The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • 53

NORTH JERSEY SPORTS 2B THE RECORD S-13 MONDAY. MARCH 12, 2001 STATE BASKETBALL FINALS BOYS SATUMMV PaJMCMM. A Cam CaMK Sato MM Pre 91 (OT) PMOCNAL Si AMhone St A 51 SUNOAT uiour i Fkxancx 41. Cns 36 GtXJ Meaquahc (1. Pinaairtiiae 90 (OT) GROUPS Sftabazz 61, Camden 57 CROUPS Smww 54.

Passac 50 r3 GIRLS IrV r- "-ill B.C., Clifton aim for titles By JIM DRISC0LL Staff Writer Teams representing Clifton, Ba-yonne, Christian Brothers Academy, and Bergen Catholic will hit the ke tonight at Continental Arena for high school hockey's version of the Final Four, with the Crusaders favored to emerge as the eventual No. 1 team in the state. "Oh really," Bergen Catholic coach Dan May said Sunday. "We're the favorite to win it all? I don't know how to make that determination." Well, based on the seedings, third-seeded BC gets the edge over fourth-seeded Christian Brothers Academy in tonight's 9 o'clock parochial State final. CBA lost both regular-season meetings to BC.

i SATURDAY PAROCHIAL A Red Bant Catnokc 56. Paramue Cathokc 39 PAROCHIAL Marts) 55. Sacred Heart 53 SUNDAY GROUP 1 Wildwood 55. Mountain Lakes 51 GROUP 1 Staring 51. Hanovar Park 41 GROUPS Sparta 65, Toms River South 40 GROUP 4 Columbia 70.

Marlboro 63 (OT) i- i 1 If i I' sx-v (ft h. Ill 'Vj A fc V. 'V. Cresskill's Matt Henry, right, showing his dejection as Florence players celebrate their Group Cresskill comes shooting touch But fails to find By GREG MATTURA Staff Writer PISCATAWAY Cresskill had a chance for its first State boys basketball title snatched away by Florence's 6-foot-9 David Keeley, who was just too tall for the undersized Cougars. Cresskill made Keeley work for every basket, every rebound, and every pass in the 41-35 loss in the State Group 1 final Sunday night at the Louis Brown Athletic Center, but Keeley's 7-inch height advantage was too much to overcome.

The Cougars did a superb job against Keeley for all but one or two possessions, even though the left-hander managed 19 points and 18 rebounds and led a second-half comeback. Keeley was double- and triple-teamed almost every time he touched the ball within 15 feet of the basket. "I thought we did a great job against him, exactly what we worked on in practice," All-County junior guard Matt Henry said of Keeley. "It's just that our shots weren't falling." The Cougars might have prevailed with better shooting, but the energy used to stop Keeley and fellow 6-9 senior Jeff Dankanich left many of their shots short of the mark. Despite plenty of open looks, Cresskill shot 12-for-54 overall and 7-for-27 on three-pointers.

"We couldn't get the ball to go in the basket. We had a lot of good looks," Cresskill coach Marty Rivard said. "I don't know. Maybe we were a little tired in the second half." Cresskill battled back from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit thanks to a trio of three-pointers and came within a missed trey by Henry with 30 seconds left of tying it. Henry (18 points) started the comeback by hitting a three-pointer from the left wing to cut the deficit to 36-29, and followed with a trey from the left baseline to make it 36-32.

When senior forward Matt Abelson (nine points) hit a trey, the Cougars were within 36-35. After guard Stephen Ordog was fouled and THOMAS E. FRANKLINSTAFF PHOTOGRAPHER 1 State championship on Sunday evening. close THOMAS E. FRANKLINSTAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Florence's Jeff Dankanich trying to block the shot of Cresskill junior Matt Henry.

