Sunday, March 13, 2011
Young team advances to state tournament but loses in the first round.
With all winter sports seasons having concluded, Fort Lee Patch now takes an in-depth look at how each team fared over the past few months. With the last of five installments, the season in review segment comes to an end with the story of the Fort Lee Bridgemen Boy’s Basketball Team. The year started in unfamiliar territory for Bridgemen coach John Ziemba, who was guiding the youngest team he has ever had in 20 years. But instead of getting down about the situation, Ziemba looked at it as an opportunity and a challenge. "When you play varsity, you can't treat them like babies," the Fort Lee coach said before the season. "They need to be ready to go." So after the Bridgemen lost Sandy Burgos, the school’s all-time leading scorer, to …
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Defense fuels Fort Lee in 51-22 victory at Paramus.
Coach John Ziemba motivated the Fort Lee Bridgemen with a halftime speech on defense, and the result was evident, as the team allowed just five points the rest of the way in a 51-22 win over Paramus. Fort Lee has now won back-to-back games for the first time this season and have accomplished the feat while outscoring their opponents by a combined 60 points. “It feels amazing,” said sophomore guard Nick Gentile. “Two wins in a row feels good after the slow start,” added senior forward George Padin. “It feels good to pick it up and get two wins in a row.” Off the tip, Paramus set up guard Evan Kim for an early lay-up, but Fort Lee answered with the next 10 points of the game. “We are coming with so much energy now,” Gentile said. “We ended …
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Fort Lee finishes Jack Reilly basketball tournament in sixth place.
The Fort Lee boys basketball team hoped to carry the momentum of a win over Mahwah into the new year, but the Bridgemen were tripped up against Montclair on Sunday 53-36. With the win, the Montclair Bulldogs finished fifth in the Jack Reilly Tournament, leaving the Bridgemen looking at what went wrong. "Thursday we had so much more energy," said sophomore guard Nick Gentile. "Today we were all dead." With a noon start time, Fort Lee head coach John Ziemba emphasized that the team with the quicker start would have the edge in this contest, and it was Montclair who did just that. "We came out, made two mistakes early and were down 4-0 eight seconds into the game," Ziemba said. "To me, that set the tone." Just a few minutes into the contest…
Thursday, December 30, 2010
The Bridgemen basketball team kept its composure in a physical fourth quarter for the victory at home in the Jack Reilly Boys Basketball Tournament.
The Fort Lee Bridgemen took advantage of two late technical fouls, earning their first win of the season in a come-from-behind 42-39 victory against the Mahwah Thunderbolts. The win also secures Fort Lee another game on Sunday against Montclair as Mahwah was eliminated from the Jack Reilly Boys Basketball Tournament. After going 0-4 to start the year, the Bridgemen were ecstatic to get the win. "We needed a win in 2010," said Fort Lee coach John Ziemba. "I know we have a tough team to play on Sunday, but we needed this win so bad." To begin the night, Fort Lee held Mahwah to just five points in the first quarter, something many of the players attributed to the return of senior forward George Padin. "It helped us a lot, and our team defense…
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Gentile has stepped up with double digit performances in every game this season.
In the season of giving, it only seems fitting to start giving away our Athlete of the Week Awards. At the end of every week, Patch will honor one student athlete who performed exceptionally well in his/her sport, while also highlighting their accomplishments. The first Athlete of the Week is sophomore guard Nick Gentile of the Fort Lee Bridgemen varsity boys' basketball team. Nick started the season last Friday with a 17-point performance on the road at Bergenfield and has continued his strong play throughout the following week. On Tuesday, Gentile added another ten points against Cliffside Park before posting a season-high 18 points Thursday night versus Ramapo. With Fort Lee's only senior, George Padin, sidelined due to a concussion, …
