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Posts tagged “Fort Lee New Jersey

Fort Lee’s Second Half Lead Snowballs into Westwood Win

Coach Ziemba and the Bridgemen lost their double digit lead in a loss to Westwood.

(FORT LEE, N.J.) – After leading by as many as 13 points in the first half, the Fort Lee Bridgemen saw their lead evaporate into a 16 point loss on Tuesday night against Westwood.

“We defended incredibly well in the second half,” said Westwood head coach John Santulli. “We were not playing any defense in the first half.”

Early on, Fort Lee gained the advantage by dishing the ball inside to sophomore center Anthony Rafes. The down-low presence scored six of the first eight points for the Bridgemen in a new offensive set.

At the beginning of the year, Fort Lee head coach John Ziemba mentioned how his team’s offensive attack was founded mostly around the guard play. Now, the 20-year head coach has changed that philosophy to include the 6’6’’ center.  

“The new offense we put it is to get him the ball,” Ziemba said. “We have to go through Anthony and he is still a sophomore but I’m still trying to see what certain guys can do.”

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Viral Video Makes Lady Bridgemen Basketball Players Instant Celebrities at School

Seniors Brianna Mattessich (left) and Lindsey Clesmere's failed bump attempt bumped their popularity at school

(FORT LEE, N.J.) – One of the new sayings in today’s fast paced world is that everything travels quicker on the Internet. The old idea was that information flew through high schools just as quickly. Put the two together, and it could be a recipe for a sweeping phenomenon, like the viral video that rushed through Fort Lee High School this past week.

On Dec. 31, the Lady Bridgemen basketball team won their second straight holiday tournament when they defeated the Park Ridge Owls. Winning the trophy in back-to-back years brought the girls some recognition but nothing close to the popularity the team received after a video surfaced – a video originally posted on Patch – of their championship celebration.

After the final buzzer sounded, senior guard Brianna Mattessich rushed toward the Fort Lee bench to be with her teammates. At the same time, senior guard Lindsey Clesmere left the bench to join the girls on the floor. The result made the girls instant celebrities at their school.

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The Week in Sports: A Look Back and A Look Ahead

Fort Lee wrestler Demir Radoncic faces Cliffside Park's Chris Piper.

(FORT LEE, N.J.) – Here is a rundown of Fort Lee athletics for the past week and a look at the upcoming week in sports:

The girl’s basketball team started the week as reigning two-time holiday tournament champions by losing back-to-back contests. The Lady Bridgemen fell to Ridgefield Park on Tuesday 52-33 before falling to an undefeated Dumont team on Thursday 57-42. In their last game of the week, Fort Lee traveled to beat Memorial High School on Saturday 40-25, and they now look forward to what next week has in store. But in order to carry the momentum to Tuesday night’s game at Westwood, the Lady Bridgemen are hoping to have the services of senior forward Bindi Parikh. The soft-spoken student athlete suffered a foot injury on Saturday and her status for the Westwood game and New Milford contest on Thursday are uncertain.

In boy’s basketball, the Bridgemen also lost to Ridgefield Park on Tuesday, 52-40, but then recovered with a victory against Dumont 51-40 on Thursday. Freshman point guard Dashaun Washington was named the Athlete of the Week after scoring double digits in both of those games including 13 of them in the team’s last game of the week.  

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Lady Bridgemen Back to Winning Ways with Victory at Memorial

Coach Stacie Zafiris talks to the Lady Bridgemen during a timeout.

(WEST NEW YORK, N.J.) – Despite losing senior forward Bindi Parikh to a foot injury, the Fort Lee Lady Bridgemen were able to overcome her absence in a 40-25 road win against the Memorial Tigers.

After losing back-to-back games entering Saturday’s action, Fort Lee was in full pursuit of avoiding a possible three-game losing streak.

The Lady Bridgemen started the game by winning the tip, working for a good shot and finding junior guard Ally Long for a corner three. Fort Lee scored seven of the first eight points in the game. The last points of that stretch were scored by Parikh, whose night ended when she was taken out of the game a few minutes later.

 “When Bindi got hurt we stepped up as a team,” said junior guard Megan Gimson.

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Athlete of the Week: Basketball Player Dashaun Washington

Freshman point guard Dashaun Washington

(FORT LEE, N.J.) – Freshman year of high school is a unique time for all boys and girls.