Shawnee Passaic players and coaches showed remarkable poise and grace after the heart-breaking loss. Rather than blame the officials or Shawnee's physical defensive play, they were refreshingly accountable for what had transpired. Passaic was a victim of nerves in the opening minutes. The Indians turned the ball over three times and Shawnee had two steals as the Renegades scored the first nine points before Muniz made the second of two free throws after an airball on the first. "We were a little nervous, a little anxious, all the things that would happen in this environment," said Passaic coach Marshall Grier Jr.

"They just wanted to do well for their friends and family. By the end of the game, we showed we deserved to be here." The deficit proved to be too much to overcome. Passaic got close on several occasions, but each time Shawnee would bounce back. After trailing 13-4, Passaic got to within 15-9 by the end of the first quarter. By halftime, the score was 21-18.

Shawnee then opened the second half with a 9-2 run that made it 30-20 before Grier called a timeout. "We missed free throws. That's the bottom line," Grier said. "We're happy, we had a good time. There's nothing to be down about.

The total thing is like a celebration." One without a happy ending. in ia i -j as mimmmmamm GIRLS if 4 That's the conventional wisdom. So is the idea that the parochial champion will have no problem beating the winner of tonight's 7 o'clock public final between Clifton and Ba-yonne. Tonight's winners meet March 24 in the Tournament of Champions final at the Arena. "I guess we won't know that until the games start," said May.

The danger for Bergen Catholic is a letdown. The Crusaders are coming off the biggest win in the history of the program, Saturday's 4-2 semifinal victory over second-seeded Seton Hall Prep, a team BC had never before beaten. CBA also registered an upset, defeating top-seeded Delbar-ton in a shootout. "A team that beat Delbarton is not to be taken lightly," May said of CBA, which BC beat, 5-1 and 5-2. "Us and CBA are pretty close.

Both of those games were one-goal games for more than two periods." May feels that CBA will play a "conservative, low-risk game" in front of a hot goaltender, senior Matt Feldman. They try to draw you and go for the long hit," he said of CBA's attack. "If it's not there, they're willing to ice the puck and start over again." BC has a great goalie of its own, freshman Zane Kalemba, who happens to be a former teammate of the freshman netminder who led Clifton to the public final, Jason Zuck. Kalemba and Zuck played for the same club team until this season, and both made saves to protect leads in the semifinals. "He's kept us in more than a few games this season," Clifton senior Mike Kuzmuk said of Zuck after Saturday's 3-1 semifinal victory over Brick.

"Jason stood on his head tonight," Clifton coach Tom Danko said Saturday. "That was a great game for the kid." As it was for BC, the semifinal win was also the biggest in Clifton's long history. The Mustang program began as a club team in 1972 and became a varsity sport two years later. Saturday night, Danko recalled a preseason meeting in October, when he took notes while Paul Mclnnis, the head of the New Jersey Inter-scholastic Hockey League, outlined the important dates of the season. Danko wrote everthing down including "March 12, State finals." "I never usually write that stuff down," Danko said.

"But here we are." Tonight at Continental Arena PUBLIC SCHOOLS Clifton vs. Bayonne, 7 PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS Bergen Catholic vs. CBA, 9 Saturday, March 24 at Continental Arena Public champ vs. Parochial champ, 8 p.m. All-County photos set Photographs for first-team All-Bergen and All-Passaic basketball, wrestling, bowling, and indoor track athletes will be taken Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

Sessions are scheduled in The Record's Hackensack office, 150 River from 4 to 9 p.m. Group 4 SHAWNEE 54, PASSAIC 50 SHAWNEE Kurtz 0-9-9. Wtodarczyk 1-2-4, Nielsen 4-3-11. Johnson 4-1-9. Martin 3-9-17, O'Connor 1-2-4.

Bowen 04-0. Chluaano 0-0-0. Totala: 13-26-54. Three-point goals: Martin 2. PASSAIC Barker 4-4-13.

Rodriguez 1-0-2. Willis 2-0-5. Munii 2-11-17. Waring 0-0-0. Roberts 0-0-0, Goodwin 0-1-1.

Johnson 5-1-12. Totals: 14-17-50. Three-point goals: Munlz 2, Barker. Willis. Johnson.

