St. Joseph’s Win Over Teaneck Highlights Big Day Two Of Hoops At West Orange HS
WEST ORANGE, NJ–It has become an annual tradition for GMC Hoops. Even in years when GMC teams are not playing in the Hoop Group Tip-Off Classic, the site has still managed to make the pilgrimage to wherever this showcase is being held to see some of the best boys basketball programs in the state go head to head. For 11 straight years, the site has taken in this event, and in six of those years, a GMC team has competed.
With the exception of last year when North Brunswick was a last minute entry to play the host school, West Orange, the GMC has been solely represented by St. Joseph’s. The Falcons, which have participated in the showcase in three out of the last four seasons, have not had a lot of success in the event. Entering its Sunday evening game against Teaneck, St. Joe’s was 0-5 including a 53-49 loss at the hands of the Highwaymen last season.
This year, the two schools put on another entertaining game. After a fast start by Joes that had the Falcons up 8-4 midway through the first thanks to six points from Immaculata transfer Wade Baldwin (27 points) on a traditional three point play, and a three from beyond the top of the key, the Metuchen school struggled, and Teaneck took advantage behind Shaakir Lindsey (16 points) and Joel Hernandez (19 points) to take an 18-16 halftime lead. Both teams picked up the pace offensively in the second half, and level of play went up significantly.
St. Joe’s appeared to take command behind Kentucky bound Karl Towns, who scored 16 of his 18 points in the final two periods of regulation and overtime. Encouraged to take over the game by his father, and Piscataway Tech head coach, Karl Sr., Towns went to work at both ends of the floor with numerous blocked shots, and baskets in the paint no matter what Teaneck player got into his way. The momentum began to shift though when Towns was called for a traveling violation late in the third. Teaneck then stormed back with a 12-4 run to tie the game at 34-34 heading into the fourth.
Hernandez, who was one of the heroes in last year’s win for Teaneck with a four point play in the final minutes, scored 7 points including a fadeaway at the buzzer while Lindsey added a three point play to spark the rally. Trailing 30-22 with less than three minutes to go in the frame, the Highwaymen, defending North Jersey Section 1 Group III champions, scored 10 unanswered points in just 1:47 to take a 32-30 lead with under a minute to go in the period. St. Joe’s wrestled the lead back with the next four points including a score by McCarrick transfer Marques Townes (13 points) for his first points of the game, and a 34-32 lead with 14 seconds to go in the period. However, Hernandez came back down the floor, got an offensive rebound, and threw up a fadeaway shot from about the foul line as time expired to knot the game again at 34-34.
The fourth quarter was back and forth. Like the third period when Joes went on a 14-2 tear to open the second half, the Falcons came out swinging with a 7-2 run to take a 41-36 lead. Teaneck would respond though with a 9-4 spurt including a runner by Lindsey midway through the quarter to tie the game up at 45-45. For the next eight minutes, the two teams would slug it out like two heavyweight fighters in a prize fight. In a game where there were 9 lead changes and 9 ties and neither team having a lead bigger than eight points, the lead changed hands seven times with the score deadlocked on another five occasions. Neither team led by more than three points until the final 8.4 seconds of the game.
Lavrone Green-Reels also helped Teaneck with a couple timely threes to put the Bergen County school ahead at 48-47 and tie the score at 54-54. However, towards the end of regulation, St. Joseph’s seemed to have the upper hand with a three point lead on a couple of occasions, and a two point lead and the ball with 14 seconds left, but the Falcons, which missed their last 10 foul shots of regulation, got a missed pair of free throws from Baldwin at the 13 second mark, another missed pair from Townes at the 8.4 second mark, and two more misses from Towns with seven seconds left in the fourth. Given new life, Lindsey and his teammates took advantage as the diminutive playmaker drove the length of the court following the inbounds, and dished to Myles McLeod for a layup at the buzzer to tie the game at 58-58.
In the overtime, the two teams continued to spar with three lead changes and a tie over a 51 second span before Baldwin scored with just under a minute remaining, and then made two free throws with under 10 seconds left for a 67-63 lead. Teaneck made things interesting though in the final seconds with a three at the one second mark, but St. Joseph’s was able to inbound the ball to mid court as time ran out for the 67-66 win. Of the six contests played on Sunday, and the four games seen by GMC Hoops, the battle between the Highwaymen and the Falcons was the best of the day. The five other contests on Sunday were all decided by double-digits. Roselle Catholic defeated Pope John XXIII of Sparta (71-58), St. Anthony’s rolled past Neptune (64-28), and St. Benedict’s cruised by Wilbraham and Monson of Massachusetts (57-39).
Earlier in the day, in the Battle of Lions, Pope John led by three at the half, and got the first points of the third quarter to take a 31-26 lead, but Roselle Catholic turned up the heat thanks to the efforts of Tyler Roberson (game MVP with 22 points and 12 rebounds), Hakim Santil (17 points and 5 steals) as it closed out the game with a 45-27 surge including several highlight reel dunks for the win. Trenton Catholic transfer, Malachi Richardson added 10 points and 6 assists while Hakim Still chipped in with 10 and freshman guard, Asante Gist tallied 8 points including a three in the fourth that put RC up by nine at 59-50. Freshman Bryce Aiken led Pope John in a losing cause with a dazzling performance of 24 points to earn team MVP honors for the Sparta school.
Despite losing the likes of Jerome Frink and Kyle Anderson to graduation, St. Anthony’s still showed that it is still the best team in the state and perhaps nationally as it extended its winning streak to 66 games. It didn’t start out pretty though as the Friars committed two turnovers in the first 51 seconds and Neptune jumped out to a 4-0 lead at the 6:36 mark of the first on a couple of baskets including one by Keith Kirkwood. It would be the only lead the Scarlet Fliers had in the game. St. Anthony’s ended the period on a 22-1 tear including a couple threes by Temple bound senior and game MVP Josh Brown (17 points) and a three point play by Hallice Cooke to take a 22-5 lead. The Friars were never threatened after that as their signature defense suffocated Neptune’s offense, and they ran their smooth fast break to perfection. Neptune got 12 points from game MVP Spencer Hubbard in the loss.
In the finale, St. Benedict’s led by as many as 24 points in the second half as its stifling defense limited the Titans of Wilbraham and Monson to just 13 points over the first 21 minutes of the game. However, the Grey Bees did have some ups and downs during the contest, and the visitors from Massachusetts managed to make a couple runs that made things interesting for a while. In the end though, the team from Newark was too much. Led by game MVP and Syracuse bound senior, Tyler Ennis (20 points), and Isaiah Briscoe (17 points), the Grey Bees didn’t let the Titans get any closer than 12 points midway through the fourth. Briscoe, who was shaken up earlier in the game, came back into the contest in the second period to make two threes that sparked a 10-2 spurt to end the half with a 27-13 lead. Briscoe then added one of two from the line after getting intentionally fouled on a breakaway. Prior to that, WMA had crept to within six after trailing 16-5 in the early second period.
Plainfield and West Orange started the day with a bit of a defensive slugfest as the Cardinals defeated the Mountaineers by the score of 37-24 to open their season. Despite losing their entire starting five from last year’s TOC finals appearance including Justin Sears (Yale) and Sekou Harris (FDU), the Cardinals are still expected to be one of the top teams in Union County again this year. Following that, Hudson Catholic, the Non-Public B North runner-up last season, rolled to a 64-46 win over HCIAA rival St. Peter’s Prep of Jersey City. Led by Kavon Stewart (17 points), who is heading to Robert Morris next year, the Hawks went on a 12-2 run in the second to take a 25-12 halftime lead.