St. Joseph’s Falls in the Non-Public A South Championship; Paulsboro Punches Ticket to Rutgers for 2nd Straight Year
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ—On Thursday afternoon and evening, GMC Hoops traveled down to Ocean County to take in a couple of games in a couple of the NJSIAA State Tournaments. First, the site rambled over to Jackson Liberty High School to take in the Non-Public A South Championship game between top seeded and top ranked St. Joseph’s and third seeded St. Augustine of Richland. Afterwards, the site headed over to Toms River East High School to take in the Group 1 State Semifinal between the Central Jersey champion, Florence, and the South Jersey champion, Paulsboro. Below are capsules on both games:
#3 St. Augustine (29-1) vs. #1 St. Joseph’s (22-5)—For the better part of three and a half quarters, the Hermits of St. Augustine, one of last year’s two finalists in this section, played the perfect game. The Cape-Atlantic League school forced the Falcons to play a half court game and did a solid job of containing both Tyus Battle and Bree Tyree. St. Augie’s led Joes by a 25-18 margin with 1:10 to play in the half, and then added another two points before Alanzo Frink scored before the intermission to make it a 27-20 Hermits lead. Early in the third, Joes showed some life by scoring 6 of the first 8 points to close within three, but after a timeout, St. Augustine regained control, and expanded its lead to 55-42 midway through the fourth thanks to a 26-16 surge over about a 9 minute span. Then, St. Joseph’s began to rally as it turned up the heat with full court pressure that forced turnovers, and created a chaotic atmosphere with more of an up and down tempo and transition opportunities for the Falcons. Joes took advantage with a couple breakaway dunks by Tyree, a three by Battle, a three point play by Tyree, and Khalif Battle to close regulation on an 18-5 run that tied the score at 60-60, and force overtime. St. Augustine took control right off the tip in the extra session with a traditional three point play, but couldn’t shake the Falcons. Joes managed to tie the game at 67-67 on a free throw by Frink, but then Walt Harvey sank a couple free throws with 9.4 seconds remaining, and the Hermits hung on for the 69-67 win as a last second shot by the Falcons fell short. Four different players scored in double figures for St. Augustine including Nelson with 31 points, Harvey (14 points), Marlon Hargis (11 points), and Mutts (10 points). Alanzo Frink led the way for Joes with 26 points while Tyus Battle chipped in with 15 and Bree Tyree added 12. St. Augustine advanced to play Don Bosco Prep in the Non-Public A State Championship on Saturday afternoon, and improved to 29-1 while St. Joseph’s concluded its season at 22-6.
Florence (19-10) vs. Paulsboro (27-4)—The Flashes of Florence, which defeated Bound Brook for the Central Jersey Group 1 Championship on Tuesday night after soundly defeating the GMC’s South River in the semifinals, gave Paulsboro a pretty good fight for the first two and a half quarters. The Burlington County school actually led the Colonial Conference representative at the half, 25-24. Then, the two teams exchanged leads four times before Pauslboro took control with a 12-0 run to take a 40-29 lead late in the third. Florence then scored the last five points of the third, and 5 of the first 8 points of the fourth including a trey by Mitchell Tanzini to pull within five at 44-39 with 5:27 remaining in regulation. The Flashes were unable to get closer as Paulsboro went on a 17-6 tear to take a 61-45 lead late before Florence got a late three to shape the final 61-48 score. Tyrique King led the way for Paulsboro with a game high 25 points while John Pelligrini and Kyle Jones each chipped in with 10 points. Jabril Endmond led Florence with 19 points while Nick Hazel added 14 and Mitchel Tanzini chipped in with 8. The Red Raiders improved to 27-4 on the season, and punched a ticket to Rutgers for the second straight year with the win. Paulsboro will face University of Newark in the Group I State Final. These two teams met in the State Championship last year with Paulsboro winning. Florence finished its season at 19-10.