Caldwell boys basketball moves past Ramsey to book first state final appearance
ELIZABETH − Caldwell came out hot, making a couple 3-pointers from NBA range, and Ramsey came out cold.
Caldwell carried an early double-digit lead to a 47-38 victory in Thursday night's NJSIAA Group 2 boys basketball semifinal and its first trip to a state final.
Senior Rocco Checchetto led a balanced Caldwell attack with 14 points, including a pair of first-quarter 3-pointers, at the Dunn Center.
Senior Ryan Lawrence worked inside for 13 points for Caldwell (24-5). Senior Ray Zamloot scored 10 and senior Lorenzo Sozio scored eight, including a trey that started a game-changing 13-0 run in the first quarter.
“We’re known to get off to hot starts and we did that today,” Checchetto said after the Chiefs stretched their winning streak to six games. “We love to come out and set the tone offensively and defensively.”
Seniors Michael Stone and Noah Eide scored 11 apiece for Ramsey (24-5). They combined for five of their six 3-pointers in the second half for a program that last year also reached this semifinal before losing.
Ramsey, trailing 22-11 at halftime, came as close as 25-21 on a 3-pointer by Stone, but Caldwell answered with a 10-4 run capped by a a trey by Zamloot. Both teams made six 3-pointers.
What it means
Caldwell is headed to the Group 2 final, scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at Rutgers, and will face Manasquan. This is a season of breaking new ground for the Chiefs, whose North 2, Group 2 title on Tuesday was the program’s first sectional crown.
“Both teams were coming off sectional championships,” coach Mike Fess said his team and Ramsey, “and for us it’s a first, and I didn’t know how we were going to come out with energy, but I thought we played very well defensively in the first half.”
Key sequence
Caldwell scored 13 consecutive points to open a 13-2 lead, and thereafter Ramsey never had the ball with a chance to tie the score. With the tempo a methodical halfcourt battle, an 11-point margin was significant.
The Chiefs’ spurt began with Sozio hitting a 3-pointer from the right corner and continued with Lawrence converting a baseline feed into a three-point play and 6-2 lead. Checchetto followed with a long 3-pointer from straightaway for a 9-2 lead.
Lawrence was fouled and made the second of two free throws for a 10-3 lead, and Checchetto closed it with another 3-pointer from the top of the key for the 13-2 margin.
“It allows you to get kids in, it allows you to gamble a little defensively, and we were able to do that,” Fess said of the benefits of an early double-digit lead.
They said it
“I’m really proud of the way we came out in the second half, continued to battle, and brought it back, and we were close,” Christiansen said. “But you have to give credit to them. They hit big shots, big free throws, and we missed a few layups, a few shots, a lot of free throws, so I think that was the difference in the game.”
“That’s a good team, and that first quarter we came out not being able to hit shots and that really kind of put us in the hole,” Ramsey coach Mark Christiansen said.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Caldwell NJ boys basketball races past Ramsey in Group 2 semifinal
