Highly Anticipated Rematch Between Two Top 10 Teams In New Jersey
TOMS RIVER, NJ–On Saturday, St. Joseph’s, the three time Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament Champion and recently crowned Non-Public A South Champion, will take on Seton Hall Prep, the Essex County Tournament Champion and recently crowned Non-Public A North Champion for the Non-Public A State title at Pine Belt Arena in Toms River.
It is the fourth time that these rivals will face each other for a state title. The last time these two teams met was in 1999 when Jay Williams, the all time leading scorer at St. Joe’s lost to a Pirates team led by the likes of Marcus Toney-El that went on to defeat Teaneck in the Tournament of Champions that year. The Prep has won all three previous meetings between the two schools in the state final. These two teams squared off earlier this year on January 7th at Kean University in the SFIC Invitational, and the Falcons won a back and forth affair that went down to the wire.
Quenton DeCosey was a huge reason for that upset win. In the 61-59 victory over the Pirates, the Temple bound swingman scored 33 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. It was his best performance on the big stage until this past week when he answered Bishop Eustace’s Carson Pureifoy’s 34 points with 36 of his own to lead the Falcons to its fourth sectional final. Dallas Anglin led Seton Hall Prep with 18 points in the loss. At that time, St. Joseph’s was still coming together as a team. Now, the Falcons are finding ways to win without DeCosey having to carry so much of the load.
Case in point: In the Non-Public A South Quarterfinals against CBA, DeCosey only scored 12 points, but the Falcons still managed to win by 15 over its fierce rival. Danny Brix scored 15 points in the win while Karl Towns added 11 points and Jimbo Long scored 8. In the semifinals against Bishop Eustace, DeCosey still needed the help of his supporting cast to outlast the Crusaders in overtime. Karim Awad scored 12 points including six in the extra session while Towns chipped in with 14 and Brix scored 8. Then, in the Non-Public A South final against Paul VI, St. Joe’s had a balanced attack with DeCosey leading the way with 14 while Towns added 11, Brix and Awad chipped in with 10, and Long contributed with 6.
A similar balanced scoring attack will be needed today against The Prep, which defeated a DePaul team that gave a valiant effort in the Non-Public A North Championship on Thursday night at Rutgers. One of the big keys to that win by the Pirates was their balanced scoring, which had four players score in double figures led by Spencer Weisz’s 23 points. Stephon Mosely chipped in with 16 points while Dallas Anglin and Zahki Davis added 12 and 11 points respectively. The Pirates balance was able to weather the storm from DePaul, which pulled within four points on several occasions in the fourth thanks to a combined 48 points from Josh Marquez (30 points) and Davon Jacobs (18 points).
Coming into this game, Anglin leads the Pirates with an average of 16 points per game while Weisz is averaging 12.5 points per game. Â Mosley is chipping in with 13.1 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per contest. Â For St. Joseph’s, DeCosey is averaging 21 points and 9.7 rebounds per game while Towns has 12.0 points, 12.2 boards, and 4.8 blocks per game. Â Brix has also contributed with 12 points per game, and Awad and Long have chipped in with rebounds and big plays on both ends of the floor.
Although it lost the first time these two teams met, Seton Hall Prep will have the advantage of playing St. Joe’s already this year as well as experience in playing in state finals previously. Â Meanwhile, the Falcons may lack state finals experience, but they make up for that with numerous showcase games and a very tough non-conference schedule that has included Paul VI, Bishop Eustace, Seton Hall Prep, Marist, Our Savior New American, St. Patrick’s, Academy New Church, Penn Wood, CBA, Teaneck, and Montgomery as well as the usually tough GMC Red Division schedule along with crossover games against Monroe, Cardinal McCarrick, and North Brunswick in the GMCT.
The Falcons were especially battle tested in the last two rounds of the Non-Public A South State Tournament.  First, St. Joseph’s was pushed by a tough  Bishop Eustace team in a game that went to overtime, and featured a scoring duel between DeCosey and Carson Puriefoy.  The Falcons overcame four missed foul shots down the stretch in regulation by going 10 of 12 from the line to seal the win in the extra session.  Then in the Championship at Jackson Liberty, St. Joe’s weathered a tough challenge from Paul VI  of Haddonfield in a hostile environment with a Paul VI student section that was big in number and loud.  The Falcons were playing a true road game rather than on a neutral site.  Trailing 37-33 with 6:02 to go, the Falcons went on a decisive 15-0 tear over a span of five minutes to put the game away.
The last time these two teams met, it was a back and forth affair that went down to the wire. Â According to the Star-Ledger, there were 20 lead changes and 10 ties. Â In the fourth quarter alone, there were seven lead changes and four ties. Â Neither team had a lead bigger than five points. Â The team that is able to put together a big run in this one will have a huge advantage. Â However, the Falcons will be better equipped than DePaul was to come from behind since they are deeper and more balanced than the Spartans were. Â DePaul fell behind by 16 points at one point in the first half, and trailed by 15 in the second half before rallying to pull within four on several occasions in the fourth. Â However, the Wayne school didn’t get much scoring from other sources besides Marquez and Jacobs.
If this contest is anywhere close to the first matchup between these two teams on that first Saturday in January, it should be quite a final.