West Leads Falcons into Championship Game with 24 Points
NEPTUNE, NJ–After coming from behind to defeat arch rival, East Brunswick on opening night, the third ranked St. Joseph’s Falcons have played with a tremendous amount of confidence despite having two freshmen in the starting lineup.
St. Joe’s followed up the win over EB with a 70-48 rout of seventh ranked Piscataway on the road, and then squeaked out a win at home over winless Monroe. Entering the prestigious Neptune Holiday Jubilee with a 3-0 record, the Falcons remained undefeated with a 42-35 victory over Ewing in the opening round.
Seeded seventh in the eight team field, the Falcons took on third seeded Lakewood in the semifinals with the winner taking on top seeded Seton Hall Prep, which defeated Bloomfield Tech in double overtime, 75-70.
Prior to the start of the tourney, it appeared that the field in this year’s Neptune Holiday Jubilee would present a very formidable challenge for the relatively young and inexperienced Falcons. However, after disposing of a very talented and athletic Lakewood squad, 55-35 in the semifinals, the Falcons look like the Falcons of recent years, simply dominant.
Led by the efforts of senior guard, Letrell West, who scored a game high 24 points including four three pointers, the Falcons jumped out to a 19-3 lead, and didn’t let the Piners get any closer than nine points the rest of the way. St. Joseph’s had 8 three pointers in the contest, and outscored Lakewood 24-0 from long distance.
Seven different players scored for Joes in the contest while 10 saw action. Tyree Taganeca-Ford, one of the two freshmen in the starting lineup, chipped in with 7 points including two threes, and also collected 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. Malachi Walker and Mike Granda, two of the three veterans from last year’s team, contributed with 6 points.
Walker also added 10 rebounds and 6 blocked shots in the game while Granda picked up 4 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals. Richard Greaves, the other freshman starter, helped out with 5 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals while Zach Martini, a freshman reserve collected 4 points, 7 boards, an assist, and a steal.
Leading the way in defeat for Lakewood was Zyheir Jones, who had 9 points while Adi Palmer chipped in with 7. The Piners had seven different players get into the scorebook. St. Joseph’s only outscored Lakewood in two of the four quarters, but by a combined margin of 37-15 to break the game open.
The Falcons scored 10 of the first 12 points over a span of just 2:58 as Taganeca-Ford drained a triple from the left corner, and Letrell West netted a three from the right wing for an eight point lead with a little over five minutes to go in the first period. In addition to the eight threes Joes had in the game, it also converted two traditional three point plays.
One of them came with 3:01 remaining in the first period when West drove along the right baseline and put up a floater as he was fouled for a 16-3 lead. The Falcons added another three pointer to take a 19-3 lead before Lakewood rallied with the next six points to close within ten at 19-9.
West then ended the first quarter scoring by taking the ball from Granda on the left side, and slashing his way into the right lane for a layup and a 21-9 Falcons lead heading into the second. St. Joseph’s didn’t let up there either.
Instead, the Falcons opened the second period by scoring 7 of the first 9 points over a span of 4:16 capped by a three pointer from the left corner by Taganeca-Ford off a kickout by West for a 28-11 lead just past the midway point of the second. Lakewood then ended the half on a 6-0 run including a three point play by Palmer to close the gap to 28-17 at the intermission.
The Piners then opened the third quarter with the first points of the second half on a layup in transition from the right low block by Palmer to pull within single digits at 28-19 with 6:20 remaining in the frame. Lakewood would get no closer though thanks to some timely hustle from Granda.
On the ensuing inbounds, Granda chased down a lob pass in front of the Lakewood bench, and dribbled down court for a layup, and a 30-19 lead at the 6:14 mark. Granda’ score sparked a 10-0 Falcons run that included a three from the left wing by West with 3:35 to go in the third for a 38-19 lead.
St. Joseph’s then scored 6 of the last 10 points of the third including a layup by Walker from the left lane off a curl move and an assist by Martini for a 44-23 lead heading into the fourth. The Piners opened the fourth with the first four points, but then Martini scored on a reverse layup at the 5:18 mark for a 46-27 lead.
The Falcons then coasted from there by scoring 9 of the last 17 points including a layup by Greaves to wrap up the 55-35 victory. With the win, St. Joseph’s improves to a surprising 5-0 on the young season including a 2-0 mark against non-conference foes.
St. Joseph’s will take on top seeded Seton Hall Prep in the Championship Game of the 2017 Neptune Holiday Jubilee on Friday afternoon at 4:15 PM. The last time these two teams faced off against each other was in the 2012 Non-Public A State Championship at Pine Belt Arena, won by the Falcons. St. Joe’s also defeated Seton Hall Prep earlier that season in the SFIC Festival at Kean University.