By, Jake Karp

With the NJSIAA Tournament officially underway, excitement is building across the state as many teams have already been eliminated, and the brackets begin to narrow.

Caldwell has enjoyed one of the best seasons in school history, finishing the regular season with a 21-3 record putting them atop the SEC, and securing the No. 1 seed in the Group 2, Section 2 NJSIAA bracket.

There’s no debate that a win for Becton, who finished 8-16 in the NJIC, would have required a monumental effort from their Wildcat squad.

Right from tip off, the Chiefs were in sync, taking an 11-point lead just 6 minutes into the game, led by Senior Marco Sozio, who scored 12 points in the first quarter alone. From there, the squad never looked back, with Becton never coming within 15 points for the rest of the game.

But it was an all-around effort for the Chiefs, with double-digit scoring performances from Senior Joe Gianetta (14), Senior Brodie Cook (10) and Junior Aiden Nienstadt (10) as well as sparkplug efforts off the bench from Junior Ryan Keenan and Sophomore Joe Diorio. Together, they gave the fans every reason to believe that this Caldwell team is a true championship contender.

“Last year we didn’t bond as a team as much as we do now; everyone knows their roles,” Sozio said after the game, reflecting on the Chiefs drastic turnaround from last year’s bumpy season and first-round exit.

When asked about their desire to make a deep tournament run this time around, Sozio added, “We have a bunch of motivation.” Caldwell reached the semifinals in 2022 but lost to Ramsey, with a younger Marco Sozio and Brodie Cook on the team. Now, they lead a squad poised to go even further this year.

Led by head coach Mike Fess in his 10th season with the team, Caldwell now shifts its focus to its matchup with 8-seed West Morris on Monday, March 3rd, who defeated 9-seed Voorhees yesterday and finished the regular season with a 17-10 record.

Despite the loss for Becton, Senior Adrian Rozon capped off a phenomenal final season with a game-high, 20 point performance and finishes the season averaging 18 points per game. The 16 seeded Becton of the NJIC, led by 10th year head coach Daniel Balaban, finishes their campaign with a 8-16 record as the Wildcats set their sights too next season following the departure of eight seniors.