Latest / NorthJerseySports.com / The Ballgame! Jambo Review & Preview
Transcript
- 0:08Back on the Ball Game North Jersey sports dot coms original
- 0:13multimedia series. Talking.
- 0:15All things hoops across North Jersey.
- 0:19We are deep into the Jambo now and we have a captive Co host.
- 0:24I am Corey Doviak being joined by a man with a long ride to
- 0:28make and hopefully a solid Bluetooth connection.
- 0:32He is Brad Pore's theory. What's going on Brad?
- 0:36What is? Going on Corey, we are immersed
- 0:39in Bergen County Jamboree 2. Very good rounds to start.
- 0:47Couple of upsets, couple of surprises from some some guys
- 0:51who weren't expected to put their names on the map that did
- 0:55so. Yeah, very intriguing first two
- 0:58rounds, which takes us to Elite 8.
- 0:59Very excited about Sunday's games as well.
- 1:02No doubt about it. And we are being brought to you
- 1:04by Vertical Rays, the fundraising platform for your
- 1:08team or your group. Check them out at
- 1:11verticalraise.com. Our buddy Scott Papetti, friend
- 1:15of the show, friend of the site and just friend involved with
- 1:19Vertical Rays. So check them out at
- 1:21verticalrays.com. And thank you, Scotty.
- 1:24So all right, you said it. We have a, it's AI got the
- 1:27bracket printing out right here 'cause hot off the presses, the
- 1:31quarterfinal matchups have been announced.
- 1:33The times have been announced, all taking place this Sunday at
- 1:38the Pagoda Savings Center. Hard for me to say that not the
- 1:40Rothman Center of all these years.
- 1:42But I'm gonna still say the Rothman Center.
- 1:44I'm down here, yes, at the Rothman on the banks of the
- 1:47Hackensack River. We are into the quarterfinals,
- 1:50back the way it should be in the big house we have The first game
- 1:54of the day will be Saint Mary against Hackensack.
- 1:57That's the three sixth game. The second game is number 2
- 2:01Tenafly against #7 Don Bosco, the 230 game we have #4 Teaneck
- 2:08against the only UPS, quote UN quote upset winner this past
- 2:12weekend as Cresskill knocked off Ridgewood.
- 2:15We'll talk about that. Some explanations needed.
- 2:18And then the nightcap right before the Super Bowl starts
- 2:21will be top seeded Burton cap and play in Northern Highlands,
- 2:23right? So that's what's coming up this
- 2:25weekend. And now we can hit the rewind
- 2:27button and talk about what just happened on Saturday in two
- 2:32venues across North Jersey, Tenafly High School, Northern
- 2:36Highlands High School, some fireworks in the hallway at
- 2:42Tenafly High School. We could talk about that, but
- 2:44I'd rather not. What's to say?
- 2:47I met the new media liaison for the Bergen County Jamboree
- 2:53Committee and we had an interesting conversation.
- 2:56I will leave it at that and I will say no more.
- 2:58But I mean, Brad, we talked about it last week and maybe got
- 3:04some criticism. For it but.
- 3:06Anyway, this tournament, we, we were so excited about it because
- 3:10it seemed to be the most wide open in years because of the
- 3:15only one dominant parochial school.
- 3:18And Bergen Catholic is handling its business, you know, with a,
- 3:23you know, 30 point win over Glenrock this past weekend.
- 3:25But it's very chalky if you look at the seeds with Crestfield,
- 3:31the number 12 being the only lower seed left.
- 3:35I mean, they knocked off the number 5.
- 3:37But it doesn't feel chalky because it's not the same, you
- 3:41know, cast of characters, even though Saint Mary is, you know,
- 3:45was favored to be here and they're the number three seed.
- 3:48You know, nice to see them in the quarterfinals.
- 3:50Hackensack back in the quarterfinals, even though
- 3:52they're the six seed and quote UN quote, they should be here.
- 3:55Didn't necessarily mean they were going to be here because,
- 3:58you know, Dwight Anglo was alive #11 11 and you know, and it's
- 4:02almost like flip flop with Bosco being the 7:00 and 4:50 being
- 4:05the two. But your thoughts before we get
- 4:06into some of the more some of the nuances from the weekend
- 4:09that was? Yeah, I mean, I think, you know,
- 4:13and, and, and in true NCAA tournament fashion, right, that
- 4:1612 five game, always a trap game, right?
- 4:19And and Presco and Presco, you know, didn't allow, you know,
- 4:23the the seed that they received to influence anybody.
- 4:27And they went into the game and and handled business
- 4:30accordingly. You know, yeah, it was a 2 point
- 4:34win, you know, But you know, Kapczynski played well.
- 4:40I don't know how to say his name.
- 4:41Either Zilbert played well the big shot at the end, you know,
- 4:45Yeah, I mean, and then, you know, Ridgewood, you know, had
- 4:49had a couple guys, you know, play very well, Andrew Barry and
- 4:52and Sebastian Rogers, right, whose whose older brother plays
- 4:54at NJIT. And I think he's kind of finding
- 4:57his footing now as a as a big at Ridgewood.
- 5:01I still think, you know, and it's not it's not the Johnny
- 5:05Jack Ridgewood Maroons, however, you know, yes, he had he scored
- 5:11a lot of points for them, but I think there's they're what
- 5:13they're missing And and you know, Rogers is is good inside,
- 5:16but I think they're missing that like that guard piece that's
- 5:19really that can help do multiple things for them.
- 5:24And I think that, and I think that's why they struggled a
- 5:25little bit because Crystal had a, you know, some bodies to
- 5:28throw at Rogers and had that team mentality.
- 5:32So like I said, you know it, it played well, it's a very good
- 5:36game. You know, I always love when you
- 5:38see a Group 1 and a Group 4 go at it and a Group 1 gets a
- 5:40better SO. You know, the one of the things
- 5:45that we talked about, you know, when I saw Cresco early this
- 5:48year against Tenafly, I love the approach of, you know, nothing
- 5:52happens until we make the entry pass.
- 5:54You know, it's like old school. And even when they were down,
- 5:58the, you know, the, the inclination could be like, hey,
- 6:01let's rush some 3 pointers and let's get back in the game.
- 6:04They just kept throwing the ball inside, you know, and Kopchitsky
- 6:06got double teamed all day long. Yeah, I wasn't at the game, but
- 6:10I did speak to someone who was very close to the playing
- 6:13surface. So, you know, and I got the word
- 6:17and basically what he said was the the better team won.
- 6:19And, you know, Preskel just stuck to his game plan.
- 6:23You know, Kopchinsky smart enough to pass out of double
- 6:25teams and not try to force everything.
- 6:26But it's great when you see the offense go through the post and
- 6:30commitment to it. You know, the the oldest cliche
- 6:33in basketball to me, the the one that makes the most sense.
- 6:35The closer you are to the basket, the easier it is to make
- 6:37a shot. So.
- 6:39Yeah, as long as you, I mean, if you as if you play, if you have
- 6:42a, if you have a, a forward who understands the game that, you
- 6:47know, doesn't have to score every time you can play inside
- 6:49out. You're always going to find way
- 6:51more success than trying to, you know, shoot, shoot yourselves to
- 6:55a win. You know, compared to
- 6:57establishing yourself on the interior because you either got
- 7:03a, you either got a ballot, you got a ballot kid or, or put him
- 7:06on the line. And you know, either way, you're
- 7:08going to find yourself in trouble as the game progresses.
