Cardinals Suffer Last Second Loss To New York Foe And Former PHS Standout Johnson Stymied In Montrose Christian Loss to Linden
UNION, NJ–If you are a follower of Plainfield High School Boys Basketball, you might have been a bit disappointed by about 9:00 or 9:30 PM on Friday night. The reason for that was that not only did the Cardinals suffer a last second heartbreaking loss to Thomas Jefferson of New York, but also since former P-Funk standout, Tyrone Johnson, who is headed to Villanova next year, and now plays at Montrose Christian in Maryland, was limited to just 12 points as the Mustangs fell to a familiar nemesis in Linden (57-53).
The Cardinals, which lost to Rice of New York in the Hoop Group Tip-Off Classic at PHS back on opening weekend, had taken a 44-32 lead late in the third quarter, but the Orange Wave responded with a 32-19 surge over a span of about eight minutes to take a 64-63 lead. Plainfield took the lead back with the next four points as Dijon Jordan and Jahmal Lane scored layups for a 67-64 score, but Jefferson tied the game with a three, and then took the lead at 69-67 on a basket while being fouled. The Orange Wave missed the bonus free throw, and then Allen Brown drew a foul, and made two free throws for his only points of the game at the 25.6 second mark.
Following a timeout by the Orange Wave with 10.4 seconds to go, Davontay Grace, who had 14 points on the night, hit a last second jumper, and was mobbed by teammates as Thomas Jefferson won by the score of 71-69. The New York school improved to 14-11 overall on the season. Despite 24 points from Jordan, and 20 from junior guard, and team MVP for the game, Sekou Harris, the Cards weren’t able to pull out the victory. Plainfield had come off a hard fought, 49-46 victory over Linden earlier in the week.
Speaking of Linden, the Tigers, which entered Friday’s game against Montrose Christian with a national ranking of 314, shocked the high school basketball establishment with an upset victory over the Mustangs, who were led by Johnson. It was supposed to be a homecoming of sorts for Johnson, who had decided to transfer to Montrose Christian over the summer. The Mustangs led only once in the game, and that came after a Cedric Blossom layin off a feed from Johnson for the first basket of the game. Linden responded with an 11-0 run that included three pointers by J.R. Pringley, freshman forward, Quadri Moore, and senior guard, Elijah Hodge for an 11-2 lead as Montrose called for time.
The Tigers, which actually defeated Plainfield on opening night, and had recently gave St. Patrick’s of Elizabeth all it could handle before losing last week, maintained its lead, and actually increased it to 15 at 42-27 with 2:32 left in the third quarter. Linden had actually limited Johnson to just two points in the entire first half. The Plainfield native started to percolate a bit in the third quarter with eight points, but only had two points in the final quarter. Justin Anderson scored 18 points to help the Mustangs rally back, and pull within two points on a couple of occasions late in the fourth quarter, but Johnson was called for an offensive foul with, and Tyler Hubbard missed two free throws with 3.7 seconds left before Jaurice Jones sealed the victory with a pair of foul shots with 1.6 seconds left.
Montrose Christian had entered the game undefeated at 18-0, and ranked fourth nationally. The Prime Time Shootout has seen similar upsets in the past. Last year for example, St. Peter’s Prep of Jersey City knocked off top ranked, and national powerhouse, Oak Hill Academy. Then, back in 2005, St. Joseph’s, led by Andrew Bynum, and Sean Baptiste, knocked off a Rochester East team from New York that had entered the contest with an 18-1 record.