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Schools

Ridge holds off late comeback to beat Immaculata, 62 – 55

Strong rebounding and hot shooting helped lift Ridge to 4-1 on the season.

Nick Cefalo and Conor Skea both had double-doubles and Christian Frisoli scored a career high 22 points for the Red Devils as Ridge beat Immaculata, 62 – 55 in the third place playoff of the Len Sepanak tournament.

Cefalo had a season high 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Skea added 10 points and 11 rebounds. John Legband scored another season high 8 points and Tom Gambino grabbed 7 rebounds as Ridge put on an offensive show during the first three quarters.

Luke Best, who had 18 points, led a late game come back for the Spartans but it was not enough to overcome the deficit.

Ridge started out hot on both ends of the court, hitting shots and causing turnovers to run out to a 17 –13 lead by the end of the first quarter.

Skea was a beast on the boards, grabbing anything that came his way and even some that did not. Frisoli heated up in the second quarter hitting three straight three–pointers in the second quarter as Ridge extended their lead to 34 – 24.

Legband then joined in the third quarter, scoring eight points from two threes and a jumper. Frisoli, who ended with five three–point shots took some risky shots, sinking a couple before head coach Mark Taylor brought him out.

The Spartans and Devils tied the third quarter, keeping Ridge's ten point lead in tact. Immaculata did game some momentum late in third, cutting Ridge's lead from 14 back to 10 before the buzzer.

With yesterday's fourth quarter collapse still fresh in their minds, Ridge almost let the game go again, but held off a valiant effort from the Spartans led by Best and Darien McDuffe who scored 9 points.

"We started playing not to lose instead of to win," said Taylor of the fourth quarter. Immaculata eventually ended up outscoring Ridge 18 – 13 in the fourth, but Cefalo hit his last five free throws to help Ridge to a 7-point victory.

"We won the game, as much as we got tight, we found a way to win," said Taylor after sealing the victory to move his team to 4-1 on the season.  He has Phillipsburg to look forward to in the New Year, as the Devils welcome the Stateliners on Jan. 5.

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