Pine Belt Arena, Toms River, NJ…. Roselle Catholic changed the scope of the NJ State Basketball Championships by taking down perennial favorite St. Anthony 48-44 and winning the Non-Public B title! Senior Hakim Santil(Interviewed) scored 14 points including two decisive plays, Syracuse commit Tyler Roberson had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds and Sophomore Malachi Richardson added 10 points and 4 assists to overcome the tough performance of St.Anthony’s Temple commit Josh Brown who finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds! In a close game Senior Tim Coleman made a”triple with 2:10 left in the game to give St. Anthony a 42-40 lead! But with 1:26 left Santil made a field goal and was fouled! He missed the free throw but got the offensive rebound, made the put back and was fouled! This time he made the free throw and  turned it into a 45-42 Roselle Catholic lead with 1:21 left! Senior Cheddi Mosely made a bucket late but Freshman Matt Bullock’s two free throws clinched the contest! Roselle Catholic had a 22-14 1st half lead but the Friars managed to tie the game at 35 to end the 3rd! That set the stage for the exciting 4th quarter! Roselle Catholic moves into the T.O.C.!

Pine Belt Arena, Toms River,N.J…..St. Joseph of Metuchen’s big three of Junior’s Wade Baldwin, Kentucky commit Karl Towns and Marques Townes combined for 43 points as they beat St.Peters Prep 57-47 to win the Non-Public A Championship! Prep fought the entire way and this game was in question until about 2:25 in the game when Baldwin’s dunk off an assist from Townes gave St. Joe’s a 46-39 lead! Prep got big efforts from their guard combination of St. Peters University commit Trevis Wyche who scored 16 points, dished out 6 dimes and grabbed 6 boards and Junior Austin White who finished with 14 points! Baldwin led Joe’s with 17 points, Townes had 14 points and Towns finished with 12! Joe’s outrebounded Prep 34-24! St. Joe’s will be one of the favorites in the T.O.C.!

East Orange Campus, East Orange,N.J….. If someone was told Teaneck held a team to 39 points it would be a foregone conclusion that the Highwaymen had won! No one would believe that they Lost, but because they could only muster 35 points themselves they fell to Newark Eastside 39-35! Teaneck which had been a superior shooting team throughout the year could not make shots! They were so bad that they did not score in the 1st quarter falling behind 11-0! Senior Joel Hernandez who averages over 23 points a game was held to 5 points and fellow All-County player Shakir Lindsey was just as bad with 6 points! With their dynamic duo struggling Teaneck was in trouble the entire game! Senior Will Joyce(right) led Newark Eastside with 13 points and 8 reboundswhile Junior Akbar Hoffman chipped in 9 points with 3 steals! give Newark Eastside credit as they were up in the Teaneck players faces! Junior Ishmael Sonago scored 8 points and grabbed 8 rebounds,while Junior Abdul Lewis grabbed a game high 10 rebounds! Teaneck was led by Senior Devaunte Locadia with 9 points and Senior Eddie Pena with 7 points! Newark Eastside will play Camden Sunday at Rutgers University!