NO. 16 ST. JOSEPH (MONT.) DEFENSE DIGS IN, UPSETS NO. 6 DON BOSCO PREP

The situation was virtually identical. Tie game. Seconds left. Don Bosco Prep with the ball, with St. Joseph (Mont.) needing a defensive stop. Unlike the two Bergen County rivals' first regular season meeting on Jan. 8, when a buzzer-beating layup from the Ironmen did the Green Knights in, Tuesday night was a much different story. Locked in a 38-all tie, this time No. 16 St. Joseph forced a missed three-pointer as the buzzer sounded in regulation and executed to near-perfection from the free throw line in overtime -- hitting 11-of-12 attempts -- to defeat No. 6 Don Bosco Prep, 53-45, in Montvale. It marked the Ironmen's second straight loss after falling to West Side on Saturday. "We're a much different and better team than we were a month ago," St. Joseph coach Mike Doherty said. "And our kids showed that tonight. We made some mistakes, but we were mentally tougher than last time and the kids got some stops when we needed them and hit our free throws when we needed to. "Whenever you look back at a real solid win, you can always point to free throws, you can point to how many turnovers you had and forced, things like that. If you hit your free throws, you're going to have a good chance to win." Don Bosco Prep never led in regulation, trailing by as many as 12, but used a 16-5 run in the third quarter to pull within 1. Don Bosco Prep's Isaiah Williams pulled the Ironmen even with St. Joseph after hitting a pair of free throws with 1:45 left. After a series of turnovers in the final 90 seconds of regulation, St. Joseph's Smith Vilbert contested Kyle Maurer's potential game-winner from beyond the arc as time expired in the fourth. "Smith has really been a tremendous presence the entire season," Doherty said of Vilbert, who knows a thing or two about defense -- with the Penn State-bound defensive lineman becoming a force on the Green Knights' championship football team last fall. "His athleticism, his timing on some of his blocks... I don't even know how he gets to some of them. The kids work hard on defense and that's what I'm most proud of tonight. They pride themselves on their defense." After Don Bosco Prep's Myles Ruth gave the Ironmen its only lead of the night with an early bucket in overtime, St. Joseph went on a 15-5 run to close out the victory. The Green Knight drained 11-of-12 free throw attempts from Nazir Williams (4-for-4), Vilbert (3-for-4), Dyree Rogers (2-for-2) and Charles Manon (2-for-2). "That's just what we do," said Williams, who finished with a team-high 13 points. "We knew we couldn't lose this one after the heartbreak from last time. We just had to close it out this time and that's what we did. "It boosts our confidence a lot, especially going into the Jamboree with them being on the same side of the bracket as us. We know we're probably going to see them again. And if we do, we're going to go to battle with them again. Our mindset won't change. We know they have a great program, we know how hard we have to work to win. But that's what we've got to do." It was a balanced scoring output from the Green Knights, with five players scoring between 7-13 points. Williams led the way with 13, while Dyree Rogers and Ansley Almonor each finished with 9, Chris Manon supplied 8 and Vilbert scored 7. Defensively, St. Joseph limited Don Bosco Prep to just five points in the first quarter and just four field goals in the first half. Smith and Manon's presence down low made things tough for the Ironmen's pair of big men, Victor Konopka (12 points) and Owen McGlashan (4 points). No team this season has defended Don Bosco Prep like St. Joseph has. The Ironmen's 45 points set a new season-low, one point fewer than what St. Joseph held them to in a 46-44 loss back on Jan. 8. Only one other opponent (Paterson Kennedy) has held Don Bosco, which was averaging 62.3 ppg entering Tuesday, under 50 points -- and St. Joseph has now done it twice. "It turned into a half-court game and it was a physical chess match," Doherty said. "There were a lot of things going on in half-court sets. Obviously we would have liked to have held on to our 12-point lead a bit better, but with a team like Bosco, we know they can make a run. I'm pleased our kids bent, but didn't break."

NO. 16 ST. JOSEPH (MONT.) DEFENSE DIGS IN, UPSETS NO. 6 DON BOSCO PREP

Photo Credit: Don Bosco Prep Athletics