WEST CALDWELL- Caldwell was coming off a tough 48-46 overtime win vs. North Star Academy, while Montclair was still feeling the sting of a 83-76 triple OT home setback to rival Bloomfield, both games played just two days prior.
Welcome to the grueling day-to-day life in the Super Essex Conference’s third division, the Colonial. It might not be the top tier American where powerhouses such as Arts, St. Benedict's, Immaculate and Seton Hall Prep reside, but if you are looking for physical, blue-collar battles, it’s the place to be.
Reeling Montclair (3-5, 1-2), which had already lost its best player and leading scorer Jahi Whitney to a fractured toe which will sideline him for a month, and saw its sturdy strongman, football player Jarius Davis, go down with a hamstring injury in the second OT vs. Bloomfield, could have wilted and simply played out Thursday night's final minutes as it trailed the Chiefs (8-0, 4-0) 37-27 with 4:34 left in the third quarter.
Instead, the Mounties roared from behind and even took the lead briefly, 43-42, on a Mason Determann 3-poiner with 5:03 left in the fourth quarter.
Caldwell fought off the fact it missed 8 of 15 free throws in the final stanza and rode clutch baskets from its veteran senior guards Brodie Cook (team-high 13 points) and Joe Giannetta to a 53-48 victory over Montclair, which dropped its fourth straight game.
Giannetta (9 points) hit a key basket in transition to regain the lead for good, 44-43 with 4:22 remaining, and Cook had a steal and a bucket then added two free throws for a 49-43 lead with 3:16 left to help the Chiefs hold off the persistent Mounties.
Junior guard La’Mear Singletary scored 14 of his game-high 19 points in the second half and senior forward Martin Quiroz added 14 points and 8 rebounds to lead Montclair, which has dropped consecutive games to Teaneck, Payne Tech, Bloomfield and now Caldwell in the space of just six days.
In a gritty and sometimes ugly game as both teams missed numerous open shots and turned the ball over in key spots, it was still an entertaining finish and certainly added credence to the fact the SEC-Colonial is fast becoming the 'Black and Blue 'Division in terms of very physical action in the hoops conference.
“Coming into the game we knew it was going to be physical,” said Caldwell senior forward Marco Sozio, who sank four free throws in the fourth quarter and led the Chiefs on the boards with 9 rebounds. “Our scouting report talked about how they like to make it a little messy out there so we had to do our part and play the great defense we’re capable of.
“We definitely have to shoot better from the foul line and I missed my share (4-of-8 from the line). Still our guards came up big down the stretch and when we need a basket at crunch time we look to Brodie or Joe and they get it done for us.”
Caldwell, which has a deep bench and used nine players in the first quarter alone with six of them scoring to help their team take an early 27-20 lead, withstood a valiant effort by Montclair which hopes to still rally the troops despite key injuries and eventually be a factor in the North 1, Group 4 state tournament which begins in late February.
Players like Singletary, the 5-10 junior who is one of three remaining members of Montclair’s back-to-back ECT freshmen and jayvee championship teams since four key members of that group have since transferred, continues to demonstrate his abilities to score in traffic and also get to the line where he made 7 of 10 from the charity stripe vs. the Chiefs.
His 11 third quarter points helped the Mounties pull to within 39-35 after three quarters and it became a back-and-forth battle down the stretch before Giannetta, Cook and Sozio helped seal the deal for the Chiefs.
“Our focus is defense first and then turn that into offense,” said Cook. “Montclair is a scrappy team that plays hard and we had to really work to nail down this one.”
“We did get some key stops when we had to, but I wish we would have done a better job with their physicality from the beginning,” said Caldwell coach Mike Fess. “We’re able to go 10 deep at times which makes a difference especially with tough game after tough game in our division.”
Caldwell was able to earn its second narrow win in the space of two days and feels good about its current place in time in the SEC-Colonial while knowing that there are plenty of more physical battles ahead, whether it be return matchups with the likes of North Star Academy and Montclair, or with division title-contending Irvington (6-3, 2-1), who it edged, 55-50, back on Dec. 19, but will see again in ‘Camptown.’
“Every game in this division is tough,” said Sozio. “Our game with North Star (on Tuesday night) was a great game and a big win in OT, especially since it counts toward the division.
“Montclair is a really good team. I know they have a couple of guys who are hurt but they battled us right to the end and we have to play better and definitely make more of our free throws moving forward.”
NOTES- Caldwell’s reserve sophomore guards Dan Vybihal (pair of second quarter 3-pointers for 6 points) and Joe Diorio (4 points) continue to demonstrate offensive potential with a nice perimeter touch off the bench for the deep Chiefs. Diorio is a transfer from Gill St. Bernards…Chiefs senior Lucas Turner plays a strong brand of defense on opposing guards…Montclair’s Quiroz, like the injured Davis, is also a member of the Mounties football team during the fall season…The Mounties have had to withstand the transfer of key members of last year’s ECT JV championship team and the previous year’s ECT freshmen champs, including the current top player at Columbia, 6-3 Jayvon Rogers, who scored 37 points in a recent game at Millburn, and 6-3 Tom Diomedi, a 2-year starter at Montclair, who now comes off the bench at St. Joe’s of Montvale...Caldwell's reserve forward Brad Pankiewicz made some nice contribtions off the bench vs. Mounties with 3 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal as Chiefs wielded their depth throughout contest...Caldwell's Sozio is a Drew commit for baseball as a very promising senior pitcher next spring for the Chiefs. Vybihal is another pitcher to watch for Caldwell's diamond squad....Giannetta and Cook are both soccer players for the Chiefs during the fall campaign.
MONTCLAIR (3-5, 1-2) 9 11 15 13 -48
CALDWELL (8-0, 4-0) 13 14 12 14 -53
Montclair: La’Mear Singletary 6-0-7-19, Mason Determann 0-2-0-6, Mez Okaro 0-0-0-0, Martin Quiroz 5-1-1-14, Grayson Roper 2-1-0-7, Myles Nicholson 0-0-2-2, Kody Nesbitt 0-0-0-0, Lawson Richberg 0-0-0-0. Totals: 13-4-9-48
Caldwell: Joe Giannetta 4-0-1-9, Brodie Cook 4-0-5-13, Marco Sozio 1-0-4-6, Santiago Garces 2-0-0-4, Lucas Turner 2-0-0-4, Ryan Keenan 2-0-0-4, Dan Vybihal 0-2-0-6, Joe Diorio 2-0-0-4, Brad Pankiewicz 1-0-1-3. Totals: 18-2-11-53
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