Ridge Matches Up, Defeats Bayonne 56-42

Ask a basketball coach at any level about the hardest defense for their team to practice for and it's not a long shot to think any variation of the zone defense is at or near the top of the list.

In Thursday's night North 2, Group 4 Sectional Quarterfinals, Ridge used the 2-3 matchup zone to frustrate, antagonize and befuddle the Bayonne Bees in its 56-42 home court victory.      

"We spent nearly an hour in practice (Wednesday) going over the matchup zone," said Red Devils coach Mark Taylor. "It didn't go well the first 55 minutes but then we got it down."  

The Red Devils (23-5) move on to face a familiar nemesis, Plainfield, on the road in Saturday's sectional semifinals. No. 1 seed Plainfield has eliminated Ridge the past two years in the playoffs. The Cardinals won 52-49 on Ridge's home court last season.

"It's going to be fun," said Taylor. "The matchup should be for the finals and not semifinals but it is what it is.

"We're going there knowing they have a great team but our mindset is to win the game."

The Bees offense relies upon transition opportunities to get the majority of their points. The Bees came into the game averaging 66 points a game but its offense never got on track against Ridge. Despite Taylor's preference to use the zone in the third quarter, he employed it in the second quarter after Bayonne jumped out quickly and led 14-9 entering the second quarter.

With Ridge's zone conjuring up images of Syracuse's Jim Boeheim's fabled zone at the college level, the Bees scored a combined 12 points the next two quarters and collected just five buckets. Ridge led 32-26 entering the fourth quarter.

"We did a good job playing the matchup zone, kind of like Syracuse does," said senior Christian Frisoli, who scored 17 points, which was second on the team behind Andrew Madlinger's 19 points. "We frustrated them and they forced up bad shots."

In the game's final quarter, as per usual with Ridge, the opposition didn't succumb and roll over. With aggression, the Bees sliced the Ridge lead to three with six minutes remaining, but with one peculiar bounce of the ball, the Red Devils were saved.

After Ridge senior point guard Nick Cefalo's free throws pushed the lead to five, the Red Devils got the ball back after a stop on the other end. During the possession, Cefalo, who's normally steady with the ball, lost control of the ball while pushing it on the left wing. A scrambled ensued, but Cefalo's strength allowed him to trickle the ball to junior center Tom Gambino, who then swung it to fellow junior Conor Skea. The cool-handed swingman calmly drained a 3-pointer to up the lead to eight.

Lost in Cefalo's mad dash for the ball was the fact Taylor and the bench was pleading to the referees for the timeout. Luckily for Ridge, the refs didn't call timeout.

"I had an idea a timeout call may have been attempted by our team," said Skea, who nine of his 10 points in the fourth quarter. "I knew once I released the shot, it was good."

Coach Taylor pointed out the team prepares for plays like that.

"We practice plays like that where the ball would roll between the legs to Tom," said Taylor. "We preach our players to go to the wing on quick rotations and Tom made the pass and Conor made a huge shot."

Skea's shot was the dagger that took Bayonne out.

Now, Ridge hopes history repeats itself against Plainfield like it did last Saturday when they won the Somerset County title after failing the two previous times.

They know what they are up against: one of the state's best public school teams and one of the state's best players in Tyrone Johnson.

"It's the third time we're facing them and [Tyrone] is a great player," said Frisoli. "But we won the county title on our third attempt. Maybe third time's the charm again."