Lenape reaches Tournament of Champions

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The start was eye-popping, but the ending was even more impressive. The Lenape boys' basketball team has inhaled teams defensively all season, and, after getting away from what they do so well, the Indians reverted to form at the most opportune time.

Trailing, 23-19, at halftime, Lenape reestablished itself on defense and wasn't too bad on the other end during yesterday's 68-48 win over Paterson Eastside in the NJSIAA state Group 4 championship at Rutgers.

Ranked No. 2 in South Jersey by The Inquirer, Lenape (24-8) won its second state championship, with the other coming in 2004. The fifth-seeded Indians will play No. 4 seed Neptune in Wednesday's 6 p.m. Tournament of Champions quarterfinal at Toms River North.

Lenape jumped out to a 13-2 lead by the midway point of the first quarter but scored just six more points by halftime.

That's when coach Chuck Guittar reminded his players that they weren't playing the type of basketball that got them here.

"We said we can't take quick shots, especially deep quick shots," Guittar said.

The reasoning was that Paterson Eastside was getting rebounds off those deep shots and getting into the transition game, which is what the Ghosts do best.

"We wanted to make them play defense, and we hoped that later in the half they would run out of gas, and I think that kind of happened," Guittar said.

So Guittar told the Indians to be more patient, make the extra pass, and the Indians were a different team in the final 16 minutes.

The better shot selection showed. Lenape shot 7 for 22 (31.8 percent) from the field in the first half and 17 for 26 (65.4 percent) in the final two quarters.

Senior guards Mike Celestin and Pete Dinich were scoreless in the first half and finished with 12 and 13 points, respectively. Forward Isiah Dixon scored eight of his 13 points after intermission.

After the Indians led by 36-29 early in the fourth quarter, Dinich had a hand in their next 10 points during a 10-1 run. He began things with a layup and then had four straight assists that led to other scores inside. After that sequence, the outcome was no longer in doubt.

"When you open up a game like that, it's a great feeling," Dinich said. "It's like you can't be stopped, and we took it from there."

Lenape 6-foot-5 junior C.J. Meyer also felt like he couldn't be stopped. He earned game MVP honors by scoring 18 points in 19 minutes. Meyer hit 7 of 8 from the field and kept Lenape in the game early with 12 first-half points.

"We've had different guys step up, and today was my day," he said.

In the second half, the Ghosts (22-9) were the impatient team, trying to do too much.

"We lost confidence in our inside players and felt we had to do it ourselves," said Eastside guard Karon Abraham, a Robert Morris recruit.

Lenape has won eight in a row, and, as the results suggest, confidence isn't an issue.

Lenape 15 4 17 32 - 68

Paterson Eastside 12 11 4 21 - 48

L: Mike Celestin 12, Phil Jackson 2, Kendall Peters 4, Ryan Lavell 1, Tyshawn Jackson 1, Pete Dinich 13, Isiah Dixon 13, Kevin Cunningham 4, C.J. Meyer 18.

P: Karon Abraham 15, Bryant Lewis 12, Allen Dantzler 2, Travon Johnson 4, David West 15.