2/28/06: North A Quarterfinals: Bergen Catholic 74, DePaul 43: DePaul's (No. 9, 15-9) season ended with a first round loss to Bergen Catholic (No. 8, 16-8). Marcus Crosgile and Kevin Goodwin led the Spartans with nine and eight points respectively.
2/24/06: DePaul 80, Newark Academy 64: Greg Gillespie poured in 24 points as DePaul (15-8) ripped Newark Academy (17-8). Justin Crosgile and Marcus Crosgile had 20 and 16 points respectively. Kamar Simmons added nine points. Kevin Goodwin had eight.
2/22/06: DePaul 70, Madison 63: Four players reached double figures as DePaul (13-8) won. Justin Crosgile was tops with 19 points. Marcus Crosgile (11 points), Kevin Goodwin (11 points) and Greg Gillespie (10 points) also chipped in. Nick Moretta and Dave Ulak contributed nine and eight points respectively.
2/15/06: DePaul 85, Montville 76: Greg Gillespie's 26 point effort fueled DePaul's (12-7) win over Montville. Justin Crosgile was next with 22 points. Kevin Goodwin added 16 points. Karam Simmons (9 points) and Dave Ulak (8 points) also contributed.
2/8/06: DePaul 76, Pequannock 59: Justin Crosgile erupted for 23 points as DePaul (11-6) toppled Pequannock. Dave Ulak chipped in with 16 points. Greg Gillespie and Nick Moretta had 11 and 10 points respectively. Doug Jennings led the Golden Panthers with 13 points. T.J. Speer added eight points.
Passaic County Tournament, First Round, Passaic Valley 64, DePaul 53
By Skiffo Drake
Little Falls – Rob Carcich insisted that his Passaic Valley Hornet boy’s basketball team was far-from satisfied. The second year coach had helped PV (11-6) earn its first Passaic County Tournament home game since 1986 and its first State Sectional bid since 1991.
That, according to Carcich, was “not enough.”
“They weren’t satisfied,” he said. “They just kept asking ‘what’s next’”
Evidently, that was true. Passaic Valley (No. 8) soundly defeated DePaul (No. 9) in the first round of the Passaic County Tournament, 64-53. It was PV’s second win this season over DePaul (10-6). Coming into the season, PV hadn’t defeated DePaul in eight years.
Tyler Nash had 22 points and Joey Castro had 16 points for the Hornets. Damian D'Iorio chipped in with eight points. Matt Coral and Chuck Richmond had six points apiece.
Justin Crosgile led the Spartans with 17 points. Kamar Simmons added 12 points.
PV will now take on top-seeded Kennedy in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
“We’re not in Kennedy’s league yet,” Carcich said. “There’s nothing wrong with saying that. There aren’t too many teams that are in Kennedy’s league. They’re one of the best team’s in the state.
“At the same time, we’re playing very well. We’re going to give it our best shot.”
1/6/06: DePaul 79, Butler 45: Freshmen Justin Crosgile erupted for 21 points as DePaul (5-1) defeated Butler (0-5) easily. Marcus Crosgile and Greg Gillespie had 13 points apiece. Kamar Simmons added 8 points. Nick Moretta and Kevin Goodwin contributed 6 points each.
Jeff Elganbi led the Bulldogs with 14 points. Jeff Haselman added nine points.
12/31/05: Montville Christmas Tournament: DePaul 77, Montville 50: Three players reached double figures as DePaul (4-1) trounced Montville to win the Montville Christmas Tournament. Greg Gillespie led the way with 19 points. Justin Crosgile added 17. Karam Simmons chipped in 13. Mike Hennion had nine.
12/29/05: Montville Christmas Tournament: Greg Gillespie scored 14 points and Marcus Crosgile had 12 as DePaul (3-1) defeated Mountain Lakes (2-2) in the first round. Dave Ulak, Nick Moretta and Kamar Simmons had eight points apiece.
Passaic Valley 58, DePaul 55
By Skiffo Drake
12/23/05: Head coach Rob Carcich called Passaic Valley's opening day loss to Wayne Valley an "aberration" and "a bad night." But considering how his Hornets were dismantled, 63-44, it seemed as if his comments were merely wishful thinking.
Think again. PV has responded by winning two straight. After beating West Orange on Tuesday, Passaic Valley (2-1) handed previously unbeaten DePaul (2-1) a 58-55 defeat.
Matt Coral's lay up with 47 seconds remaining gave the Hornets a 56-55 lead. John Coral then intercepted a DePaul pass and pushed the ball up with Damian D'Iorio. The Spartans fouled D'Iorio as he went in for the lay up. The Hornet sank both free throws to seal the verdict. It was PV's first win over the Wayne-based parochial school in eight years.
"We didn't panic after the Wayne Valley game," Carcich said. "We never stopped believing in ourselves."
D'Iorio led the Hornets with 13 points. Jon Coral (12 points), Joe Castro (11 points), Tyler Nash (10 points) and Matt Coral (9 points) gave PV a balanced attack.
