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Sports

RHS Boys Basketball Has High Hopes for 2011-2012

Most of the top contributors will be back for a team that when healthy was tough to stop.

It was a down Ridgewood boys basketball team after the holiday season break.

Not only were the Maroons without their top scorer in Evan Bartlik, but they were also without Garrett Clark, a promising athlete lost for the season with a stress fracture.

Bartlik had missed almost the first half of the season when he broke his arm in the first preseason scrimmage and without Bartlik and Clark in uniform, Ridgewood boys team slugged out the gate with a 2-6 record. "It was a tough start to the season," said Ridgewood head coach Mike Troy.

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But it may have been a tale of two seasons–with Bartlik back in the lineup Ridgewood finished with a 13-7 mark and won seven of the last nine games. "I was definitely happy with how we ended the season," said Troy.

The Maroons finished 15-13, third in the Big North Freedom division, behind only Teaneck and Hackensack.

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Although Bartlik's return certainly sparked the renewal, the Ridgewood head coach believes the team also gelled as the season moved on. "I really think that everybody grew as a team," said Troy.

That's good news for Troy, who will have almost all the major contributors back for 2011-2012. The lone senior with extensive minutes that will graduate is Albin Hoh.

The Maroons won its first state playoff game under Troy while also making the first Bergen Invitational Tournament final before losing to Northern Highlands.

In the state playoffs Ridgewood won a 56-55 thriller over Memorial in Hudson County. It was one of the biggest upsets in the state playoffs–the Maroons were the 13-seed in Group 4 North 1 pitted against the third-seeded Memorial. Anthony Balboa was the hero, in hitting a critical free throw to ice the victory.

While it was the first state playoff win under the Ridgewood head coach, Troy told of a litany of close game losses in the first round of the state tournament over the years, particularly a series of four-point losses.

But with high accolades for a healthy offensive dynamo in Bartlik and a strong supporting cast, Troy thinks 2011-2012 will be a coming out party of sorts.

Bartlik was named to the first team All Big North honors and third team All Bergen County. Bartlik averaged 16 points per game and 22 points in his last dozen contest along with five rebounds per game.

"I think if he played the whole season he would have been higher," said Troy about Bartlik in the county voting. "He is great going to the basket, fast and elusive," said Troy. "He has a good jump shot to go with it."

Also on the first team was junior Alex Cohen, who collected 12 points per game and nine rebounds per contest. "I would say he was our inside-out guy and post-up man," said Troy, who added that Cohen can also hit three-point shots. "He's able to read the mismatches," which gives other teams fits, he said.

The lone member of the Ridgewood squad on the second team All Big North was senior Hoh, who averaged 10 points per game. "I have never seen a player play as hard as he did for 32 minutes," said Troy. "Although he's going to be gone, he left a piece of himself with everybody."

The other honoree for the 10-11 Maroons was junior Stefan Sengun who garnered All Big North honorable mention honors in a disappointing season. Troy said that Sengun averaged five assists per game, but was beset by injuries during the season. "He played hurt pretty much all year," said Troy. "He's a tough kid and he was a one-man press break."

While Troy selected the Memorial game as one of the team's best played games, he points to three losses, two to Don Bosco and one to Teaneck, all close games, as some of the Ridgewood‘s best played contests. Bosco is a county powerhouse and Teaneck won the Bergen County title. "I think those games really helped us against Memorial," said Troy.

For 2011-12, Troy and his Maroons are not going to settle for one state playoff win. With offensive firepower and a surging team returning with clean medicals, Ridgewood is expected to make waves in 2011-2012.

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