- 7:12Yep, no doubt about it. So we're going to go deeper in
- 7:14this Cresskill because we are going to have head coach Dan
- 7:17Eggaro on the show. Now, just a little bit behind
- 7:19the scenes here. We are taping this on Monday
- 7:21night as Brad is on his way down the, I assume, the Garden State
- 7:25Parkway and I am at the world headquarters of North Jersey
- 7:29sports.com. And we are going to splice this
- 7:31whole thing together on Tuesday because of the NJIC schedule,
- 7:35which plays Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights.
- 7:37Coach Egro could not join us tonight because he is currently
- 7:41probably in a nice suit. That's the way he likes to
- 7:43approach it and coaching a game as we speak here.
- 7:47So what we will do is we're going to do our show here, we're
- 7:49going to do that interview tomorrow and then we're going to
- 7:51drop it in, splice it all together and we'll see how it
- 7:54comes out. But let's continue along here
- 7:56now. I was at Tenafly for the first
- 7:59two games. You know, these days I can I
- 8:03can't do more than two games in a day.
- 8:04It you know, to to give a game story or a story about a game
- 8:09the attention it deserves and to put together a photo package
- 8:13with it and to do everything else, the upload and everything
- 8:15else. It takes a good bit of time.
- 8:17So even if I wanted to stay for all four and do it, I'd still be
- 8:21writing if that were the case. Those games are on Saturday,
- 8:23this being Monday night after 8 PMI.
- 8:25It it still wouldn't be done. So it's just physically
- 8:28impossible for me to do it. So I pick and choose of course I
- 8:31like to get It was a bonus that they were the 2 early games, but
- 8:35it really was crazy. Riverdale, the number 13 seed
- 8:41against #4 Teaneck and I, I It's the first time I'd seen
- 8:46Riverdale this year and I was so impressed with new many of their
- 8:51players. But the sophomore Ian Rosig
- 8:55really a, a good player. I mean, smart basketball IQ, you
- 9:00know, can play in a high post, can operate down low, good mid
- 9:04range game, you know, aggressive and hustles on the on the glass.
- 9:10I mean, I don't want to just single out one kid because
- 9:12Riverdale really put together a great team effort and hung in
- 9:18there all the way with the number four seed.
- 9:19This is the thing here. This is what I learned this week
- 9:23through my travails at Tenafly High School and meeting the new
- 9:28media liaison with the Jamboree Committee.
- 9:30I I learned some new Jambo math is that there's never been a
- 9:34mistake made with seedings. Those are all set in stone
- 9:38'cause if that's what the committee says, then that's what
- 9:40they are. So the only thing that can lead
- 9:42to an upset or a team not playing well is that team.
- 9:46So if Riverdale is the number 13 seed and they beat Teaneck the
- 9:50number four, that only means that Teaneck didn't play well or
- 9:55well enough to be a number four seed.
- 9:57And Riverdale probably played better than a 13 on that day.
- 10:00But that doesn't mean they don't deserve to be a number 13 seed.
- 10:03So it was an upset opportunity and I guess Riverdale played
- 10:08above its head because it took everything for Teaneck to, you
- 10:13know, hold on and win that game. And when I say everything, it
- 10:15took Mikhail Taylor having an all timer, an all time banger in
- 10:19the Bergen County Jamboree. Yeah, I mean, you know, it's
- 10:24like most most N civil tournaments, right?
- 10:27You know, I feel like a lot of those low seeds, right, Those
- 10:30higher seeds in the tournament, you know, those, those those,
- 10:34you know, teen seeds are usually those mid major schools.
- 10:36Very easy to overlook those right, especially when you have
- 10:39contrasting play styles, right, yes, you know, Teaneck, you
- 10:43know, a much more fast tempo, higher paced team, right,
- 10:47Riverdale, probably a little bit more of a grind it out kind of
- 10:52kind of feel. I'm sure they they take it
- 10:53whenever they take advantage of when they can, you know, they
- 10:55get out and and get easy ones. But you know, yeah, aside from
- 11:00and it could I could be wrong. Probably, probably a Jambo
- 11:03record and 47 points from Taylor.
- 11:07You know, I can, I can definitely can attest to a lot
- 11:11of 30 balls that have been passed around in in Jamboree
- 11:15history, but not too many 40 plus.
- 11:17So, yeah, but like I said, I mean, you know, kudos, kudos to
- 11:22him. I couldn't get to that game we
- 11:23played on Saturday. Mr. Taylor did attend the our
- 11:28game as well after that. OK.
- 11:30So he was just showing that he's just a basketball guy.
- 11:34You know, here's a young kid who plays a game, you know, a tough
- 11:37game and still wants to go and watch more basketball and see
- 11:41what it takes to play at the next level.
- 11:44You know, shout out to him as, you know, basketball minds see
- 11:47what we do to be successful, see maybe what we do that maybe he
- 11:50can do at his level to help him be a little more successful.
- 11:55But yeah, I mean, you know, to to have 7 threes and go 16 and
- 11:5919 from the line to rack up 47, you know, in a, in a second
- 12:06round Jamboree game, yeah, says a lot.
- 12:10Definitely says a lot. 16 of 19 from the free throw and yes, all
- 12:15in the fourth quarter and overtime.
- 12:17Wow. Yeah.
- 12:20Yep, through 3/4 he did not shoot one free throw.
- 12:24Crazy. And he, I, I, I was, we were
- 12:26talking before we came on the air just, you know, because I'm
- 12:29not. You're a college coach and you
- 12:32know what you're looking at in terms of you know, you can
- 12:34project how players going to be and and I'm sure you recruit,
- 12:39you know, you're trained eye much better than mine.
- 12:42I look, you know, I'm always looking for a story.
- 12:44Not necessarily. You know, once they leave high
- 12:47school, I rarely see them again anyway.
- 12:49So but just crazy. Everything was impressive about
- 12:55his game. First of all, I mean, 73
- 12:57pointers that that's great. You know, if you end it right
- 13:00there, he had 21 points in a Bergen County Jamboree game.
- 13:03That's a great day, You know, and then with, with all that
- 13:06stuff, with the free throw line and everything else.
- 13:07But the, the amazing thing is like Riverdale is a well coached
- 13:11team. Ronnie Van Taters does a great
- 13:12job and he's a guy that I want to have on here later in the
- 13:15season, maybe before the states come or, you know, maybe in a in
- 13:18a preview mode. And I think we should do one of
- 13:21those podcasts like we did last week where we had multiple
- 13:25coaches on. I, I, I'm going to take a quick
- 13:28second out and, and pat ourselves on the back here.
- 13:31The, the amount of feedback that we've gotten from that show,
- 13:34from the last two shows that we did, notwithstanding the one
- 13:37complaint. But hey, we open ourselves up to
- 13:38that. That's fine.
- 13:41The amount of people that came over, they said they listen to
- 13:42the podcast, they like the podcast.
- 13:44They're, you know, for no other reason than there's just not
- 13:48that much in depth coverage of the Bergen County Jamboree,
- 13:51which I know is part of the reason why you and I are doing
- 13:53that. Because we love the Bergen
- 13:54County Jamboree and trying to give it the, you know, public
- 13:59publicity that it deserves and give ourselves a chance to talk
- 14:02about something that we love doing.
- 14:03So for all those things. And, you know, so I'd love to
- 14:07have Ronnie Van Savers on the show and he's a good coach and
- 14:11he knows that, hey, if we want to win this game, we got to get
- 14:14the ball out of Mikel Taylor's hands.
