Don Bosco Prep's Myles Ruth wasn't fazed by the sold-out crowd or electric atmosphere.

The junior guard didn't shy away from Bergen Catholic's pair of intimidating bigs down low.

The transfer from Linden only had one thought on his mind as he flew through the lane trying to secure a key rebound with four minutes left in the fourth.

"Just go get a bucket," he said.

After a rare missed corner 3 from teammate Kyle Maurer (Bosco hit 10 of them Thursday night) and Don Bosco Prep clinging to a four-point lead, Ruth soared into the paint and secured the offensive rebound, with one hand, and deftly scored on the putback all in one motion.

"Phenomenal," Don Bosco coach Kevin Diverio said. "That's just instinctual and athletic ability."

"I didn't know I could get that high," Ruth, who likened the Bergen-Bosco rivalry to that of Linden-Newark East Side and finished with 12 points, said with a laugh. "I did not know at all."

The Ironmen, ranked No. 10 in the latest NJ.com Top 20 poll, went up six on Ruth's highlight-reel play and sealed the home victory over No. 3 Bergen Catholic by hitting 5-of-7 free throws in the final minute -- likely securing the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Jamboree (meeting is Jan. 23).

"These games... they always go like this," said Maurer (team-high 16 points), who connected on four 3s -- all in the first half as Don Bosco Prep took a 30-28 lead into the break. "They come down to who works harder. It's not about Xs and Os. It's who wants to work harder and be more aggressive."

Don Bosco Prep's depth was on display, too, with the new-look Ironmen having to battle early foul trouble with two of their biggest stars -- Victor Konopka and Owen Maglashan -- both who picked up two quick ones in the game's opening five minutes.

Its defense also limited only three players from Bergen Catholic to make a mark on the box score, as only Zach Freemantle (19 points), Matt Zona (18 points) and Doug Edert (17 points) scored for the Crusaders.

"I was really happy with our bench in the first half," said Diverio, who has taken Don Bosco to back-to-back Tournament of Champions finals but features a roster largely lacking in the big-game experience department. "We were able to weather the storm when those two guys had to sit. Being able to go 13-14 minutes with those guys in foul trouble and what the bench did in their place was tremendous."

Don Bosco Prep, which moved to 9-1 on the year, maintained a lead for the majority of the night. It led, 19-13, at the end of the first, 30-28, at halftime and 40-38 at the end of three. The Ironmen held a seven-point lead, 53-46, with 44 seconds left before Zach Freemantle scored a bucket and Matt Zona drained two threes in the final 14 seconds to make things interesting late.

But in the end, it was Don Bosco Prep picking up its fourth straight win of the Crusaders, including three straight last season after falling to Bergen Catholic in the two team's first regular season meeting.

"We still need to get better," Diverio said. "We are a more perimeter-oriented team this year and we need to make the shots we made tonight in order to win big games like this. We just beat a really good BC team, but we were at home and it's like, how many points does that count for over the course of a game? We don't get caught up in the rankings or the seeds or any of that. The ultimate goal is at the end of year. We're still got a lot to improve on. But where we are, with a ton of new faces, I'm pretty pleased with where we are."