Don Bosco tops Bergen Catholic in sectional semifinal by Greg Mattura of The Record
ORADELL – Don Bosco’s star power and experience emerged and it was simply too much for Bergen Catholic.
The Ironmen are headed back to the North Non-Public A boys’ basketball final with a chance to repeat after dominating the archrival Crusaders, 71-48, in Monday night’s semifinals.
Marcellus Earlington and Ronald Harper Jr., the Division I recruits and first-team All-Bergen selections, combined for 44 points and 15 rebounds to lead Don Bosco.
“We’re here in Oradell, and it’s potentially your last game, and you never want it to end when you play basketball,” said Harper, whose team led from start to finish. “So we had to go out there and give it our all.”
Meanwhile, the Ironmen role players did their jobs. Senior guard Matt Herasme scored eight, junior forward Victor Konopka seven and senior guard Mike Concannon five – and all played strong defense.
For the second time in two seasons, Don Bosco (26-2) defeated Bergen Catholic (23-4) three times in four battles. Last season, the Ironmen won the sectional title over the Crusaders, 60-59, en route to winning the state title and reaching the Tournament of Champions final.
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Earlington had a game-high 24 points, including nine in the first quarter to stake the Ironmen to a 17-10 lead, and the St. John’s commit added nine rebounds. Harper, a Rutgers signee, had 20 points and six boards.
“I think we played very well,” said Earlington, who helped the Ironmen to a 7-0 lead with five quick points. “We came out with a lot of energy, we talked on defense and we were making shots.”
“Big bodies everywhere and I just thought Ron and Marcellus really stepped up as seniors,” Don Bosco coach Kevin Diverio said. “And Matt and Mike played phenomenal defense on [Jayson] Earle and [Doug] Edert.”
Don Bosco’s defense was outstanding Monday and they grabbed a vast majority of loose balls. Bergen Catholic’s first-team All-Bergen pick, junior forward Zach Freemantle, had 20 points and eight rebounds. But sophomore forward Matt Zona was held to 11 points and sharpshooting junior guard Edert was held to one three-pointer and seven total points.
“I’m just very happy with our defensive effort,” Diverio said after his team’s third consecutive win over Bergen Catholic. “I thought we played four quarters of tremendous man-to-man defense.”
“Loose-ball rebounds, offensive rebounds, we missed a couple of defensive cover-downs where they got layups and putbacks,” said Bergen Catholic coach Billy Armstrong, whose team returns its entire starting lineup next season. “So our defensive rotation from a basketball standpoint wasn’t where it needed to be against them, because we just couldn’t give up offensive rebounds like that.”