Sideline Chatter brings you the latest behind the scenes with The Buzz

the latest regional New Jersey high school sports news

Pat Brunner, who reached the 200-win plateau as a head coach this past Thursday at Orange, directs Bloomfield at home against West Orange in Saturday's 53-35 Bengals' victory on Saturday. (Dominick Paoli Photography. Visit http://www.ddpphotography to see more photos from Saturday's game

Junior Jameel Patterson poured in a game-high 24 points in Saturday's win over West Orange in Super Essex Conference-Liberty Division hoops action.

Bloomfield junior guard Isaiah Dockett (2) moves past West Orange's Isiah Scott (4) during Saturday's 53-35 SEC-Liberty contest in the Bengals' gym.

Bloomfield junior guard Jaleel Jimenez uses his quickness while defending West Orange's Khayeff Crump (1) as Bengals and Mountaineers do battle.

West Orange's Sterling Baker (24) works hard to get to the hoop vs. Bengals

Bloomfield Defeats West Orange
To Complete Its "Oranges" Week
By Steve Tober
For sidelinechatter.com

BLOOMFIELD- Bloomfield coach Pat Brunner has been around the Super Essex Conference long enough now in the loop’s third season to fully realize just how tough it can be to win on the road, especially this season in what appears to be a very competitive SEC-Liberty.

With a 2-1 record that included visits to both East Orange (a last-second 67-66 loss on Jan. 3) and Orange (a narrow 52-51 Bengals’ win, Jan. 5), finishing out the stretch of games with a 53-35 home-standing victory against local rival West Orange on Saturday afternoon was certainly a triumph worth enjoying for the moment.

“Typical Bloomfield-West Orange, throw the records out the window and you simply know it’s going to have to be a hard-fought game against them,” said Brunner, who recorded his 200th career victory with Thursday’s Bengals’ road win at Orange. “Going 2-1, splitting on the road; maybe you look back and want to be greedy and say we should have been 3-0, but in the same vein, we were lucky in some ways to be 2-1.

“We called it our “Oranges” week and I think, especially with our loss at East Orange, our kids further understand just how difficult it is to win in this league both on the road and no matter who you are playing.”

Bloomfield (6-2) rode a splendid effort from 6-foot-1 junior swingman Jameel Patterson (game-high 24 points) to overcome a less than auspicious first half en route to a fairly comfortable 18-point margin of victory as the host team held the Mountaineers (2-7) to just one second-half field goal and a total of nine points in the final 16 minutes of action.

“We played better in the second half, made some good passes and had a pretty good defensive effort,” said Patterson, who plays a lot longer than his listed height and scored 11 of his points in the second half when the Bengals outscored the visitors, 21-9. “We feel we have the makings of a real good team and we want to reach the ECT finals this season, which means we have to play consistent basketball.”

With Patterson, the quick-handed Jaleel Jimenez (9 points) and persistent defender Isaiah Dockett, the Bengals have one of the more athletic backcourts in North Jersey , one that is certainly capable of scoring a string of points in rapid succession, frequently off steals or in causing other turnovers; plus the suffocating pressure can cause problems for just about any opponent out there.

“We’re fortunate to have a lot of quick guards,” said Jimenez, who appears to be the trigger of that pressure ‘D.’ “I thought we showed resiliency today and played harder from start to finish than we did at East Orange where we were up 16 and couldn’t finish it out the way we’re capable of.

“But, we’re going to continue to learn from each game and be a better basketball team as the season goes on.”

West Orange, which has faced a tough early-season schedule, stayed close with Bloomfield in the first half, trailing 32-26, at the intermission, thanks in large measure to a spirited second quarter when the two teams were locked in a fast-paced 20-20 stanza.

Carlo DeChavez, a muscular 6-3 forward, scored 10 of his team-high 12 points during that second quarter when West Orange did a nice job of distributing the ball as five different players got into the scoring act in that frame.

For Brunner, he hopes that the reinforcement of lessons re-introduced in last Tuesday’s loss at East Orange could serve to help his still youthful squad moving forward.

“I think what that loss reemphasized is to continue to take care of the ball, put teams away when you can, and have the chance to do so, and –again – just how difficult it is to win in this league, especially on the road.”

