Tuesday,
March 1, 2016
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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Nico Regus made three of Hasbrouck Heights' 13 3-pointers as the Aviators lit it up in a 77-61 win at Wood-Ridge in the first round of the North 1, Group 1 state sectional tournament on Monday night. |
WOOD-RIDGE – There are few teams that know each other as well as Hasbrouck Heights and Wood-Ridge. They are neighbors geographically, they are NJIC rivals that play each other twice every regular season and they are grouped in the same state sectional tournament. There is no predicting how any one round of the rivalry might go. They split the season series one game apiece this year and the rubber match came on Wednesday night in the opening round of the North 1, Group 1 state sectional tournament.
This time around, it was all Hasbrouck Heights.
The Aviators blew up Wood-Ridge’s zone with a deluge of 3-pointers that had them on a 104-point pace through one quarter of play. Heights made five first quarter 3s, made eight in the first half and built a 20-point cushion by halftime on the way to a 77-61 win and the state sectional quarterfinals where, as the No. 10 seed, it will visit No. 2 Paterson Charter.
After having its season ended by Wood-Ridge in the semifinals last season, it was a sweet turnaround for Hasbrouck Heights.
“We played here last year in the semis and they won. A lot of kids that were on the floor for us tonight saw that happen,” said Height head coach Mike Cebula. “We talked about that. We talked about how it felt last year and we came out with a lot of energy.”
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Jack Barteck scored 13 points for Wood-Ridge, which got as close as 9 points twice in the second half. |
And the Aviators came out firing. Wood-Ridge’s only lead of the game was a 4-2 on two Josh Barteck free throws 1:23 in and the only ties were at 2-2 and 7-7 before Phil Viola, Niko Regus and Kyle Baker hit 3-pointers on three straight Hasbrouck Heights possessions to give it the lead for good. Viola hit two 3s in the first 4:10 of the game, James Klenk hit one off the bench and by the end of the first quarter the Aviators were rolling with a 26-16 lead.
“It was nice to be hitting our shots early. It kind of looked like a track meet in that first quarter with both teams going up and down, but it worked because we were making our shots,” said Viola. “If we weren’t making them we would probably have to had called a timeout and changed up our strategy, but they just kept going in.”
The heat check was still on red as Heights rattled off the first eight points of the second quarter. Leeroy Casimir’s bucket with 4:36 left in the half gave the Aviators a 34-16 lead and Baker hung in the air before just beating the buzzer from 25 feet out to give Heights a commanding 42-22 lead at the break.
“We struggled the last time we played them to contain the basketball and we figured we’d try to zone. It has been working for us the last couple of weeks of the season, but they hit some shots early and got momentum,” said Wood-Ridge head coach Ed Rendzio. “We started rushing and taking some shots that were not our best, but give Heights credit. They played really well.”
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Heights' Phil Viola made three first half 3-pointers and scored all 12 of his points from behind the arc. |
Wood-Ridge had its moments of playing really well, too, in the second half as it made a couple of bids to get back in it. Joe Batcho and Barteck hit 3-pointers just 33 seconds apart to force a Heights timeout and Josh Paez came up with a steal and a layup right off the ensuing possession to get the Blue Devils back to within single digits, 46-37. They were still within 9 points at 49-40 on a Joe Sartori 3-pointer with 1:21 in the third quarter and good have crept even closer before missing an open layup.
Instead, Kevin Owens, one of six different Aviators to make at least one 3-pointer in the game, made the first of his two with 43 seconds left in the third quarter to push the lead back into double digits for good. Heights led 54-42 going into the fourth quarter and Viola and Owens made 3s in the first minute of the final period to all but put the game away.
“We wanted to end their season just like they did to us last year. That was the motivation,” said Regus, who finished with a game-high 21 points. “We got open and we made shots. This is one of the best shooting nights we have had all year and it came at the right time.”
It was a wild game as every player that took the floor before the benches were cleared in the final minute got on the score sheet. Wood-Ridge had four double digit scorers in Paez (15 points), Barteck (13 points), Batcho (12 points) and David Guerra (11 points). Andrew Marino scored all 5 of his points in the fourth quarter, Sartori made one of the Blue Devils’ six 3-pointers and Ryan Plosia made a late field goal for Wood-Ridge, which finished the season with a 12-14 record.
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Josh Paez scored a team-high 15 points for Wood-Ridge, which closed the season with a 12-14 record. |
Regus’ 21 led all scorers, Baker had 14 and Viola scored all 12 of his points from behind the 3-point line. Owens finished with 9 points, Klenk scored all 7 of his points in the first half to help the Aviators pull away and Casimir scored 6 as his services in the post were not really required as the 3-pointers kept falling. Phil Clites added 5 points; Nico Facchini made a field goal and Jasiah Purdie had the other point for Heights, which heads into the quarterfinals with a 14-11 record.
In last year’s North 1, Group 1 bracket there was one dominant team. Cresskill went into the playoffs as the prohibitive favorite and walked out with the title. This year Park Ridge is the No. 1 seed, but the field is more balanced, which means a team like Hasbrouck Heights, and any of the other seven remaining, has a legitimate chance to make a deep run.
The Aviators might be just three games over .500, but six of their 11 losses have been by less than four points and they are battle tested as they move forward.
“We definitely have told our kids that the bracket is open and we can definitely go get it. We have been talking about it all season,” said Cebula. “That is why we played a lot of tough summer league games, that is why we worked out all offseason and if we keep getting ourselves in position to win those close games things are going to have a chance to go our way.”
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