Edert three-pointers push Bergen Catholic past Teaneck by Jim McConville special to The Record
HACKENSACK – Doug Edert has started the majority of games this season for top-seeded Bergen Catholic. In the semifinals of the Bergen County Jamboree, he found out that he would not be starting against Teaneck.
The sophomore didn’t let it faze him in the least. In fact, he came off the bench at a critical moment in the second quarter and proceeded to bury three straight three-point field goals.
That personal nine-point run put Bergen Catholic on top for good, though they could not shake the Highwaymen until the final few minutes. Still, the 71-61 win means that the Crusaders and Don Bosco will face off in Friday night’s Jamboree championship game, a battle of the top two seeds. The teams have split their two regular season games, each winning by five.
The decision to start senior Tim Algenio over Edert was one that BC coach Billy Armstrong really felt was the best of both worlds, saying, “Tim has been playing really well lately and he gets the ball up the floor quickly. It also allows us to not rely on Taj (Benning) bringing it up for 32 minutes.
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“The flip side is that Doug is such a high-character person that we know whatever the situation, he’s going to come on and do the job. We’ve seen him do that a few times, come in and make those kind of shots.”
With Teaneck up 18-16, Edert went to work. He drained the first trey, only to see Ja’Quaye James match it. He came right down and went back-to-back, making it 25-21 Bergen Catholic with five minutes to go before halftime.
“I knew I wasn’t starting, so I wanted to bring a lot of energy off the bench,” Edert said. “We wanted to get the lead early and play from ahead.”
The Crusaders never gave that lead back, as Gabe Stefanini (18 points) took over the beginning of the third quarter. He hit a pair of free throws to make it 40-31 and after a Cory Gordon basket he calmly swished a three-pointer to give Bergen its first double digit lead at 43-33.
“I just like to be able to play my entire game,” Stefanini said. “We have a lot of good shooters on this team, so if it’s passing or rebounding, for me that’s fine. I actually thought I was playing some good defense on Ja’Quaye, even though he got his points. “
James had 22 of his game-high 34 in the opening half, when he hit 5 of 7 three-pointers. He ended up with 8 treys, but was only 3 of 7 in the second half. His last one came with 2:50 left to pull Teaneck within 56-51.
The Highwaymen would not score again until the 1:16 mark, and by that point Bergen Catholic had strung together six free throws to make it 67-56, essentially closing out the game.
Zach Fremantle was also in the starting lineup for the Crusaders, replacing Thomas Binelli (foot), and he scored 10 points and had 7 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. The Crusader bench outscored Teaneck 18-3 thanks in large part to Edert.
“I just thought we could have played better,” Teaneck coach Jerome Smart said. “We had some opportunities in the second half to get some layups and we just didn’t catch the ball and finish. Our role players struggled, making it tough on Leondre (Washington, 17 points, 8 rebounds) and Ja’Quaye.”
The Highwaymen shot only 19 of 60 compared to 23 of 46 for Bergen Catholic. Pierre Sow had 8 rebounds and 5 blocked shots for Teaneck, while Benning and Matt Zona each had eight rebounds for the Crusaders.
BERGEN CATHOLIC 71, TEANECK 61
Teaneck 13 – 18 – 15 – 15 – 61
Bergen Catholic 16 – 22 – 14 – 19 – 71
Teaneck: Darius Ashby 0-0-0, Adrian Baucom 1-0-2, Jayden Dawson 0-2-2, Leondre Washington 5-6-17, Korey Pettie 0-1-1, Cory Gordon 1-1-3, Pierre Sow 1-0-2, Ja’Quaye James 11-4-34. Totals: 19-14-61.
Bergen Catholic: Tim Algenio 3-0-8, Jayson Earle 1-0-2, Taj Benning 2-8-12, Gabe Stefanini 6-4-18, Rhona Eseyade 0-0-0, Matt Zona 1-2-5, Doug Edert 5-2-16, Zach Fremantle 4-2-10. Totals: 22-18-71.
Three-point goals: (T) James 8, Washington; (BC) Edert 4, Algenio 2, Stefanini 2, Zona.