They Are The Champions! The Morris Knolls High School freshman boys basketball team strikes a pose with its winning plaques after beating Morristown, 58-51, on Saturday, Feb. 13, in the championship game of the Morris Knolls Freshman Invitational. The team: (front row, left to right): Connor Flaherty, Michael Zvolensky, Michael Boller, freshman coach Robert King, Greg Christiano, Rob McCormick, Josh Boylan, Paul Farrelly and team manager Eric Defalco; the back row consists of (left to right): Zach Caggins, Andrew Chegwidden, John-Lucas Duffy, Michael Signer, Connor Miskowski, Jared Schultz and Chris Stark.

Morris Knolls 58, Morristown 51

Championship Game on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2010

Up in Lights! It's official - the Eagles have landed

 and they have a championship, winning

the Morris Knolls Freshman Invitational

 with a 58-51 victory over Morristown

 at Knolls on Saturday, Feb. 13.

Zach Caggins goes up for two of his team-high 21 points.

Michael Zvolensky in up in the air on this break.

Morris Knolls 51, Delbarton 42

Semifinal Game on Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010

The scoreboard says it all ... it's a Morris Knolls win

over Delbarton and it's on to the final vs. Morristown..

Mike Zvolensky goes through the trees to score a layup..

Zach Caggins goes up and in for a layup..

Connor Flaherty gets past his defender for a layup. 

Morris Knolls 49, Randolph 46

Quarterfinal Game on Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010

Mike Boller is pumped after scoring against Randolph..

Connor Flaherty gets ready to fire up a three-pointer.

Mike Zvolensky moves through traffic to get off a shot..

Mike Zvolensky flips a quick bounce pass to Zach Caggins.

Morris Knolls 71, Hanover Park 29

First-Round Game on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2010

Zach Caggins scores two of his 11 points vs. Hanover Park..

Connor Miskowski goes in for two of his game-high 13 points.

Zach Caggins goes left to drive the lane..

Andrew Chegwidden has the upper hand in this loose-ball battle.

MK freshmen hand Morristown its first loss

     DENVILLE - The Morris Knolls High School freshman boys basketball team came up with a big victory on Tuesday, Jan. 26, when the Eagles handed the Morristown frosh their first loss of the year, a 57-54 decision in overtime in a game played at Morristown.
    Knolls (10-3) and Morristown (10-1) were tied at 48 after four quarters of regulation and then the Eagles went on a 9-5 run in the overtime period for the victory.
    Zach Caggins led Knolls in scoring with 17 points while Mike Signer had 13 points and Chris Stark added 11. Signer and Stark also helped Knolls control the boards as Singer finished with 16 rebounds and Stark had 13.
    Connor Flaherty and Mike Zvolensky each had six points; Mike Boller added three and Robbie McCormick had a free throw to complete the scoring for the Eagles.
    "This was the ultimate team victory," said Morris Knolls freshman coach Robert King after the game. "We had some of our key players get into foul trouble but we had others step up big time when they got on the court.
     "Zvolensky had a gutsy performance and did an excellent job controlling the tempo of the game at point guard ... Boller and McCormick made several key defensive contributions ... and Signer and Stark did an excellent job rebounding."

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     DENVILLE - Their top scorer got hot at the right time ... they made their free throws when it counted most ... they got their hands involved on defense ... and they rebounded just enough to deny second-chance shots at key times.
     It all added up to the Morris Knolls High School freshman boys basketball team winning its own tourney - The Morris Knolls Frosh Invitational - with a 58-51 victory in over Morristown in the championship game played at Knolls on the morning of  Saturday, Feb. 13.
    Zach Caggins was the Eagles’ high scorer with 21 points and he got 12 of those 21 points in the third period when Knolls made the move that won the game, outscoring Morristown 23-12 in the quarter to take a 47-34 lead into the final period of play.
     Morristown went on an offensive blitz in the final eight minutes of play, outscoring the Eagles 17-11 to bring the final margin of victory down to seven points.
     All but two of those 11 points for the winners came from the free-throw line as Knolls shot 9-for-11 from the line in the final quarter when Morristown was forced to foul in an attempt to play catchup basketball.
     Mike Zvolensky was a perfect 5-for-5 from the line; Caggins was 3-for-4 on his free-throw attempts; and Mike Signer was 1-for-2 from the line.
     Morris Knolls held Morristown to only eight first-period points in building up a 12-8 lead. Morristown cut into the Eagles’ advantage with a 14-12 second quarter that sent the teams into the lockerroom with Knolls on top, 24-22.
     But the third period was the key for the Eagles as Caggins knocked down two 3-point shots and went 2-for-2 from the line in putting up his 12 third-quarter points.

      Caggins had help, of course. Signer, who finished with 13 points, also hit a 3-point field goal and was 2-for-2 from the line for five points; John-Lucas Duffy, who also finished with 13 points, had four points; and Rob McCormick got his only two points of the game to help spark the rally that sent the Eagles into the final eight-minutes of play with a 13-point advantage that enabled them to hold off Morristown’s final offensive charge.
     The Eagles finished the game with seven steals - two each by Signer and Zvolensky and one each by Caggins, Duffy and McCormick.
     Signer had a game-high 10 rebounds; Caggins added five; Duffy and Zvolensky each had three and McCormick finished with two.
    The teams had met once before in the regular season with Morris Knolls winning a 57-54 overtime thriller, handing Morristown its first loss of the season in a game played at Morristown.
    Morris Knolls advanced to the title game with a 51-42 victory over Delbarton while Morristown advanced by beating Mendham in the other semifinal.
    Earlier, Knolls beat Randolph in a quarterfinal after opening the tournament with a first-round victory over Hanover Park.
    Morris Hills went two games deep into the tournament, beating Pequannock in the opening round and falling to Mendham in the quarterfinals.
    The tournament is sponsored by the Morris Knolls Boys Basketball Booster Club and is the major fund-raiser of the year for the high school's basketball program.

MK Freshman
Hoops Roster

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Players
15 - Aaron Arizmendi
33 - Mike Boller
24 - Josh Boylan
3 - Zarchary Caggins
44 - Andrew Chegwidden
11 - Greg Christiano
34 - John Lucas Duffy
10 - Paul Farrelly
25 - Connor Flaherty
20 - Robbie McCormick
53 - Connor Miskowski
45 - Jarred Schultz
32 - Mike Signer
12 - Chris Stark
5 - Mike Zvolensky
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Coach
Robert King

MH Freshman
Hoops Roster

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Players
5 - Adam Binkowski
34 - Tyler Gribbons
24 - Bryan Halz
11 - Mark Kepler
30 - Greg Larger
21 - Tyler Moran
32 - Doug Olsen
20 - Eric Schrader
15 - Robert Silhanik
33 - Matt Szkola
22 - Eric Turner
25 - Alex Valerie
31 - Brian Walls
40 - Usman Yagoda

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Coach
Andrew McClay

Above: John Lucas Duffy goes up for a jumper against Delbarton. Below: Mike Zvolensky gets squeezed. 

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Above: Connor Miskowski scores on a layup against Randolph. Below: Mike Boller does likewise.

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Above: John Lucas Duffy drives against Hanover Park. Below: Greg Christiano is fouled while shooting.