There isn’t a shot that Ryan Faynzilbert isn’t comfortable taking.
The shifty Cresskill junior guard showed early on in Saturday’s contest that he was capable of wiggling his way towards the basket and scoring, even if it meant navigating through an imposing Ridgewood defense down low.
In the first round of the Bergen County Jamboree, 12th-seeded Cresskill had trailed the fifth-seeded Maroons from the 5:30 mark of the second quarter, but ultimately prevailed in a 52-50 come-from-behind victory.
The Cougars entered the fourth quarter down by eight points, but Nimi Dotan sank a pair of 3-pointers within a minute, then Jake Lewin dropped another 3-ball to cut the deficit to 50-48.
Enter Faynzilbert’s heroism.
With 1:10 remaining, Cresskill drew a play up top for star big man Luke Kopczynski off of a screen. That play quickly went awry, so Faynzilbert had to go off script.
Dribbling to the left block, Faynzilbert thought he was in position to get fouled, so he chucked up a lofty fadeaway jumper.
The ball bounced off the right iron, then the backboard. Then the rim one more time.
No foul was called, but the ball fell in. Tie game. Under a minute remaining.
“That was a no, no, YES type of shot,” Cresskill coach Dan Egorow said.
“You could be stunned that this shot went in, but Ryan practices his shots in any kind of situation. He is made for that kind of moment.”
Cresskill (17-1) made a stop on defense and had the opportunity to jump ahead.
Faynzilbert dipped into his bag one more time, driving to his right.
Bracket: 2026 Bergen County Jamboree
Draped by a Ridgewood defender, Faynzilbert scooped in the layup to give the Cougars the 52-50 lead.
He had a similar basket to that one in the opening quarter, too as part of his 16-point performance.
“That was the best kind of game to be a part of. We all stepped up today. Defense was huge,” Faynzilbert said.
Ridgewood (12-5) had an opportunity to tie the game, but Kopczynski’s block sealed the victory.
Kopczynski — Cresskill’s all-time leading rebounder — finished with 11 points. He is three shy of 1,000 points for his career.
“Luke is old school Cresskill. He gets beaten up all game. He isn’t afraid to go up for a shot. He deserves the world,” Egorow said.
Dotan produced nine points and Ilai Levin-Gur added five. Lewin totaled four points, and Liam Peleg, Marshall Wood, Brandon Kopczynski each had two points.
Ridgewood’s offense was centered around finding success in the paint. Forwards Andrew Barry and Sebastian Rogers led with 16 and 15 points, respectively. Chris Yevchak added nine.
After not making the Bergen Jamboree in each of the last two seasons, Cresskill will face fourth-seeded Teaneck in the quarterfinals on Feb. 8 at Fairleigh Dickinson.
The Cougars next return to action on Feb. 2 at Waldwick.
