Rams Celebrate Senior Night With Win Over Ridgers

It was the last regular-season home game of the year for the Rams. You know what that means: Senior Night. A herd of Rowdies and friends and family piled into DeGaeta Hall to send off this year’s seniors. This year’s senior class was special. It includes a four-year varsity letterman and Lehigh commit Tommy Conniff, a two-year varsity starter Enzo Canali, excellent interior defender and sneaky shooter Alex Werbaneth, defensive specialist Cristian Simms, 3 and D guard Jason Aurigemma, and– of course– a fan favorite Gary Saitta. Each senior was honored pregame with a rose for their parents. The Rams’ opponent: a well-rounded 16-5 Glen Ridge team.

As tradition holds, the non-seniors did not start the game. Instead, it was Saitta, Werbaneth, Simms, Aurigemma, and Canali for the opening tip. Considering OP was without its three best players for a significant chunk of the first quarter, a 14-6 advantage after eight minutes was not too shabby for Daugherty’s troops. The game started with easy putback layups from Canali and a flashy up-and-under duece from Werbaneth. Soon after he checked in, Conniff toed the arch and nailed a 3-pointer. But when the second quarter began, it was time for the Rams to lock down and turn their focus to getting a win. Jones, Bradley, and Pirone all checked into the game and their respective presences were felt. OP topped Glen Ridge 17-15 in the second period and held a 31-21 lead into the break. The Rams did not let off the pedal in the third quarter. A thunderous dunk highlighted a 17-point third period for OP. The fourth quarter got a little sticky. At first, it seemed the Rams would cruise to the finish line. A flurry of 3’s, however, propelled the Ridgers to outscore the Rams 27-22 in the last period alone. Glen Ridge pared OP’s lead down to six at one point, but it was too little, too late. OP was able to stop the bleeding a seal a 70-61 victory.

Tommy Conniff led the way for OP. Two dunks and a 3-pointer propelled the senior to 22 points in his final regular-season home game of his remarkable 4-year career. Well done, Tommy! Mike Pirone tallied 12 points–10 from the charity stripe alone– and a resounding block late in the game. Greg Jones knocked down a 3-ball en route to 11 points. Enzo Canali also scored 11. Freshman Asher Bradley has been the Rams’ rock all year long. His reliable ball-handling and timely passing have been crucial to OP’s success on the hardwood. Bradley tallied 9 points, including an and-one late in the game.

This was the penultimate regular-season game for OP. Next on the docket is a trip to Morristown to face Delbarton.