The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • 209

ndav Record BERGEN MARCH 17, 1985 8-11 Rutherford hits shot to Theikj I By John Brennan Correspondent EAST RUTHERFORD The hero for the Rutherford boys basketball team yesterday was supposed to be Matt Shannon or Dave Brooks, but the Bulldogs' best-laid plans vent awry. Mark Zielinskl will go down in Rutherford history as the player who lifted the Bulldogs (29-1) to a 60-58 win over Burlington City In the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Group 2 championship game. Zielinski's winning shot was an improvised 13-foot jumper with five seconds left. Before the shot, Zie-linski was 0-for-7 from the field and l-for-3 from the free-throw line. Group 2 boys basketball "I really didn't care who made the shot, but we figured to go either to Shannon outside or Brooks inside," said Rutherford coach Bill Whitney.

"Apparently, they Burlington's defenders were looking for the same thing." Zielinski drew a charge with the score tied at 58 with 57 seconds remaining. Rutherford called time out with 42 seconds left and decided to play for the last shot. Zacharias, Shannon, and Zielinski dribbled outside, whittling the clock to 10 seconds. Shannon drove down to the left corner and looked up to shoot, but he was double-teamed. Shannon dished it off to Zielinski, whose basket lifted Rutherford to its first state boys basketball title since 1942.

"I thought I might get a shot, but then I saw them all over me, and I heard Mark yell for the ball," said Shannon. "Shannon kept his head, and Mark cut across and hit the 'elbow He did well with it in the league games, and he proved he can shoot it," said Whitney. A 13-1 streak had put Burlington City ahead by four, 58-54, with 3:16 to play. Burlington City (20-7) never scored again, Shannon swished two foul shots with 2:15 remaining, but his 15-footer with 1:44 left was off the mark. After Burlington turned over the ball, Zacharias hit a driving jumper in the lane to tie it with 1:11 to play.

The biggest problem in the game for Rutherford was Burlington City's dominance of the boards, particularly the offensive boards. The City, as the school is called, has five starters who measure between 6-foot-1 and 6-4, and Rutherford was outrebounded 50-37. Rutherford's early nervousness was apparent, as Burlington's 1-2-1-1 press created two turnovers in the opening minute. A jump shot and two layups gave Burlington a 6-0 lead after 53 seconds. Burlington had success much of the day with its presses, although Rutherford sometimes created good scoring opportunities after breaking the press.

Jack Sullivan scored off an offensive rebound for Rutherford's first points with 1:20 gone, and the Bulldogs soon settled down. Rutherford's first lead, 29-28, came on a pair of free throws by Sullivan with 1:28 left in the first half. Rutherford took a 33-30 half time lead, and the Bulldogs had leads of one, two, or three points throughout the third period, with one tie. A long jumper by Shannon and two baskets by Zacharias put Rutherford ahead 51-43 early in the fourth quarter, and Sullivan's fast-break layup gave the Bulldogs a 53-45 edge with 5:50 to play, before Burlington launched its comeback. 4, "4 title.

able Player of the contest after collecting 13 points and eight rebounds. Shannon, the other guard, had 16 points and six rebounds. Brooks, a forward, had 12 of his 16 points in the first half and grabbed eight rebounds. Sullivan, a center and the to the Group 2 boys basketball 13 feet with four seconds left in the third quarter. Zielinski's winner came with five seconds left in the game.

All five Rutherford starters had key roles in the win. Zacharias, the point guard, was named Most Valu Burlington Twp. too powerful for nTT" I lull 11 I 'Xl I Staff photo by Klaus-Peter Steitz only junior to play for Rutherford yesterday, led the Bulldogs with nine rebounds, and he added 12 points. The last starter, Zielinski, has a clutch jump shot to remember forever. just Bogota i died when Howell hit a three-point play with 3:23 left for a 52-38 lead.

"Initially, we wanted the tempo to be up, but when you're ahead by 11 points in a state final you don't take any chances," said Burlington Township coach Ken Faulkner, who has guided his school to the South Jersey sectional championship for the past three years. The superior talent of Burlington Township was evidenced by their scoring totals, which showed Baggett with 16, Tony Fields with 13, Jackson with 12, Howell with 11, and Taylor with 8. Heron had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Sinclair added 16 points for Bogota, with 14 coming in the second half. "Against a team like that, if you make a pass one inch short, it's stolen," said Mahoney. "We played as well as we could against the talent that we face'V Bill Whitney directs Rutherford Rutherford owned the last five seconds of each period.

Shannon hit a jumper in the lane with four seconds left in the opening quarter. Zacharias hit a 20-footer with two seconds to go in the second period. Shannon hit a lunging jumper from said of Goodman. "And I knew I could run rabbit on him lock in a headlock and scoop a leg because he has a short body." Goodman and Malatesta countered each other nicely until Malatesta ran his rabbit, which is actually a standing cradle, and pinned. Clifton heavyweight Dave Szott and Hackensack 141-pounder Ralph Dass won consolation bouts for third.

Tom McGourty, the second-seeded 158-pounder, was voted the tournament's most outstanding wrestler after taking down returning state runner-up Jason Suter of Paulsboro (the state's No. 1 team) with a standing cradle and pinning him in 36 seconds. While the balloting results other than the winning wrestler are kept confidential, a tight vote was assumed. Monaco and Malatesta were outstanding. So was Ridge's Jerry Durso, who follows in the footsteps of two outstanding wrestling brothers.

