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The Ballgame! w/Ramsey's Christiansen · NorthJerseySports.com

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Back on the ball game North Jersey sports.com Original
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talking all things. Oops.
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Across North Jersey and boy is it getting late in this state
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tournament. I am Corey Doviak, being joined
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by the assistant coach of the CAC Championship, Felician
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Falcons, who finished off their regular season with a 19 and one
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league record conference record. Unbelievable.
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He is Brad Forestieri. What's going on, Brad?
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What is going on? Another good day of basketball.
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We're getting ready for the semifinals.
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It's a little unfair when you're the number one seed and you have
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to play. Caldwell at Caldwell 'cause
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they're the host site. In the semifinals, but neither
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here nor there. Yeah, this is like my favorite
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time of year. I mean, we just finished the
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semifinals in all the groups. We are now into the the session
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finals and down to the to the nitty gritty.
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And yeah, the only thing that would be that would be more
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exciting would be the fact that they brought back the TOC.
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It really. I mean, you know, it's crazy
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that they decided to play down to quote UN quote, one state
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champion in football, which actually ends up with seven
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state champions and to get rid of the TOC where they play down
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to 1 state champion. It's just dopey.
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But it's the NGSI and their infinite wisdom.
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And I you're not the first guy I've heard talk about that.
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I mean, it did at the end was a basically a non public A
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tournament, but whatever. I mean, that's just the way it
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goes and it's that's the way it is in football too.
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So. Yeah, yeah, even that, you know,
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put all the put all the north the the non publics in in one
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bracket, you know, like a a four man, four man, you know,
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tournament and you know what, what do you get 124?
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Yeah, another whatever. 8. That's I'm good with that.
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Well, it's a great point. I mean, you could put the four
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public school champions play a semi finals play down to one
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public school champion. So you have a a bona fide New
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Jersey State public school champion and then, you know,
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it's one less round for the non publics and they play down.
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They'll be a bona fide non public school champion and then
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a real championship game public versus private that you know,
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right, that's a freaking great idea and that.
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Everywhere you look on social media, right, that's everybody
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what what talks about you know, umm, you know, public verse
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private, everybody has these little tournaments or umm, these
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big time games, right when you see these, you know, parochials
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versus public schools, public verse private.
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I mean why not? Why not bring it back?
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Maybe, you know, maybe you, you tweak it a little bit, but you
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know, so it's a little bit fair. But I mean, that's the way
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that's why kids play. That's why you play the sport.
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I mean you, you want to play, you want to have a, if you're a
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N one Group 1 and you and you win the group, you want to have
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a shot to see how good you really are.
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Play against a Group 3 or Group 4 or or parochial that you maybe
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didn't see at all. Yeah, and, and especially like,
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you know, it's, it's almost like, you know, in the old days
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of like, you know, the Patrick School or back on it was Saint
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Pat's or whatever. And Saint Anthony and and
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Patterson Catholic, like it was crazy.
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They were the mythical teams, you know, like you think of them
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as real. And now like Bergen Catholic
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A-Team from down South, like I don't know who SN, you know, S
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Group 2 champion would be, but it would be cool for them if
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they could, you know, because they're a good team.
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And it's not like football, like football.
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It'll never be a group two team will never be able to compete
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with a Bosco or a Bergen and right better.
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Well, it will be few and far, far between, but it could
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happen. And it's basketball.
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So you're not really risking anything more than another
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basketball game. You know, you'd get hurt in any
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game. So, you know, I agree with you
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100%. Bring back the tournament of
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champions in basketball and let's see it all play out there
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down there to the end. All right, on this show tonight
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we are going to have Mark Christensen on.
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He is the head coach of the Ramsey top seeded Ramsey in
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North One Group 2. Tomorrow night, as we hate this,
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on Thursday they are going to host the North One Group Tuesday
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Texanal final against last week's guest on the show,
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Westwood head coach Rob Carsick. So that's going to be cool.
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You know, Ramsey has done a great job.
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Christensen has done a great job.
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This is his fifth year as the head coach.
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Last year they lost in the first round.
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Before that, they had won three straight state sectional titles.
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So, you know, a really a great job by a Bergen County public
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school and we will talk to him. But first, let's lead up to that
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a little bit. Let's we're going to go through
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these bracket by bracket reset where we are in the tournament
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and we'll start with N one Group One.
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I was there at one of the semi finals yesterday and Brad, this
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is my favorite thing about the state tournament.
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Like it was Waldwick, the three seed on the road against
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Emerson. And, you know, if you had gone
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to Emerson's first whole game of the season, I don't even know
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who was against or whatever back in December, there probably
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would have been, I don't know, 50 people in the stands.
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You know, a few parents, couple kids, right?
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Last night I got there at 6:20, so 40 minutes before the tip.
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The parking lot was almost full. By 6:40, the doors were closed.
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They couldn't fit anybody else in there.
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It was jam packed to the gills, crazy, you know, like a Group
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One gym, which is not really designed to hold that many
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people. There's not a lot of room
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underneath the, you know, between the baseline and the
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wall under the basket. The stands are not designed to
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hold all those people who wanted to be there.
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And it was like glorious Group 1 basketball.
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And I know your buddy Greg McBain.
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I talked to him after the game. He was pretty excited, pretty
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emotional. And Waldwick going back to the
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state sectional final for the first time since 2013.
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Yeah, you know, rightfully so, you know, Yeah.
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It, it's his first year at the helm.
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He's a Waldwick alum. It means a lot to him, you know,
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So it's cool, you know, to see a guy come back to his alma mater
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and, and, you know, and they had pieces.
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They. They've had pieces and and
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Waldwick's always been, you know, tough competitive school.
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But yeah, I mean, it's, you know, it's just for me, you
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know, it, it sucks that, you know, they're gonna have aquatic
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wall and and it's great that walled with gets a home
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sectional final. Yeah.
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And that's a little bit of a bigger.
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Gym not too much bigger, but a little bit bigger gym.
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So it'll hold a little bit more. But you know, like that that
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game, right. We have a a Morris County school
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like aquatic coming down at the Burton High like that should be
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played at a neutral. Even I got a Bergen Community
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College, which has, you know, a big amount of stands, you know,
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or FDU, you know what I'm saying?
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That's a game that's replayed at a neutral site.
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So you can, you know, these two small school teams can get as
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many because once you hit, you know, 5-6 hundred people maybe,
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yeah, probably 5-6 hundred people without all Waldwick's
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going to hold. They might want, you know, the
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aquatic's going to travel. Well, Waldwick's everybody's
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going to come out from town. Local basketball enthusiasts are
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going to come out and check that game out.
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You know, it's, you know, we're doing, we're going to take the
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disservice, you know. I agree 100%.
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And, and also the, the other thing is this is the, the game
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that counts the state sectional final.
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Like I've been covering this tournament for, you know, 30
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years going on and the, the, the, you know, it grows in
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importance until you get an, an interest, until you get to the
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sectional finals. So Waldwick will be, I'm sure
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they're going to close the gym. If it's a 7:00 game, the doors
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will be closed not long after 6:00.
