Schools
Ridge Loses in Second Round of Sepanak Tournament to Irvington, 48 – 43
An end-of-game run from the Blue Knights handed the Red Devils their first loss of the season.
A fourth quarter collapse saw Irvington's Blue Knights topple the previously undefeated Ridge Red Devils.
Christian Frisoli returned to form, scoring 14 points for the second time this season. Tom Gambino had his best game of the season bringing down 9 boards to go with 12 points.
Nick Cefalo had a quiet night with 8 points and 3 assists. Conor Skea, always impressive on the boards, had 8 rebounds and 7 points.
The game was very close straight from the start, both teams taking the ball to the hoop with Irvington using its greater size to take a 13 – 12 lead by the end of the first.
Skea showed no fear in the second, driving the ball on several instances despite the blocking abilities of Irvington big man Geneve Montfluery who had 5 blocks on the night.
Outscoring the Blue Devils by three, Ridge went into the break with a 23 – 21 lead. They expanded the lead to six going into the fourth by allowing Irvington to score only 8 points in both the second and third quarters.
Then it all fell apart. Irvington managed to score 19 points including 4 three pointers in the fourth quarter as they came racing back. Ridge's usually unbreakable defense became unnerved after losing a shoot-off in which both teams hit two three-pointers in two minutes.
In an aggressive and fast-paced fourth, the Red Devils could not keep up with Irvington. Blue Devil's freshman Shakur Edward led his team with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
"It was ugly at times, but overall I'm proud of my team because we're young, we're inexperienced, but they found a way to win," said Irvington head coach Eugene Robinson of his team's victory.
Ridge has bitter rivals Immaculata to look forward to in Tuesday's game, which starts at 4 p.m. "We played so hard all night, that was a very strong, very athletic team, I thought my team played great," Ridge head coach Mark Taylor said of last night's game.
Irvington will move onto the finals, hoping to take Ridge's crown against Gill St. Bernards at 6 p.m.