(27-2) Shawnee 15 6 15 1 54 (26-2) Paasale 9 9 9 23 50 Group 3 SHABAZZC I CAMDEN 57 SHABAZZ Barrett 1-2-4. Robinson 4-13-22, Harper 1-11-13, Plnnlx 0-0-0, Giles 3-7-13, Parks 0-0-0. May 0-1-1. Blakewood 2-4-8. Totals: 11-38-61.

Three-point goal: Robinson. CAMDEN Moore 0-0-0, Dickerson 0-0-0. Brown 2-0-4. Wagner 9-17-37, Pulllam 1-2-4. Carmichael 0-0-0, Wilson 1-0-2, Brundage 0-1-1, Davis 2-1-5, Plummer 2-0-4.

Totals: 17-21-57. Three-point goals: Wagner 2. (28-1) Shabazz 8 18 11 24 61 (27-2) Camden 9 14 11 23 57 Group 2 WEEQUAHIC 91, PLEASANTVILLE 90 (OT) PLEASANTVILLE Simpklns 2-2-6. R. Scott 3-1-7.

Warner 1-1-3. Kelly 8-7-23. Dozler 11-11-33. Duncan 8-0-16. Whetstone 0-0-0.

Everett 1-0-2. B. Scott 0-0-0. Totals: 34-22-90. Three-point goals: None.

WEEOUAHIC Bey 7-6-20, Gaddy 4-1-9, Anaele 2-1-5, Johnson 11-6-29. Walker 5-5-15. Bullock 3-2-8. Hugglns 1-0-2, Jones 0-0-0. Dickerson 1-1-3, Nelson 0-0-0, Ford 0-0-0.

Totala: 34-22-91. Three-point goal: Johnson. (-) Pleasantvllle 21 24 24 15 6 90 (26-2) WeequaMc 28 19 19 20 7 91 Group 1 FLORENCE 41. CRESSKILL 35 FLORENCE Warren Miller 1-1-4, Stephen Ordog 0-4-4, Jorron Jenkins 4-1-10. David Keeley 9-1-19.

Jell Dankanlch 1-2-4. Totals: 15-9-41. Three-point goals: Jenkins. Miller. CRESSKILL Matt Abelson 4-0-9, Adam Kopelman 0-0-0, Bill Nelra 2-0-6, Eric Kim 0-0-0.

Eric Horowitz 0-0-0, Matt Henry 5-4-18. Peter Rlnehardt 1-0-2. Totals: 12-4-35. Three-point goals: Henry 4, Nelra 2, Abelson. (22-2) Florence 4 9 12 16 41 (26-2) Crestklll 10 6 7 12-35 Group 4 COLUMBIA 70, MARLBORO 63 (OT) MARLBORO Zoll 5 1-4 12.

Kastner 2 0-0 6. Pollack 6 5-6 20, Gatto 11-3 3, Cole 66-12 22, Godleski 0 0-0 0, Tanen 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 13-25 63. Three-point goals: Pollack 3, Kastner 2, Zoll. COLUMBIA Davis 0 2-2 2.

England 1 3-5 6. G. Nwallll 14 6-9 34, Slmmonds 6 5-8 17, Kershaw 2 0-2 4. Burnett 2 0-1 4, J. Nwalili 0 1-2 1.

Gooding 0 0-0 0. Okaro 1 0-0 2. Totals: 26 17-29 70. Three-point goal: England, (25-3) Marlboro 16 16 16 10 8 1 (26-3) Columbia 20 9 20 9 12 70 Group 3 SPARTA 65, TOMS RIVER SOUTH 40 TOMS RIVER SOUTH McCabe 1 0-0 3. L.

Zak 4 0-0 9. B. Zak 6 0-0 16, Barton 0 0-0 0, Meyer 1 4-5 6. Symington 0 0-0 0. Murray 0 0-0 0.