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You're going to have to get there early if you want to see
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it, you know, whatever. But then after that, when you
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get to the state semi finals, those crowds go away it because
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you're playing a team that you don't really know.
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It's a further ride. You know, for years they played
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the Group 1 and the Group 3 state semi finals back-to-back
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at East Orange campus in, you know, down in East Orange and
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never had trouble getting a parking spot or a place in the
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gym. So.
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In the holes, 2002 thousand people, yes.
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But it also, you know, like, but that's everywhere on the girls
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side. Like I remember one year of
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covering ultra pan against Ramapo, Ramapo gym sold out to
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the rafters, you know, like standing only, blah, blah, blah.
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And then the next round, Ramapo High School hosted and ultra pen
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won that game against Ramapo in the sectional final and then
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played in the same gym a couple nights later in the Group 3
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semifinals. And you could have heard a pin
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drop in there, You know, because I forget when they were playing
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maybe Somerville, I think they were playing Somerville.
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And you know, at that point the the local interest goes away and
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then it's just about, you know, playing down to the group
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champion. But I always say like ended on
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well, not not basketball, but like football always ended on
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the state's external championships.
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That's one of the most interest is, you know, and they're going
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to be playing, like you said, Pequannock.
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Pequannock, quote UN quote, upset Creskill, the four seed
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over the one. But talking to a couple people
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at the Waldwick industry, Pequannock is loaded with
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seniors. They're a traditional Group 2
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school that has dropped down into Group 1.
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So they have that Group One, that Group 2 infrastructure in a
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Group 2 bracket. And you know, not much of a
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surprise according to I have, obviously, I haven't seen a
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quality play, but not that much of a surprise that the Pequodic
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moved on to play Waldwick. So going to be a tough match up
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for your buddy Greg over there. Yeah.
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Yeah, like that pequodic mentality probably through this
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whole bracket was we're a bigger school.
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We, you know, we've historically played bigger, better teams like
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we should, we should, we should be the top dog in this bracket
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no matter what our seat is. So end up proving it.
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But yeah. I feel pretty good game.
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You know, you know, the client has to go back on the road and,
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and and do it again, you know. Yes, yeah, yeah, definitely.
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I mean, you know another it's going to be another sold out gym
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and it's going to be nuts. All right, N one group 2, we'll
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just do a little bit of the bottom of the bracket and then
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we'll get to our interview with Mark Christensen.
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But you know, Westwood has really been playing well.
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Both teams have been playing great, obviously to get this
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far. But, you know, Westwood were the
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30 point win in the first round, 24 point win in the second round
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went to Jefferson, which is a tough place to play.
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And eight point, I believe it was me who picked Westwood and
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you went the other way, you know, with our pizza for grams
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here. Yeah.
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I picked, I picked, I picked Jefferson with the, with the
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looming possibility of athletics being this is the last year of
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athletics. So I, I, I figured that, I mean,
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and they they're proving me right along the way.
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And then, yeah, I mean, you know, Rob, Rob's got his guys.
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Rob. Have their guys playing really
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well, Servotelli and. The brothers are playing really
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well and and, you know, and the King's playing well.
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So yeah, just, you know, kudos for them.
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You know, hey, for me, it's kind of cool, right, Because I'd
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mentioned that, you know, I have an alumni who's now coaching
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there and the first year he was on campus by us who would have
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won the the the conference championship again.
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So now in his first year at Westwood, hopefully he gets to,
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you know, redo that and get another ring.
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So you know. Yep, they they have a shot for
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sure. So it's going to be interesting.
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Ramsey will have the home game. And let's talk more about it
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with our guest this evening on this episode of the Ball Game on
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North Jersey sports.com. He is the head coach of the
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Ramsey Rams. He is Mark Christensen coach.
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Thanks for joining us here on The Ball Game.
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Thanks for having me guys. It's always great to get on.
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Well, this is. I mean, how, how great is this?
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Let's just, I mean, it's March and you're still playing
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basketball. It's awesome.
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I mean, I'm so proud of the kids.
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I was telling them, you know, the other day after the Glenrock
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game and I was just expressing, you know, we're already Week 16
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into the season and, you know, it's grueling, it's long.
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And the fact that they're still so focused every day in
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practice, engaged and still playing and getting to compete
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tomorrow night for a sectional title is, is awesome.
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Very exciting week. 16 that that brings it home for me too,
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because I'm like why am I so tired?
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Why am I? It's.
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Four months of dragging equipment around covering the
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high school basketball game. So it's been crazy, but talking
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about this state tournament run here, you guys are the top seed.
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So obviously, you know, the powers that be figured you were
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going to be a tough out. But really, I don't know if
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anybody could have predicted a 32 point win in the first round,
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You know, 7133 / a good Mahwah team in the second round, double
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digits against Glen Rock. You know, I'm sure you expected
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to do well, but you're really playing as well as anybody in
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the public school side here in the state tournament.
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Yeah. They, you know, we again, like
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long season, you know, we've had our ups and downs and then we
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started to really kind of pick it up, especially during like
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the bit tournament. And we did, you know, did really
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well in there and, you know, fell short to to Ridgefield
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Park. And I felt we played really,
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really well, you know, tough, physical, you know, they're
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really big. And I just thought like that
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whole tournament kind of got us ready, you know, that whole one
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game championship, you know, win and move on and kind of got
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that, you know, mindset for us, for states.
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And to come out the way we did against High Point, you know, it
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was great. And then to continue that into
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Mahwah, and I know the boys were really focused against Mahwah
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because the last time we played them, they beat us up pretty bad
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at their place. So I know they were super
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focused and I mean, to go out and play the way that we did.
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I mean, I was, I was even shocked, you know, because they
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just they were playing well on every aspect of the game.
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And then to go to play Glen Rock, because, you know, a
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really good team. They're well coached and you
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know, the the Lopez they have over there who's a really tough
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guard for us and they're all tough kids, very physical.
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And to come out with that with a 11 point win was was great.
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And you know, now we got to go play Westwood and they got us
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both times this year. So you know, we're going to have
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our hands full. Rob does a great job.
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Again, another group of physical, tough, aggressive
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kids, kids that can score from, you know, all three levels.
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So it's going to be an exciting game.
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It's going to be a tough game and hopefully we're just we're
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well prepared for tomorrow. Yeah, A20 win season for you and
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I'm looking at your, you know, twenty wins, 9 losses.
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I'm looking at your 9 losses. There's not a bad one in the
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bunch. I mean, every team that you lost
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to made the Bergen County Jamboree except for Wayne
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Valley, which went to the Passaic County finals.
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So, you know, I I think your regular season schedule really
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did toughen you up for this run here.
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No, absolutely. I always like to try and do
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that, you know, with all the independence read very little
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book, I always want to try and go get teams that I know we're
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going to be very good. You know, they're going to be
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high in the counties, make deep runs in the States and it just
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kind of helps us prepare so we can see all different types of
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teams that we see throughout the season, especially in the
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holiday tournament with, you know, playing Ridgewood and Glen
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Rock and TV. I think a lot of the the season
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schedule that we book helps us prepare to get to where we are
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today. Yeah, no doubt, no doubt about
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it. I want to talk a little bit more
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about that bit because I love that tournament.
