Thursday March 06, 2008, 9:06 PM

by MIKE KINNEY, FOR THE STAR-LEDGER

Senior guard Dan DeCataldo appeared to be headed for the game of his life with his dead-on 3-point shooting in the first quarter.

But what he really did was just point the way for Bryan Dougher.

Dougher, a 6-1 senior guard who knows a few things about long shots, followed DeCatlado's nine-point first quarter with a sterling 17-point second quarter that paved the way for Scotch Plains-Fanwood's 71-56 victory over Wayne Valley last night in the NJSIAA/ShopRite Group 3 semifinal at East Orange Campus.

Dougher finished with 33 points, including 27 in the middle quarters, while junior forward Kevin Maroney added 17 points and DeCataldo 11 to steer Scotch Plains to its first Group 3 championship appearance. Scotch Plains will meet Timber Creek in the group final, 7 p.m. Sunday at the Rutgers Athletic Center.

Wayne Valley received strong performances from pesky sophomore point guard Jason Rosenberg, who had 13 points, seven assists and three steals, and senior center Chris Pantale with 13 points and six rebounds.

Wayne Valley had tried to combat Dougher's long-range ability with a box-and-one that worked fantastic on one account: The Stony Brook-bound guard failed to score on his only two shots in the first quarter. But DeCataldo recognized his teammate's pain and launched a few from deep to loosen things up. His three 3-pointers in the first quarter matched his season high and boosted Scotch Plains to a 15-8 lead.

``If they go box-and-one, you've got to get them out of it because Bryan's obviously our leading scorer,' DeCataldo said. ``We look to him for his points. So someone has to try to step up right away so they pop out of it real soon. Once they get out of it, we really look for Bryan to score.'

It did not have to look very hard. Dougher, who averages 20.4 ppg., buried his first three 3-point attempts in the second period to boost the lead to 24-15. He was five-of-eight on 3-pointers in the quarter when Scotch Plains forged a 34-21 advantage, and six-of-12 overall from beyond the arc.

``I guess their game plan was to come in and try to minimize my shots. Danny stepped up and hit some big threes,' Dougher said. ``That opened things up for me in the second quarter.'

It was the second 17-point quarter this season for Dougher, whose previous outburst came Jan. 19 in a 65-55 victory over Mariana Bracetti of Pennsylvania. Dougher's 33 points last night fell four shy of tying his career mark.

After striking from deep, Dougher took a more direct path to the basket once matched up against a bigger opponent. He drove into the lane for three field goals and hit four free throws after being fouled on dribble penetration.

``Once they switched to a bigger kid, I thought I could take him off the dribble,' Dougher said.

The fearless Rosenberg, a 5-7 sophomore guard, kept Wayne Valley in contention with his shooting and passing off dribble drives. He had six of his seven assists in the first half, including five inside to Pantale for 10 of his 14 points.

Wayne Valley twice cut its deficit to six points in the second half, 48-42, late in theb third quarter on a three-point play by Rosenberg and 51-45 early in the fourth on a three-point play by senior forward Paul Siljee.

Lordley Okarter hit a free throw 30 seconds later and Kevin Maroney scored inside off a feed by Greg Zabel with 6:25 to play to trigger an 8-0 spurt for a 58-45 lead. Wayne Valley never got closer.

Maroney, a 6-4 junior, pulled down six rebounds to go along with his 17 points. He was a force underneath in the second half, hitting for 13 points.

``When he gets rebounds, he's at his best,' Dougher said of Maroney. ``When he plays great, we play great.'