Red Raiders Defense, Fourth Quarter Surge Lift Them To First Ever T of C Final
WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ–There will be a new T of C champion in 2014. Â Trailing 39-32 heading into the fourth quarter, Newark East Side finished the contest on a 14-6 tear, which was capped by 1 of 2 FTs by Seton Hall bound forward, Ismael Sanogo with 1.6 seconds left for a 46-45 victory over defending T of C champion, Roselle Catholic on Thursday night. Â East Side, ranked atop the most recent NJ.com statewide rankings will try to become not only the first school from the Brick City to win a T of C title, but be the first public school to win the crown since 2000 when Dajuan Wagner and Arthur Barclay led Camden past Seton Hall Prep in that year’s title game.
After limiting statewide leading scorer, Trey Lowe of Ewing to eight points below his season average, and the rest of the Blue Devils to under 60 points for only the third time this season, Newark East Side found a way to top that in the victory over Roselle Catholic. Â Not only did the Raiders limit a team that had scored almost 100 points against crosstown rival, Newark Tech in the quarterfinals, to under 50 points, but they used a combination of defenders to limit leading scorer, Isaiah Briscoe to a season low of six points, after he averaged 23 points in his last two games against St. Anthony’s and Newark Tech. Â Matt Bullock led the way for RC with a team high 14 points while teammate Asante Gist chipped in with 13. Â Akbar Hoffman led East Side in the win with a team high 13 points while Sanogo chipped in with 11.
East Side managed to overcome Roselle Catholic advantages in both points from beyond the arc (18-12) and at the foul line (9-4) with a 15-9 edge in two point field goals made. Â As a matter of fact, the Newark school was only 4 of 14 from the charity stripe on the game. Â The Red Raiders also benefited from foul trouble for two of the Lions key frontline players in starting center, Chris Silva (2 points) and Ganlandou Cisse (0 points) both fouled out in the fourth quarter. Â The game started out with RC jumping out to a 4-3 lead, but East Side took charge with 6 of the last 8 points to have a 9-6 edge heading into the second. Â The Lions then outscored the Red Raiders by a margin of 20-10 in the second including a 13-4 tear over the last half of the second period to take a 26-19 lead at the half. Â Akbar Hoffman, who scored 31 points in the win over Ewing for the Group III title, led East Side with 8 points at the break while Bullock and Tahir Pretlow led RC with 7 points each. Â Bullock and Pretlow capped the run by the Lions to end the first half with a traditional three point play, and a three from the left wing.
Roselle Catholic picked up right where it left off in the first half with a 6-5 start to the third as Bullock and Gist connected on threes for a 32-24 lead before East Side called timeout with 5:06 remaining in the third. Â The Red Raiders did manage to stay within striking distance though as they kept the Lions from increasing the lead to double digits. Â RC maintained its seven point lead until the 6:53 mark when Silva got his only points of the game with a pair of free throws for a 41-34 edge. Â Newark East Side charged back though with a 7-0 run that included a three by Jamar Gilbert, a drive through the middle by Sanogo at the 5:37 mark, and then a jumper by Hoffman to tie the score at 41-41 with 4:49 remaining. Â The game went back and forth with RC going back out in front twice including a 45-43 lead after a bucket by Bullock with 2:39 left. Â Ahmad Harrison then tied the game with two free throws at the 1:05 mark, which set the stage for Sanogo’s free throw with just under two seconds to play. Â With the win, Newark Eastside improves to 30-1 overall on the season, and advances to the T of C final to play St. Joseph’s on Monday Night at Sun National Bank Arena in Trenton. Â Roselle Catholic finishes the season at 21-10.