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I love the way it works and I had so much fun covering it in
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the finals. You know, I was there, and it's
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crazy how that tournament has grown.
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It was Joe Del Bueno, the mad scientist started it 15 years
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ago. And I was at the first final.
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And they were, you know, I was there with 25 other people, you
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know, some proud parents. And it was nice.
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And then to see how it has grown into what was basically a packed
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house for two public school teams, two Group 2 public school
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teams playing as hard as you did, as Ridgefield Park did, and
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in a game that was back and forth the whole way.
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You know, just maybe a couple of words on that.
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I mean, obviously last year when I covered it and Saint Mary won,
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I remember interviewing Brian Gasion and he said, well,
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obviously, you know, you want to play in the Jambo, but this is a
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nice consolation prize. But I think it's growing to be
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even more than that because of the way the separation has
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happened. Now where, you know, listen,
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coach, I hope you go on one day and win the Bergen County
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Jamboree title. Not easy for a Group 2 public
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school to be able to do that nowadays.
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So that gives you a real viable, competitive, mostly public
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school title to go after. I know after talking to Chris
16:46
Gaskin when they won it this year, like that was the first
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county championship of any kind that they ever won at Richfield
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Park and boys basketball, which has a strong history.
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So just your thoughts on it. And, you know, you obviously
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mentioned that it toughened your kids up and you were happy to go
17:01
playing it. But maybe some more thoughts
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about the tournament as a whole. Yeah, I love the new format of
17:06
the tournament, being able to get those extra games, you know,
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being, you know, we made for the first round and losing to
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Lyndhurst. You know, at that point it's
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just kind of like, all right, oh, we're done.
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So now he's got to go try and find, you know, more independent
17:20
games. But the way they adjusted this
17:23
format, so now you have the louvers of the first round that
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are all in the Jambo to go and now have the opportunity to go
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play a bunch of other schools that are, you know, well
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coached, very good. And it also helps with like the
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PowerPoints and everything going forward.
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So just being able to be in that tournament and being able to go
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and play for something. And like you said, like it's
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growing. All the coaches I talked to,
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they love the new format as well.
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And I just think it's a great opportunity for kids to go out,
17:53
play different schools, showcase their skills and to go and
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compete for, you know, a VIT title.
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It is awesome. So, I mean, I love the new
18:00
format. I thought it was great for us
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and really kind of helped us with, you know, getting to where
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we are now. So I'm a big fan of the new
18:07
format it. Won't be perfect until I can
18:10
talk Joe Del Bueno into going back to the red, white and blue
18:12
basketballs ABA styles, which they did one year, I think, and
18:18
Al Coleman put the kibosh on it. So, so let All right, so let's
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talk about some of these kids on your team here that have, you
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know, led you to this 21 season so far.
18:29
I mean, the night I saw you, Owen Farley was great, Julian
18:32
Quinerly was great, you know, and and the thing I was most
18:35
impressed with about your team is the way you share the ball.
18:37
I mean, you know, a lot of driving kick, you know, passing
18:41
up good shots for better ones. And I think, you know, your
18:44
coaching style certainly plays a big factor in that.
18:47
But just maybe, you know, fill us in on some of these guys who
18:50
have led you here to the brink of a state sectional
18:52
championship. Yeah, this group is this group
18:55
is great, extremely unselfish and they.
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Super. Fast, athletic, they're
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aggressive, so being able to kind of rebound and get out and
19:06
run definitely suits our personnel.
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I mean, Owen Crowley, he plays our big, he's a junior, but he's
19:13
already committed to to Harvard for lacrosse.
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So to have like a Division One athlete who can just fly on the
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floor, he's great to have. Charlie Taylor, he's a junior,
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he has over 400 points for us this year.
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Last year he kind of got thrown into it, starting point guard
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coming right from the freshman level to because we were super
19:34
young and just kind of threw him right into it.
19:36
And for the jump that he made from last year to this year, I
19:41
mean, he's been outstanding. I mean, he's our leading scorer.
19:44
He had, you know, one night against Dwight Morrow, he had 32
19:46
and he didn't hit 1/3. So he has the capability
19:50
because, you know, he had six threes against Mahwah and State.
19:53
So like he can score from outside, inside, handles the
19:56
ball really well. Owen Moore's is an absolute
20:00
warrior. He is one of the toughest kids I
20:03
have ever coached. Loves playing defense, guards
20:07
the. The opposing team's hardest
20:09
player every single night and he's like willing to do it.
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And you know he would he would run through a wall.
20:15
He takes charges, he leads us in charges, he leads us in rebounds
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and you know, he has the capability.
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There's been nights that he's been in our leading scorer and
20:24
same thing. I mean, Owen Farley, you know, 2
20:26
year starter, played as a sophomore for me as well.
20:32
He's great. I mean, he can score all three
20:33
levels, leaves everything on the floor.
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And Julian Quinerly, his, you know, he's just probably one of
20:39
the most unselfish players I've ever I've ever coached.
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He would rather set up his teammates than score himself.
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Super quick, great handle, can get down the lane, finds his
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guys, great passes and then there's a bunch of kids that
20:53
come in and just bring so much energy.
20:55
Pat O'Neill's another junior big time lacrosse player, James
20:59
Cunningham, who was just part of, you know, Caesar's Placido
21:02
soccer team. Tough nose guard Michael Leah
21:06
Dory comes in. He's a big that plays for us.
21:09
Michael Ledlow can come in and hit shots for us as well.
21:12
So if they're extremely unselfish, the way they fly up
21:16
and down the floor and play and share the ball, it's great to
21:19
watch. So very, very pleased with this
21:23
team and how they been playing so far this year, yeah.
21:25
I mean, obvious growth lost last year in the first round of the
21:28
state tournament to West Mulford and and you know, you could tell
21:31
that those guys brought a little chip on their shoulder coming
21:33
back. You know, the experience of it.
21:37
It's hard to put into, you know, tangible terms like, oh, this
21:40
goes back to that. But it obviously has, you know,
21:44
made an impression on those guys and coming out from the jump of
21:48
every game in the state tournament.
21:50
I mean, how much did the disappointment of last year lead
21:53
to the success of this year? It was a lot.
21:57
That was one of like, kind of like the first messages when we
22:00
when we came in this season. And Owen Farley, you know, he
22:04
was a part of the as a sophomore, he was a part of the
22:07
the sectional win. And so he got to experience
22:09
that, see what it was like. And then to have, you know, get
22:13
knocked out first round last year, that was kind of like one
22:17
of his main messages. He was like, we're not
22:19
experiencing that again. And I think that, you know, kind
22:22
of motivated everybody, especially Julian, Charlie,
22:26
Owen, both, I mean, I should say all three Owens, but they they
22:32
just bring it every day. They they just one of the the
22:35
funnest years I've ever had coaching this group and you
22:39
know, they work extremely hard every single day.
