Wayne PAL, Wayne, N.J……..The 1st annual Zero Gravity Tournament ran by Wayne P.A.L. Wolfpack AAU organization with Director Dan Halewwicz had 86 teams from grades 4 to 11 and was ran all weekend with great success! Hoop Journal covered the 16u and 17u event and in the end the host came up victorious in both finals!

 ZERO GRAVITY 17U    ” CHIP”

WAYNE PAL WOLFPACK  69        NEW JERSEY PANTHERS  47

Stefan Minic(Passaic Valley) scored 20 points, including 5 “triples”, Juwuan Carter (DePaul) scored 15 and Jesse Warech (Mont

ville) added 13 as Wayne PAL Wolfpack beat the New Jersey Panthers 69-47 to win the Zero Gravity 17u “Chip”!  The Panthers were led by Rashaan Spence(Mt. Olive) with 11 points and Morris Knolls Carrol Rush with 10! Wayne P.A.L. never was in trouble in the game, going up 12-4 to start the game and  The Wolfpack had a strong Tournament and had different players contribute in big ways at different times! Much credit has to go to the Wolfpack’s team which also consists of Liam Connor( Wayne Valley), Ryan Warnet(Indian Hills), Patrick Forsyth( Seton Hall Prep), Mike Schroback(Hasbrouck Heights), Scott Wills( Wayne Hills), Noah Tucker{Pascack Hills), Brian Ward( Bergen Catholic) and Robbie Walsh( Summit)!

                    16U   ZERO GRAVITY “CHIP”

 WAYNE PAL WOLFPACK 16U  55           HOOP DREAMZ  53

   The 16u “Chip” consisted of two teams that were playing on tired legs as Wayne Wolfpack 16u and Hoop Dreamz were each on their 5th game of the day! Hoop Dreamz was the stronger team early, leading by as much as 14 late in the second half! Matt Stark(Morristown Beard) made a layup with 3:25 left in the game to tie the score at 49, then scored again to put the Wolfpack ahead 51-49! They held on to win 55-53  despite the play of Dreamz Zach Bernstein(Pascack Valley)! Hoop Dreamz last second shot came off the front of the rim! The Wolfpack’s defense led by Jeremy Gray( Passaic County Tech) was the key to their comeback! They had already been in numerous close contest throughout the day including the semifinal win over Rockland County JCB team as Jalani Morris( Kennedy) hit a three with 6 seconds on the clock to give them that win! Three players that had strong weekends for the Wolfpack were Kevin Marfo(Bergen Catholic), Sean McKinless( St. Joseph) and Cheyenne Robertson( St. Peters Prep)! Darcel Wood(Union City), Kyle Greve(Wayne Valley) also were strong contributers!

            Peddie guard by way of Eastside H.S. DeAndre Noble-Haywood has found his place on the next level! Noble-Haywood has committed to Delaware State! He chose Delaware State over Wagner! The tough,athletic guard said “On my official they made me feel at home and said they would give me the opportunity to come in as a Freshman and play right away but at the same time I would have to work for it!”Overall, I just felt comfortable with the situation and am glad with my decision”! The 6’1 Noble-Haywood is getting better and better and has refined his game to a high level! Delaware State has got them a player! On a personal note, Hoop Journal would like to congratulate DeAndre, his mother Janet and the rest of their family on his decision!

Kennedy H.S., Paterson, N.J…… The Spring Fling Session III was Nike sponsored for the 16u Peach Jam qualifying spots in July was run by the Playaz Basketball Club and featured some of the best teams in the Country! An abundance of College coaches were in attendance and in the end witnessed Ohio’s King James Shooting Stars and Oregon’s Team Fast get the qualifying bids! King James being the eventual 16u Champs in the event and Team Fast being the runner-up! The tournament featured a 14u Tournament which also brought top teams from around the Country and beyond as Canada’s CIA Bounce team proved to be the top team in the Tournament with a thrilling win over the Playaz team in overtime! The tremendous weekend of action also had a 17 Open where unsigned Seniors got to show their wares and it concluded with the Playaz Open team winning the “Chip”!

