The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • 37

V- THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 2002 THE RECORD S-9 Sports TO REPORT RESULTS CALL (201) 646-4740 OR (973) 569-7740 North Jersey NJSIAA TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS ST. ANTHONY 66, BERGEN CATHOLIC 55 aMaw uvvyj sKi VS. i mi Bergen Catholic's Sean Banks shooting over U119 111U1U11. Sbc-foot-seven forwards Sean Banks and Adrian Joseph, along with 6-5 Miles Orman and 6-4 Dan Gentile will try to expand upon their strides of this season. That next year's team will be better is almost a given.

Whether the Crusaders can go as far is as always, a roll of the dice. BC athletic director Angela Hickey, amid all the details and preparations of the massive trip to Piscataway, said she would say a little prayer for a Wednesday-night upset. But Bergen's basketball prayers may already have been answered by a group of players who didn't know when they were supposed to bow out of a season. Dionisio said the team was "anxious to prove we belong on the court" with the Friars. Now it will be a matter of just how many of Bergen County's aspiring ') St.

Anthony breaks it open with defense By JASON McINTYRE STAFF WRITER PISCATAWAY Five minutes and seven seconds into the biggest game in Bergen Catholic basketball history, the Crusaders looked as if they actually could pull off a victory over mighty St. Anthony, a feat few thought was possible. Miles Orman was dunking. Dan Gentile was making shots. BC jumped out to a 13-6 lead.

Then St. Anthony called timeout and began playing basketball. The Friars' guards took over, specifically Elijah Ingram, and the defensive pressure was too much for BC as St. Anthony waltzed to a 66-55 Tournament of Champions semifinal win in front of a packed house at the Louis Brown Athletic Center. "It felt good at first," Orman said.

"But a quality team like that, they're going to come back. That was the toughest defensive pressure we've seen this year." Bergen Catholic ended a memorable season at 25-7, and along the way picked up a Parochial A State championship and won the school's first TOC game. St. Anthony (28-1) advanced to play in Sunday's TOC final against Neptune. The Friars, who won the TOC last year and have won seven titles in eight visits, play Neptune at Continental Arena at 2 p.m.

After BC's early lead, St. Anthony came out of the timeout and Donald Copeland made a three, Ingram scored on a layup, and Copeland scored on a fast break to tie the game at 13 just 1:42 after BC's great start. In that span, the Crusaders missed a shot and committed two turnovers. "That happens all the time," St. Anthony forward Terrance Roberts said.

"Coach Bob Hurley just told us we need to pick it up. I came out nervous, we hadn't played in 10 days. But Elijah took over. He did everything." Ingram, who will play at St. John's next season, tallied 25 points on 9-for-17 shooting.

In the second quarter, BC pulled within 19-17 on a Joe Sandberg runner. After that, the Friars went on a 10-2 run, with Ingram scoring eight points and collecting an assist. Sandberg handled the full-court defensive pressure well, scoring nine points to go with four assists and nary a turnover. The problem was when BC got into the halfcourt, nobody else handled the pressure well. BC forward Scan Banks scored 18 points and Dan Gentile added 10 points and six rebounds.

Orman scored only two baskets, but they were memorable. Early in the game, he drove past the 6-foot-8 Roberts and dunked with two hands. In the fourth quarter, Orman rebounded a Banks miss and dunked with two hands, shaking the rim for good measure. BC never made a serious run at St. Anthony.

The Friars held the ball for the final minute of the third quarter before Ingram drove the lane and kicked the ball out to Copeland (nine points) for a wide-open three-pointer at the buzzer for a 56-37 lead. St Anthony 66, Bergen Catholic 55 Bergen Catholic 15111118-55 St Anthony 19 21 16 10- 66 Bergen CathoHc (25-7) Tim Englert 0-0-0, Joe Sandberg 4-0-9, Sean Banks 5-5-18, Miles Orman 2-0-4, Dan Gentile 4-M0, Gamal Patrick 1-2-4, Adrian Joseph 3-1-7, Brian Murray 1-0-3. Totals 20-9-55. St Anthony (28-1) Dwayne Lee 4-0-9, Obie Nwadike 3- 0- 6, Terrence Roberts 2-1-5, Donald Copeland 3-2-9, Elijah Ingram 9-4-25, Marcus Williams 5-0-10, Patrick Reed 1- 0-2. Totals 27-7-66.

3-polnt goahi (BC) Sean Banks 3, Brian Murray, Dan Gentile, Joe Sandberg. (SA) Elijah Ingram 3, Donald Copeland, Dwayne Lee. Neptune 71, Newark East Side 63 Newark Edit Sid 141612 21- 63 Neptune 19 161917- 71 Newark East Side (29-2) Carswell 1-0-2, McSwain 7-2-16. O'Ncil 1-3-5, Mitchell 4-2-10, Foye 11-1-30, Edwards 0-0- 0. Totals 2463, Neptune (29-2) Harris 4-3-13, Alston 8-2-18, Layton 6-1-13.