22:42
So I'm super pleased. They're very focused and that's
22:45
kind of how it's been since day one.
22:48
Are there any more quineries in the pipeline or is this the last
22:51
of them? This is the last one
22:53
unfortunately. It's been quite a quite a quite
22:58
a run for you with those kids. So how about Verse against
23:02
Westwood? Obviously you know, you've
23:04
played them twice, came up on the short end twice.
23:06
I mean, what has to happen for you to turn around?
23:10
I mean, so many times I, I hate the cliche.
23:12
It's tough to beat a good team three times.
23:13
But just on the girls side with Old Japan beating Dem, you know,
23:16
Demarest county champion, Old Japan beat some third time
23:19
around with a good coach, You're a good coach and you're going to
23:21
be going up against a good team for the third time.
23:24
What are the keys to try to turn this thing around?
23:27
Definitely got to come out with toughness.
23:30
They are very tough, very physical.
23:33
They rebound the ball very well, especially on the offensive
23:35
glass. So that that's one of the
23:38
biggest things just we got to go out, we got to play physical, we
23:40
got to be tough, you know, and he Rob does a great job.
23:45
He's a great coach. He's got great kids.
23:48
RJ is fantastic point guard. So trying to stop him, getting
23:52
him, you know, him getting to the paint is definitely one of
23:55
the big keys. And then he's got shooters, you
23:58
know, both Cerekelli, Cerekelli's can, you know, can
24:00
knock it down from anywhere. So making sure we know where the
24:03
shooters are, you know, a lot of communication is going to be
24:05
very key on them because they run a lot of screens getting
24:09
guys open and getting downhill. So, but I definitely think it
24:12
definitely starts with a toughness factor because they
24:16
they are a very tough physical team.
24:19
Definitely, Yeah. You got, I forgot that you guys
24:21
won the sectional title two years ago.
24:22
I'm just I just pulled that one up, beat Vernon in North One
24:26
group Two final, went on to play Arts and gave Arts a run in the
24:29
state semifinals too. You know, and Ramsey, it's tough
24:33
because Ramsey puts a lot of resources into youth sports and
24:37
into, you know, the high school programs too.
24:39
So, you know, you need, as you mentioned, you have some multi
24:43
sport athletes. That is so key at a place like
24:46
Ramsey where there are a lot of opportunities for kids to
24:50
specialize. I mean, how important to get
24:52
those? It's a stupid question, but
24:54
maybe just talk of the way it's set up at Ramsey that the
24:57
coaching Staffs of each sport, you know, are willing to work
25:01
together and share some of these great athletes that you guys
25:04
have. Yeah, I mean, we, we share a lot
25:06
of athletes, you know, and I'm fortunate enough I get to share
25:08
an office every day with Cesar Placido and we share a lot of
25:11
athletes. So even in the summer, you know,
25:14
when we're doing summer leagues and they have summer practices,
25:17
so trying to plan around, you know, their time.
25:20
Same thing with football, baseball, lacrosse, because we
25:22
share just athletes with everyone.
25:24
So we really all work together and just kind of plan out, you
25:27
know, when everybody's going. You know, our administrators do
25:30
a great job with that as well by getting us all schedules, like
25:35
putting it out early. So we're all well aware, you
25:37
know, we don't want to overwork the kids, especially, you know,
25:40
during the summers once, once the, you know, the seasons are
25:44
start getting ready to start up. So it's, it's really important
25:47
for us to kind of all communicate, be on the same page
25:49
because again, I, I feel like the kids that are playing
25:52
multiple sports always do great. So the fact that they get
25:55
experiences in all different types of teams going to play for
25:58
other different coaches, I definitely think that's a
25:59
benefit for all of us. All right, last two.
26:02
And these are the questions that we've been using for the last
26:05
couple of weeks for all of our guests.
26:07
So who is the best player that you have ever coached against?
26:13
Oh. Geez, there have been a bunch of
26:16
them in your league and in your tough scheduling of out of
26:20
league games. Best one?
26:25
You could give me two if you're stuck.
26:32
Out out of league some Alex Festival comes to mind from
26:37
Vernon. OK, he was he was great.
26:40
He was really, really good when we played against Vernon and.
26:46
Hmm, it. I really like this RJ kid from
26:52
Westwood this year. He's tough.
26:54
Yeah, he's really, really good. So I I would probably those are
26:58
the two that probably come to the mind to me the most sounds.
27:01
Like you're lining it up for tomorrow.
27:04
He's just saying, 'cause you know, Rob Carson is a previous
27:07
guest of the show and I can't, I can't promise anything.
27:10
But I do know that he is a listener of the ball game on
27:13
North Jersey sports.com. So if you heard that, Rob, I
27:17
think that was aimed score with you.
27:18
All right, last question, one player that you have coached in
27:22
the past that if you could bring back for this state sectional
27:25
championship game, you know, it's for whatever reason,
27:29
intangibles, defense, you know, maybe the best player you could
27:33
bring back. Who would it be to help Ramsey
27:35
get past Westwood in this year's North One Group 2 state
27:38
sectional final? This year I would probably say,
27:46
oh, there's a few guys that come to mind, but for this one I
27:54
would probably go with Mike Burnius.
27:58
OK. Because he I think in two years
28:03
he took probably 50 something charges for me.
28:08
Super active on the board blocking shots and being able to
28:12
go throw 66K on this team right now would be super beneficial
28:15
for me. Yes.
28:17
The head coach going with the defensive player.
28:19
What a surprise, anyway. Yes.
28:22
Mark Christensen, head coach of the Ramsey Rams.
28:25
Thanks for coming on here tonight and best of luck against
28:28
Westwood. It's going to be a born burner
28:30
and I'm sure it's going to be a packed house.
28:31
A crazy place to be I. Appreciate you having me on,
28:34
it's always great to hop on all. Right, Brad, that was great
28:37
stuff there with Mark Christensen.
28:39
Looking forward to Friday night's N One Group 2 state
28:43
sectional championship game. And it's pivotal for many
28:47
reasons, including the fact that I have Ramsey winning it and you
28:51
took Jefferson. So you maybe your boy Rob Carson
28:55
can do you a favor and keep you from buying the pizza.
28:58
I think so. We'll.
29:00
See but N one Group 3 I'm in trouble Northern Highland the.
29:05
Gauntlet. Well, you know, we did say
29:08
Ramapo was the six time defending champion this year.
29:12
They went out in the first round.
29:14
And we did say on our first state tournament preview edition
29:18
that N one Group 3 was going to go back to its unpredictable and
29:21
wacky self and that there was no way that the one 2-3 and four
29:26
teams were going to make the semi finals and then the one 2-3
29:29
and four teams made the semi finals.
29:31
But Montville upset Tenafly and and again, upset is a strong
29:35
word because Montville's good and kind of fly playing without
29:40
Goldschneider. So that and not that it was
29:43
predictable, but it was certainly within the realm of
29:45
possibility. And Teaneck hit the gas on
29:48
Northern Highlands to set up the Montville Teaneck Sectional
29:51
final. Yeah, and and like I said, I I
29:55
believe I picked Teaneck for this one.
