Union Catholic Boys Basketball Team Fights Hard, But Comes Up Short in States

As satisfying as it was for the Union Catholic High boys basketball team to get on a bus, travel to Morristown and then get back on that bus after defeating Morris County Tournament finalist Delbarton in its first state tournament game, it was as deflating for the Vikings to get back on the bus and head back to Scotch Plains after falling to one of the best teams in the state.

In a Non-Public, North A quarterfinal matchup Friday night in Paramus, 12th-seeded Union Catholic was no match for fourth-seeded Paramus Catholic as the host Paladins rolled to a dominating 73-31 triumph.

After Union Catholic junior forward Jamaad Nash made his only basket of the game to pull the visiting Vikings to within 7-5, Paramus Catholic closed the first quarter on an 11-0 run, sparked by the play of senior swingman Andre Blackwood and 6-8 senior center Justin Harris.

Blackwood scored nine of his game-high 23 points in the first quarter, while Harris hauled in four of his 11 rebounds in the period and scored seven of his 11 points.

Paramus Catholic continued to pour it on in the second quarter, with Eddie Johnson making a 3-point basket right before the first half buzzer to give his team a 33-11 advantage at intermission.

Union Catholic 6-11 junior center Mike Marciano – who battled Harris at the onset - picked up his second foul with 2:06 left in the first quarter and did not return to action until the third quarter began.

The second half – for all intent and purposes – was academic, with both teams emptying their benches.

Senior shooting guard Dave Herren paced Union Catholic with 10 points, including two 3-pointers.

The Vikings posted a winning season of 13-11 and were among the best teams in the Mountain Division of the Union County Conference.

Herren was part of a senior class that included fellow shooting guards Zach Dlabik and Chaz Carter, in addition to Ebentz Hyppolite and Marco Panlilio.

"Yeah, we're going to miss them for sure," Union Catholic eighth-year head coach James Reagan Jr. said. "They played really well in the Delbarton game. We went over there and upset them. This is a tough ending tonight, but they had a real nice season for us."

Nash, Marciano and shooting guard Brian Flores are all juniors and will be back as returning senior starters next year. They will be gunning for a better season than 13-11.

"We're really excited about next year," Reagan said. "I think in the second half of the year we started winning close games. We lost six games this year by three points or less. In the second half we were able to come around and win some of those close games and won five in a row there before we lost to Roselle Catholic (in the Union County Tournament). We just have to do a better job of scoring in big games. That's what killed us in the fourth quarter against RC and, obviously, here tonight."

The Delbarton first round victory on Wednesday – by the score of 67-64 - was a case of Union Catholic playing well enough to come out on top in a close game. The Vikings outscored the fifth-seeded Green Wave 19-17 in the third quarter and then 18-14 in the fourth after trailing 33-30 to a 19-6 team that was playing at home.

Flores paced all scorers with 24 points, while Nash added 17, Marciano nine, Dlabik eight and Herren seven.

Paramus Catholic, which also dominated 13th-seeded Pingry 58-33 in its first round game Wednesday, improved to 22-3. The Paladins captured the Bergen Jamboree for only the second time this year and for the first time since 1976 when it was awarded to them.

Paramus Catholic will next play at top-seeded Seton Hall Prep of West Orange Monday in a semifinal. The other semifinal pits 10th-seeded Don Bosco Prep of Ramsey at third-seeded St. Peter's Prep of Jersey City.

The championship game is scheduled for Wednesday night at 6 at Rutgers.

NOTES: Reagan is also the varsity baseball coach. That spring port will hold its first official day of practice on Friday.

Reagan had the baseball team practicing on the school's brand new field turf baseball field Friday before getting the basketball team prepared for Friday night's state tournament basketball game.

"It was a great day, a great day," Reagan said. "We had that first (baseball) practice right after school from 2:30 to 6 p.m. and then we (the basketball team) got on the bus to come here. We (the baseball team) were outside, it worked out great. There was just a little snow, but we worked around it."

Union Catholic's first scrimmage is scheduled for March 16 at home against Bernards at 4 p.m.

Other home scrimmages are scheduled against Linden March 18 at 4, vs. Rahway March 20 at noon, against St. Mary's of Jersey City March 21 at 11 a.m., vs. Millburn March 27 at 9 a.m. and against Westfield March 30 at 4.

The Vikings are scheduled to open at Roselle April 1 at 4 p.m. and will then have their home-opener April 3 at 1 p.m. vs. non-conference foe Mendham.

Festivities are planned for the first home-opener on the brand new field turf surface baseball field.

NON-PUBLIC, NORTH A QUARTERFINAL

AT PARAMUS CATHOLIC

12-UNION CATHOLIC (13-11)                  5       6       8      12 - 31

4-PARAMUS CATHOLIC (22-3)              18     15     17     23 - 73 

UNION CATHOLIC (31): Anthony Calenda 1-0-0-2, Chaz Carter 1-0-0-2, Brian Flores 1-0-2-4, Dave Herren 1-2-2-10, Ebentz Hyppolite 1-0-0-2, Zach Dlabik 0-0-1-1, Drew Hines 0-1-0-3, Mike Marciano 1-0-0-2, Marco Panlilio 1-0-1-3, Jamaad Nash 1-0-0-2, Brandon Vargo 0-0-0-0. Totals: 8-3-6-31.

Starters: Nash, Flores, Dlabik, Marciano, Herren.

PARAMUS CATHOLIC (73): Andre Blackwood 6-2-5-23, Aiden Collins 0-0-2-2, Anthony Calenda 1-0-0-2, Clinton Chisholm 1-0-0-2, Roy Flores 0-0-0-0, Vaughn Dudley 2-0-3-7, Manny Hernandez 1-1-2-7, Justin Harris 4-0-3-11, Eddie Johnson 0-1-1-4, John Jaramillo 0-0-0-0, Vincent Viola 1-0-0-2, Brandon Perez 0-0-0-0, Jordan Wade 0-0-0-0, Drew Thomas 2-0-0-4, Albert Pizon 0-1-2-5. Totals: 20-5-18-73.

Starters: Harris, Johnson, Blackwood, Perez, Berry Badio.

NON-PUBLIC, NORTH A PLAYOFFS

SEEDS: 1-Seton Hall Prep. 2-St. Joe's, Montvale. 3-St. Peter's Prep.

4-Paramus Catholic. 5-Delbarton. 6-DePaul. 7-Roselle Catholic.

8-Immaculata. 9-Bergen Catholic. 10-Don Bosco Prep. 11-Hudson Catholic.

12-Union Catholic. 13-Pingry. 14-Pope John. 15-Morris Catholic.

FIRST ROUND:

Wednesday, March 3

Seton Hall Prep received a bye.

Bergen Catholic 56, Immaculata 51

Union Catholic 67, Delbarton 64

Paramus Catholic 58, Pingry 33

St. Peter's Prep 98, Pope John 50

DePaul 53, Hudson Catholic 36

Don Bosco Prep 65, Roselle Catholic 57

St. Joe's, Montvale 73, Morris Catholic 46

QUARTERFINALS:

Friday, March 5

Paramus Catholic 73, Union Catholic 31

Seton Hall Prep 65, Bergen Catholic 56

St. Peter's Prep 79, DePaul 58

Don Bosco Prep 83, St. Joe's, Montvale 67

SEMIFINALS:

Monday, March 8

4-Paramus Catholic at 1-Seton Hall Prep

10-Don Bosco Prep at 3-St. Peter's Prep

FINAL:

Thursday, March 11

At Rutgers, 6 p.m.