- 14:15They just couldn't do it. It was just, you know, he has
- 14:17physical players, He's got tall players, he's got athletic
- 14:21players. He he tried to, you know, double
- 14:24team of everything you want. And he still found a way to get
- 14:29the ball in his hands in crunch time and keep it make good
- 14:32decisions, either setting up teammates, feeling the double
- 14:36and and setting up teammates, or just allowing himself to get
- 14:38fouled and right. The most impressive thing about
- 14:41his game is his dribble in tight spaces.
- 14:44Never picked up his dribble one time.
- 14:46Yeah. And, and, and, you know, and
- 14:49let's let's give credit where credit is due, you know, for
- 14:54you've covered a lot of basketball, right?
- 14:56And you've seen where some of these kids that you've covered
- 14:58go on to play, right? So I think you have a a pretty
- 15:00good grasp at the levels, right, between a Division One player,
- 15:04division two player, Division Three player, right?
- 15:07Yeah. But at the end of the day,
- 15:09right, you could take all that and, and what you said right
- 15:15there, you know, you know, capsulates the fact that you
- 15:19know. He's going to play at the next
- 15:21level. Somewhere, Yep.
- 15:23Don't know where yet, but he's going to play at the next level.
- 15:25Because when you throw all those, all those obstacles his
- 15:28way, he still finds a way to get the basketball in his hands,
- 15:31right? To preserve a win, to make sure
- 15:33he has the ball in his hands because he's going to go to the
- 15:35line. He's going to make 2 almost
- 15:37every time he can find a way to to dribble out of out of
- 15:40pressure right into tight spaces, right and and keep the
- 15:44clock moving right as much as possible.
- 15:47Things like that, you know that that separates you and I'm not
- 15:52saying that I knew those kids Riverdale aren't going to I
- 15:54haven't seen them play yet, but but you could you can tell they
- 15:58just kind of jump off the page of you that that kids gonna play
- 16:01at the next level somewhere and that could be anywhere.
- 16:03Junior college, Division Three, division two, Division One and
- 16:05AI. It doesn't matter.
- 16:07You know, you could tell based on on his skill set, right and
- 16:10his and his attentive to getting everything, doing everything he
- 16:16can to get a win that that that mindset streams he's going to
- 16:21play after high school as well. No doubt.
- 16:24All right, so that was that. And, you know, Teaneck
- 16:26overcoming and I don't even want to talk about health issues of
- 16:29high school students, so I'm not going to.
- 16:30I mean, I think people know what happened in the the gym last
- 16:33week. And if you don't, well, look it
- 16:34up somewhere else. But, you know, so Teaneck was
- 16:37playing with a little extra motivation for a fallen comrade.
- 16:41And they got contributions from other places, too.
- 16:44I mean, AJ Farrell had 11 points, 10 rebounds.
- 16:47Anthony Odo Mellum, I don't know if I said that right, 10 points,
- 16:508 rebounds. The sophomore Mateo Bensimon was
- 16:53great, too, 7 points, 9 rebounds.
- 16:57And just everybody doing a little bit, you know, to take
- 16:59the pressure off of Taylor at some point and get a big basket,
- 17:03get a big rebound. You know, it was, it really was
- 17:06a good team. It's crazy to say that it was a
- 17:08great team effort when one guy went from 47.
- 17:10But I, I, you know, Teaneck did do the little things outside of
- 17:15Taylor to get a win because Riverdale, you know, Rosick
- 17:18finished with 26. I mean, he's a big kid and he
- 17:21finished with that. 1233 pointers.
- 17:24Daniel Lorenzo had 22. Nick Clark had three threes, 9
- 17:30points. Charlie Lopresti made a big
- 17:32three pointer in the fourth quarter.
- 17:33He had eight points and he's a sophomore.
- 17:35David Nunez had 9. So I want to give credit to
- 17:38Riverdale for giving it a against Teaneck.
- 17:41So Brad, that leads us into a brand new segment on the ball
- 17:45game on North Jersey sports.com and it is sent in by our dear
- 17:50friend, my disc golfing buddy, Sean Macisaac, who is the
- 17:55assistant coach at Riverdale. I'm I'm sorry, graduate of
- 17:58Riverdale, assistant coach now at Ridgefield Park.
- 18:02Funny that those two teams played in the first round of the
- 18:04Bergen County Jamboree and I just made that Freudian slip.
- 18:07So the Ridgefield Park assistant coach and he adapted this from
- 18:12the Knuckleheads podcast. He texted me last night with Hey
- 18:15he with the caveat that he has never seen Michael Taylor play
- 18:19yet. But on Knuckleheads, they do
- 18:23what they want to have a guest on.
- 18:24They say start bench cut. So they give three players that
- 18:29that their guest had played with and they have to make those
- 18:32tough decisions. We're going to adapt it to the
- 18:34high school version and you're going to be the first one to
- 18:36play because I don't see us having anybody from Teaneck on
- 18:38in the next whatever time. An invitation was extended, but
- 18:43no takers. So let's go with Jaqui James,
- 18:49Leandre Washington and Mikhail Taylor.
- 18:53You have to start 1, you got a bench 1 and you got to cut one.
- 18:57I'll do it too. Alright, so I now I've seen I've
- 19:03seen all three play Jah James still plays in my my summer pro
- 19:09amp, so I I still see him very often.
- 19:12I'm going to start Jah. OK, He can he can get everything
- 19:15done, a high flip, shooting it play making defensively right.
- 19:23He's a pest on defense still. And and it's you know, he does a
- 19:27lot right in a small package. And and not to say that at his
- 19:31size, there's things that he can't do because he could do it
- 19:34all. Yeah, I'm starting Josh James
- 19:36because I think he makes everybody around him better.
- 19:40OK, I am going to bench Nichelle Taylor junior, So I think he
- 19:49also is a guy who can come up and and provide a a lift and
- 19:54shoot the ball at a high clip. He's athletic.
- 19:56He can play above the rim too as well.
- 19:59And then they cut the Andre just because he doesn't doesn't shoot
- 20:06the ball as well. Not to say he can't shoot it.
- 20:11I just like you know, and the current.
- 20:14Current trend of basketball, high school, college
- 20:17professional, you have to be able to shoot at a high clip and
- 20:22if you can't in order to be a point guard and to do all that
- 20:25and to do that like 5859 is very tough.
- 20:28Yes. So that's where I'm going with
- 20:31that. All right, well, we feel about
- 20:33it. Yeah, the first edition of start
- 20:36bench cut is a Washington because I agree with you 100%.
- 20:40Sequoia James, one of my favorite players ever to cover
- 20:43because he seemed like he was on varsity for 10 years.
- 20:46I mean, he you know, those great Teaneck teams.
- 20:49I, I I miss the great Jerome Smart.
- 20:52He was such a a character and a great basketball coach and still
- 20:57the last team. He's a great person and a great
- 20:59person. Great person.
- 21:01Yep, great mentor. We were.
- 21:02We were. Talking about very good, very
- 21:03good family, a very good family friend.
- 21:05You know, me and his son go way back when we were kids growing
- 21:08up together. But yeah, just, you know, all of
- 21:11that rolled into one. Yeah.
- 21:12There's not many, not many better of a person that it's
- 21:16your own Smart. And still the last public school
- 21:18coach to win a Bergen County Jamboree.