29:57
I believe you are correct. And but yeah, you know, Teaneck,
30:04
Teaneck has, you know, has shooters.
30:05
They've got some size in size, you know, very unfair for 10 to
30:10
fly. Like I said, I mean, they've
30:11
been playing well throughout the whole tournament and literally,
30:15
you know, lost the two possession game to Montville at
30:18
home. Like I said, without a kid who's
30:19
averaging 20 points a game. So to to still, as I I had
30:24
tennis fly out against rain Valley.
30:27
So for them to, you know, to continue to charge and, and and
30:30
play, you know, a high level basketball.
30:32
My hats off to to coach Polar over there for sure.
30:35
And, and I hope, you know, goal start can get healthy and, and
30:39
you know, it doesn't impact the rest of his, you know, athletic
30:41
career, whether he does anything in the spring or or next year
30:44
moving forward. Yeah, that's true.
30:46
And listen, hats off the team that they've been consistent
30:49
pretty much all year. They made a run to the semi
30:53
finals of Bergen County Jamboree.
30:56
They are now playing in the state sectional final.
30:59
And also it's going to be a double header because their
31:02
girls team knocked off #1 seed Ramapo on the road.
31:06
So you know, we, we've said that basketball in Bergen County is
31:10
better when Teaneck is good and Hackensack is good.
31:13
Now we got to get Englewood back in the mix, but Teaneck is good.
31:17
They will be hosting the section final and that moves us over to
31:22
North One Group 4 where Hackensack resides and Aaron
31:26
Taylor's done a great job with this group.
31:29
Yeah, AB, absolutely, you know, and he's got, he's got some
31:32
solid guys over there and, you know, striving Jamiko Smith and
31:36
they play well. They have some decent size, you
31:39
know, huge, huge win defending, you know, home court against the
31:44
tough Union City team who in in football, they're group 5
31:49
schools. So I mean, they have they're
31:51
they're definitely 5 per capita bigger than Hackensack as far as
31:55
enrollment is concerned. And East Orange, we talked about
32:00
that. We, you know, we said Montclair
32:02
was a, you know, a lackluster one seed, you know, based on,
32:06
you know, their schedule, their wins and losses, but they still
32:10
managed to handle business as a one seed, you know, getting back
32:14
to the semis and East Orange, you know, went on the road and
32:16
handled business. So, you know, I, I'm, I think
32:20
the East Orange hack is that game very good.
32:22
I think it's a fast-paced game with some good guard play.
32:25
I think the, the key to that game is going to be, you know,
32:29
who wins the battle inside in the paint, not about scoring in
32:33
the paint, but you know, if they could have, if there's a forward
32:35
or two that can contribute and and rebound the ball well, and I
32:38
think that's who's going to have the edge.
32:41
Hackensack had lost three games in a row to close the regular
32:44
season. They lost at Round PO, home
32:47
against Northern Highlands and then at Union.
32:50
And then the state tournament starts.
32:52
So much for momentum. They've won three in a row, beat
32:55
North Bergen, Ridgewood and Union City.
32:57
So handling Hudson County pretty well.
33:01
And again, you took East Orange all the way through.
33:05
So listen, I don't know anything about East Orange.
33:07
All I know is that I'm rooting hard for our friend Aaron Taylor
33:11
in North one Group 4. You know, I, I love it.
33:13
Hackensack, you know, the, the, the baseball coach over there
33:17
was tweeting the game when you know, and he's like, Hackensack
33:22
is packed. And then I'm saying I should be
33:24
at this game because you know, when Hackensack High school is
33:27
reminds me of the old days of the Jambo when that place would
33:29
be crazy. And you know that that
33:32
Hackensack's a basketball town. Say what you want about it, but
33:36
it's it's good for them. And again, it will be a crazy
33:39
night in Hackensack when East Orange comes to town.
33:41
So that's going to be a good one.
33:44
And again, you have the advantage there in North one,
33:46
Group 4, because my east side ghosts are out moving over to
33:51
north to Group 1. There's not really much to say
33:53
about it. You got Shabazz and Shabazz is
33:57
going to win that section and probably, well, I don't know
34:00
what's down South, but I'm sure it's it's pretty good.
34:05
Yeah. Is the favorite all the way
34:06
through. Yeah.
34:08
I mean, I'm going to just have a quick peek at the other.
34:12
First of all, in the South, the number 14 new Egypt team is
34:17
playing the number one seed there, so anything could happen
34:21
there and then in the central. It's.
34:25
Central is Thrive Charter. I think Thrive Charter is the
34:27
win that they're they're pretty good.
34:29
It's a little unfair too, because Thrive charter is the
34:31
former Trenton Catholic, right. So yeah, I think that's gonna be
34:37
a Thrive charter. And whoever comes out of this,
34:39
whether it's arts or Shabazz, that will be a very good game.
34:41
So the I think the group, the Group One final state final will
34:46
be a a pretty good matchup. I'm assuming they're gonna have
34:49
that down at Rutgers again. I haven't.
34:51
They haven't put out the tournament guide yet for the
34:57
state semi finals and finals, so I don't know who's playing
34:59
where, but it'd probably be at Rutgers.
35:02
If not, you know, I don't even know where.
35:04
Where else did they play them all at Rutgers the last couple
35:06
years? I think they have, but there was
35:09
a. There was a couple years where
35:10
they they kind of split it. It was Rutgers and I want to say
35:15
RWJ Arena and Toms River I think hosted some, yes.
35:19
That's true too, Yeah, so. Because they, they split up the,
35:23
the girls and the boys, because I think in years past, I think
35:28
all the boys were at Rutgers and all the girls were at Toms
35:31
River. So they, they kind of mixed and
35:33
mingled it kind of like what, you know, it's kind of what
35:35
everybody does. You know, you, you want to be
35:37
fair and, and, you know, impartial and, you know, want to
35:40
level up the playing field. You know, I, I think, you know,
35:43
with title 9, I think the women deserve to be at, at that arena
35:45
and, and have an opportunity to play in front of all those
35:47
people. So kudos, kudos to that.
35:50
Same thing in our in our conference, you know, when we
35:53
got the conference tournament time, instead of us being the
35:54
late game, we're the early game and the women get the prime time
35:57
slot. Wow.
35:59
And that's, that's that holds for the whole way through the
36:01
tournament. So a little different for us,
36:03
you know, I'm, you know, from a coaching standpoint, we're not
36:06
used to game. Prep as far as.
36:09
Being the first game, I walk into the gym like, oh, there's
36:11
no girls gonna go. What do I?
36:12
What do I do? So do you do you during the?
36:16
During the regular season, do you mirror each other like the
36:18
the women play first and then the men?
36:20
Yep. Or.
36:21
For conference, for conference, OK, yeah, for conference
36:23
tournament play, for conference regular season games, the way we
36:28
do is the the women always go at at 5:30 and we play at 8:00.
