Monday,
February 16, 2015
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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Sean McKinless made his first five 3-point attempts, 7 in the game and finished with 29 points in St. Joseph's 75-46 win over Cresskill in the Jambo quarterfinals on Sunday night. |
MAHWAH – As the lone Group 1 team left this late in the Bergen County Jamboree and up against a second-seeded St. Joseph Regional team that entered the tournament with a legitimate chance to win it, Cresskill was going to have to catch the Green Knights on an off night to even have a shot to pull the upset. What the Cougars got instead was a close up look at a Non-Public power playing its best basketball right from the opening tap. An off night was just not happening and the difference between one of Bergen County's top public teams and one of its best parochials, measured solely by points scored, turned out to be 29.
St. Joseph won the jumpball and Sean McKinless finished its first possession by hitting a 3-pointer. All of 16 seconds had run off the clock, but the Green Knights never looked back and McKinless never cooled down. He hit his first five 3-point attempts in the first half and was fouled on another and made all three free throws. McKinless' second 3, a step-back job from the corner with 5:05 left in the opening quarter, capped St. Joseph's 13-0 game-opening run. The Green Knights did the same thing to start the second half as they led wire to wire in a 75-46 victory that puts them in the Final 4 against No. 3 Bergen Catholic next weekend.
“We have a great deal of respect for Cresskill, for this group of kids. We have been watching them and have been aware of them for four years and I think that was part of why we were so focused at the start,” said SJR head coach Mike Doherty. “Credit to Sean McKinless and the other guys for understanding just how good Cresskill is and for being ready. Not that it was automatic that we were going to hit shots, but I think we were mentally prepared for a tremendous challenge and our kids were really up for it.”
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Matt Flood finished with 15 points for Cresskill, which lost for just the second time this season. |
All of the Green Knights were ready to go as Nate Garvey, Patrick Doherty and Andrew McGuire all scored during the 13-0 run to start the game, but it was McKinless who stole the show. Cresskill briefly inserted itself back in the game with a 6-0 run to end the first quarter and a Matt Flood 3-pointer 1:15 into the second drew the Cougars to within 20-14. Cresskill could have made even further inroads with two free throw attempts, but missed them both and McKinless then hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to push the lead back to 12 points in the span of just 37 seconds.
He was fouled on his next 3-point attempt and made all three free throws and, so deep into the zone that only the purist of shooters can find, he banked in his next triple to double-up the Cougars on the scoreboard at 34-17.
“I just tried to stay within the offense. The way the offense is, we have multiple shooters here and if someone is feeling hot we get them the ball. It's been Nate [Garvey] a lot lately and today it was my turn, but it is always a team effort,” said McKinless, a 6-foot senior who can play either guard spot. “I felt good, so if I was open I was pulling. I love playing on this floor. The past few years I have shot well here and I shot well at Kean [University] earlier this year. I like the bigger courts.”
Cresskill hung around on the periphery for most of the first half and got as close as 9 on a Sean Kelly basket and Matt Ferrara free throw, but the Cougars missed two free throws with less than one second left in the first half and had to settle for a 38-27 deficit at the break. A quick start to the second half could have propelled Cresskill right back into the game, but when the opposite happened, the game got out of hand quickly.
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Andrew McGuire finished a drive for SJR, which will play Bergen Catholic in the Final 4. |
Just like it did to open the game, St. Joseph scored the first 13 points of the second half. McKinless' 3 from the wing capped the run and put the Knights up 51-27 and they held Cresskill to just two points in the third quarter in total. It was 53-29 heading in the fourth quarter and that was that.
“They were on fire. They came out with a 13-0 run and took the wind out of our sails a little bit. I thought we kept it together in the first half and we had a chance with two free throws to cut it under 10. We missed them and we spotted them the first 13 points of the game, but we still felt all right at the half,” said Cresskill head coach Mike Doto. “And then they started the second half with another 13-0 run and that was too much to come back from. We did not play well, but give St. Joe's the credit for that. They were lights out passing, shooting and their defense was tremendous and we had to work for everything we got.”
McKinless led all scorers with 29 points, but he had plenty of help. Sophomore Chauncey Hawkins scored 13 points off the bench, including six straight fourth quarter free throw and Garvey (12 points) once again used his killer midrange game make it three Knights in double digits. McGuire finished with 8, Patrick Doherty added 7 and Joe Giles-Harris, Isaac Hippolyte and Tyler Piorkowski evenly split the Knights other six points.
Matt Flood scored 12 of his team-high 15 in the first half for Cresskill and Kelly scored 10 of his 12 after the break. Matt Ferrara added 7 points off the bench, Zac Garcia scored all 5 of his points in the first quarter, Luke Kushner made a 3 and AJ Gentile and Sebastian Castano each made a field goal for the Cougars, who lost for just the second time this season and for the first time since Holiday Tournament play,.
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Sean Kelly had 12 points for Cresskill, which will now turn its attention to the state playoffs. |
It stings, but there is a bright side and that is that there is no team with the collection of talent that SJR has waiting to knock the Cougars out of the North 1, Group 1 state sectional tournament. It's full steam ahead from here.
“We are not going to see a team that good again unless we make it to the Tournament of Champions, which is our ultimate goal and now we will start focusing on that,” said Doto. “We know we are not going to face a team like that in our section and we have five games to use to get better before the states start. We have the No. 1 seed, so if we win four straight playoff games at home we are champs and that is a good position to be in.”
St. Joseph's current position is one of preparing for the next big game because they are coming fast and furious now. The Knights will play Bergen Catholic on Tuesday in the regular season and then again in the Jambo's Final 4 next week.
“We have [Bergen Catholic] twice this week and then we will see them again in the states. We are not going to chance anything, we'll just play them straight up on Tuesday and see what happens,” said Patrick Doherty, SJR's 6-foot-1 senior guard. “You know what you are going to get every time you play them. They are good, they are well-coached and the games will be close.”
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