- 21:21So maybe that changes this year, but I doubt it.
- 21:24So yes, for all those, I mean, I'd loved watching Jacoit play.
- 21:28I mean, those are some good times.
- 21:30And I agree with you on Michael Taylor because I was in the gym
- 21:33when he scored 47 points and I ain't cutting them.
- 21:35So it's got to be Leandre. And I'll say it for only the
- 21:38reason because he played for Teaneck and released a video
- 21:41that said I play for my city angle so well.
- 21:49And I know I know where he was from because my wife was a
- 21:52teacher in a place called then called Cleveland School on
- 21:55Tenafly Rd. in Anglewood, now called Doctor Leroy T McLeod
- 21:59Elementary. So some inside information going
- 22:02way back in Englewood. So all right, so that that's
- 22:06that. That was the first game.
- 22:07All right, so that goes on. And you know, it was so freaking
- 22:10cold this weekend. Like my daughter Hope, my
- 22:14executive assistant was with me or whatever.
- 22:16And we're hustling into the gym because it's freezing and I'm
- 22:18holding a metal light stand to my, you know, I looked, I was
- 22:21like Ralphie from A Christmas Story, sticking to the stuck to
- 22:25my light stand. And I get in there, whatever and
- 22:28I look, I forget who I was talking to and I said, where is
- 22:30everybody? You know, I got there early
- 22:32because I want, you know, Tenafly's tough parking.
- 22:34I didn't want to have to walk all the way from the middle
- 22:35school. All these things going through
- 22:37my mind. You walk in, there's nobody in
- 22:38the gym. I'm like, Oh my God, I can't
- 22:40believe it. But as the game picks up, you
- 22:42know, it was an early morning start.
- 22:44Game picks up and then all of a sudden you got this back and
- 22:47forth, Riverdale, Teaneck going back and forth and Tenafly was
- 22:51the second game. So they're the home team.
- 22:53So they're going to have the biggest crowd of the day.
- 22:55And now in the middle, you know, at the end of the Riverdale
- 22:58Teaneck game, it's like in the NCA tournament where you get the
- 23:00neutrals who start to root, you know, or the Tenafly fans are
- 23:04now rooting for the upset with Riverdale or vice versa, right?
- 23:07So the gym was kind of nuts for the end of Tenafly Riverdale.
- 23:13And then you're like, all right, so that you can take a deep
- 23:15breath. And then it's Tenafly.
- 23:19And you know Lyndhurst and I have to give you now my best I,
- 23:23I have, I will say I picked Cressfield to make the quarter
- 23:26final. So that was my best pick of.
- 23:29The. Pre show, the bracket show that
- 23:33you know some people took umbrage with, That was my best
- 23:36pick. Your best pick.
- 23:37Now you talk about making egregious seating mistakes in
- 23:41the Burton County Jamboree I had when we did the original show, I
- 23:44had Lyndhurst out of the tournament.
- 23:48I had them not making it. And you know, as a grown man you
- 23:52should be able to take a little criticism.
- 23:54So I will put myself out there and say I screwed up.
- 23:57You know, I have made egregious seating mistakes in my tenure of
- 24:02the last quarter of a century covering the Burton County
- 24:05Jamboree. You, my friend, you said
- 24:08Lyndhurst is dangerous. And when they did get in, I had
- 24:11them losing to Ramsey. I had them out then.
- 24:14I had them losing in the first round and then I watched Lynn
- 24:18Hurst Tenafly and I am the biggest Lynn Hurst fan this side
- 24:23of Root 4. What do you think?
- 24:26Yeah, You know, I guess I, I knew they were on the bubble.
- 24:29You know, I didn't have, I, I thought they were going to get
- 24:32in. I knew they were kind of on the
- 24:34bubble, on the cusp of whether they got in or not.
- 24:37I had all the confidence that they were going to beat Ramsey,
- 24:42and it's not because one of their assistants is a Felician
- 24:44alum. And.
- 24:46They also and that they also play in our spring league.
- 24:49Or it might. Be which is which is very
- 24:51competitive, but no, I I I see what they have and I see what
- 24:55and I see what coach Moscow is trying to build there and and
- 24:58what you know, coach rumors has brought to the table too.
- 25:01And you know, that little 3 headed monster there is between
- 25:05Tsunami, Cano and Mosca is a lot to handle because there's
- 25:11there's there's three kids there and three different dynamics.
- 25:16Avery Cano has a high motor and does a little bit of everything.
- 25:19He can shoot it, he's off the balance, he can playmate, he
- 25:21defends. At a high level.
- 25:23Right, Tsunami is a point guard who can score.
- 25:26At a high clip. Who defends, who makes free
- 25:28throws, right, gets other guys involved, right?
- 25:31Kind of like a very much a leader as well.
- 25:34And and Mosca, you know, and Teo Mosca shoots it the shooter from
- 25:39distance, right? And he's and he's tall, he's
- 25:41about 6-4, right? So he presents a little bit
- 25:44different, right, Because he can get that shot off, even if you
- 25:47close out on him, he still can get it off, right?
- 25:49He can get it off from distance. So and they have and they have
- 25:52some decent size. You know, they have the kids,
- 25:54Sam IJ in the middle and and Danny, I'm not going to try and
- 25:58butcher his last name taller kids.
- 26:01So they have two kids that are over 6/5 as well in the middle.
- 26:05So, yeah, I know the record is, you know, we're at 13 and eight,
- 26:09yeah, 14 and 14 and 9, whatever it may be now.
- 26:13But as as they start to figure it out and now they're gonna be
- 26:15playing, I think with a little more confidence, right?
- 26:18Winning a a Jamboree game, right?
- 26:19And then taking tennis flies to the wire, literally a little
- 26:24more, a little more confidence, yeah.
- 26:25A little more confidence now going through this and then
- 26:27going into the state tournament in a month or so.
- 26:30But yeah, I think Lyndhurst shows you why they deserve to be
- 26:35in the Jamboree and, and you could say they they they deserve
- 26:41that 18 seat. Yeah, no doubt.
- 26:44I'm a believer. And I, I, I think they're
- 26:46probably N two group 2, aren't they?
- 26:48I mean, yes. North North two, Group 2.
- 26:51They're going to be a tough out and I, I, I didn't.
- 26:54I had never met Aaron Mosca before the head coach.
- 26:58People speak highly of him. I was sitting next to Jimmy
- 27:00Avatable during the game and he was like, oh, I'm not surprised
- 27:02that Mosca has this, you know, so he knew of Paramosca's
- 27:06ability and speaking to you as we're talking about, you know,
- 27:09Lynn Hurst, the last couple weeks here, you speak very
- 27:12highly of him too. And I couldn't let him.
- 27:14I, I saw him walking out the back door and I was in the
- 27:16hallway and I'm like, I got to get him.
- 27:18So I just went over and introduced myself.
- 27:19I I, I wanted to, you know, get an interview and get his
- 27:22thoughts on that game before he got out of there and also set up
- 27:26where I told them that we do the podcast together and that we'd
- 27:28love to have him on later on in the season.
- 27:31I mean, even he was a guy we could have got this week
- 27:33because, you know, like, like they sure, they technically they
- 27:35lost the game, but Lyndhurst didn't lose anything by this run
- 27:40in the Bergen County Jamboree. I mean, they took Tenafly to the
- 27:43wire and, you know, won a game over a Big N team and really
- 27:49they they walked out of the Bergen County Jamboree at 1:00
- 27:53and 1:00, but so much better than when they came in so.