It is a time to be nervous yet anxious, excited and worried, but most of all, high school comes with uncertainty.

Today, Patch’s Athlete of the Week award is presented to a freshman who is making a name for himself on the hardwood.

Against players twice his size and some even four years older than him, guard Dashaun Washington looks overmatched.

But on the basketball floor, he is matching up just fine.

Washington has been “playing up” since his time in the Fort Lee rec program where he was a younger athlete already playing with 7th and 8th graders.

This season it happened again.

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Dumont Remains Unbeaten in Win Over Lady Bridgemen

Coach Zafiris draws out a play during the second half.

(FORT LEE, N.J.) – After entering halftime tied, all signs pointed to the Dumont Huskies and the Fort Lee Lady Bridgemen playing a close game until the final buzzer.

But halfway through the third quarter, Dumont took control with an 11-0 run on their way to remaining undefeated.

“We really wanted to beat our rival and come out with fire,” said Fort Lee senior guard Brianna Mattessich. “We were playing with them the whole time. Then in the second half, we came out and turnovers killed us.”

Fort Lee head coach Stacie Zafiris prepared countless hours for Dumont and was not pleased with the final outcome.

“Again, we beat ourselves,” said Zafiris. “I don’t think that they earned the win. I think we gave them the win.”

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Fort Lee Falters in Wrestling Home Opener

Fort Lee's Demir Radoncic lines up to continue his match.

(FORT LEE, N.J.) – With the lights dimmed and the crowd filling nearly every seat in the gym, the Fort Lee Bridgemen wrestling team took to the mats for their home opener against Cliffside Park Wednesday night.  

Before the match, junior Demir Radoncic pumped up the Bridgemen with chants of “Let’s go,” and “Go hard!” Most of the wrestlers said they were excited to wrestle in front of the home crowd, and some even admitted to being a bit nervous.

“I had some pregame jitters,” said senior Anatoliy Alkazov.

Freshman wrestler Devin Sokolicn went even further with describing the atmosphere.

 ”Scary,” Sokolicn said. “[The] heart was racing, blood was pumping.”

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Fort Lee Bridgemen Start New Year with Loss to Montclair

Coach John Ziemba talks to the Bridgemen in a full timeout.

(FORT LEE, N.J.) – The Fort Lee boys basketball team hoped to carry the momentum of a win over Mahwah into the new year, but the Bridgemen were tripped up against Montclair on Sunday 53-36.

With the win, the Montclair Bulldogs finished fifth in the Jack Reilly Tournament, leaving the Bridgemen looking at what went wrong.

“Thursday we had so much more energy,” said sophomore guard Nick Gentile. “Today we were all dead.”

With a noon start time, Fort Lee head coach John Ziemba emphasized that the team with the quicker start would have the edge in this contest, and it was Montclair who did just that.

“We came out, made two mistakes early and were down 4-0 eight seconds into the game,” Ziemba said. “To me, that set the tone.”

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Athlete of the Week: Basketball Player Bindi Parikh

Bindi Parikh is the Athlete of the Week.

(FORT LEE, N.J.) – Senior forward Bindi Parikh scored a season-high 25 points in the championship game of the Lyndhurst Holiday Tournament and was named the Patch Athlete of the Week.

As the Fort Lee Lady Bridgemen won their unprecedented second consecutive championship, Parikh led the charge from beginning to end.

The forward outscored the Park Ridge Owls 11-5 in the first quarter and continued to pour it on throughout the game.

The soft-spoken Parikh said, “We have an awesome team so with the help of everyone we were able to have a great game.” 

What makes the senior’s performance even more remarkable is what happened to her in the team’s opening game of the tournament. Riddled with foul trouble throughout the contest, Parikh saw limited minutes and only scored four points in  Fort Lee’s narrow win over Lyndhurst.

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Fort Lee Falls to Orange in First Round of Basketball Tournament

Head Coach John Ziemba instructs the Fort Lee Bridgemen before the game.

(FORT LEE, N.J.) – The Orange Tornadoes defeated the Fort Lee Bridgemen 52-37 Tuesday night in the final game of the opening round of the Jack Reilly boys’ Basketball Tournament at Fort Lee High School.

Junior forward Kahled Muhammad led all players with a game-high 14 points for the Orange as freshman guard Josh Ford netted 10 points for Fort Lee.