Justin Crosgile and Greg Gillespie had 18 and 15 points respectively for DePaul. Kevin Goodwin chipped in 10 points.
12/21/05: DePaul 58, Millburn 44: Justin Crosgile scored 18 points as DePaul (2-0) cruised to its second straight win. Nick Moretta and Greg Gillespie had 12 and 11 points respectively. Dave Ulak contributed seven points.
DePaul 78, Caldwell 67, 2OT
By Skiffo Drake
Caldwell – Coming into the 2005-06 season, the DePaul boy’s basketball team was facing numerous question marks.
Bart Fazio, the team’s coach, would field his most inexperienced team yet. December, he warned, could be “rough.” Making sure his varsity newcomers gelled with his veterans was his foremost concern.
The backcourt was on of Fazio’s biggest worry. Greg Gillespie, one of the team’s few returnees, was being teamed with Justin Crosgile, a freshman.
In DePaul’s opening day game with Caldwell, it appeared as if this young team had already gelled. It also seemed as if Crosgile and Gillespie had been playing together for years.
DePaul won in double overtime, 78-67. Crosgile scored 25 points in his varsity debut. Gillespie tallied 18 points.
“We need Greg to step it up this year,” Fazio said. “He played well for us last year, but he had the luxury of knowing he had the seniors to fall back on. He’s the veteran this year. He’s got to step it up and be the leader. Justin’s probably the best freshmen I’ve ever coached. Coming into the season, we were anxious to see how they’d fit together.”
Michael Hennion and Marcus Crosgile (11 points apiece) gave DePaul four double-digits scorers. Nick Moretta and Dave Ulak had eight and seven points respectively.
Preview
12/14/05: Wayne – Bart Fazio is getting aggravated. Everywhere he goes, he’s asked about Chaz Cervino.
Fazio, DePaul’s head basketball coach, just learned that he’d be going into the 2005-06 season without Cervino. In 2004-05, Cervino started for the Spartans at point guard. He led the team in assists and was second on the team scoring.
Just days before the start of the 2005-06 season, the DePaul junior met with Fazio and informed him he was giving up basketball in order to concentrate his efforts on pursuing his dream of playing Division I football.
Since then, Fazio has been swamped with inquiries about Cervino. The 14-year Spartan coach has had enough.
“Chaz was a good player,” Fazio said. “But I’ve lost good players before (to graduation). We lost a great player in Mike McDuffie (now a freshmen starter at North Carolina-Greensboro). Mike was one of the best players I ever coached. He’s by far our biggest loss.
“For some reason, every one wants to talk about Chaz. Losing him will be tough, but losing Mike is my biggest concern. That’s one of the biggest losses I’ve ever had to face.”
Fazio, one of the winningest coaches in New Jersey, is best known for leading DePaul to the Passaic County Championship in 2003. Four players from that team went on to play major college basketball.
“Mike (then a sophomore) was the last remaining starter from the 2003 team,” Fazio said. “After that season, we had to say goodbye to Max (Schaffer, Princeton) and John (Kelly, Penn State). Losing players is part of the game.
“Losing Mike now is our biggest hurdle. Losing Matt (Emker, the third leading scorer last year) also hurts. People are focusing on Chaz, I guess, because it was unexpected.”
DePaul will kickoff its season at Caldwell tomorrow. With only two seniors on the roster, the Spartans will be extremely young.
“We’ll be very inexperienced this year,” Fazio said. “December could be rough. I’ll be interested to see how we finish the season. It may take a while to gell, but I’m optimistic that we’ll get better as the season moves along.”
Leadership responsibilities will now fall to Greg Gillespie, the shooting guard. The junior is DePaul’s leading returning scorer.
“Greg will have to take over for Mike,” Fazio said. “He’ll have to step it up and be the leader. He’s our veteran. He played well for us last year and he’s excited about the season.”
Freshmen Justin Crosgile will start a point guard alongside of Gillespie.
“I’ve never started a freshman before,” Fazio said. “Max didn’t even start as a freshman. Right now, Justin’s the best freshmen I’ve ever had. That doesn’t mean he’s going to be the next Max. He’s got the potential, though.”
Senior Nick Moretta (6-foot-4) and junior Dave Ulak (6-foot-7) will team to give the Spartans plenty of height underneath the basket. Senior Kevin Goodwin will man the small forward slot.
Four sophomores will also play valuable roles. Marcus Crosgile (Justin’s brother), Amad Smallwood, Kamar Simmons and Mike Hennion will all be counted on to contribute.
“We have quite a few talented underclassmen,” Fazio said. “The future’s bright. As far as this year is concerned, there are a lot of questions to be answered. It’ll be interesting to see how quickly we come together.”
Added Gillespie, “We’re inexperienced, but we’re excited to go out and prove ourselves. Chaz would have helped us, but we have a lot of guys who can come in and take his spot. It should be a good year.”
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