Don Bosco staves off St. Joseph to stay unbeaten by Greg Mattura of The Record
RAMSEY – Don Bosco faced its first down-to-the-wire challenge inside Bergen County and did just enough to survive.
The Ironmen, No. 1 in The Record Top 25, remained unbeaten following a defensive-dominated 48-45 victory over No. 5 St. Joseph on Friday night in Big North United Division boys basketball.
Don Bosco (7-0) prevailed after St. Joseph’s All-North Jersey senior point guard, Chauncey Hawkins, missed a hurried, contested three-pointer at the buzzer.
“It was kind of like a slugfest, and everyone was taking shots,” Don Bosco coach Kevin Diverio said, “and we just did enough to hang on.”
“I thought our guys came in with the mentality that we could win,” St. Joseph coach Mike Doherty said. “We knew what we wanted to do. In some cases we were successful, other times I thought we got a little impatient, and then kind of worked against ourselves, but that’s going to happen when guys are working hard. They’re going to try and step up and be leaders.”
Don Bosco extended its lead to 48-45 with 7.8 seconds remaining after senior guard Charlie Bagin made the second of two free throws. Bagin had a hand in Hawkins’ face on that final three-pointer, smartly remaining near the arc after Hawkins penetrated a step inside the line before taking a step-back trey.
“St. Joe’s is always a tough game, and it’s always a battle going back the last couple of years,” said Bagin, whose Ironmen beat the Green Knights three of four times last season, losing in the Bergen Jamboree final. “We didn’t want it to be that close, but it’s great to come out of a league game with a win, and it inspires a lot of confidence.”
Bagin inspired Don Bosco students to chant his name during a first half in which he made all four of his three-pointers and scored 14 points to help build a 25-21 halftime lead. He finished 4-for-5 from behind the arc and scored a team-high 17 points.
“He was huge for us,” Diverio said. “He carried us the whole first half. Without that, where are we?”
Senior forward Manley Dorme picked up where Bagin left off in the second half. The 6-foot-7 Dorme muscled his way inside and scored 11 of his 15 after intermission, including seven in the fourth. His three-point play with 1:28 left provided a 43-38 lead.
“Manley’s been working his butt off, he’s been playing a lot better, been playing a lot better in practice, and now it’s translating into the game, which is a bonus for us,” Diverio said.
St. Joseph (5-3, 2-2) stayed in it with defense and Hawkins’ scoring. Hawkins scored a game-high 22, with 15 in the second half, featuring a three-pointer in the final minute to cut the Green Knights’ deficit to 45-43.
“I thought Chauncey carried the team in a lot of different ways,” Doherty said, “and really was outstanding, and I thought overall we’re still taking steps in the right direction from where we were on [opening night].”