                                                                              16u PEACH JAM QUALIFIER:                            

                                        KING JAMES SHOOTING STARS  93                 TEAM FAST  77

   This game was anticlimactic because of the fact that each team was assured of reaching the Peach Jam qualifier with their semi final wins! But the game was played and King James proved to be the best team in the tournament ! Kipper Nichols led King James with 21 points and Luke Kennard finished with 15 in a balanced attack! Anthony Mathis lead Team Fast with 20 points while Payton Pritchard finished with 18!

                                                                              THE QUALIFYING GAMES:   THE SEMIFINALS

                                                  KING JAMES   72                        CIA  BOUNCE  63

Luke Kennard scored 28 points to lead James to their Peach Jam bid! King James can get you in an assortment of ways and they did just that in their 72-63 win over a talented CIA Bounce team! V.J. King scored 14 points, Kyle Ahrens scored 12 and  A.J. Harris added 11 for the King James squad! Bounce was led by the play of Dillon Brooks with 18 points and Jalen Poyser with 12 points! James led the entire way and had to hold on to a late Bounce run!

                                         TEAM FAST  55                   BOO WILLIAMS  53

This was probably considered an upset with Team Fast’s win over the experienced Boo Williams team! Payton Pritchard, a class of 2016 was special in the game as he was difficult for Boo to handle in this tight contest! Pritchard scored 23 points and his teammate Anthony Mathis added 18! Team Fast had loss their wing Eli Linger the night before due to a sprained ankle and he had been playing well so the lost figured to really damage the Fast’s chances! Boo was led by Chris Clarke and Malik Gray with 14 and 13 apiece and an impressive showing from 2017 guard Cltff Coleman!

16U NOTES: Team Final  brought their 16u and 15u team and Team Scan did the same and they all reached the quarterfinals! Scan’s 16u team had a great chance against Boo Williams but fell late 59-57! and a case could be made that if high major Sophomore Thomas Bryant had not gotten hurt in the contest Scan would have pulled it out! Their 15’s lost to Bounce but Temple Gibbs was outstanding throughout the whole weekend! Team Final’s 15u lost to King James, while the 16’s were shocked by that Fast team! The Playaz teams won their consolation games today as the 15’s beat the Brooklyn Badgers and the 16’s also won!

                                                                                              17 U OPEN  FINAL

                                                                           PLAYAZ  17’S    62           CJEOTO   47

DeAndre Noble-Haywood scored 21 points and grabbed 7 rebounds to lead  the Playaz open team to a 62-47 “Chip” win over CJEOTO 62-47! Josh Morris added 15 points for the Playaz who average margin of victory was over 20 a game in the Tournament! The Playaz played with 6 players and still found a way to pull it off! Jahmal Lane led CJEOTO with 14 points!

                                                                                                                        14U  FINALS

                                                                                     CIA BOUNCE  71         PLAYAZ 14’S  70 O.T.

Anthony McNish scored 20 points, Carlo Dubria scored 15 points and Kascius Small-Martin added 14 points as CIA Bounce defdeated the Playaz 71-70 in overtime in a thrilling down to the wire contest! Darius Thorne and Grant Audu were also key contributors in the game! The Playaz were down by 8 late in the game but fought their way back to tie it and actually had a chance to win it at the end of regulation! Marcus McClary led the Playaz with 19 points, R.J. Cole had 18 points,while LeAndre Washington added 13!

NOTES: College’s in the building over the weekend! North Carolina, Michigan, Butler, Indiana, Ohio St., Seton Hall, Villanova, Boston College, Virginia, Rutgers, Maryland, Iona, Akron, Penn St., St. Peters, Delaware St., St. Francis, L.I.U., N.J.I.T. and local Felician!