36:33
So that's the whole way through. I think most other teams are
36:36
like 5 and seven or five 3730. But we do, we do 5:30 and 8:00.
36:43
So yeah, it's always the women and the men.
36:45
And then we get to the tournament and we flip it.
36:47
So it's like, hey, we know you've been preparing all year
36:50
for XY and Z and your guys are, you know, routine, right?
36:54
We talk about, you know, mental health and college athletics and
36:57
high school athletics. And routine is always huge when
37:00
it comes to, you know, student athletes.
37:01
And we're just going to flip it in the conference tournament
37:04
time. And it's the most important.
37:07
So do you do you travel together 2?
37:11
Yeah, at times, at times depending on where we play, we
37:14
have travelled together in the past, sometimes up to
37:17
Connecticut, we'll travel together.
37:21
But I mean, I don't depend, I said, I mean, because there is
37:23
like a A2 hour window of a gap, you know, we, we try and you
37:28
know, budget so that we can travel by ourselves.
37:31
So that's this year. I don't think we doubled up
37:34
once, but in years past we have. But yeah, it's just, you know,
37:39
when you budget properly, we try and do it so that we can stay on
37:44
our schedule and and get our own space on the bus.
37:46
Because, you know, they have, they also have, you know, 18
37:50
players. So, you know, with staff you're
37:52
looking at, you know, 5050 plus people on a bus together.
37:55
And even though it's a nice charter bus, you know, there's
37:57
really not much room. Everybody's kind of doubled up
37:59
and kind of tough when you're you're sitting a six foot 8 kid
38:02
next to a six foot two kids, 6 foot 3 kids and they're they're
38:05
both kind of jammed in there. Yeah, that's right.
38:08
They're basketball players. I'm I'm fascinated by the
38:11
economics and the travel schedule and everything of, you
38:14
know, local Division 2 basketball.
38:16
It, it, it really because, you know, people take it for granted
38:21
that, you know, you look at the schedule and it says Felician is
38:23
playing Goldie Beacon on Saturday at 1:00.
38:26
And you show up at the gym at 12:55.
38:29
You watch the game, you go home. You don't realize like the whole
38:32
ballet that went on behind the scenes to make that game happen,
38:35
you know, and it's multiplied a zillion times by a zillion teams
38:40
across, you know, America from lining up officials and just
38:45
just everything. And, you know, like you said,
38:48
you got a budget and, you know, listen, Felician is doing great.
38:51
And Felician is 19 and 1 and Felician is the undefeated CAC
38:56
conference champions this year. But you know, Felician doesn't
38:59
have an unlimited budget. And it's got to everything's got
39:02
to be done according to plan or else, you know, things could
39:06
really go off the rail. So I I love the whole circus
39:12
that is travelling basketball for four months during the
39:15
basketball season. It's great.
39:17
Yeah. Yeah, it's like I said.
39:18
For, you know, it's a little bit tougher for D2, obviously, you
39:20
know, D3, you know, the Njax have, you know, state funding
39:23
and state backing. So you know, if you need a
39:25
couple extra bucks, you know, I'm sure it's not as difficult
39:27
to get. I'm sure they're still trying to
39:29
work with, you know, within the confines of their budget.
39:32
The same thing with high schools, you know, high schools,
39:33
you know, have backings of towns and everything else.
39:35
So, you know, it's a little bit easier to to get a couple extra
39:37
dollars. But you know, when you talk
39:39
about, you know, small private, you know, colleges and
39:41
universities, it's a little bit tougher.
39:44
But yeah, I mean, and especially when you know, we have 2023
39:49
intercollegiate athletics, you know, we're, you know, we're
39:52
basically like, you know, any, you know, big time high school,
39:56
you know, we have, we host, you know, all the sports, you know,
39:58
across the board, you know, lacrosse, men's and women's
40:01
wrestling and we have, we have all of it so.
40:04
Yeah. So, so to make that athletics
40:06
budget work, you really got to try and stick to the dollars and
40:09
cents and and and work within the confines of it or fundraise
40:13
to have that extra, you know, play money.
40:16
Yeah, no doubt about it. It's.
40:18
Kind, I mean, that's the that's the whole thing with the
40:20
collegiate athletics, even at the Division One level now.
40:22
I mean, it's it's all about fundraising.
40:25
Hey, it's funny because I just snuck out the last couple of
40:28
days. I went down to Atlanta.
40:30
My oldest daughter lives in Wyoming and she had to fly E for
40:35
work. So she was down in Atlanta and
40:37
my wife and my other daughter and I said, you know what?
40:38
We'll, I had it planned perfectly, Brad, because Sunday,
40:42
Monday, Tuesday was the trip. We left crack of dawn Sunday,
40:46
came back Tuesday night and before the second big snow
40:49
storm, those are supposed to be off days.
40:51
I mean, I even, you know, I calculated those are supposed to
40:53
be off days for the state tournament.
40:55
And then the snow came and ruined everything.
40:58
So I missed, you know, a day or two of the state tournament, but
41:00
whatever, I'm back at it. But just crazy, I went down and
41:06
we flew in and I went to, you know, fly in, get a rental car
41:10
and say what, what are we doing in the area?
41:12
And I looked and in Macon, GA, Mercer University baseball,
41:16
which is Division One baseball in the Southern Conference,
41:19
which is, you know, really good baseball because down South they
41:22
can play all year and they, you know, Mercer is a good team in
41:25
the Southern Conference and I they were playing University of
41:29
Pennsylvania. So again, I'm sitting there
41:31
wondering about the finances and everything that goes on with
41:35
those type of teams because, you know, Penn has to come.
41:39
And again, Penn is, has an endowment in the billions.
41:41
So nobody's crying for the Quakers, but right, it's a lot
41:45
of, you know, again, logistics and everything else and, and
41:49
against Mercer, which is a private College in a small city
41:53
in, you know, central Georgia. And they're again, multiply that
41:58
by the hundreds of schools that are playing at the same time.
42:01
And, you know, sports are big business in in America.
42:05
And it's cool when you can see it from all angles from, you
42:08
know, this week I was at a Division One baseball game
42:12
between an Ivy League school and a private university in Macon
42:16
and a Group One state sectional semi final game between Waldwick
42:20
and Emerson. So it's part.
42:22
And isn't it funny to see like the, from a, like a game
42:25
operation standpoint of how, how the nuts and bolts work behind
42:28
the scenes, like, you know, the, the, the aura.
42:31
That that. They put on probably at Mercer,
42:33
right, for the baseball game. It's probably a lot of moving
42:35
pieces, right? And ticket sales and everybody
42:37
else, you know, professions and then they get to, you get to
42:40
wall the cameras and it's there's, you know, two people at
42:44
what each each door that the entrance to the gym, there's one
42:47
table with a couple, you know, some sodas and some chips and
42:49
stuff like that for a little concession stand.
42:52
And then, yeah, that's really it.
42:54
Pat Gabriel's wife was the ticket taker.