Erdman 0 0-0 0. Millard 2 0-0 6, Kuhmann 0 0-0 0, Arauio 0 0-0 0, Inman 0 0-0 0. Totala: 14 4-7 40. Three-point goals: B. Zak 4, Millard 2.

McCabe. L. Zak. SPARTA Yeagley 5 3-3 16, Trainor 0 1-2 1. Jent 9 0-0 18, Dllworth 5 0-2 10.

O. Kell 2 2-2 6, Coney 0 0-0 0, B. Kell 3 2-2 8, Skorupka 0 0-0 0, Cooper 10-02, Cavlcc-nia 0 0-0 0. Donahue 0 0-0 0, Carter 2 0-0 4. Totals: 27 8-11 65.

Three-point goals: Yeagley 3. (22-6) Toms River 8outh 6 10. 12 12-40 (26-2) Sparta 10 19 17 19 65 Croup 2 STERLING 51, HANOVER PARK 41 STERLING Cook 1-3-5, Armbruster 0-0-0. Savage 1-1-3. Wright 4-0-8.

Copskey 9-14-33, Romeo 0-2-2. Bau-mann 0-0-0, O'Donnell 0-0-0. Williams 0-0-0. McGrory 0-0-0. Caccla 0-0-0 Totals: 15-20-51.

Three-point goal: Copskey. HANOVER PARK M. Enderle 2-1-5. Parham 7-2-16, DeTrollo 1-6-8. Olledal 2-2-6, Byron 1-0-2.

Enderle 0-0-0, Falelto 0-0-0. Casslnls 1-2-4, Carey 0-0-0. Meyer 0-0-0. Totals: 14-13-41. Three-point goals: None.

(28-1) Sterling 6 11 15 19-51 (21-5) Hanover Park 7 6 12 16-41 Group 1 WILDWOOD 55, MOUNTAIN LAKES 61 WILDWOOD Feslick 0-0-0, Johnson 10-9-31, Fennessy 5-0-12, King 0-0-0, Harshaw 3-0-6. Anzelon 0-2-2. Miller 1-0-2, Fullerton 0-2-2. Totals: 19-13-55. Three-point goals: Johnson 2, Fennessy 2.

MOUNTAIN LAKES V. Krah 8-4-25, Munday 1-2-4, M. Krah 0-0-0, M. Bernal-Sllva 4-1-9, D. Bernal-Sllva 0-3-3, Aerts 0-0-0, Kennedy 0-4-4.

Godleski 0-0-0. Foth 1-4-6 Totals: 14-18-51. Three-potnl goals: Krah 5. (27-2) Wlldwood 6 12 22 55 made two free throws to extend Florence's lead to 38-35 with 57 seconds left, Henry missed a potential game-tying trey with 30 seconds left. Miller then was fouled and made the first of two to extend Florence's lead to 39-35.

After a Cresskill miss, Dankanich made two foul shots for the 41-35 final. This was the third time in nine years that Rivard brought a heady, overachieving bunch all the way to the State final. In 1993, the Cougars lost to Perth Amboy Vo-Tech, and in 1994 they fell to Glassboro. Florence got some breathing room early in the fourth with a 9-0 run that extended a 25-23 advantage to 34-23. Miller started Florence's spurt by scoring his first basket, a three-pointer from the left wing, to make it 28-23.

Dankanich then scored his first hoop to extend the lead to 30-23. Jorren Jenkins kept it going with the first fast -break basket of the night to make it 32-23. And Keeley finished the spurt with a spinning drive along the right baseline for an 11-point lead. The Flashes grabbed their first lead late in the third quarter when Keeley made a layup for a 25-23 advantage. Cresskill led, 16-13, after a first half in which the pace was as quick as traffic on the Turnpike heading to the Jersey shore on Memorial Day weekend.