- 27:57Yeah, I think they, they definitely earned a lot of
- 27:59respect from, you know, the rest of the schools in Bergen County
- 28:05that they're, they're not to be taken lightly.
- 28:07Yeah, and you know, it's it's it's it's crazy too, because
- 28:10like they took everything that can apply could give them.
- 28:14So just I'm I'm going over my scorecard here.
- 28:16My, you know, my score book and Lyndhurst was up 5351 when your
- 28:22boy Avery came out driving layup 5351 with two minutes to go.
- 28:26Then Nick Baldini a a jumper from the corner for 10 applied
- 28:31to put him up 5453 with a minute and 30 to go.
- 28:33And then when I started to write the story, I remembered that
- 28:35shot and I'm like, that's the shot.
- 28:37That's the one that changed it. And I didn't even realize it.
- 28:39I wasn't really paying attention.
- 28:41Next time down the floor from that shot.
- 28:43Who was it? It was Shanami who made 2 clutch
- 28:48free throws with 110 to go. So a minute and 10 to go in the
- 28:51game and Lyndhurst is up 5554. Now you have one of the, you
- 28:55know, obviously a first team all Bergen County player, a junior
- 28:59Aiden Goldschneider who was great in the second-half for
- 29:03Tenafly. I mean, a little bit of a slow
- 29:04start, but I don't even want to say a slow start because he was
- 29:07getting other people involved and, you know, you knew it was
- 29:09coming with him. And then he goes, you know,
- 29:11makes the dive to the box on the right, takes a hard step and
- 29:15then comes back with his left hand for like this nifty layup
- 29:17with 46 seconds to go to make it 5655.
- 29:22And then I think somebody what? Yes, that was the case.
- 29:27Somebody fouled out for who was it?
- 29:32Somebody fouled out from Lyndhurst.
- 29:33I got my notes here. It was Josh Lorenzo fouls out.
- 29:36So Lyndhurst had to bring in somebody who hadn't been in the
- 29:39game. And I don't want to denigrate
- 29:40the kid. I don't even write down his
- 29:41number. So I I couldn't even tell you
- 29:43even if I knew but ten if I knew that they had to get the ball
- 29:47out of Tsunami's hands on the last shot.
- 29:49I mean, they're only up by three with, you know, they they can't
- 29:54give up a three pointer to Tsunami.
- 29:55Tsunami. I think he had 63 pointers in
- 29:57the game, finished with 22 points.
- 29:59Tsunami did everything he could to try to find some space and
- 30:01then, you know, had to throw the ball back to where the double
- 30:03team came from. And it just happened to be the
- 30:05kid who just came in the game and, you know, impossible spot
- 30:07for that kid, you know, and his hand IJ came down with the
- 30:13rebound, but there was nothing else he could do but put it back
- 30:15in. And they had no time to throw it
- 30:16back out for a final shot. But, you know, they were they
- 30:19were three seconds short or one less foul away from really
- 30:22having a chance to win that game.
- 30:23Crazy so. Yeah, like I said, and that's,
- 30:30that's what it's about. I mean, you know, and and not to
- 30:34say I said, you know, committee does a solid job, but except, I
- 30:38mean, sometimes, you know, except, you know, I'm not, I'm
- 30:43not questioning the seating at all.
- 30:45But yeah, I mean, I just think, I just think that, you know,
- 30:50it's like football, right? Any given Sunday on any given
- 30:52night, you know, listen, we had it the other night.
- 30:55You know, we we lost to Caldwell at the buzzer.
- 30:57Nobody played well. And you know, Caldwell, you
- 31:02know, beat us in the last two seconds of the game.
- 31:04Kid hit a left-handed kid drove down the floor with five seconds
- 31:08left, drove it right and hit a fadeaway jumper right.
- 31:11And he's a lefty, right. So a very tough shot, but, yeah,
- 31:17you know, and like I said, we were at that point, we were 16
- 31:19and two and they were 6:00 and 12:00.
- 31:26But on any given night, anybody could beat anybody, you know?
- 31:29You know, You know, these are kids.
- 31:31You know, you know. No doubt.
- 31:34They could have wrote a 5 page, 5 page paper, 6 page paper the
- 31:37night before. They're a little tired, they
- 31:39come out a little sluggish. I mean, there's so many
- 31:41different factors to it. Yep.
- 31:44But at the end of the day, right, you know, I just think
- 31:46that in true Burton County fashion, you know, you have two
- 31:51public schools going at it. And we talked about it being
- 31:55wide open. And I think everybody in the
- 31:57field kind of felt that way, like, hey, there's, we know who,
- 32:03we know who the top of the heap is.
- 32:05But aside from that, any, anybody could beat anybody.
- 32:08Yeah, which is so weird. Yeah, which is so weird.
- 32:11Why that it's so, so chalky with only Cresco being, you know, a
- 32:14seed that quote UN quote doesn't belong.
- 32:16Maybe maybe the GMO committee is right.
- 32:19Maybe they don't make mistakes, but I don't know.
- 32:22Anyway, so that was those two games.
- 32:26Great. So then I I bailed.
- 32:28I was out of there because I, you know, wanted to get to work
- 32:30on writing the stories and doing everything else.
- 32:31We had, you know, Rich Barton and also JC Baumo recovering the
- 32:34girls game. So it was a crazy weekend at
- 32:36North Jersey sports.com and then the other two games at Tenafly
- 32:40after I left Hackensack got up to a big lead.
- 32:45Dwight Angle would hung in there and made it close, you know,
- 32:47relatively close at the end. So a good run for Dwight Angle
- 32:49would too, as the number 11 seed to beat another NJI school, beat
- 32:54NJIC school, beating a Big N school in the first round, then
- 32:58giving Hackensack all it can handle.
- 33:00And then in the final game of the day there at Tenafly High
- 33:06School was, what was it Saint Mary against Westwood?
- 33:09It was. And Saint Mary took care of
- 33:12business there. So, you know, it's crazy.
- 33:14You know, the year of the public school, the year of anything can
- 33:17happen. We still may have still the
- 33:20possibility of having three non public schools in the, in the
- 33:24Bergen County Jamboree final four.
- 33:25But I, I don't put Saint Mary in that category.
- 33:28And as somebody told me this past weekend, they're not in the
- 33:31category of the big boys because everybody there like it's, it's
- 33:34full tuition. So, you know, yeah, there is a,
- 33:38you know, the old, I want my kids to have a Catholic
- 33:41education, which is fine with me, you know, But absolutely,
- 33:45they're trying to play the game. But they they, they don't have
- 33:47the same, they're not, you know, they have some constraints.
- 33:52They don't have the same benefactors as some of the other
- 33:54ones do, right? Good.
- 33:55All a spade a spade. Good way to put it, Brad, they
- 33:58don't have the benefactor ishness of the other schools.
- 34:01So then in Highlands, unfortunately, you know, I
- 34:04wasn't able to get into the gym. I I did do the Demarest boys
- 34:10basketball photo shoot today and I talked to Anthony Bernardes
- 34:14who is the point guard for Demarest and they lost the
- 34:17Highlands. I saw Demarest in a one of my
- 34:21favorite first round games I ever covered.