42:57
See. There you go.
42:58
Yeah. Yeah, it's cool.
43:00
I mean, it's it's great. And especially when, you know,
43:02
when you're a sports nut, I like to see it from all angles.
43:05
All right, let's get back to where we left off here and
43:07
that's N tube Group 2. And again, Brad, you really, you
43:10
took the pizza by the neck, by the scruff of the neck and
43:13
taking Lindhurst, Richfield Park.
43:15
That was a close game for 3/4. And then, you know, game Rich
43:18
Barton covered for us here on North Jersey sports.com.
43:21
Johnny Tsunami played great down the stretch to get 17 of his 23
43:24
points in the fourth quarter or something like that.
43:27
You can read the story on North Jersey sports.com for the
43:29
specifics, but Lyndhurst looking good here.
43:33
And that sets up a a tough final because Madison is a tough team,
43:37
has been all year and I they might be the defending sectional
43:40
champion. I I guess they probably should
43:42
have done the research before that.
43:43
Anyway, they're good and Lyndhurst has a home game to win
43:46
their first state sectional title in a really long time.
43:50
Yeah, I mean, if ever. Yeah, really.
43:54
You know, really cool to see, you know, a team that you know,
43:58
like so they play in our spring league, you know, you know
44:00
those, those, you know, young men have gotten to know the
44:04
coaching staff and some of our players.
44:07
We said there's another alumni on staff there.
44:09
So it's, it's good to see, you know, the local teams, you know,
44:14
especially when you get to north too, right.
44:16
It's good to see that the Burton County are still holding strong.
44:19
It was unfortunate that, you know, that 2 Burton County teams
44:21
kind of knocked each other off. Yeah, yeah.
44:25
You know, I, I even think Coach Gaskin is not, you know, yeah,
44:28
it was a tough game. They they lost.
44:29
But I'm sure, I'm sure Chris is rooting for, you know, Perrin to
44:33
represent, you know, Bergen County in the in the section and
44:35
and getting it done against, you know, Morris County's Madison.
44:39
No doubt about it. I, I saw Coach Gaskin last night
44:43
at the Henderson game. I did talk to him a little bit
44:45
and he was, yeah, he he had a good season, 25 wins, That's
44:48
what he said. So he not upset.
44:52
Obviously it's still like to be playing, but when you look at
44:54
the you take the season as a whole, you know, BIT
44:56
championship, first ever overall Bergen County championship of
45:00
any kind for the boys basketball program this year.
45:03
And you know, they lost to a real good Linhurst team and and
45:06
Johnny Shanami played great in the fourth quarter.
45:08
And you know, sometimes you just got to tip your cap and I'm
45:11
looking here Madison last year I didn't even realize, but they
45:14
went all the way to the Group 2 state final and lost to
45:17
Manasquan. They beat Glen Rock in the Group
45:20
One in the state semi finals. Glen Rock won N won Group 2 last
45:25
year and they beat Hoboken in the sectional final last year.
45:29
So Madison must have a a pretty good core group with some of
45:34
those guys coming back from last year's team that made it to a
45:36
group 2 state finals. So Lindhurst certainly going to
45:39
have their hands for their didn't realize the pedigree of
45:42
Madison coming in there. Yeah, and just, you know, since
45:45
you kind of touched on it, you know, you my friend Manasquan,
45:49
just, you know, a quick speedy recovery to, you know, their
45:52
head coach, Andrew Bilodeau, who I I've gotten to know over the
45:55
past few years from recruiting standpoint, he actually had a
45:58
heart attack after the game while they were leaving the gym
46:02
off the floor after a win and and suffered a heart attack.
46:06
It's doing well from what I what I read.
46:09
But yeah, I mean, humanity's always a a tough out.
46:13
I'm sure those guys, they're still in, I'm sure.
46:15
Yeah, they're still in it. And they're playing inspired for
46:17
their coach too, so. Nothing galvanizes more than
46:22
something like that, you know, But everybody comes together and
46:25
you realize how, you know, basketball becomes the outlet
46:28
that you can channel your worries and concerns through.
46:32
So crazy. Yeah.
46:35
Good, speedy recovery, coach. Good call on that.
46:37
Brett N to group two. Group 3 got Colonia the one
46:42
against Chatham. The two Colonia scored 34 points
46:46
against Mendham and still made the sectional final.
46:48
So obviously the the Colonia hasn't given up.
46:51
I mean, they gave up 41 points in the first round against N
46:54
Hunterdon, 28 points against Somerville in the quarterfinals,
46:58
30 against Mendham in the semis, and now they'll get Chatham in
47:02
the final. I don't know what you know about
47:04
either one of those two teams, but it's the one and the two.
47:07
Not, you know, not much at all, but you know, just based on, you
47:10
know, what you just discussed, I mean, it seems like Colonia has
47:13
a really, really stingy defense. Chatham looks like they scored a
47:17
little bit. So, you know, I think it comes
47:20
down to can Colonia's defense, you know, stand hold or, you
47:26
know, on the flip side, you know, can can Chatham, you know,
47:28
entice them to to play a little bit quicker speed and can
47:31
Colonia do that? But yeah, to me, that's also I
47:34
haven't seen any team play. I guess I'd be more apt to to
47:38
pull for the little more local team with Chatham, but yeah.
47:44
But Colonia? Colonia has had its path blocked
47:48
by Ramapo last few years. They played the they won the
47:53
section, lost to Ramapo in the Group 3 semis at Bloomfield High
47:58
School. I drove down there and I Colonia
48:02
just couldn't get over the humps.
48:03
So they have a real chance to do it this year, and we'll see.
48:07
And then the big one, really one of the best games most looked
48:10
forward to games in New Jersey in the section final is in north
48:13
to Group 4, where it's gonna be Linden Plainfield.
48:18
Yeah. Yeah, that that to me, that's
48:20
gonna be the game of the of the night for Friday night.
48:23
You know, two teams who split, split wins and losses by three
48:27
points. The three-point win for
48:29
Plainfield early, then Linden beat them by three as well.
48:35
So you know, Mike Rice first, Mike Gordon, you know, Mike Rice
48:40
was obviously head coach at Rutgers.
48:41
You know, Mike Gordon was a, a, a very good Division One player
48:44
at Binghamton. Obviously his son is, is a
48:47
member of that team who's a, a dynamic junior guard on that
48:50
team. But yeah, I think that's that's
48:52
going to be, that game's probably sold out already.
48:55
As soon as they sold out, they're going to they're going
48:59
to flood. They're going to flood that
49:00
entrance like it's Black Friday. Looking for the latest Nintendo?
49:05
Yeah, or you. Know.
49:06
Whatever it is nowadays, the kids are playing.
49:09
Yeah. But yeah, I mean that that's
49:10
going to be that's going to be a a sellout quick.
49:14
I think that's to get a hot ticket.
49:15
And I think that's gonna that's a game that's gonna come down to
49:17
the final minute of the game as well to me at the toss up.
49:21
I'm gonna I'm pulling for playing.
