Record Sports final Boys Basketball Rankings and season wrap up
Top 25 rankings
25. Cresskill (11-4)
24. Lodi (11-4)
23. Clifton (7-5)
22. Pascack Valley (8-6)
21. Glen Rock (13-2)
20. Dumont (7-1)
19. Dwight Morrow (5-5)
18. DePaul (7-8)
17. Wayne Hills (11-4)
16. Ridgefield Park (11-4)
15. Ramsey (10-5)
14. Passaic Valley (12-3)
13. Dwight-Englewood (9-0)
12. St. Joseph (3-2)
11. Ramapo (11-4)
10. Saddle River Day (13-2)
9. Hackensack (10-5)
8. Ridgewood (10-2)
7. Wayne Valley (10-2)
6. Eastside (9-3)
5. Kennedy (7-1)
4. Paterson Charter (11-0)
3. Pascack Hills (14-0)
2. Don Bosco (8-7)
1. Bergen Catholic (7-2)
Also considered: Bergenfield (8-7), NV/Demarest (5-3), Lakeland (9-6), Mahwah (9-6), Rutherford (10-3), St. Mary (11-4), Secaucus (8-2), Teaneck (6-8), Tenafly (5-4).
15 games in 30 days
►St. Mary became the last of more than two dozen boys basketball teams from North Jersey to reach the state-sanctioned maximum of 15 games.
The Gaels defeated next-door neighbor Rutherford, 59-52, on Saturday night and a roster of nine seniors closed with a three-game winning streak and an 11-4 record.
Remarkably, St. Mary played 15 games in 30 days, because the program started the six-week season under quarantine and did not open until Feb. 5. To reach 15 games, the Gaels replaced a canceled game with a same-day visit from Don Bosco and lost by 32 points.
“You needed the administration at your school, along with the athletic director, to know going in what the plan was, and our plan was always to get to 15,” coach Brian Gaccione said.
“You had to be willing to play anybody, and you had to be willing to adjust.”
Here are the teams from the Big North and NJIC that reached 15 games in a pandemic-shortened 40-day season, based on scores reported to NorthJersey.com, as well as additional research:
Big North: Bergenfield (8-7), Bergen Tech (3-12), DePaul (7-8), Don Bosco (8-7), Fort Lee (4-11), Hackensack (10-5), Indian Hills (0-15), Lakeland (9-6), Mahwah (9-6), Ramsey (10-5), Ridgefield Park (11-4), River Dell (6-9), Passaic Valley (12-3), Wayne Hills (11-4), Westwood (7-8).
NJIC: Cresskill (11-4), Elmwood Park (8-7), Glen Rock (13-2), Harrison (5-10), Lodi (11-4), Lyndhurst (6-9), Palisades Park (0-15), Saddle River Day (13-2), St. Mary (11-4), Weehawken (6-9), Wood-Ridge (5-10).
1,000 career points
►Secaucus senior guard Jamling Lama became the program’s all-time scorer the final week of the season.
Lama finished with exactly 1,300 points to surpass the previous record of 1,263 set by Ken Mack more than 30 years ago. Lama set the record by scoring 35 in Wednesday’s 61-33 road win over Harrison.
“He basically kept us together the entire season,” said coach Tom Curry Jr., whose Patriots were down to as few as eight players. Curry added, “He was basically an ironman for us.”
►Park Ridge senior Jordan Spagnola surpassed 1,000 points during Friday’s 71-50 loss to Saddle River Day, then scored 22 in Saturday’s 57-54 loss to Midland Park to finish with 1,029.
►Saddle River Day senior Sebastian Giannotti scored 30 in Saturday’s 69-45 victory over Dwight Morrow to raise his total to 1,027.
►Bogota senior Ashanti Caviness surpassed 1,000 in last Monday’s 60-36 victory over Leonia, and his 19 in Thursday’s 83-69 win over Ridgefield gave him 1,025.
►Paterson Charter junior Asim Jones scored his 1,000 point on a layup in the third quarter of Saturday’s 89-43 win over Manchester and headed to the bench after scoring 34.
Finishing strong
►Garfield (8-6) clinched a winning season with Saturday’s 72-64 win over Emerson. Senior Zack Cook closed with 28 points and 10 rebounds and this season averaged 15 points and nine boards. Junior Christian Molina, in his first varsity season, averaged 13 points.
Final boys basketball standings
NORTH JERSEY INTERSCHOLASTIC CONFERENCE
(Division record, overall record)
Division 1
Glen Rock 9-0, 13-2
Pompton Lakes 8-2, 9-5
Hawthorne 6-4, 7-4
Eastern Christian 3-6, 4-8
Butler 2-8, 2-9
Hawthorne Christian 1-9, 2-11
Division 2
Saddle River Day 8-0, 13-2
Cresskill 7-2, 11-4
Midland Park 3-3, 3-4
Emerson 3-6, 6-7
Park Ridge 2-7, 4-9
Waldwick 2-7, 4-10
Division 3
Dwight-Englewood 8-0, 9-0
Bogota 6-2, 8-5
Leonia 6-4, 7-5
Ridgefield 3-3, 5-4
New Milford 2-7, 3-10
Palisades Park 0-9, 0-15
Division 4
Rutherford 9-1, 10-3
Secaucus 8-1, 8-2
Weehawken 5-5, 6-9
Harrison 4-6, 5-10
Lyndhurst 3-7, 6-9
North Arlington 0-9, 2-10
Division 5
St. Mary 9-0, 11-4
Hasbrouck Heights 5-2, 9-2
Becton 4-3, 5-3
Wood-Ridge 4-4, 5-10
Wallington 2-7, 5-8
Bergen Charter 0-8, 0-9
Division 6
Paterson Charter 6-0, 11-0
Lodi 7-2, 11-4
Garfield 6-4, 8-6
Elmwood Park 4-5, 8-7
Manchester 1-7, 1-10
Saddle Brook 0-6, 1-9
Greg Mattura is a high school sports reporter for NorthJersey.com. For full access to live scores, breaking news and analysis from our Varsity Aces team, subscribe today. To get breaking news directly to your phone, sign up for our newsletter and download our app.
Email: mattura@northjersey.com Twitter: @gregmattura
