Falcons Edge Red Raiders For First Ever NJSIAA T of C Crown
TRENTON, NJ–After struggling at the foul line down the stretch against Linden in the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions semifinal on Thursday night at Monmouth University, St. Joseph’s senior guard, Marques Townes continued to have difficulty at the charity stripe in the T of C final against second seeded Newark East Side on Monday night. Â Prior to his last two trips from the foul line late in the fourth quarter, Townes was only 4 of 9 from the free throw stripe. Â However, with the game on the line, Townes came up big with two huge free throws with under a minute left for a 48-47 lead.
Then, after a defensive stop followed by a huge rebound by Karl Towns (8 points), Townes drew a foul again, and made one of two from the charity stripe for a two point lead with 8.7 seconds remaining. Â Following a timeout by Newark East Side, the Red Raiders went to their go to guy in Akbar Hoffman (6 points), but Wade Baldwin was able to rise to the challenge and force Hoffman to alter his shot. Â The three point attempt hit iron, and the Falcons got the rebound to seal the hard fought, 49-47 victory to become the first school from the Greater Middlesex Conference to win the Tournament of Champions since its inception in 1989.
Battle tested from its semifinal matchup against Linden on Thursday night, St. Joseph’s came out with a vengeance in the first period with a 19-7 showing, and led by 17 on two occasions, 24-7 after two foul shots and a three by Baldwin and 27-10 late in the second quarter following a free throw by Townes and a reverse layup by Tyree. Â After Newark East Side finished the second period on an 11-1 tear to pull within seven at the break, the Falcons took advantage of two quick fouls on Seton Hall bound forward, Ismael Sanogo (5 points) to rebuild its double-digit lead before East Side rallied to cut the deficit to single digits to start the fourth. Â The Red Raiders then took a page from Linden’s dramatic fourth quarter rally on Thursday night to take its first lead of the game with a minute and a half to play. Â East Side’s Jamar Gilbert was a big thorn in the side of St. Joseph’s with a game high 16 points including the go ahead three for a 47-46 lead with 1:32 left.
St. Joseph’s had a more balanced attack though with four players scoring in double figures including Townes with 11 points.  Wade Baldwin, Raven Owen, and Breein Tyree each had 10 for the winners.  Newark East Side only had one other player score in double figures as Ahmad Harrison chipped in with 10.  For the third straight game, Newark East Side played tremendous defense in shutting down the opposing team’s best player in Karl Towns, and held him well below his season average while limiting Joes as a team to well below its season average of 75 points per game, and state tourney average of nearly 82 per contest.  However, the Falcons, which have been more renowned for their offense this season, were just as outstanding on defense by limiting East Side to just 17 of 55 from the floor for 31 percent.  Despite being held to under 50 points, St. Joseph’s was still fairly efficient shooting wise on offense as it made 17 of  33 from the field for  including 3 of 8 from three.
The problem for the Falcons was turnovers. Â For the game, St. Joe’s committed an uncharacteristic 25 turnovers including 10 alone by Baldwin. Â Joes did manage to hold a 31-24 advantage on the boards. Â Miscues helped East Side rally at the end of the first half and surge to its first and only lead of the game late in the fourth. Â The turnovers were just one aspect of this game that wasn’t typical for the Falcons. Â Another was the great start that Joes had in the first half. Â Known for having slow first halves before taking over with big third quarters throughout the season, the Falcons may have played their best first half all season. Â While limiting East Side to just 7 of 26 shooting from the field, the five time defending GMCT champions, connected on 11 of 25 shots. Â Tyree played like a man possessed in the first half with all 10 of his points in the first 16 minutes including a steal for a thunderous one handed dunk at the 1:09 mark of the first quarter, a pull-up jumper from just inside the three point line on the right side before the end of the first, and a nifty crossover move from the left side for a acrobatic layup with 3:12 left in the opening half.
Leading by only seven at the intermission, St. Joe’s caught a huge break when Sanogo picked up two quick fouls, and had to go to the bench with four personals at the 6:52 mark. Â The Falcons then took advantage by scoring 6 of the first 8 points including a couple buckets by Towns for a 34-23 lead before Gilbert struck for a three from the left wing that closed the gap to single digits again with 2:41 remaining in the third. Â The Falcons then caught a break as Townes converted a traditional three point play, and Baldwin added a free throw for a 38-28 lead at the 1:32 mark, but East Side scored 4 of the last 7 points to narrow the deficit to single digits entering the fourth. Â The final period was mostly dominated by the Red Raiders, which had also rallied in the fourth to defeat defending T of C champion, Roselle Catholic in the semifinals on Thursday night. Â Newark East Side finished the contest with a 15-8 showing in the final frame. Â The Falcons had two quick turnovers in the first 29 seconds of the fourth with one leading to an East Side score that narrowed the gap to seven at 41-34.
The Red Raiders continued to battle back by scoring 4 of the next 6 points to pull within two possessions before Baldwin got the ball on the right side from Townes, and spun his way to a nice little scoop shot for a 45-39 lead with 4:27 left as St. Joseph’s called for time. Â After a bucket by Abdul Lewis, Newark East Side got back to back three pointers from the left wing by Jibreel Ahmed before another Falcons timeout at the 1:56 mark, and Gilbert at the 1:32 mark to give the Raiders a one point lead as both the drummers in attendance for both East Side and Shabazz (T of C girls champ) played wildly while the East Side fans roared enthusiastically. Â The lead would be short lived though as Townes managed to get his hands on a loose ball on the right side of the Falcon frontcourt, and drove to the basket to pick up a foul. Â He then made both free throws to put Joes ahead for good as East Side was held scoreless over the final minute and a half of play. Â With the win, St. Joseph’s finishes the season with its best record ever at 30-2 while Newark East Side finished the year also at 30-2, which is also a school best.