May 29, 2010
Prep takes home North II title
Mike Blicharz (far right) and his teammates celebrate a North II championship.
Click Here for photos from Bayonne at St. Peter's Prep.
By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director
JERSEY CITY – There’s no denying that the bulls-eye is squarely on the back of St. Peter’s Prep. When you’re the top-ranked team in the state, such a target is unavoidable.
The Marauders continued to show why they are ranked number one with another dominant performance, a 25-14, 25-15 over Bayonne in the NJSIAA North II section final yesterday at The Barn. It marks the fourth-straight sectional title for St. Peter’s Prep (29-2).
“The way we play when we are dominating, we can dominate anybody in the state,” St. Peter’s Prep head coach Don Guide said. “The Star Ledger ranks us number one and I believe we are.”
“I think they’re the best in the state and I hope they represent the north well,” Bayonne coach Pat Longo said.
Facing the second-seeded Bees (18-8) for the fourth time this season, the first-seeded Marauders made sure it followed a similar script as the previous three meetings.
After a slow start and struggles with shot placement, Prep’s wide array of offensive weapons continued to be much for Bayonne to handle. Each of the four matchups ended with St. Peter’s winning in straight sets.
“It’s definitely an advantage,” said setter Mike Blicharz about playing Bayonne a fourth time. “We know what they can do, what they can’t do. And we also know they’re a great team so every time we see them they’re going to come out firing. We have to kick it up every time we see them.”
John Armstrong was at the forefront of the deep Marauder attack, leading all players with 10 kills. During the match’s pivotal moments, Prep turned to the towering senior middle hitter for the big offensive play.
After Bayonne had scored four-straight points to cut the Marauder lead down to just 13-12 in the second set, Armstrong took over. He recorded a kill to return the serve back to St. Peter’s and followed it up with kills on the next two plays as well.
The Marauders scored six-straight points to make it 19-12 and put the match out of reach. Four of those points coming off of Armstrong kills.
“I was unstoppable,” Armstrong said about that run. “I just felt like it was our time to take over. It was my time to take over and to not look back.”
“(Armstrong) had some great sets. Mike Blicharz gave him some great sets and he just put the ball down,” Longo said. “We didn’t have any answer for it today.”
Armstrong had six kills in the second set. He added four more kills during a 10-1 Prep run in the opening set.
Senior outside hitters Park Kolodka and Kenny Walter added six kills and six digs apiece in the win. Kolodka put the finishing touches on the victory with an ace that landed just inside the baseline for match point.
Alex Cogott had 14 digs. Setter Mike Blicharz had 16 assists and three digs. Junior Lorenzo Samin added five blocks in the victory.
Richie Boyle led Bayonne with four kills. Matt Strzala and Kris Kucza added two kills apiece and Konrad Budny had eight assists in defeat.
Another sectional championship trophy may now reside at Grand and Warren, but Prep’s work is far from over. On Tuesday, they will face Fair Lawn in the state semifinals in Hillsborough. After falling in the state final in each of the past three seasons, this senior-laden Marauder roster is focused on bringing a state title to Jersey City.
“It’s the number one goal,” Armstrong said. “We’re very determined. It slipped way from us at our fingertips. All of us have been there so we know what it feels like to be there and we want to bring it home.”
Prep's Kenny Walter (left) and Bayonne's Konrad Budny go up for a ball near the net.
1st |
2nd |
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| Bayonne Bees (18-8) | 14 |
15 |
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| St. Peter's Prep Marauders (28-2) | 25 |
25 |
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