Hasbrouck Heights boys basketball team has been hurt by the turnover for most of the season and that was the case on Tuesday night.
The Aviators battled back all night at Wallington and were a three-point shot away from making it a one-possession game in the fourth quarter.
Joe Crabbe hit one of two free throws to make it a five-point game, 49-44, with a little more than four minutes left in the game.
But the Aviators would turn over the ball a couple of times and Panthers' Peter Polan capitalized on it for a pair of baskets. And Wallington's Tom Minieri hit a bucket to put Heights down by 11, 55-44.
In the waning moments Hasbrouck Heights made a run, but it was too little too late as the Aviators fell 61-55 in the North Jersey Interscholastic Conference Meadowlands B division contest.
"I think the difference has been like it has been all season in turning over the ball," said Hasbrouck Heights head coach Mike Cebula who added that part of it is due to a freshman in Michael Schroback and sophomore Joe Crabbe. "I think part of it is due to the inexperience."
He added though the experience for the pair will only help in 2011-12.
Heights senior Varun Shivkumar led the way for the Aviators with 23 points against Wallington.
"Varun is at his best when he is attacking the basket," said Cebula who added about what Shivkumar did at the start of the 2010-11 season. "We watched the film and saw that he was attacking the basket. I told Varun to not settle for the jump shot. (Michael) Schroback did a good job getting him the ball."
Crabbe and Boris Plakalovic added 13 and 10 points respectively for the Aviators.
For Wallington Peter Polan, the Panthers top scorer, dropped 23 points of his own while Tyler Soto added 13 points.
Heights dropped to 8-15 on the season as they head to the last leg of the season with unusual back-to-back pair of contests with neighborhood rival, Wood-Ridge, on Friday in a regular season game and on Tuesday in the first round of the Group 1 North 1 state tournament.
Cebula said that the team will be concentrating on the more important contest, the playoff game, and said that he expects to change things up.
Against Wallington Hasbrouck Heights showed some grit as they battled back all night after tying the game at two at the start of the game.
In the first half the Aviators fell behind 10 and 11 points at one point only to get the lead down to six at halftime, 30-24.
In the third quarter Heights sheared the lead to two after Crabbe hit one out of two free throws for a 40-38 lead, but Wallington came back to score the next five points to take a 45-38.