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Sports

Ridge Boys Advance to County Finals

The Red Devils beat Montgomery 44-38 and will face Gill St. Bernard's next Saturday for the Somerset County Championship.

The Ridge Red Devils boys basketball team inched by the Montgomery Cougars, 44-38, on Saturday night at Montgomery to advance to the finals of the Somerset County Tournament. The Red Devils will face Gill St. Bernard's (17-4) next Saturday for the Somerset County Championship.  

The gym at Montgomery High School was packed for the semi-final round game between the Red Devils and the Cougars. The fans, cheerleaders and coaches were loud, and the players' energy seemed to match that of the crowd.

The Montgomery crowd seemed to single out Nick Cefalo, chanting and booing every time he touched the ball.

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"They don't like me too much, but it never gets to us. Our whole team tries to zone out the crowd," said Cefalo.

Both teams were playing physical basketball, and within a few minutes numerous penalties were called for blocks, reaches and over-the-tops, but despite the high-energy play, neither team was scoring much in the beginning of the first quarter.

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The Red Devils scored six unanswered points at the end of the first, led by Cefalo, who scored four total in the quarter, but after James Loupos' second three-pointer and eighth point of the quarter for Montgomery, the Cougars captured the lead in the last seconds of the quarter, 10-9.

The penalties for charging, blocking, and pushing kept coming for both teams early in the second quarter, with starters on both teams sitting on the bench to avoid premature exits from the game.

A technical foul against Brian Testa of Montgomery after an altercation with a Ridge player in the open court fired up both crowds and both benches. Testa was ejected from the game for the infraction.

The momentum had begun to swing back in the Red Devils' favor after Testa's ejection, and by halftime Ridge had regained the lead, 22-21. There were 16 total penalties in the first half.

The Red Devils slightly outscored the Cougars in the third quarter, 11-10, and going into the fourth Ridge led 33-31. It was the biggest lead either team had held at the end of a quarter.

Montgomery regained the lead with Loupos' third three-pointer of the game, but Andrew Madlinger put Ridge back up by three with four unanswered and unassisted points. With 3:10 left in the game, the Red Devils were leading 39-36.

"We're seniors now, and we've been in the finals two times. The thought of us not making the finals made me play that much harder," said Madlinger. "But it was a team effort."

Madlinger then sank a three-pointer to increase that lead to six with two minutes remaining. With less than 30 seconds remaining, Nick Cefalo was at the line and Ridge led by four. He made both shots to increase the lead to six. At the buzzer, Ridge still held that lead.

"We knew they were a solid team. We knew they would defend well. We kept pulling our big guy and making their big guys defend our smaller ones, and it worked," said Ridge head coach Mark Taylor.

The Red Devils know what to expect in the final against Gill St. Bernard's. Last time they faced, Ridge won by one point in overtime.

"They are very competitive and very good," said Taylor.

The finals are scheduled for 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27, at Franklin High School.

"We are going to play our game next week. On offense and defense, we are going to play our game," said Cefalo.

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