Hawthorne, N.J……..In the biggest win since a 2006 victory over Wayne Valley in the Passaic County Tournament, Hawthorne Christian handled their big night with a tough 53-46 win over Dwight-Englewood! While Hawthorne Christian is 11-1, there were still questions on the legitimacy of the squad! Dwight-Englewood is a legitimate challenge and Hawthorne Christian took their best shot and still hung on! Senior Paul Little(pictured) was the man for the Defenders! He scored 18 points and overcame cramps to his legs late in the contest! Sophomore Alex Thomas added 12 points and Senior Nick Aust chipped in 11! Hawthorne Christian took a 26-16 lead at the half, but the Bulldogs came out in the 3rd and outscored their opponent 19 to 11 to cut the lead to 37-35! The 4th wasn’t decided until Sophomore Chris Aust hit clutch free throws late in the game to ice it! Dwight-Englewood was led by Senior Wesley Dickinson who scored 16 points despite being under the weather and Junior Keion Osbourne with 11 points! Hawthorne Christian improved to 12-1, while Dwight-Englewood fell to 10-3!

Ridgewood, N.J……… Ridgewood solidified their bid in the Bergen County Jamboree in convincing style, beating unbeaten Old Tappan 64-50! Senior Evan Bartlik(pictured) was a man on a mission as his offensive energy ignited his Ridgewood teammates! His play and that of Senior Alex Cohen and Senior Stephan Senguin was more than Old Tappan could withstand! Bartlik scored 24 points and opened the way for Cohen, who scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds! Senguin played a strong point guard game with 11 points, 7 assists and 4 steals! Ridgewood, who improved to 9-5 also got good efforts from Senior Anthony Balboa(8pts,9rebs) and Senior Jon Edgehill(5stls)! Old Tappan which fell to 11-1 was led by Senior Dan Brogan who scored 19 points and 7 rebounds, Junior Troy McLaughlin with 11 points and Mason Vialonga with 10 points!

Paterson,N.J……..Senior DeAndre Noble-Haywood hit two free throws in overtime to help Eastside sneak out of their place with a 46-44 victory over Passaic County Tech! Tech was ready to play as each team had trouble finding a consistent flow offensively! The three point shooting of Senior Aazaad Hinton kept Tech in the game and Junior Isaac Williams sent the game into overtime with a floater to make it 39-39! Noble-Haywood finished with a hard fought 15 points with 6 rebounds and Senior Ky’re Jackson added 13 points and 10 rebounds and battled with Tech Senior Jarrod Sykes all night on the boards! Hinton finished with 15 points, while Williams added 9 points! Sykes finished with 12 boards!(Story By: D. Wilbur)