- 34:22Actually Fairlong the number 24 seed played better than a #24
- 34:28seed against Demarest who I guess played a little bit worse
- 34:31than a #9 seed with the Jambo math and went to overtime in a
- 34:36great first round game. So then Demarest went on to play
- 34:40Highlands at Highlands and from what Anthony Bernard has said,
- 34:45they were very good foul. Dixon didn't play, but Highlands
- 34:49came out and made, you know, a whole bunch of three pointers
- 34:52early, which made it really difficult on Demarest.
- 34:55But you know Demarest for losing the program's all time leading
- 35:00scorer and a great 3 point shooter and some other very
- 35:05serviceable seniors and to come back, make the county
- 35:08tournament, win a first round game and get to the round of 16.
- 35:11No shame in losing the Highlands on the road.
- 35:13So that's that one. Do you anything you want to say
- 35:16about that? I mean, I listen, I had I had
- 35:19Demers winning this one and and you know, Northern Highlands,
- 35:25you know, maybe they may be a little bit more dangerous than I
- 35:28thought, you know, because without Pharaoh Dixon playing
- 35:30what I think is a pretty solid ball player, right?
- 35:33And he's definitely going to play at the next level.
- 35:38Somewhere as well match. Up to not play and still have
- 35:41five guys in double digits and be a very, although young, I
- 35:48would say experienced young group that Pat Gabriel's got
- 35:53right with with with Thorenstein and Schweid right.
- 35:56Yep, and Bernard like I. Said their older, their older
- 36:00brother's got it done. You know, last year they kind of
- 36:03are trying to fill those shoes and they're not doing a very bad
- 36:04job. You know, they both combined for
- 36:0642 of the of the 57 points. Yeah.
- 36:10But you know, like I said, you know, maybe Northern Heights is
- 36:13a little bit more dangerous curse to see what they do in the
- 36:15next round and hopefully Dixon's back because I think that I
- 36:19think that match up, you know, not that, you know, it's
- 36:23perfect, right? But at the end of the day, I
- 36:25mean, I would like to see what I know the Highlands up full
- 36:28strength against, you know, you know, Bergen does.
- 36:31I mean, I mean, I'm not saying they're going to give him a run
- 36:33for the money. Or maybe they put a scare in for
- 36:35them. Maybe Burton Catholic, you know,
- 36:37fumbles a little bit here and there and and you know, but like
- 36:40I said, they have they do have some some big time guys over
- 36:43there. But like I said, Ed, if you
- 36:46don't shoot the ball well, you never know what happens.
- 36:48Yes and yeah and and big court, you know, you can spread it a
- 36:53little bit and Highlands as they did against Demarest can come
- 36:56out and get hot and make some 3 pointers and you know that's
- 36:59what you got to do. You're not going to be able to
- 37:01play from behind against Bergen. You got to run out to a fig lead
- 37:04and and use every trick in the book to, you know, try to.
- 37:09Hold on for dear life. Exactly.
- 37:11We'll put because Bergen Catholic is really good and
- 37:15Bergen Catholic beat Glenrock. Listen, Glenrock, another NJIC
- 37:19team who won in the first round over a Big N team.
- 37:23So Glenrock beat Cliffside in round one and then, you know,
- 37:26gave it a run against Burton Catholic.
- 37:28And that's a fun one for Glenrock.
- 37:30There's no pressure there. And you know, they're probably a
- 37:33group where they group 2, but you know, and that's.
- 37:35What you get into the Jamboree for right, That's what you want,
- 37:37You want hey, listen guys, we can go out here and just play.
- 37:41Nobody's expecting us to to win this game.
- 37:43We're gonna go out there, we're gonna play and let the chips
- 37:45fall where they may and see what happens.
- 37:47But hopefully they they left there saying, I mean, OK, yeah,
- 37:51well, it wasn't pretty. But guess what?
- 37:53I think now moving forward for when we get ready for state
- 37:55tournament time, you know, I have a little bit more.
- 37:59We're not going to see anybody that's like a broken Catholic.
- 38:01So you have that in our in our back pocket.
- 38:03Yep, yeah, yeah, totally true. I mean, it's definitely and, and
- 38:08as Pat Gabriel said the other day when I interviewed him after
- 38:11the Fairlong game, he said, you know what, you want to go into
- 38:13the Jamboree. And if you're a team like us, if
- 38:15you're a program like us, you want to go one and one, you
- 38:18know, whether it be getting the first round by and winning the
- 38:21round of 16 game and getting into the quarterfinals, or if
- 38:24you're hosting round one or playing in round one, you want
- 38:26to get that win, get into the round of 16.
- 38:30And then you know, you had a successful trip.
- 38:32You're you know, it's there's 5556 basketball playing schools
- 38:37in Bergen County. And if you're one of the last 16
- 38:38or one of the last 8 standing, especially for a public school,
- 38:41that's pretty darn good. So, you know, Bergen Catholic
- 38:46took care of business as we obviously expected.
- 38:49Then it was, you know, we talked about Ridgewood Cresskill
- 38:52already. And the only other game I think
- 38:54we got to go over is, you know, the, the reports of Don Bosco
- 39:00Prep's demise greatly exaggerated.
- 39:03Brad, they're good. I, I, you know, they've played
- 39:09And, and you, you know, you say this, we say it all the time
- 39:12with, you know, their opponent this past week.
- 39:14I say it all the time with Ram PO.
- 39:15They'll play it. They play everybody for
- 39:18multiple, multiple reasons. They play everybody because
- 39:23first and foremost, they want to keep their kids home.
- 39:24So, you know, come to Ram PO and you're going to play everybody,
- 39:27whatever, But it's also, you're going to be a better team.
- 39:30And basketball to me is the sport where teams are the most
- 39:35different from beginning to end. If they stay healthy and they
- 39:39are well coached, which many in Bergen County are, the
- 39:42improvement from beginning to end is most visible, I believe
- 39:47in basketball than any other sport.
- 39:49I mean, football injuries take their toll.
- 39:51Baseball, you know, like there's so many variables in baseball,
- 39:55you can just run into a hot pitcher.
- 39:56I mean, you could be the better team and you run into a hot
- 39:59pitcher who strikes out 17 and you can't win, you know.
- 40:01But like I, I feel like in basketball, like you can just
- 40:05get better as the season goes. Long now, Bosco hasn't had to do
- 40:08it, or at least if they have, it didn't show in their win loss
- 40:13record. You know, maybe when they had
- 40:14Dylan Harper, they were better at the end of the season.
- 40:16They were in the beginning, but they're pretty freaking good at
- 40:17the beginning of the season, you know, So maybe now.
- 40:21And it would be interesting to to get Kevin Deverio's thoughts
- 40:24on this like how he's how. Which we may be able to do in a
- 40:28few minutes. OK, we're going to effort it
- 40:31and, you know, it would be interesting just to to if he's
- 40:35enjoying this ride from not being the favorite or not having
- 40:39the number two pick in the NBA draft on his roster, you know
- 40:42what I mean? Yeah, I think it's, you know,
- 40:45you know, sometimes and it's a little humbling, right?
- 40:47And sometimes, you know, as a coach, you know, it's like it's.
- 40:53You don't, you don't turn away from that challenge, you know?
- 40:55Yeah, it's, it's easy when you have, you know, Tyrell Biggs and
- 40:59Dylan Harper and Ron Harper and you go on and on, you know, you
- 41:03know, Brody and all these other guys, right?
