After getting bounced last year in the opening round of the Zephyr Holiday Classic, the boys basketball team exacted a little revenge this year, defeating North Hunterdon High School to claim their annual winter break tourney.

This year they kept the brakes on the Lions offense, limiting the visitors to 47 points in the finals. That defensive effort paved the way for the 51-47 win to reclaim the Classic. It was a far cry from last year when North Hunterdon bounded out to an early lead, and then kept their foot on the gas, scoring 73 points to knock out the Zephs.

Head coach Jeff Jones has always preached about keeping their games under 60 points to maximize their chances of winning. This year they were able to accomplish that task which was a key factor in getting the win.

Jones also said it was important to get a quality win post the Parkland victory.

"I just don't want them to be content thinking that was the biggest win of the year," said Jones. "We have a lot of games to go yet, and I think we can get better individually and as a team."

They also demonstrated they could play well in crunch time, erasing a four-point deficit at the beginning of the fourth quarter as they outscored the Bears by eight to earn the victory, the final two coming on Aaron Keglovits' free throws to ice the game.

In the opening game against Saucon Valley High School, the Zephs withstood some hot outside shooting from Keith Mosher in the opening period as the Panthers roared to a 22-12 lead.

But that early offensive eruption was offset by a switch to a man-to-man defense in the second, limiting the Panthers to just four in that frame. That decision sparked their comeback, outscoring Saucon Valley by 13 points in the second period once they switched.

"That was really the turning point of the game," said Jones.

Jones said the second group off the bench in that quarter gave them a lot of energy on the defensive end.

They got a number of high energy players into the game, including Ryan Bonshak, Saquon Barkley, Marcus Esquilin, Gianni Sinatore, Jake Buskirk and Seth Rissmiller, all of whom helped turn up the intensity on the defensive end.

The Zephs began to pull away in the latter stages of the third quarter, opening up a double-digit lead. However, Saucon Valley kept chipping away, eventually cutting the lead to six, 57-51 in the fourth.

That spawned a time out as Jones drew up a play, understanding it was an important possession.

"When it's a two possession game, a made three, and a turnover, and another made three, and now you're tied," said Jones. "I wanted to get something that we could execute pretty well, and I thought we would get a good look and we did."

They converted with Brett Radocha scoring, and then salted the game away with some free throws at the end to advance to the finals.

Radocha once again led the team in scoring, finishing with 18. Jones said that Radocha is finding his shot within their offense.

"He's starting to score more consistently, which is nice," said Jones. "We certainly need his inside presence, and he's becoming a consistent scorer for us."

They also got a solid floor game from Chad Rex who finished seven points, as well as Keglovits who poured in 10.

Matt Melosky also had a strong offensive game, working hard on the boards and finishing the game with 14 points.

Perhaps the play of the night came at the close of the third quarter when Sinatore fired a shot from half court that missed the mark, but an alert Jake Buskirk nabbed the rebound and put it back in to just beat the buzzer.

In the finals, Radocha once again paced the Zephs, scoring 16 points, while Keglovits added 12 and Rex chipped in with nine. Additionally, Melosky had eight, while Buskirk had three.