The night began with a 6-0 run by the Tornadoes that forced the Fort Lee  to play from behind yet again.

“We got outhustled,” said Fort Lee’s sophomore guard Nick Gentile. “It was the hustle that killed us. We just couldn’t execute.”

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Jack Reilly Boy’s Basketball Tournament Postponed

The Jack Reilly Boy's Basketball program

(FORT LEE, N.J.) – The Jack Reilly Tournament was postponed Sunday.

Fort Lee Athletic Director Pat Ambrosio made the decision early on Sunday morning after watching the radar, consulting with colleagues and thinking of everyone’s safety.

“Ultimately, the decision needs to made about the safety of everyone first,” Ambrosio said. “It made no sense to force the issue when you have a holiday week.”

The athletic director also said that it became “like a game” trying to see if the school would be able to get the games in and beat the impending blizzard.

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The Week in Sports: A Look Back and a Look Ahead

Junior wrestler Andrew Lee stares down his opponent

(FORT LEE, N.J.) – During the past week, the Fort Lee wrestling and indoor track teams started their seasons, the co-ed bowling team had their last match before the break and both basketball teams have finished their first slate of games.

Last Tuesday, the boy’s bowling team defeated Westwood 5-0 with strong performances from senior David Daniels and junior Peter King. Both players shot in the 190s as the Bridgemen earned the sweep. On the girl’s side, the Lady Bridgemen were defeated by Westwood 5-0. Senior Yeliz Inalman had a team high game of 175.

On the mats, the Fort Lee wrestling team lost the season opening match on the road to Mahwah 58-15. Junior Andrew Lee recorded a pin for the Bridgemen in the 135 weight class and later on in the evening, senior Anatoliy Alkazov recorded a late come-from-behind win at 152.

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Athlete of the Week: Basketball Player Nick Gentile

Athlete of the Week: Nick Gentile

(FORT LEE, N.J.) – In the season of giving, it only seems fitting to start giving away our Athlete of the Week Awards.

At the end of every week, Patch will honor one student athlete who performed exceptionally well in his/her sport, while also highlighting their accomplishments.

The first Athlete of the Week is sophomore guard Nick Gentile of the Fort Lee Bridgemen varsity boys’ basketball team.

Nick started the season last Friday with a 17-point performance on the road at Bergenfield and has continued his strong play throughout the following week.

On Tuesday, Gentile added another ten points against Cliffside Park before posting a season-high 18 points Thursday night versus Ramapo.  

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Fort Lee Boys Ball to Undefeated Ramapo Basketball Team

Fort Lee head coach John Ziemba talks to the Bridgemen during a timeout.

(FORT LEE, N.J.) – In their first home game of the season, the Fort Lee Bridgemen were defeated by the Ramapo Raiders 60-41 on Thursday night.

Fort Lee sophomore guard Nick Gentile lead all players with 18 points, but it wasn’t enough to stop Ramapo from improving to 3-0 on the season.

The Bridgemen were again without their lone senior captain George Padin, who suffered a concussion in the season opener against Bergenfield last week.

“We really miss him,” said Gentile. “He is the heart of our team.”

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Fort Lee Downed by Bergenfield in Resumption of Suspended Game

The officials look over the current situation of the game before continuing the suspended affair.

(FORT LEE, N.J.) – The Fort Lee Lady Bridgemen lost the continuation of a suspended game against the Bergenfield Lady Bears on Thursday night 65-30.

Junior guards Krystal Carvajal and Jessi Corredor invigorated Bergenfield with a combined 32 points as Fort Lee was forced to play from behind, dating all the way back to last Friday.

The two teams started the game Dec. 17 but were only able to play a single minute before referee Greg Dobbin collapsed on the court.

Dobbin was able to rise to his feet and walk off the court under his own power, but the game was suspended until Thursday with Bergenfield holding a 5-2 advantage.

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Fort Lee falters in the fourth in 35-30 loss

The Fort Lee Lady Bridgemen huddle during their first loss of the season.

(FORT LEE, N.J.) – In a physical, edge-of-your-seat season opener, the Fort Lee Lady Bridgemen lost to the Cliffside Park Red Raiders 35-30 in girls varsity basketball on Tuesday night.   

Senior Bindi Parikh tallied a game high 14 points, but it wasn’t enough as Cliffside Park mounted a late fourth-quarter comeback for the victory.

