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Roundup: The Week in Sports and a Look Ahead

How was your week? This is how the week went for the Bridgemen and Lady Bridgemen sports team.

Boys Basketball:

The Bridgemen started the week off with a tough game against Cliffside Park. Fort Lee won, 59-44, getting 17 points out of junior Nick Gentile, who hit four three-pointers in the game. Rany Mishal added eight blocks for the Bridgemen.

Fort Lee then hit the road for a tough test against Ridgefield Park. The Bridgmen came out on top, 52-51, in a double overtime thriller. Gentile had 11 points including a game-tying three-pointer to send the game into the first overtime. Junior Tonderai Mushandu had nine points, along with the game-winning block for Fort Lee. Sophomore Deshaun Washington had 11 points, Rany Mishal chipped in eight, and Josh Ford led all scorers with 13 points. Senior Tyler Sanders went to the free throw line with Fort Lee down 51-50 with 13 seconds left in the second overtime and calmly sank both free throws to put the Bridgemen up for good.

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Assistant coach James Puliatte loved what he saw during his team's gritty performance.

“I know the hard work these kids have put in since last season and even though it's early, I really was proud of them tonight,” he said.

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The 2-1 Bridgemen will look to keep their winning streak going when they play in the Jack Reilly Holiday Basketball Tournament hosted by . The first round starts Dec. 26, when Fort Lee plays Manchester Regional High School at 7:45 p.m.

Girls Basketball:

On Tuesday night the Lady Bridgemen suffered 46-35 loss against Cliffside Park. Junior Renee Mattesich led the way with 12 points. Fort Lee fell to 0-3 on Thursday against Ridgefield Park by a score of 54-31. Senior Natalia Kim gave the Lady Bridgemen five points and 14 rebounds while Renee Mattesich led the team in scoring with 11 points.

Although it has been a rough start to the season, head coach Stacie Zafiris has taken positives out of it.

“Although we have struggled to pick up a win, the team continues to play extremely hard and with a lot of passion," Zafiris said. "If we can work on handling the ball and reducing our turnovers we will start being successful.”

The girls looked to pick up their first win on Tuesday, Dec. 27, when they play Parsippany Hills at 5:30 p.m. in the first round of the Leonia Holiday Classic.

Indoor Track:

The indoor track season kicked off for the Bridgemen and Lady Bridgemen on Thursday at the Bergen County Season Opener Meet at Fairleigh Dickinson University. The boys and girls teams won a combined 16 medals at the event. For the boys, senior “Yu Yu” Fahmy had one of the top times in North Jersey in the 1600 meters at 4:41.5 and finished in fourth place. Junior Taichi Aritomo finished in fifth place in the Novice 55 meter hurdles with a 9.3 For the girls, sophomore Melanie Plattner finished eight in the 1600 meter run with a time of 5:57.5 and ninth with a time of 2:40.6 in the 800 meter run. The Novice 4 x 800 meter relay team placed seventh in their event.

Head coach Ed Garrison came away from the meet feeling good.

“There were over 40 teams in the meet, and we had many personal best performances,” he said.

The teams will get to running again on Tuesday, Dec. 27, when they compete in the Pearl River Holiday Tournament at the Rockland College Community Center.

Wrestling

The Bridgemen are 0-1 on the season after a loss against Mahwah. Head coach Alex Almeyada took good things out of the match and is looking forward to the next match on Thursday, Dec. 29, when his team competed in the County Tournament at Rockland Community College.

Bowling

The Bridgemen are 2-2 so far this season but had a rough week as they fell to Dumont, 5-2, on Monday and Westwood, 7-0, on Wednesday. The Lady Bridgemen are 1-3 but are bowling 20 pins over last year's average. The girls lost to Dumont, 5-2, on Monday and Westwood, 7-0 on Wednesday as well.

Head coach Dennis Sayer was proud of his team and knew the competition was tough.

"The team bowled very well, but unfortunately we bowled against the first and second place teams," he said.

The team returns to action on Jan. 13, against Westwood at Bowler City.

Athlete of the Week:

Nick Gentile- Junior, Boys Basketball

Gentile came up huge for the Bridgemen this week; the junior had four three-pointer’s and 17 points in his team's win against Cliffside Park on Tuesday. The clutch play continued for Gentile on Thursday when he scored 11 points, including a game-tying three-pointer to force the game into its first of two overtimes in a win against then undefeated Ridgefield Park.

Gentile is happy with the effort from the whole team so far this season.

“Hard work isn't given to a team; it's the team the does the hard work,” Gentile said.

The hard work has certainly paid off thus far for Gentile, his teammates and coaching staff.

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