DJ Haskins leads Bergenfield on to Group 3 final

BERGENFIELD – As the third quarter came to a close in Thursday night's Group 3 semifinal against Colonia, Bergenfield's brothers DJ and Jovani Haskins gave each other a look and knew exactly what each other were thinking. They were physically drained after a whirlwind week of state tournament basketball, but if they did not find a second wind their final season of playing together was going to come to an end. It was time to not only play basketball, but to compete at an elite level for the final eight minutes.Two days after holding off a late surge by four-time defending Teaneck to win a section title. Bergenfield found itself on the opposite end of the spectrum. Staring at a nine-point deficit with under seven minutes to play, the Haskins borthers banded together to keep their seasons alive.DJ Haskins scored eight points in a crucial 16-0 fourth-quarter run and Jovani hit all eight of his free-throws down the stretch as Bergenfield rallied to take the lead and then held on late to advance to the Group 3 state final with a thrilling 52-51 triumph over Colonia at East Orange Campus High School.“This game was crazy. We just had to keep our heads up and keep fighting no matter what the score was,” said DJ Haskins. “I tried to will my team any way I could. I have to be honest and say I was pretty tired and we had our hands full against a really good team. But we kept working hard and got the job done.”Bergenfield held a two-point lead at the end of the first quarter only to see Colonia's Trevor Bevilacqua come off the bench and change the momentum of the game in a matter of seconds. He hit 3-pointers on the Patriots' first two possessions of the second quarter to give them a 14-10 lead. Guard JJ Corbett and undersized forward Kolby Champman each scored a pair of baskets in the final minutes as Colonia extended the lead to six by halftime, 24-18.In the first half and throughout the third quarter, Colonia controlled the pace and neutralized Jovani Haskins inside. The lead was still six entering the fourth quarter and it grew as large as nine at 38-29 with 6:42 to play on consecutive baskets inside from Pat Nagnib. Something had to happen for the Bears and happen fast...and then it did.In a 20-second span, Jovani Haskins scored on a transition layup and did so again after a second quick shot in a row by the Patriots. This time he was fouled while making the layup and converted the free throw to trim the lead to four, 38-34, with a tick under five minutes remaining in regulation. Lenard Ballosa gave the Bears their first lead since the opening seconds of the second quarter with a 3-pointer from the corner and DJ Haskins followed with another layup. After scoring just 29 points in the first 25-plus minutes, they needed less than four minutes to rip off a 16-0 run.“We knew our run was coming but we were running out of time,” added DJ Haskins. “It was a rough start but we had to pick it up and let our minds take over our bodies in the fourth quarter. The biggest thing for us that we never got down on each other and we kept playing hard. It's all about heart. We had to dig deep and want it more than they did.”Bergenfield went from down nine to up seven with just over two minutes to play, but the Patriots showed they had plenty of fight left. Brandon Haines had a steal and a layup high off the glass to cut the lead to one with less than a minute to play before Jovani Haskins got fouled. Not known for his free throw shooting, Jovani came up big in the final minutes. He hit a pair of foul shots to make it 48-45, but it was still a one-possession game.Chase Barneys nearly tied it for Colonia with a 3, but it hit off the back iron with Jovani Haskins, a junior forward, securing the rebound before sinking two more free-throws with 21.7 seconds remaining. Barneys made good the next time down with a long-range bomb that cut it back to two with 11.6 seconds remaining. Jovani Haskins then iced the game with 5.4 seconds left by hitting two more free throws. It was a good thing that he hit both as Barneys nailed an off-balance 3 at the buzzer for the final margin as Bergenfield survived and advanced to the Group 3 state final.“We played with so much heart and found a way to get it done against a very good, very disciplined team,” said Bergenfield head coach Marty Rivard, Bergen County's all-time career wins leader who is taking his second school to a state final after doing it twice at Cresskill. “When we got to the fourth quarter we just got a few breaks early and increased the pressure. Colonia is an excellent defensive team and we had to get some points in transition to get us going. Once we got going, you saw our energy level pick up and we just carried it through the end of the game. During that run, I didn't have to do a whole lot of coaching because we were so focused on what we had to do.”DJ Haskins scored 11 of his game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter to lead Bergenfield (19-5). Jovani Haskins nailed all eight of his fourth-quarter free-throws, six of them coming in the final minute, to finish with 13 points along with a game-high 11 rebounds.Barneys, a junior guard, led the way for Colonia (24-5) with 14 points, six rebounds, and three steals. Corbett and Haines added eight points apiece.Bergenfield will play for the Group 3 state title on Sunday and will face Ewing and its 2,000-point Temple-bound scoring guard Trey Lowe at the Rutgers Athletic Center on the campus of Rutgers University in Piscataway. With nothing to lose and a state title on the line, the Bears look to add one more piece of hardware to their already historic season.“We knew we'd be a real good team this year, but playing in a state final down at Rutgers is like a dream come true,” said Jovani Haskins, a 6-foot-4 junior who has multiple Division 1 scholarship offers as a tight end in football. “Winning a section title is great and winning a game like this to keep our season going is just as exciting. Getting to a state final is what you play for and we'll be ready.”