We have to be able to take the big men out of the game. But I think the problem was we played at Columbia's tempo.
Eddie was always a good high school player. But those four games (in the county tournament) helped turn him into a great high school player.
He wants to show that he's one of the best players in the area, and it's not just with the amount of points that he scores. When the chips are down, he's got to take the ball, go to the hole and make something happen.
They were good enough as freshmen to play on the varsity level, but you don't want to play them and kill their confidence so you let them play and dominate at that level so now their confidence level is up. Coming into this level they were unafraid.
It sort of solidifies us a little bit, winning the counties back-to-back. Last year we played a (heck) of a game against a great Paterson Catholic team, and this year winning it again sort of solidifies this team as being a good team, as opposed to being a lucky team.
We can't win when our Division I player is 2-for-18. We've got to be able to score the basketball. We want to press, and if you can't press, you can't get easy baskets.
From the third quarter on, we just couldn't reach that next level that he went to. (Bishop) went to another level that my kids couldn't go to. With his talent, that speaks for itself. The kid is 6-foot-5, jumps over the moon, is a great ball-handler; he has the whole package.
I understand that (football) is his focus, but he's a good athlete and in basketball you can always use good athletes. He's 6-2 and he's tough. I can put him in the game and he won't be afraid.
That's where the game turned. Just the pressure of us running the ball up the floor every time put the pressure on them to stop us. I think it got to them in the third quarter.
Crockett had two fouls, so I tried to steal the last two minutes. Those two minutes cost me the game.