Todd 5-2-13, Dean 4-5-13, Hubbard 0-1-1, Gadaleta 0-0-0. Totals 27-14-71. 3-polnt goals: (NE) Foye 7. (N) Harris 2. Crusaders savoring good times PISCATAWAY The 300 students who rode the buses and the frenzy of a phenomenal postseason run to Rutgers University on Wednesday said it all.

Spring had arrived and Bergen Catholic was still playing basketball. Two and three weeks after their up-and-coming Bergen County rivals had put their balls away, the Crusaders had a date with stoned St. Anthony in a jam-packed Louis Brown Athletic Center. "The whole school was just buzzing," BC coach and former player Joe Dionisio said of the week's build-up to what may prove to be a watershed moment for this JIM BRENNAN program. "It was the only thing being talked about in school.

I can't compare it to too many things that have happened here." Bergen wasn't up to the Friars' constant waves of offense and tenacious blue-collar defense, dropping a 66-55 decision to end its magical season at But Dionisio brought a confident bunch into Rutgers' raucous arena Wednesday, a group of kids sporting just the slightest of swaggers. Since losing the Jamboree final to Don Bosco Prep, the Crusaders have spent their March dismissing some of the most touted squads in the state. The ride itself corralled a lifetime of memories for this year's assemblage of Crusaders, a team that had to find its form as a pair of polished transfers tiptoed into the lineup at midseason. But beyond the chemistry and personalities that made this team click, winning at this level promises riches of talent for Dionisio's program. "I'm sure the success is going to attract some players," said the coach, who has already received some calls from players ready to commit their high school years to Bergen Catholic.

"Clearly for the kids who are considering Bergen Catholic along with a few other schools, this is big." -BC has run a potent hoops program for nearly three decades, with six Jamboree titles and its 1994 Tournament of Champions berth along the way. But six straight State tournament wins and a marquee matchup against St. Anthony couldn't have come at a more opportune time. Bergen County's Parochial basketball race suddenly slipped into a new gear during a season that saw Don Bosco win both meetings with the Crusaders, and former St. Anthony star Rich We-jnert amass the troops at Paramus Catholic to reach the Jamboree semifinals.

Dionisio said he can't imagine a St. Anthony-like superpower emerging in Bergen County. There are simply too many competitors vying for the area's talent pool. But these have been two weeks that should keep Bergen atop the heap. "We're not trying to be anybody but ourselves," Dionisio said.

"Bergen is a difficult school to get into, but I think we've got a tremendous freshman class coming in, and almost everyone is back next year." Returning for another go in 2003 will be Joe Sandberg, the quick, grind-it-out guard whom St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley said "had his coming-out party" Neptune By JASON McINTYRE STAFF WRITER PISCATAWAY Behind the back passes, between the leg dribbles, no-look passes. These moves are generally frowned upon by coaches at the high school level. Too risky, they say. Neptune coach Ken O'Donnell.

Not when the passer is Tcrrance Todd, his senior point guard. An electrifying player with as flashy a handle as there is in the state, Todd stole the show from two major Division I re- MEL EVANSSTAFF PHOTOGRAPHER a St Anthony defender in their Tournament of Champions semifinal Wednesday. young players are anxious to prove they Bodies were flying Wednesday night at the Louis Brown Athletic Center. St Antho-belong at BC. ny proved to be a few steps quicker in a 66-55 decision over Bergen Catholic.

point guard steals MEL EVANSSTAFF PHOTOGRAPHER the show teammate Marques Alston (18 points, 13 rebounds) for a layup. "People tell me he used to do that sort of thing in biddie ball," O'Donnell joked. Neptune (29-2) used an 18-0 run bridging the first and second quarters to take a lead it would never relinquish. Louisville-bound guard Taquan Dean finished with 13 points and nine rebounds. East Side's Randy Foye was spectacular, as always, scoring 30 points and hitting seven three-pointers.

But the Vil-lanova-bound guard missed 19 of his 30 shot attempts. NEPTUNE 71 NEWARK EAST SIDE 63 cruits Wednesday in the Tournament of Champions at a soldout Louis Brown Athletic Center. Todd kept the crowd on their feet all night with one scintillating pass after another, sparking Neptune to a 71-63 victory over Newark East Side, earning the Scarlet Fliers their first berth in a TOC "I just model my game after Magic Johnson, I liked him when I was growing up," said Todd, who is being recruited by Tennessee Tech, Richmond, and Monmouth. "I just like to get my teammates involved and I think we definitely feed off the crowd." Todd finished with 13 points, five assists, and two steals, but it was his passing ability that kept the crowd roaring. In one amazing sequence, Todd went behind his back, got into the lane, crossed over a defender, and then brought the ball through his legs from behind, dishing to 4ta i.