There were no fast-break points. The Cougars struck first, on their second possession, when Bill Neira hit a three-pointer from the left wing. They led 10-4 at the end of the first quarter after Henry drove, was fouled, and hit two free throws with 3.8 seconds left. Only Keeley's height kept Cresskill from enjoying more than a three-point halftime lead. Keeley scored eight points, with three of his baskets coming on offensive rebounds.

tV5i Tat i I n-1 te ira on free throws by junior forward Zach Martin, who scored a team-high 17 points. "That was a backbreaker, a dagger in our hearts," Muniz said of the Indians' troubles from the line. "We needed to make two or three of those free throws." Passaic, which was appearing in its first State title game since 1929, wouldn't go away. Shawnee point guard Bill Kurtz foolishly fouled Passaic's Clayton Barker on a long three-point attempt. Barker made all three free throws to narrow the gap to 50-47 before the game suffered from a bit of controversy.

Shawnee inbounded the ball with 29.0 seconds left. Unable to crack Passaic's pressure defense and get the ball past midcourt, a timeout was called with 18.8 seconds showing. No 10-second violation was called, though the math said there should have been. Martin eventually was fouled and made two free throws for a 52-47 advantage. "The refs aren't perfect, either," said Muniz, who led Passaic with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

"They make mistakes just like we do on the court. If we would have made our free throws, it wouldn't have been close." BOYS Passaic falls short of By TIM LEONARD Staff Writer PISCATAWAY The disappointment was on their faces, evidence of Passaic's first loss in three months. But this look was different. Rather than feeling crushed by defeat in a championship game, the Indians know that they are not champions today because of what they were unable to do. Shawnee did more things right at crucial moments, which is why the Renegades are the boys Group 4 champions after a tight 54-50 victory over Passaic on Sunday night at the Louis Brown Athletic Center.

Despite trailing the entire game, Passaic kept battling back to within striking distance, only to be undone by missed free throws. "We accomplished big things, so we don't come into the locker room with our heads down. We had a great season," said Passaic junior guard Kaleef Willis. "It was in our hands and we had it. They took it a little bit." The Indians (26-2) trailed by as many as 11 points, but had three chances to cut the lead to two at the free throw line midway through the fourth quarter.

They missed two straight one-and-ones before Edwin Muniz made the second of two free throws to make it 41-38. Shawnee (27-2) then scored the next four points to go up by seven. Three of those came Shabazz stuns Camden The Associated Press PISCATAWAY Devonne Giles had 13 points and 19 rebounds as Shabazz of Newark upset Camden, 61-57, in the Slate Group 3 final Sunday at Rutgers. Dajunn Wagner scored 37 points for Camden (27-2), concluding his career with 3,462 points, first on the state's all-time list for boys. In a wild fourth quarter, Wagner made two foul shots with 20 seconds left to cut the gup to three before fouling out two seconds later.

Rolwrt Robinson then sealed the contest for Shabazz (28-1) with a foul shot. QUARTERFINALS Thursday At Dunn Center, Elizabeth (6) Wlldwood vs. (3) Columbia. 6 p.m. (5) Marlst vs.

(4) Sterling, 8 p.m. SEMIFINALS Tuesday, Maroh 20 At Dunn Center, Elisabeth (2) Sparta vs. wo ColumblaWlldwood. 8 II) Red Bank Calh. vs.

wo MarlstSterllng, 8 CHAMPIONSHIP Saturday, Maroh 24 At Continental Arena, East Rutherford Semifinal winners, noon OUARTERFINALS Al'ounn Canlar, eiliabalh (6) Floranea vs. (3) Shawnee, (S) Waequanlo vs. (4) Camden Catholic, 8 SEMIFINALS Wednesday, Mtroh 11 Al Rutgers University, Plsostaway 2) Shsdsa vs. wo ShawneeFlorence, 6 St. Anthony vs.

wo WeequahlcCamden Catholic CHAMPIONSHIP Saturday, Maroh 24 At Continental Arena, Cast Rutherford Semillnal winners. 2 p.m. PREVIEWS lets you know where to go and what to do during the weekend. Every Friday. Sh tort I 18 II 17-61 (22-4) Mountain Lakea.