Stevens boys try to put full game together
BY SHAWN LAYTON
Staff Writer

EDISON - The key for the J.P. Stevens High School boys basketball team is to put four quarters of quality basketball together.

Despite tremendous improvement since the season tipped off back in December, the Hawks have still struggled to put in four quarters of the type of basketball they're capable of putting together.

"Our young players have played a lot better of late and have started to mature, but we still struggle putting it all together for an entire game," Stevens head coach James Cardillo said. "For whatever reason, the third quarter has been a tough time for us this year."

In a recent loss to St. Joseph, the Hawks entered the half on top but came out of the locker room cold and had too much ground to make up by the time the fourth quarter rolled around. For the sixth time this season, the Hawks could not hold a half-time lead and lost to the Falcons 45-36. Paul Konopacki led St. Joe's with 14 points.

"We did play a solid fourth quarter, but we just put ourselves in such a hole that it was too late," Cardillo said. "We expended so much energy that we just didn't have enough down the stretch."

Stevens' Alex Cacoilo led the team with 10 points while teammate Kenny Bland added nine points.

The Hawks bounced back from the loss in their next game with a 47-43 win over Woodbridge to end the week.

"Woodbridge came out on fire," Cardillo said. "They scored on nine of their first 12 possessions and finished the first half with 32 points."

Woodbridge could not sustain the hot shooting and would only score 11 points the entire second half as the Hawks pulled out the win.

"Our new mantra is 'hold the rope and pull together'," Cardillo said. "Our guys have latched onto that and it's working. The players know that when they start looking for excuses or placing blame, they drop the rope. Instead of dropping the rope against Woodbridge, we played together as a team and got the job done."

Junior Matt Margon was pivotal in the team's win over Woodbridge via a tough defensive assignment.

"We put him on Woodbridge's best player and once we made the move, Matt held him scoreless," Cardillo said. "Without his defensive effort we don't win that game. He's a bit of an unsung hero, but he deserves praise for the job he did."

Pat Lem led the team with 12 points in the victory with Bland finishing with 10 points.

Another key to the team's improvement has been the evolution of Cacoilo at the point guard position.

"He missed all summer with a broken jaw and that time was essential for his growth as a point guard," Cardillo said. "He works incredibly hard, improved his shot selection, and has matured into a nice point guard."

Cacoilo's 15 points and deadly accurate shooting beyond the arc were pivotal in the team's 40-30 win over Piscataway last week. Instead of folding after playing a tight first half against the Chiefs, Stevens finally played a noteworthy third quarter and built a 28-24 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Cacoilo sealed the win by sinking all four of his three-point attempts in the final frame.

Unfortunately for Stevens, its third-quarter woes resurfaced in the team's 55-37 loss to Edison to close out the week. Down just 21-20 at the half, Stevens came out cold once again as Edison used a 13-4 run in the third quarter to pull away. Bland led the team with 13 points in the loss.

"We (didn't) have anything on the schedule over the weekend, which should give us a needed rest," Cardillo said. "This week we go to Old Bridge, South Brunswick and Perth Amboy. We want to finish strong heading into the county tournament."