- 41:05It's easier to, you know, get wins and and be very successful
- 41:08and be favorites, right? But you know, yeah, it's a
- 41:12little bit tougher, right? But he's got a younger squad,
- 41:14right? He's got a senior who's going
- 41:17divisional, right? JP Sports, he's one of
- 41:19Merrimack, Brad Brown, right, who's a junior guard, you know,
- 41:25who was somewhat dynamic, right? Defends also at A at a high
- 41:28level, you know, they have a dynamic sophomore in Jalen Lewis
- 41:33who they on the AAU circuit. They compare him to Dylan
- 41:37Harper. They call him Baby Dyl,
- 41:39especially since he goes to Bosco.
- 41:41It was, it was kind of like kind of established when he was, I
- 41:45believe in 8th grade going into his freshman year.
- 41:47No pressure living up to that. No pressure living up to that,
- 41:50especially as a left-handed guard.
- 41:52But yeah, you know, I I just think, you know, it was, it's a,
- 41:58it was a challenge, right? It was much different, right?
- 42:02You know, Bergen, Bergen was, was head and shoulders above
- 42:05everybody else. And you know, you're bouncing
- 42:08back from, from having, you know, lost, you know, Division
- 42:12One, a big thing, you know, Division One commit and, and,
- 42:15and Brady, right, who shot at a very high level.
- 42:20And anytime you swung the ball to him, you knew something was
- 42:23going up on the board. 3 throws, a 3A layup, something was going
- 42:26up on the board, you know, and some of those other guys now are
- 42:30taking bigger roles, right? All these guys I just mentioned
- 42:33now went from playing, you know, an impactful role, right, or
- 42:40surrounded by a guy like that right to now stepping up and now
- 42:44it's the weight is on your shoulders much more than it was
- 42:47last year, you know, and they played some out of state
- 42:50competition. Maybe they overlooked a couple
- 42:53of local opponents, right, or, but went to places that, you
- 42:56know, were just tougher games. But you know, I think they've
- 43:00they've rebounded well. You know, Bramapo is still, I
- 43:04think is a is a very, very solid program with a great head coach
- 43:09who gets those guys to play well.
- 43:10And they have a very good young talent as well.
- 43:12And AJ Gregg, Yep, who's going to be playing at the next level
- 43:15somewhere as well? Well, yeah, I mean, they're
- 43:18missing some pieces, but I think they're they're also a tough
- 43:22out. Like, I don't think Boston went
- 43:23in there saying, don't worry, guys.
- 43:25You know, Ramapo's having a down year.
- 43:27We we got this one. I picked Ramapo.
- 43:30Yeah, like I said, so, but like I said, I I just, it's, it's
- 43:35that was, that was to me that was the most intriguing matchup
- 43:40because you had guys that needed to step up in Bosco, right?
- 43:42Guys who have to carry a little more weight and and guys at
- 43:45Ramapo who are experienced and had to take out a little bit
- 43:48more, some of the same weight. But I have a kid coming back who
- 43:51was one of the guys from last year also, you know, but like I
- 43:57said, two very, very well coached teams, 2 storied
- 44:02programs going at it, and I think it lived up.
- 44:07Yeah, I mean Rampo's what the four time defending N one Group
- 44:103 state sectional champion. I could be wrong.
- 44:12It might be. Yeah, I can go through the the
- 44:14archives and. Look 5656.
- 44:17Yeah, So, yeah, I'm, I'm going to do that in a minute.
- 44:21I'm going to look it up and find out.
- 44:22But yeah, because I was at the I I think I was at all all of the
- 44:27finals over the last five years. It's just that, you know, you
- 44:29get a little older, Brad, and you can't remember what you had
- 44:32for breakfast, let alone what state sectional final game you
- 44:34covered four years ago. But yeah, really now, so that
- 44:40was it. That was a very entertaining
- 44:41round of 16. It's been a very entertaining
- 44:43Jambo. I mean, I, I loved it.
- 44:47So let's just look at our brackets so far.
- 44:50Of the eight teams remaining, I have 6, right?
- 44:54And you have 6 right. You, you had Demarest making it
- 44:58to the quarterfinals and Ridgewood making it to the
- 45:00quarterfinals. Those two are out.
- 45:01I had Dwight Anglewood making it and Round PO making it.
- 45:05So I'm off on those two, but you know, let's just quickly touch
- 45:09on these four games coming up this weekend.
- 45:11You got Bosco Tenafly Now it again, it's a sensitive
- 45:17situation because of something that went on this this weekend.
- 45:20So I I want to choose my words carefully and not come off as.
- 45:24Choose your words wisely. Right.
- 45:27I don't want this to come off as criticism, but you know, like if
- 45:33I maybe I can't, I, I, maybe it's impossible to do it right,
- 45:36because that would, if I was going to say something, I, I
- 45:38would being implying that Bosco might not be seated properly.
- 45:41So I, I probably should stay away from that.
- 45:43Anyway, here's the thing. It it could be the two seven
- 45:47game, you know, in a normal year, Bosco against Tenafly
- 45:51Tenafly's got a tough it's tough because in my opinion, this is
- 45:55just an opinion. If you were going to let Bosco
- 45:57in the tournament, they should have been a higher seed because
- 46:00the the The Who gets penalized here is Tenafly.
- 46:03Tenafly trying to make the Jambo semi finals I think for the
- 46:07first time in the history, or maybe they did it once when
- 46:09Chris, Chris Orosco was there. Actually, I did get that piece
- 46:12of information. They've been there one time
- 46:13before I believe. And you know, they're got to go
- 46:16up against Bosco and Bosco. If you look at their schedule
- 46:19and now you look at how well they're playing, they're the
- 46:21second or third, no worse than the 4th best team in Bergen
- 46:26County and Tenafly has to play them as the number two seed.
- 46:28Now if Tenafly beats them, what a you know, then whatever
- 46:33happens in my opinion is gravy for them because you know, to
- 46:37take out of Bosco to be 17 and oh heading into the final four
- 46:39at the the former Rothman Center would be crazy.
- 46:43But you know there is a a little bit more to the matchup than a
- 46:48regular 27 game in the Burton County Jamboree quarterfinals.
- 46:53Yeah, I mean, I'm sure in years past you probably think it was
- 46:56it was the the other, right. Bosco has the two with Tenafly.
- 47:02But but yeah, I mean, like I said, I think I think no matter
- 47:06which way is spicier, right for Tenafly moving forward, no
- 47:09matter, no matter what happens on Sunday when the ball goes up
- 47:11in the air, right. At the end of the day, when win,
- 47:15lose Tenafly is is no better or no worse off, right.
- 47:21With a win or a loss, Yeah, they win the game, right?
- 47:24People are going to say, well, they were the two seed.
- 47:26They were expected to win the game.
- 47:27Yeah, right. And they're going to say, well,
- 47:29let's sit down here for Bosco, right?
- 47:31They were a seven seed, right? So you can play that card,
- 47:34right. On the other hand, you could
- 47:36say, well, Bosco is playing playing much better than a seven
- 47:39seed. And Tenafly was a two seed
- 47:41because of when the seedings came out and and their records
- 47:43and XY and Z, you know, they were undefeated.
- 47:46And so they were deserving of it, you know, but it's still
- 47:49Bosco and, you know, Bosco, Bosco, Bosco.
- 47:53And Tenafly was going in there to compete with them, even
- 47:56though they were a higher seat. Yes, all right at the.
