By Andy Loigu

Hackettstown, North Warren and Warren Hills have reached the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex semifinals in impressive fashion on the basketball courts, while Hackettstown and Warren Hills were valiant and came oh-so-close in the sectional wrestling playoffs, where both squads settled for second place after winning in the opening rounds.

The Hackettstown boys basketball team (18-2) was simply stunning on Saturday, in the way they dispatched what had been a hot Delaware Valley team, 59-27. As the score would indicate, the Tigers’ tenacious and relentless pressing defense was the story of the game.

The Tigers went on a 20-0 run to blow the game open, seizing a 31-5 lead. Junior Shawn Morgan ignited the offense with three consecutive bonus bombs from beyond the three-point arc. He finished with a game-high 16 points. They will now play host to Phillipsburg in the semifinal on Saturday, Feb. 22.

North Warren and Warren Hills took no prisoners in advancing to the semifinals in the girls brackets. The Patriots stormed to a 25-2 lead on their home court in Blairstown, in routing visiting Phillipsburg by a 54-36 final score. Meanwhile, Warren Hills was also devastating in eliminating Newton 53-30.

“Our defense makes our offense,” said longtime North Warren head coach Jill Masker. “We always set out to have a good start and today was one of our best of the season, and it sure came at a good time.”

Offensively, Quincey McGuinness led the way with a 21-point production. Now, the Patriots have another chance to knock off a school with a huge enrollment, Hunterdon Central, as the Red Devils will be welcomed to North Warren, a spider’s invitation to a fly. I can just see Norman Dale, in Hoosiers, the ultimate story of a small school triumph, reminding his team, “don’t get caught up in the fancy uniforms, the size of the school. Just remember what got you here, the fundamentals, and defense.”

By the way, is there a more inspiring piece of music anywhere, than that Hoosiers theme? 

Warren Hills has a challenging semifinal coming up. The defending champion Blue Streaks will travel up Route 15 to Sparta for a battle which is scheduled to tip off at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. It is an epic classic just waiting to happen.

Wrestling Round Up

In the North Section 2 Group 2 wrestling playoffs, Hackettstown reached the finals and had a lead before Caldwell, the home team, rallied for a 29-26 win for the title. The Tigers reached the final with a 47-20 win over visiting Governor Livingston “in the jungle” and an impressive 49-13 victory at Elmwood Park.

Warren Hills was in a positive frame of mind after winning the Skyland Conference Valley Division title, the Blue Streaks’ first outright regular season league crown since 1990. They knocked off Delaware Valley 49-16, to clinch it. That same Del Val team went on to win a sectional title last week.

In the North 2 Group 3 playoffs against a loaded field, host Warren Hills looked strong in easily defeating Garfield (42-24) and Mendham (37-24) in the opening rounds. However, the second seeded Streaks then had to journey to top seeded West Essex and lost a cliffhanger 34-31 in the final.

Now the wrestlers move on to the road to Atlantic City, as individual state medals will be awarded to grapplers who navigate the ambushes, bushwhacks, and mine fields which await in the district and regional tournaments. The Tigers and Blue Streaks have several worthy contenders:

Freshman Shawn Redfield of Warren Hills is 19-13 at 106 pounds and sophomore Austin Zellars of Hackettstown is 18-7.

Senior Greg Slivka of Warren Hills is 24-7 at 113.

Sophomore Jared Lee of Warren Hills is 21-9 at 120.

Hackettstown freshman Joe Bencivengo is 16-8 at 126.

Warren Hills senior Logan Nauta is 24-6 at 132.

Senior Christian Bremner of Hackettstown is 18-10 at 138. “Christian has steadily improved each year,” said veteran Tigers’ coach Frank Rodgers. “He worked incredibly hard in the offseason and the results have been spectacular. He consistently gives us bonus points and wins the close ones with his mental toughness.”

Warren Hills also has a dynamic 138 pound competitor in senior Geir Nemeth, who is 22-10.

At 152 pounds, Warren Hills sophomore Steve Malia (26-6) has been a revelation.

Zeb Burke, a 20-5 Hackettstown senior who also starred in football, is a contender at 160. Sophomore Owen Frizzell (23-7) has been a Blue Streaks’ sensation in the weight class.

Dynamic and exciting are applicable terms to describe the performance of Hackettstown’s Alejandro Castro, who is 23-7 at 170 pounds. Warren Hills senior Nick Hildebrant needed some rehab work to come back from an early-season injury but has put together a 17-8 season thus far and is hitting his stride going into the post season, as he has regained his staying power, which has pulled him through some tough struggles.

Hackettstown junior Tyler Yanoff is 13-9 at 182 and the Tigers also are strong at 190, with 21-5 junior Matt Bremner.

At 220 pounds, Warren Hills’ sparkling sophomore Tyler McCatharn (27-3) picks up things quickly, making him a tough man to beat. “He is the type of wrestler who can see something in one match, make the adjustment, and use it in the next match,” said Warren Hills coach David Sbriscia, a state qualifier in his Blue Streaks’ wrestler days. “He has a quality that you rarely find in the athletes you coach.”

.…Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building.