“We panicked a little,” said senior Brianna Mattessich on the final few minutes. “We turned over the ball a lot, and it’s a tough situation. But we’ve got to get past it.”

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Winter Sports Preview: Bowling

Coach Dennis Sayer congratulates senior David Daniels on a career high score.

(HACKENSACK, N.J.) – Like a baseball pitcher on the mound, a bowler facing 10 pins at the end of a lane can  feel like he or she is standing in one of the loneliest places in the world.

The entire world is swirling around you, but the only thing that seems to matter at that moment is winding up, rolling a ball and hoping to knock down all ten pins.

This is the mental side of bowling, and it is something the Fort Lee co-ed bowling team hopes to master on their way to a successful season.

“The more relaxed you are, the more concentrated you are going to be and the more fun you are going to have,” said Fort Lee head coach Dennis Sayer.

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Winter Sports Preview: Wrestling

Fort Lee Wrestling Coach Alex Almeyda watches his wrestlers in action.

(FORT LEE, N.J.) – With ten seniors graduating from last year, there are a lot of signs pointing to a down year for the Fort Lee wrestling team.

But don’t tell that to Head Coach Alex Almeyda and the Bridgemen, who remain very optimistic.

“My expectations are always high,” said Almeyda. “We did lose a lot but we can hold our own with anybody. It’s just a matter of believing.”

Returning wrestler Anatoliy Alkhazob already sees improvement in the younger student athletes.

“I see big things from them,” said Alkhazob of the freshman and sophomores expected to step up this season. “They have only been wrestling for this year, and within a couple of weeks, they have gotten a lot better.”

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Scrimmage Proves Valuable for Fort Lee Wrestlers, Coaches

A Fort Lee wrestler goes for a pin

(NORTH BERGEN, N.J.) – On Saturday, the Fort Lee wrestling team got some valuable time on the mats against some competitive out-of-town opponents.

The team traveled to play Emerson/Park Ridge and North Bergen over the weekend as Head Coach Alex Almeyda gained a better understanding of his young team.

“It was a reality check,” said the coach immediately after the scrimmage. “A lot of the guys are hesitant right now, understandably so, but it will come with time.”

With ten seniors graduating from last year’s team, the staff is looking to many wrestlers who competed at the junior varsity and recreation levels to make the jump this year.

“The big thing is the underclassmen have to step up,” Almeyda said.

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Hitting the mats for the wrestling report

(NORTH BERGEN, N.J.) – In a small high school gym on an early Saturday morning, the Fort Lee wrestlers took part in another scrimmage to prepare for the upcoming season. The Fort Lee Bridgemen have lost ten seniors from last year’s squad but remain extremely optimistic.

Coach Alex Almeyda patrols the mats for Fort Lee.

I talked to head coach Alex Almeyda and he remains as confident as ever. The same goes for many of the new wrestlers who are just itching to hit the mats for their first match of the year.

The wrestling preview and scrimmage story will both appear on the newest Patch.com website on Tuesday for Fort Lee, New Jersey.

Check back later in the week for the notes on how this team has been conditioning unlike any other and which student athletes plan to step up as the newest team leaders.

Also, I will have more wrestling stories throughout the winter sports season as I follow the team and the boy’s/girl’s basketball teams as well.

Thanks again for all of the support everyone and please let me know what you think of the website.


Welcome

Hey everyone. My name is Mike Radomski and I am a sports reporter currently working in Evansville, Indiana. I have 10 years of sports reporting experience dating back to my time covering the Bergen Catholic Crusaders and continuing with my reporting of the Quinnipiac University Bobcats. As a broadcast journalism major and sports studies minor, I was a play by play broadcaster and radio host at Quinnipiac before moving on to become the lead broadcaster for the Evansville Otters baseball club. I have served as a sports editor for Patch.com in Fort Lee, New Jersey and also announced sporting events for LMC-TV in Mamaroneck, New York. Now, I am back in Evansville as the Director of Media Relations and Broadcasting for the Otters and I want to thank the organization for allowing me to do what I love every day. I would also like to thank my family for their undying support and dedication to my dream.

I started the site to highlight some of my old work and post new pieces of material as well. Feel free to let me know what you think and contact me anytime.

Thanks and best wishes!                                                                                                                                                     -Mike


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