No. 6 Morristown-Beard falls in Non-Public North B

MORRISTOWN – The Morristown-Beard boys basketball team battled, but ultimately fell in the first round of the NJSIAA Non-Public B North at the buzzer.

With 1.8 seconds to play, 11th-seeded Queen of Peace (14-12) inbounded the ball to Jeremy Joseph who sank his shot to knock the sixth-seeded Crimson (17-9) out of the state tournament with a 48-46 victory on Wednesday.

“I knew if we played well we could beat them and we didn’t play well,” Morristown-Beard coach Ed Franz said. “Give them credit, they changed up some defenses, my point guard rolled his ankle two days ago so no point guard, so now I’m playing with a bunch of guys who aren’t point guards. We had guys out of position, I didn’t think we played particularly hard for a state tournament game. We missed point blank shots that we don’t usually miss, but I think a lot of it was guys were uncomfortable in the position they were in, and it’s what happens.”

Morristown-Beard led 37-35 to start the fourth quarter, but the Griffins tied it up on a shot by Raphael Castillo with 7:08 left. The Crimson then went on a 5-0 run to take a 42-37 lead with 5:12 to play, but a basket and two free throws got Queen of Peace to within 42-41 with 3:28 left.

“We’re the six seed, they’re the 11, it should not be keeping it close, it should be winning the game and we had a five point lead and we had a couple of effort plays,” Franz said. “Pat Davis got his hands on the ball and a block and four guys stood there and watched as the kid gets the ball and he puts it back and he gets fouled. So now you think you got a stop and go up seven and really seperate and take them out of all their gamesmanship, and you don’t.”

Fifteen seconds later Zach Dees went to the line and sank both his shots to give the Crimson some breathing room at 44-41, but it was short lived. Joseph scored less than a minute later to get the Griffins back within one, 44-43, but a basket from Dees pulled Morristown-Beard ahead 46-43 with 1:46 to play.

Joe Cook sank a 3-pointer with 1:22 to go to tie the game for Queen of Peace 46-46 and the Crimson struggled to get anything going offensively, which set the stage for the Griffins to sink the game-winner.

“That one punch of missing a key player and understanding that if you miss a key guy, at least play as absolutely as hard as you can and I don’t think we did that,” Franz said. “We gave them space to make plays in the first half, I haven’t gone to a zone more than once or twice all year and I had to do that, and I stayed in it one possession too long but I had a guy that decided that he wasn’t going to go out on a shooter and he hit a three to tie the game. What are you going to do.”

The Crimson led 15-8 after the first quarter, but Queen of Peace outscored them 16-9 in the second and the game went to halftime tied 24-24.

Queen of Peace led 29-26 with 6:13 left in the third, but a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Brian Monaghan tied the game 29-29 with 5:58 left. Two free throws from Joseph again put the Griffins ahead, 31-29, but a basket from junior forward Pat Davis tied the game up 31-31 with 4:15 to play.

Castillo scored to give the Griffins a 33-31 advantage 16 seconds later, but Morristown-Beard wouldn’t go away and closed out the third quarter on a 6-2 run to take a 37-35 lead at the end of three.

For Morristown-Beard, Monaghan led with 15 points. Dees and senior Matt McFadden each finished with eight points. Joseph scored a game-high 19 points to lead the Griffins, while Castillo scored 15 points.

Staff Writer Lauren Knego: 973-428-6674; lknego@gannett.com