Bergenfield, N.J……… River Dell trailed for most of the game and with it being played at such a slow pace it seemed as if Bergenfield had control of the contest! However, trailing 28-20 at the end of the 3rd quarter River Dell played lights out defense and held the Bears to one field goal in the 4th quarter! They also benefitted from the fact that Junior Tim Barnes(Right) decided to takeover for the Hawks! Barnes finished with 20 of his teams 39 points and kept River Dell close enough to have his team make their push in the 39-36 win! The Hawks finally tied the game at 30 with 1:37 left in the 4th on a steal and layup by Ryan Duran! Neither team could score another basket and the game went into overtime! Barnes scored 6 of River Dell’s 9 points in overtime and finished the scoring with two free throws to give them the final score! A desperation “triple” by Bergenfield came up short! Duran finished with 10 points while Sean Boland had 9 boards! Barnes added 8 rebounds to his game stats! Bergenfield was led by Senior Corey White with 11 points and 9 rebounds and Senior Kevin Pineda with 7 points and 4 assists! The win kept River Dell undefeated at 5-0, while Bergenfield fell to 4-4!

Kennedy H.S…..For three quarters, Kennedy didn’t look as if it would be celebrating for Coach Jim Ring(pictured right) tonight! Bergen Catholic led most of the game and seemed to be in control! But Senior Sammy Singletary wanted it for his Coach and his teammates followed suit! Pressure defense at the end of the 3rd changed the whole complexion of the game as the Knights forced turnover after turnover on B.C. Singletary(left) finally gave Kennedy the lead 41-40 with 1:50 left in the 3rd! Kennedy went on to outscore Bergen Catholic 28 to 12 to close out the game 69-52! The win was Coach Jim Ring’s 300th of his 16 year career! Singletary was a man on a mission scoring 33 points and making sure the feat would happen tonight! Bergen Catholic was led by Rich DeLuca with 17 points! Hoop Journal would like to congratulate Coach Ring on this great accomplishment, it’s a credit to the Kennedy program as some great one’s have laced them up for Coach!

   Upper Saddle River…….Hawthorne Christian’s 6’7 Sophomore Alex Thomas dominated the interior in a 62-42 win over Saddle River Day! Thomas and Senior Paul Little helped Hawthorne Christian out rebound Saddle River Day 43 to 27 as they combined for 35 boards themselves! Thomas(right) was a problem from the start and finished the contest with 25 points and 20 rebounds! Little(below left) scored 17 points and grabbed 15 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass! The game featured Saddle River Day’s Senior Dave Rosado, the ex Paterson Catholic player who led the state in scoring last year! Rosado had to overcome a box and one defense and managed to score 16 points and grab 9 rebounds! The game was tied at intermission 23-23, but Hawthorne Christian came out and outscored Saddle River Day 17-4 in the 3rd as Thomas and Little combined for 12 of the points! Hawthorne Christian improved their record to 6-0 and now go into the toughest part of their schedule, while the Rebels fell to 3-2!