- 47:59End of the day, go ahead. At the end of the day, though, I
- 48:00think I think Tenafly is no better off whether you win or
- 48:04lose this game, right? I think they're primed to do
- 48:07something special, right? I think the Tigers are gonna
- 48:09have a very special year. And coach folder should should
- 48:14not lose any sleep over this, this next round game, no matter
- 48:17how it plays out. And Bosco, you know, it's a
- 48:22bigger game. I think it might be a bigger
- 48:23game for Bosco. That's a good point, A.
- 48:25Little more. I think there's a little more
- 48:26pressure on Bosco to win the. Game, you know what?
- 48:30That's a good point because and, and especially like, you know,
- 48:33the other stuff, Tenafly already has the number one seed in North
- 48:36one Group 3 locked up, so it doesn't matter.
- 48:37I mean, they're they're not. And, and not that you ever want
- 48:40to lose a game, but taking the 0 out of the loss column is not
- 48:45the worst thing in the world either.
- 48:47Of course, you don't want to lose in the Bergen County
- 48:49Jamboree and you want to get as far as you can.
- 48:52Chances are, though, I, I don't know if Tenafly got to the final
- 48:57and I don't see any other team in Bergen County, if they got to
- 49:00the final, really being able to make a run at Burton Capital.
- 49:03It reminds me of a few years ago, a lot of years ago now,
- 49:08when when Cressfield had one of its best teams ever, they had
- 49:12five starters who were going to play college athletics, not all
- 49:15in basketball, but they were all going to play college athletics
- 49:19in, you know, various sports. And on one side of the bracket
- 49:24against Bergen Catholic and on the other side of the bracket,
- 49:27it was Ramapo with Casey Hunt, who's a professional baseball
- 49:31player. And you know, that great, that
- 49:33great Jason Opler and and John Hooley and those guys.
- 49:38And Ramapo was great on that side.
- 49:40And one lost to Bergen by 50 and the other lost to Bosco by 50.
- 49:45So, you know, you could have the best teams in the world against
- 49:50going up against these, you know, and Bergen is still
- 49:53itself. So Long story short, they're
- 49:55going to win. My point is if if 4:50 takes a
- 49:58loss, it's OK. And Bergen's going to win the
- 50:00the Bergen County Jamboree anyway.
- 50:01And yeah, I mean. And to me, if I'm, if I'm Coach
- 50:03Kohler, you know, I'd be like, listen guys, I'd rather take
- 50:06this loss. Now.
- 50:07In the in the quarter final of the Jamboree and not lose
- 50:13another game for the rest of the way out, you know, until when we
- 50:16get to the the, the group semifinal or, or whatever it may
- 50:19be. Yep, and you're right, I am in
- 50:22the North Jersey sports.com.com archives and on March 7th, 2025,
- 50:29Ramapo beat Demarest 4137 in the North One Group 3 State
- 50:34sectional final for their sixth straight state sectional
- 50:38championships. So they are the six time
- 50:40defending champion in North One Group 3.
- 50:42And that was my reason for picking them getting as far as
- 50:47you know, to beat the champion, you got to be the champion, you
- 50:49got to beat the champion. It was Bosco that knocked him
- 50:51out and out of public school. So round PO stole a, you know,
- 50:56they haven't lost anything yet. As the season progresses here.
- 50:59Saint Mary against Hackensack, that's going to be interesting.
- 51:03I mean, you know those teams better than I do.
- 51:05I saw Saint Mary's once. I haven't seen Hackensack yet,
- 51:08but what do you see there? So Hackensack's got got some
- 51:13good dart players. They have a decent wing who I
- 51:16think could also play at the next level somewhere.
- 51:20But they're strappy, they're well coached.
- 51:22You know, Coach Taylor does a great job over there.
- 51:26Great dude and he's got a good coaching staff around him and
- 51:31I'm glad to see Hackensack getting back to prominence, you
- 51:35know, for the first time in a few years.
- 51:40Saint Mary's also an experienced team that has has some really
- 51:47good guys that are going to play at the next level.
- 51:50This one, I think this one's going to is going to meet the
- 51:52expectations for that 36 matchup.
- 51:57I think this is going to be a there's going to be times when
- 52:00this is going to be a track meet and I think there's going to get
- 52:03to some points in this game where it's going to be a grind
- 52:05it out, execute your stuff, put put these guys on tilt and try
- 52:10and get them to see if they can defend.
- 52:12At a high. Level and and see who comes out
- 52:15on top. I can see this one going down to
- 52:19a final 2 minutes of the game where it's kind of nip and tuck
- 52:23possession for possession, and I could, and I could also be
- 52:26completely wrong and somebody could get the better of somebody
- 52:28and blow somebody out. I'm not sure, yeah.
- 52:30That's why we played the game, but I think this is going to be
- 52:32a very good advertised game at the three six matchup.
- 52:35No doubt and Tina Cresskill I look forward to just because you
- 52:40always want to root for the the underdog.
- 52:41You and I are Group One guys, so obviously got a root for the
- 52:45only double digit seed left. Got a root for yes the.
- 52:47Only double digit seed left. You know if if they can if they
- 52:51can corral Taylor. So maybe under 30, he knows.
- 52:56Yeah, now that, you know, it's a good point.
- 52:57I mean that that's crazy to say, but if you can keep him under 30
- 53:00and you know, I did the biggest thing.
- 53:03I I, you know, I went on about it on and on about it earlier in
- 53:05the show. But you know, you got to get the
- 53:06ball out of his hand somehow. And if you can find a way to do
- 53:08that, you know, double team and trap him and and, you know,
- 53:11maybe do some different screen, you know, defensive screen
- 53:15actions try, but it's going to be tough, but doesn't matter.
- 53:19I mean, you talk about playing with house money.
- 53:22Cresskill on the big floor against Teaneck in the Rothman
- 53:25Center. There's one favorite and one
- 53:28favorite only in that game. And Cresskill will be a fun team
- 53:33to root for in that game. And then when it's over,
- 53:36everybody will become a Teaneck fan because they'll probably be
- 53:38playing Burton Catholic in the semi finals.
- 53:40And everybody, like, you know, likes to root against the Death
- 53:43Star. Correct, correct.
- 53:47Succinct. All right, Brad, hey, listen,
- 53:51we're the betting is still wide open here between us as we both
- 53:57have six teams left in the quarter finals.
- 54:00So we'll see how it goes here and miles to go before we sleep
- 54:04in this Bergen County Jamboree. And hopefully you and I will be
- 54:07under the same roof on Sunday. We will.
- 54:10We will for sure. So that so moving forward, what
- 54:13do you got here? What do you got in your final
- 54:15four? I have Bergen Catholic against
- 54:19Teaneck and Saint Mary against Ramapo so I am down 1 you have
- 54:26Bergen. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you can say
- 54:29it, guys. Bergen Catholic against Teaneck
- 54:32and Saint Mary at Bosco so you are clean.
- 54:36With going into the final four potentially.
- 54:39No doubt about it. Oh boy.
- 54:42Well, it'd be a libation I would be happy to buy when this is all
- 54:45said and done. Absolutely.
- 54:48And we have now. All right.
- 54:49So we just got through a whole show here.
- 54:52We still have two potential interviews that we might want to
- 54:54do. And if we do or if we are able
- 54:56to pick them up, we will put it out as a separate show.
- 54:59So look forward to that. We're definitely going to have
- 55:02one tomorrow, which will be great and we'll see you next
- 55:05time on the ball game, whenever that might be.
- 55:07Follow the leader.