Durso, cat quick, manhandled Phillipsburg's Jeff Turner, 15-3, in the 141 final Summit's Enzo Catullo won his second straight title at 148, as did Phillipsburg's Dave Boncher at 108 and Central Regional's Darnell Myers at 188. Myers scored a 9-4 win over East Brunswick's Glen Pa-zinko. Summaries and related stories on Page S-14 Staff photo by Spencer A. Burnett Larry Goodman of Paramus sits dejectedly after being pinned in the 122-pound final by St. Augustine's Bobby Malatesta.

Goodman foiled in fined Paramus star pinned; Clifton's Monaco repeats By John Brennan Correspondent EAST RUTHERFORD When a team plays two quarters of basketball as well as it can realistically expect, yet still trails by two points, it's obvious the club is overmatched. That was Bogota's problem in Friday's New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Group 1 boys championship game against unbeaten Burlington Township at Byrne Arena. The Buccaneers trailed just 22-20 at the half, but Burlington Township scored the first 10 points of the third quarter and rolled to a 66-52 win, giving the 21-year-old Burlington County school its first state title in any sport. "We just played a team that might be the best basketball team in the state of New Jersey," said a hoarse Jay Mahoney at the postgame news conference. "Just to play them pretty even for almost three quarters is an incredible accomplishment." Group 1 boys basketball One key to the game was Burlington Township's success with its 1-2- 1- 1 press in the third period.

John Howell and Kevin Baggett scored in the first 1:30 of the quarter to give Burlington Township a six-point lead, and a Burlington steal by Howell off the ensuing inbounds pass led to Howell's easy layup. Oscar Jackson stole the next Bogota inbounds pass, and he hit a pair of free throws for a 10-point Burlington Township edge. Another steal by Jackson set up Baggett for a layup, completing a streak of six points in 19 seconds. The other key was the second-half defensive work Howell did on Bryan Heron, Bogota's 6-foot-5 senior center. Heron was Bogota's hero in the Bucs' drive to the state final, and he played like one in the first quarter, scoring 11 of Bogota's 13 points.

Heron completed a three-point play with four seconds left in the opening quarter, and the free throw gave him exactly 1,000 points, a total he reached despite just two years of varsity play. Burlington Township tried both a 2- 3 zone and man-to-man defense in the first half against Heron, but he still scored four of Bogota's seven second-quarter points. Bogota did a good job of controlling the tempo against the'fast-breaking Falcons in A mt Staff photo by Spencer A. Burnett John Howell of Burlington Township slips past Bogota's Robert Sinclair (10) for a layup. By Ron Fox Staff Writer PRINCETON On a day apparently reserved for former high school wrestlers' sons and brothers, Clifton's Karl Monaco tied a family record yesterday by winning his second straight New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association wrestling championship.

The 135-pound senior equaled the number of titles won in high school by his brother, John, who was busy over the weekend representing Montclair State in the National Collegiate Athletic Association championships in Oklahoma City. Larry Goodman of Paramus fell victim to another wrestling family when Bobby Malatesta of St. Augustine pinned him in 1:28 of the 122-pound bout Malatesta and 129-pound champion John Welch of Ridge High School are coached by their fathers. John Welch Sr. is a former Ridgewood wrestling coach and previously resided in Ringwood and Mahwah.

Carrying the issue of family history one step further, Ben Oberly of Warren Hills became the first son of a state wrestling champion to match his father with a title of his own. Monaco, who finished second as a sophomore, was impressive, scoring two decisions (15-6 and 14-5) and pinning in 3:03 of the semis before routing Hopatcong's Nick Sarinelli, 13-1, in the title bout His champion ship was practically assured after his win Friday night over returning third-place finisher Mike Palazzolo of Pascack Hills. "I figured Palazzolo was my biggest match," said Monaco, who refused to suffer a letdown after that 15-6 victory. "The fact that you don't want to lose is enough to keep me up, and since it's my last high school tournament, I had to give it all I've got. I wanted to tie my brother, too." Wrestling Monaco gave Sarinelli (24-3) all he could handle, using single-leg moves, firemen's carries, and ste-povers for takedowns, getting back points off a half-nelson and wrist tilts while anchoring with his legs.

"I try to keep mixing things up and go with whatevers open," Monaco said after completing a 110-8 career record. "He finished the season the way he started it," said Clifton coach Steve LePage. "Awesome." Goodman belonged in the same company entering the 122-pound final, having controlled all three of his tournament opponents. He didn't shy away, even though Malatesta twice had placed in the state and owned a 110-6-1 record. The unbeaten Goodman immediately went on the attack.

"A lot of people said he liked to go for a fireman's carry," Malatesta the second period. Once Howell was switched man-toman on Heron, Bogota began to have trouble getting the ball inside. Bucs guard Robert Sinclair tried to pick up the slack, scoring eight points in a three-minute stretch of the third quarter, but by then Burlington Township was controlling the offensive boards and still creating turnovers with its press. The Falcons shot 60 percent from the floor in the second half. A 13-point Burlington Township lead was cut to 47-38 early in the fourth quarter on Sinclair's driving layup and 13-foot jumper.

Kirby Johnson answered with an eight-footer for Burlington Township, and the Falcons held the ball for 1:35 before they drew a foul with 4:17 left Glenn Kreutzer nailed three long jumpers in the fourth period for Bogota, but the Buccaneers' hopes.