Teaneck Jamboree Champs 55-53 !

     The public school is back ! After a 9 year hiatus Teaneck H.S. gave the public schools their first Bergen County Jamboree championship since 2000 when Englewood H.S. was the last winner as the Highwayman beat St. Joe’s 55-53. Javae King-Gilchrist, who transferred from Queen of Peace after losing a heartbreaker in the semis of the jamboree to Hackensack H.S. last year, made the most of his second opportunity this year. King-Gilchrist brought a new found maturity to his game this year, and in the biggest game of the high-school career Gilchrist showed onions. Teaneck was down by as much as 15 in the 1st half and cut the lead to 7 at 32-25 after Kyle Steinbergin’s (13 pts.) three point banker at the buzzer. The 2nd half is when Teaneck decided that they could not miss out on this opportunity led by Gilchrist who scored 12 of his 17 points. With 8 of those coming in the 4th quarter. When he had the ball, good thing happened for the Highwayman. He either got to the basket or left it for Shomari Barber (6 pts. 6 rebs.) or Jonathan Blue (12pts. 8 rebs.). Gilchrist layup gave  Teaneck its first lead 37-35 with 1:49 in the 3rd. St. Joe’s tied it on a Joe Efese (9 pts. 7 rebs.) basket as the 3rd ended at 37. The 4th quarter was back and forth with Mike Marchman (12 pts.), will Giles (6 pts.), Andrew Belizaire (5 pts. 8 rebs), Kai Dominguez (7 pts.) and Efese all making big baskets for St. Joe’s. The game was not decided until Teaneck’s Owen Barnes free throw with 8.1 seconds. St. Joe’s had one last chance but could not get a shot off at the end.