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Sports

Ridge Boys Blow Past Franklin in their 10th Straight Win

The Red Devils secured the win once they captured the lead in the second quarter.

Once the boys of the Ridge basketball team grabbed the lead in the second period, they never gave it up. The Red Devils will be going to the county semi-finals after holding the victory over Franklin High School Saturday night in the Somerset County Tournament, 67-48. Despite Ridge starting out a bit flat, their strategy of pressing the Warriors while forcing turnovers, is what brought them back into the game.

"I thought we started off a little slow but we picked it up a little. We played a little sloppy at times," said Christian Frisoli, of the Red Devils. "But overall, we did a great job. We played late last night, so I think we were all a little tired, but we played pretty well."

The Red Devils (17-3) were led by several of their players, four of which reached double figures. Christian Frisoli netted eighteen points, while Tom Gambino came out with fifteen and Nick Cefalo had thirteen. Conor Skea and Andrew Madlinger added eleven and eight, respectively. 

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Mark Taylor, head coach for Ridge HS, credits his team's 'well-roundedness;'

"Tom Gambino played great again, he played very, very well. Christian did real well too. That's how we are, anybody can score! Which is great. We have great balance, which is important," he said.

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Tyree Hare led the Warriors (8-12) with thirteen points, while Ronald Downes scored ten, and Lawrence Caldwell chipped in nine.

"We started very slow, I thought we were a little flat, I thought we might be after last night. We played last night and I think the guys came out a little bit flat. Once we settled down, it was okay. So, first quarter we didn't really get goin'," said Taylor.

The game began with Franklin scoring fifteen points to Ridge's eleven in the first  quarter. However, it was in the second period that the Red Devils erased their deficit and turned things around.

At 6:36 (on the clock) a Nick Cefalo free throw opened up the scoring for Ridge. Once they started firing points, the Red Devils did not stop. Within a minute, Ridge brought the game to a tie, 18-18.

Charging foward with the 25-6 run, the Ridge boys had the game in the bag by halftime, commanding a 15 point advantage, 36-21. 

Mastering the art of passing and assisting each other to the net proves very well for the Ridge boys' basketball team. Scoring eighteen points in three and a half minutes reflects well-balanced players and good teamwork. 

"I turned the press up in the second quarter, and started really pressing them and we went on a 25-6 run, I think." added Taylor. "That changed the whole game, and basically, the game was about over at half time."

With a minute remaining in the first half, Conor Skea snatched a defensive rebound, and passed the ball off to Frisoli. Frisoli quickly sent it back, resulting in a Skea field goal. Fifteen seconds later, Frisoli dropped another two points for the Red Devils. In last the sixteen seconds, two Frisoli layups, both off assists from Cefalo, extended Ridge's lead even more, while finishing out the second quarter. 

"We wanted to change the tempo of the game because they were really slowing the ball down, which was shocking to me. I really thought it was going to be the other way," added Taylor. "So we decided to turn the tempo up and started trapping them and really putting pressure on them. It forced them to make decisions."

The Red Devils continued to dominate while still holding off Franklin at just eight points in the third quarter. At the sound of the buzzer signaling the end of the third period,  Frisoli dumped in two more points, giving Ridge a twenty-one point lead, 50-29. 

"Our press was working a lot today. It was a 14-press in our fourth court zone. We kept our intensity up, which really helped a lot," added Frisoli. 

The last eight minutes of the game, Franklin turned up the heat, pouring in ninteen points, but by then, it was already too late. Skea and Gambino were the first to answer to Franklin's scoring surge, which helped Ridge hold onto the lead. 

At 4:20 left in the second half, the Warriors landed a field goal, however, it took Madlinger just ten seconds to respond with a three-pointer of his own.

"We have five guys that can handle the ball, and that makes it harder for them [Franklin] to press us. I think we make better decisions, so they turned over the ball a lot, which we forced them into," said Taylor.

In the remaining two minutes, Gambino and Frisoli added six more points, with Cefalo putting in the final two right before the buzzer, settling the game at 67-48.

"They [Franklin] played the same way the whole time, they played hard, they're a scrappy team. There's definitely some talent," Frisoli noted. "But we matched their intensity for the most part. Once you match the intensity and go higher, it's done."

 

 

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