NorthJersey.com

WALDWICK – Antonio Miccinilli of Waldwick made his first shot, a quick-release 3-pointer from the top of the key.

Teammate Connor Kasperowicz followed by making his first shot, a 3-pointer from the left corner.

Andrew Del Rey then made his first shot, a, you guessed it, another 3-pointer.

“I knew from the first shot that I made today that it was going to be a good game,” Miccinilli said.

Miccinilli and the Warriors shot their way to their first sectional title since 2013 with a 66-61 victory over Pequannock in the North 1, Group 1 final March 7.

Miccinilli, the 6-foot-4 junior left-hander, was otherworldly, hitting 10 3-pointers and scoring 36 points to help Waldwick (21-9)  fend off Pequannock to secure its fifth sectional title in program history.

Del Rey, a senior guard, scored 14 to raise his career total to 2,142 career points. Kasperowicz, a 6-4 senior forward, played a stellar all-around game and scored nine, featuring two win-clinching free throws with 7.3 seconds left for the final margin.

“We said since Day 1 the section was our goal,” said Greg McBain, Waldwick’s first-year coach and an alum who as a senior reached the state final. “There were times of the year when I knew we could do it. We had some ups and downs, but we got hot at the right time.”

Waldwick, the third seed, needed every last point to stave off a comeback by No. 4 Pequannock (22-7). Panthers senior Jack Picardo scored 13 of his 25 in the fourth, including two free throws with 57 seconds left to cut the deficit to 62-59. Senior Braydon VanLenten scored 17 and senior Sef Bajraktarevic scored 10, including a putback with nine seconds left to trim the deficit to 64-61.

Miccinilli repeatedly thwarted Pequannock’s comeback hopes with a key basket, hitting several 3-pointers from well beyond the NBA line.

He hit a 3-pointer from the right wing in the second quarter to give Waldwick its biggest lead, 37-16. He hit back-to-back 25-footers from the left wing in the third for a 48-37 lead. He stroked a trey from the left corner, off an inbounds play, in the fourth for a 54-44 advantage.

“Antonio in the state tournament has played like a grown man,” said McBain, whose Warriors face Newark Shabazz in a Group 1 state semifinal March 11 at Franklin. “He took over our games offensively, defensively on rebounds. He’s the reason we won this. He really stepped up when it mattered most, and I couldn’t be more proud of that kid.”

“We’ve been working on this since June,” Miccinilli said. “We knew it was going to happen. We proved everybody wrong. We believed in ourselves, we stayed strong, and we never gave up.”