He had the "ups" to elevate above defenders, pinpoint accuracy on his jumper and the court presence to steal the show.
As a result Erik Torenberg couldn’t be stopped in last night’s win over New Milford, as Cresskill extended its winning streak to seven with a 74-41 win.
Torenberg had the touch right out of the gate, hitting jumpers and raining three-pointers to score 15 of his 25 points in the first quarter.
"I can’t explain it," said Torenberg. "We had a good week of practice. In warm ups everything felt smooth and my confidence was building after each shot."
The game was tied at 13 with 1:40 left in the first when Torenberg took over to give Cresskill the lead for good, capping a 9-2 run to end the quarter.
"We weren’t really missing," said Mike Sanchez. "The execution was amazing and everyone was hitting their shots off the open looks."
The gap only grew from there, as the Cougars went from working the perimeter to going inside to the paint. Eventually Cresskill skidded into a slight drought, but still outscored their opponents to leave the Knights in the rearview.
Phil Morman was able to snag key rebounds and was strong inside.
"The key was making adjustments, and after that we were able to provide that physical presence down low," said Morman. "Everybody contributed and you can see the progression, as we’ve been all working harder."
Even Cresskill’s bench executed to perfection and was able to spread the ball at ease, with key performances from Sumner Weitz and Dan Apice.
"We have guys all over this team that can score," said Weitz. "Once we regained our patience, it added that confidence to put us over the top."
The Cougars shut down New Milford and only allowed three different Knights to score. Robin Rebustillo was held to nine points on the night, while Matt Norton scored 19 points in the loss.
Cresskill came out of the halftime break with monster numbers, while New Milford’s shooting deteriorated. The Knights were outscored in the second half 41-19.
"We came out strong out of the half and it was more of a team effort," said Cresskill coach Marty Rivard. "We just picked up and played better on defense."
In addition to continuing the streak, the Cougars, with the win over the Knights, clinched a spot in the Bergen Jamboree.
"It’s good to be in the Jamboree," said Rivard. "If you asked me if we were going to make it three weeks ago I might have thought otherwise, but the whole team has really been playing hard."
