a nine-game winning streak now and we are just confident. We knew we were going to win,” said Lodi senior Vitor Gashi, who has played in the Jambo three times in his four-year varsity career. “That just shows what a great program this really is and a few more people got to see it today.”

The buzzer played a role at the end of each of the first three quarters and Bergenfield beat it every time. The first one was the only one not shrouded in a little bit of controversy as Paulo Hipolito hit a pull-up jumper just in time to give the Bears, the No. 16 seed, an 18-15 lead. Bergenfield was up 24-22 before Lodi, seeded 17th, ran off seven straight points and should have taken a five-point lead into halftime, but Corey White's three-pointer from the wing after a desperation pass out of traffic was ruled good even though it came at least a half-second after the game clock had reached 0.00 and the Rams had to settle for a 29-27 lead at the break.

Corey White scored a team-high 13 points for Bergenfield.

“We gave up a three. Whether it was after the buzzer or not, so be it, but we were happy to be up at the half and happy to be in a position to win the game,” said Lodi head coach Rob Terhune, who has led Lodi into the Jambo in three of the last four years and to its only two Jambo wins since 1997. “We knew we had our hands full today against [Bergenfield] coach [Marty] Rivard and we just wanted to come out here, play well and give our chance to win down the stretch.”

Without depth as one of its strengths, Bergenfield stuck with both Joe Matos and Novelle Mangaroo even after they picked up their third fouls midway through the second quarter and Matos stayed on the floor even after Mangaroo picked up his fourth with 1:13 to go in the first half. The Bears hung in there and were all square at 35 when Andre Silva made a jumper from the elbow with 43 seconds left in the third quarter.

Lodi's next possession culminated in free throws being awarded to Vitor Gashi, who was fouled going to the hoop. With three team fouls showing on the scoreboard for each team, it was obvious that it was not a one-and-one situation and since Gashi was in the act of shooting, he should have gotten two shots. But after he missed the first free throw, Bergenfield grabbed the rebound, worked it offense and held for a final shot, a Silva floater from the baseline that – what else? -- just beat the buzzer and put Bergenfield up 37-35 after three quarters.

Lodi point guard Vinny Paladino scored 6 of his 11 points in the fourth quarter.

Realizing their mistake and recognizing that is was a “correctable error”, the referees brought Gashi back out between periods to shoot the free throw once denied. Gashi missed, the Lodi deficit was still two points and the Rams could have plenty to complain about if they had gone on to lose the game, which was a distinct possibility when Bergenfield scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to take a 42-36 lead with 6:38 to play. There was no way to know at the time that Bergenfield would score just one more point the rest of the way.

“They executed better than we did. They executed well defensively and we didn't get into anything we were supposed to. We went almost five minutes and we didn't run man-to-man offense when they were playing man-to-man,” said Rivard, Bergen County's all-time winningest boys basketball coach. “We went cold, we missed a couple of layups and they did a great job boxing out, too. They just played really well and they won.”

It was Donat Gashi's steal and layup that gave Lodi the lead for good at 43-42 with 4:37 to play. Heithem Odeh made Bergenfield pay for a travel with a three-pointer from the corner and Vilson Gashi driving layup put the Rams up 48-42 and they never looked back.

“We knew coming into the game that we weren't going to worry about the officials. Earlier in the season when we didn't get calls we would just lose focus in the game and crazy stuff would happen against us,” said Donat Gashi. “Now we just let all of that go and play our game. Our energy was high. This was a special experience, to be in the Jamboree, and we just came out with a little more energy then we usually do and kept it going.”

Paulo Hipolito hit one of Bergenfield's four first half 3-pointers.

Lodi also had the advantage at the free throw line as it made 8 of 12 fourth quarter attempts and 17 of 26 in the game, while Bergenfield was a combined 5 of 10 from the line while making just six second half field goals. The Bears made four first half three-pointers but none in the second half.

White scored a game-high 13 points, but no other reached double digits. Mangaroo, Kevin Pineda and Silva combined for 23 points, Hipolito scored all five of his points in the first quarter and Tom Tolosa's first quarter field goal rounded out the scoring for Bergenfield.

All of Lodi's points came from its starting five and four of them finished in double figures. Donat Gashi led the way with a game-high 20, Nick Hoxha, Vilson Gashi and point guard Vinny Paladino each added 11 for the Rams (11-4), who stretched their winning streak to nine games and earned a Round of 16 spot opposite Teaneck, the top seed and the defending champion.

“We are going to go out there and play tough. We are not going to worry about the score and if we play well maybe we will give ourselves a chance,” said Vilson Gashi, who was a sophomore when Lodi beat Pal Park in a first round thriller two years ago. “We played Teaneck in the Jambo two years ago and that made me a better player just by playing against a team like that. The way I look at it, it is just a great opportunity no matter what happens.”

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