Sunday, February 5, 2012

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Tyler Jackson scored 7 points in the final 2:28 of Cresskill's 47-45 win over Pascacak Valley in Jambo's Round of 16.

ALLENDALE – It has been a star-crossed season so far for Cresskill's Tyler Jackson. The junior point guard can take just about any defender he runs up against off the dribble, can make tough shots by pulling up or going by and can set up the Cougars' big men with flashy passes into the post. And despite the constant voice of head coach Mike Doto in his ear, Jackson has also proved prone to the turnover, which turned him into the sixth man after a particularly sloppy night against Hawthorne Christian Academy back on January 17.

“He needed to control his play and I think that putting him on the bench sent him a message that we were going to go out there to try to win either way, with you or without you,” said Doto. “I think its obvious that we can go further with him and I think he has bought in.”

And bought in big time. Instead of sulking through games and giving his coach the evil eye after the starting lineups were announced, Jackson embraced the change of roles. When crunch time came around on Saturday against Pascack Valley in the Round of 16 in the Bergen County Jamboree, Jackson not only had his head in the game, he pretty much won it.

PV's Glenn Scalia scored a game-high 20 points including 10 in the fourth quarter.

He scored 9 of his team-high 18 points in the fourth quarter and 7 of them in the final 2:28 of regulation to lift Cresskill, the No. 8 seed, into the quarterfinals with a 47-45 win over No. 9 Pascack Valley at Northern Highlands High School in Allendale.

Jackson three-pointer with 1:25 left in the game broke a 42-all tie and made both ends of a one-and-one with 11 seconds left turned a three-point lead into a two-possession game.

“Ever since that [Hawthorne Christian] game I have been coming off the bench and that kind of gave me a reality check. I realized that starting is not really important, it is how you play when you are in there,” said Jackson. “I have been working as hard as I can to perform and to be a team player off the bench and I was excited for this game. I didn't care where I was when it started, I just wanted to do well for my team.”

He did more than that. He matched points with Pascack Valley's Glen Scalia as both players tried to will their respective teams into the quarterfinals and were the only two players in the game to reach double figures. Scalia scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, including the three-pointer that tied the game at 42 with 2:13 to go. It was on the following possession that Jackson answered with his own three-pointer that gave Cresskill the lead for good.

Dominick Brown and Cresskill will face top-seeded Teaneck in the quarterfinals.

After using its final time out with 35 seconds left, Pascack Valley was called for a charge that cost it a key possession and when Jackson made both ends of the 1-and-1 with 11 seconds left, it left the Cougars with enough breathing room to withstand Scalia's last effort, a three-pointer that fell through the hoop with :03 to go. But because PV was out of timeouts, Cresskill only had to let the ball bounce harmlessly on the baseline as the clock ran out.

“That game could have gone either way and we were lucky to come out on top, but we also made some of our own luck. Tyler Jackson came alive, he has tons of ability and he has learned how to control it a little bit,” said Doto, whose team will take on top-seeded Teaneck in next weekend's quarterfinal round at Ramapo College. “I have to give PV a ton of credit. They played their butts off, they took our big guys away and we were off shooting wise. A lot of that had to do with their defense and we are happy to escape with a win.”

Pascack Valley came out on fire, making 8 of its first 12 shots and taking a 23-13 lead when Scalia made a three-pointer with 4:27 to go in the first half. But Cresskill, starting with a Ryan Feulner three-pointer, closed the second quarter on a 10-2 run to get back to within 25-23 at the break.

Pascack Valley maintained a one-point advantage, 35-34, heading into the fourth quarter, bumped it to three when Scalia dropped in a long two from the wing and and had a its last lead at 39-38 before the last tie of the game at 42, immediately preceding Jackson taking over down the stretch.

Pascack Valley point guard Pat Greve finished with 7 points.

Jackson paced Cresskill with 18 points followed by the 9 scored by Rich Van Cleft. Dominick Wilson finished with 8 points, Feulner's six all came on three-pointers, Alex DeCandia made a pair of third quarter field goals and Gino Lagaglia had the other two points for Cresskill.

Scalia's 20 points led all scorers and the Indians got 7 apiece from Pat Greve and Jamie Seymour. Dan Potter's two first quarter three-pointers accounted for all 6 of his points and Adam Morra had 5. The loss was a bitter pill to swallow for Pascack Valley while Cresskill's Jambo run will continue against the top seed and defending champion Teaneck. The Cougars will be the decided underdog, but already have plenty to be proud of. The earned a first round bye, earned a tight victory over a quality team in the Round of 16 and earned a shot and the undisputed kings of Bergen County basketball with no pressure to win.

“Teaneck is really athletic. I think one of our strong points this year is our athleticism, but they have always had that and a lot of it,” said Jackson. “We are going to have to play one of our best games to have a chance to contend with them.”

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