BENGAL BANTER-Brunner enjoyed hearing from some of his former players after he reached the 200-win plateau earlier this past week. “I had some nice texts from guys from Verona, Elizabeth and Bloomfield, which was really great,” said the seventh-year Bengals’ head mentor, who also spent five seasons as the head man at Verona and two at Elizabeth. “I had the opportunity to tell them again that they were a big part of it, and it was nice to reflect back on what has been a very enjoyable career.”…Brunner was also a key assistant for three seasons on Nick Mariniello’s staff for some very good Bloomfield Tech teams…Among those watching Saturday’s West Orange-Bloomfield SEC-Liberty clash was former Bloomfield High and Fordham University standout T.K. Tripucka along with longtime Bengals football coach Mike Carter…Carter’s top running back, junior guard John Varner, contributed 9 points off the bench for the Bloomfield hoops squad in Saturday’s win over West Orange. He also had 9 points in Thursday’s win at Orange, a game won with a Jimenez free throw with one second remaining…Rousul Douglas (23 points) hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer when EOC edged Bloomfield last Tuesday. Dockett had 23 points for the Bengals and Jimenez chipped in with 14, including a trio of 3-pointers.

Super Essex Conference-Liberty Division game, Saturday, Jan. 7, at Bloomfield:

WEST ORANGE (2-7) 6 20 4 5 -35

BLOOMFIELD (6-2) 12 20 15 6 -53

West Orange: Carlo DeChavez 5-0-2-12, Vance Rochester 1-0-0-2, Sterling Baker 2-0-0-4, Khayeff Crump 1-0-0-2, Isiah Scott 1-1-3-8, Derek Porter 0-1-0-3, Isaiah McNeil 0-0-1-1, Morgan Garrison 0-0-1-1, Daron Wade 0-0-2-2. Totals: 10-2-9-35

Bloomfield: Jameel Patterson 8-2-2-24, Luke Jackson 1-0-0-2, Keith Barrow 2-0-0-4, Jaleel Jimenez 2-0-5-9, Isaiah Dockett 1-0-0-2, John Varner 3-1-0-9, Emmanuel Darby 1-0-0-2, Amid Henderson 0-0-1-1. Totals: 18-3-8-53

*******

This Week’s Sideline Chatter Essex Boys Hoops Top 10:

1-Seton Hall Prep (8-1)- Pirates suffered first loss of the season, 61-59, to St. Joe’s (Met.) in SCIF Festival at Kean.

2-Newark Tech (6-2)- Terriers are one of the longest teams in Essex County, led by 6-5 Abel Yekeh, who had 18 points, 13 rebounds and 6 blocks in 54-49 win at Columbia.

3-Irvington (7-1)- Sophomore big man (6-6) Shakur Juiston asserted himself once again with 13 points and 10 boards in 43-38 win over East Orange Campus.

4-Columbia (7-2)- Second-year head coach Eddie Turner’s squad is once again displaying solid depth and tenacious defense.

5-Bloomfield (6-2)- Bengals suffered narrow road loss at East Orange Campus after blowing double-digit second half lead, but rebounded nicely with wins over Orange and West Orange.

6-University (5-4)- Phoenix barely survived a Saturday tussle with longtime rival Science Park (43-40) on an Elijah Brown 3-pointer.

7-Shabazz (5-2)- Bulldogs played with heavy hearts as they mourned the death of their head coach Hassan Carter, but recorded 62-41 win at West Orange as Michael Reid scored 27 points.

8-Newark Vocational (8-2)- Abdul Bey has been a force for the Brick City school, which has early-season wins over both Central and Orange.

9-Orange (6-3)- Tornadoes had narrow home loss to Bloomfield, but rebounded with a nice independent win at Snyder behind 24 points from sharpshooter Adam Maduro.

10-Central (4-4)- Blue Devils rode strong “double-double” from junior forward Taji Williams (16 points, 15 rebounds) in defeating Bloomfield Tech, 67-61.

Upcoming Schedule:

Monday, Jan. 9:

Morris Hills at Montclair, 4:15 p.m.

Barringer at Christ The King, 5 p.m.

Nutley at Livingston, 5 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 10:

Arts at Nutley, 4 p.m.

East Orange Campus at Montclair, 4 p.m.

Caldwell at Barringer, 4 p.m.

East Side at Science Park, 4 p.m.

MKA at Technology, 4 p.m.

Glen Ridge at Verona, 4 p.m.