49:22
So that you know, me and Mike Gordon have have been teammates
49:25
for many years, you know, in our older days as far as, you know,
49:29
trying to trying to stay relevant in the basketball
49:32
community. How's.
49:34
That work now. I haven't.
49:36
I haven't played competitively in a couple of years.
49:39
Me neither, It's been more than a couple for me too.
49:45
But yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm definitely looking forward to
49:48
see what the outcome of that one is.
49:49
Like I said, we, we we're preparing for our game Saturday
49:52
at 12:00. So it'd be tough for me to get
49:54
out to a game on Friday night, yeah.
49:57
All right. So the last two we got N non
50:01
public D We'll start there and I guess we should, yeah, put the
50:04
Raps on a great Saint Mary Rutherford season.
50:07
I mean, Gassion and the boys Gassion won over 400 wins early
50:11
this season. They played everybody that they
50:13
could cram onto the schedule. They made the Bergen County
50:16
Jamboree final for the first time in school history, program
50:19
history. They won the NJIC tournament and
50:24
you know they made a great run. They beat Morristown Beard in
50:27
the 4-5 game to make it to the non public B semi finals and
50:31
then they ran into a a really good top seeded Gil St.
50:34
Bernards. Yeah, and, and and Gil year in
50:38
and year out does really well, right.
50:40
They they bring in a lot of talent.
50:42
They're well coached from Argentina, does a great job.
50:44
His son, Jaron, who was a a you know, one of one of the best to
50:49
do it in Jersey as far as guard play right, played at C and Hall
50:51
and everything else was was a very good basketball player.
50:53
So you know, they're they're well coached.
50:56
They got some athletes. You know, the younger Mulcahy
51:00
brother, right, Paul's younger brother, who played at Rutgers
51:02
and Washington is there. You know, he's had a very good
51:05
season. I'm sure gastroans focus was to
51:08
try and limit him, which they they did a pretty, pretty decent
51:10
job. But they have another kid, this
51:12
kid Prosper, who merger had told me about that's been playing
51:15
really well for him. And he and he had a really good
51:17
game. But yeah, you know, my hat's off
51:20
to to gash. I mean, a jam, a Jambo runner up
51:25
get to the semi final of the section.
51:29
Yeah. I mean, it's probably not how
51:31
they wanted the season to end, but you know, the amount of team
51:37
and individual accolades that they're going to garner just,
51:39
you know, proves that that they're they're they're a very
51:45
good program and they can hold their own with the best of them.
51:49
Yep, yeah, moving in the right direction for sure.
51:51
Say Mary. And it's been, it's been a long
51:54
build for Gaccion. So it's nice to see, you know,
51:56
the fruits of his labor and that he's not done.
51:59
So they're gonna, you know, can she coming?
52:02
Back here, Yeah, Nice. Wrap on the career for Matt
52:04
Kennedy too with, you know, a standout player in Bergen County
52:08
all year long and went out on a high note.
52:11
I mean, he led 19 points in this final high school game.
52:14
So and then they will play Gil Saint Bernard's the top seed
52:17
will play the winner of the game going on right now between Mars
52:20
Catholic and Roselle Catholic and then in non public a you
52:27
know, Brad, I I was so pumped with my Don Bosco pick.
52:31
You know, they won by 41 in the first round, took care of Hudson
52:34
Catholic at on the road in Jersey City, which, you know,
52:39
Hudson Catholic was a Hudson County tournament finalist and
52:43
Bosco goes in there and wins by 10.
52:45
And I've liked my chances against Seton Hall Prep and
52:48
Bosco came up six points short in the semi finals.
52:52
And then actually the score just popped in of the Bergen Catholic
52:58
game. Paramus Catholic has the 12A
53:01
great run and this was 8228 in the semi finals against Burton
53:06
Catholics. It's Burton Catholics year.
53:08
What are you going to do? Yeah, I mean, it's just, you
53:12
know, and the funny part was, you know, and it wasn't even one
53:16
of the, you know, not not that it wasn't one of the normal high
53:19
scores, but, you know, Mozilla goes for 30 like nobody else
53:22
really needed to do much outscored premise Catholics by
53:25
himself. Yeah, that's a good game.
53:29
But hey, listen, Billy Armstrong put together a great game plan.
53:32
Have Mozilla go for 30, hold Brahmos Catholic for 28.
53:35
He wouldn't buy 2 or 50. Check like.
53:40
That check, like I said, and that's the whole, that's the
53:42
whole Bosco game I'm I'm sure was pretty good.
53:44
I didn't get a chance to talk to Ivan because I know, I know he
53:48
was there. Yeah, we have just early in the
53:50
morning this morning just so we can we can get out to that game.
53:56
And we also wanted to give our guys a lot of rest because, you
53:59
know, the plan is to, you know, go after it tomorrow.
54:02
You know, then we have a a big game Saturday.
54:04
We we plan on winning and then we got to flip and play again
54:06
the next day at at noon. So try to maximize these guys
54:11
rest. So we weren't, you know, early
54:12
this morning. But yeah, you know, Don Bosco,
54:16
who was a sixth seed, you know, I'm sure, you know, everybody
54:19
listening is probably like, you know, it was a down year for
54:22
Bosco and their record kind of, you know, you could look at it,
54:24
at their record and say, you know, it reflects that, but
54:28
still made a good run in the Jambo, you know, still puts
54:31
their good run in their in their sectional bracket.
54:33
You know, it's, you know, it's going to be interesting to see
54:38
how they look moving forward with the graduation of, you
54:40
know, JP Skork and Brad Brown. Yep, well they got a good player
54:45
coming back from what I hear. They do.
54:48
They do. And it was that game that you
54:51
know, the Seton Hall prep game that was a four point game going
54:53
into the fourth quarter against a real good Seton Hall prep
54:56
team. So Bosco finished up strong and
54:58
we know Kevin Deverio's a a great tactician.
55:01
And you know, what I'm most looking forward to about next
55:04
year on the ball game is having Kevin Deverio on again.
55:07
That was one of my favorite interviews that we did this
55:09
year, not least of which from because of the confines from
55:13
where it was conducted on Brad Forestier, which was fun, but.
55:19
I mean that I think that I think that's what most of them listen
55:22
well, they want to hear What what what I'm doing
55:24
multicasking. You know, he's doing this show.
55:26
Where where else is he? Where where in the world is Brad
55:29
Forrester? We.
55:30
Got to make some T-shirts. We'll put up a poll on Twitter.
55:35
I'll do that too. But anyway, the good news, all
55:39
of North Jersey sports.com's podcasts, the first and foremost
55:44
the ball game here now available on most of the well of all of
55:49
the major podcasting networks. And not all of them because as I
55:53
figured out how to sign the put the podcast everywhere, there
55:57
were a few that I decided we didn't need because I'd never
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heard of them before. But we're Amazon now.
56:03
We're on Apple now we're on iHeartRadio.
56:06
Now we're hosted by Spotify. So all the places, there's no
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excuses and check us out because we got more to do.
56:13
Next time on the ball game, follow the leader.