GARDENSTATEHOOPS BERGEN-PASSAIC TOP 25!

The new Season begins December 16th and it should be a real battle for Bergen-Passaic County supremacy! Teaneck, the Group 3 State Champs are still on top due to a bigtime acquisition! But Bergen Catholic, Don Bosco Prep, St.Joseph-Montvale, Eastside and Hackensack will have something to say about that!

 

1.) TEANECK—- The Group 3 State Champs and T.O.C. participant comes back with added fire power as Senior Guard Leondre Washington is back in the fold after a year at Roselle Catholic! With Senior Wing Jawaun Daniels and Junior Guard Ja’Quaye James two of the best players in the area Teaneck has a great chance to repeat! Senior Guard Adrian Baucom, Senior Center Pierre Sow, Junior Forward Corey Gordon and Junior Forward Korey Pettie all are experienced players! Keep an eye out for Junior wing Jayden Dawson who is ready for a breakout year!

 

2.) BERGEN CATHOLIC— Bergen Catholic has the goods to do big things this Season! They are led by one of the best backcourts in the State in Fairfield commit Taj Benning and Columbia commit Gabe Stefanini which has a talented, deep squad! Forward Mason Foreman transferred, but the Crusaders won’t miss a beat as Senior Forward’s Thomas Binelli and Rhona Eseyade along with newcomer Junior Wing Mike Koch will provide veteran savvy, while Sophomore Guard Jayson Earle, Sophomore Forward Myles Wilmouth, Sophomore Forward Zach Fremantle and Freshman Forward Matt Zona who has a chance to be special, will provide youth and enthusiasm!

 

3.) DON BOSCO PREP— Prep will miss the Senior leadership of Brandon Anderson( Brown U.) and Omar Mostafa( William and Mary U.), but will more than makeup for it with Senior Wing Chris Paul, Senior guard Charlie Bagin and Senior Forward Manley Dorme! Junior Ron Harper is prepared to be a star this Season and Junior Marcellus Earlington, an outstanding Football player is just as good on the basketball court, getting it done inside and out! Senior Chris Lovisolo is a big with a nice perimeter shot, while Junior Jeremiah Paul and Sophomore Victor Konopka are expected to be key contributors!

 

4.) ST.JOSEPH(MONTVALE)— The Bergen County Jamboree Champs are led by their dynamic Senior Guard Chauncey Hawkins! Despite the loss of Guard Nate Garvey(Howard U.) and Center Bryan Griffith, St.Joe’s is primed to make a serious run this year! Senior Forward Isaac Hippolyte and Senior Wing Joe Radi are both ready to take on primetime roles! Senior Alex Lukmann can provide more perimeter shooting and Senior Guard Isiah Charles will get an expanded role in the backcourt! Junior Forward Dorian Hardy will provide muscle down low!

 

5.) EASTSIDE—Eastside has a veteran squad that is battle tested! Senior Point Guard Nhaz Smith is their primary guy, but Eastside has other key parts as Senior Guard Al-Jumu Johnson, Junior Guard Yoheily Ortiz bring experience and have all been in pressure situations on the court and Sophomore Matthew Lee may end up being the most pleasant surprise on the whole roster! Junior Ta’won Grier and Senior Felix Ramos will be solid contributors, while Senior Junior Santiago is the sleeper new addition with a high skill level!

 

6.) HACKENSACK—- The Comets are deep and ready despite the loss of high scoring Guard M.J. Richardson! Junior Atiba Taylor and Junior B.J. Saliba make up as good a duo as there is in the area! Senior Guard Mykel Swanston, Senior Guard Bryce Drakeford, Senior Forward Razeyah Surrell and Junior Guard Toren Portee are key components for Hackensack! Senior Bigman Grant Freemyer is expected to be tough in the paint! Junior Forward Chandler Williams will be the biggest surprise for  the Comets this Season!

 

7.)  WAYNE HILLS—-Wayne Hills had one of their best Season’s ever last year and despite the loss of Dorian Hodge and Joey Kenny may be even better this Season! Junior guard Joey Belli is no longer a secret and is one of the best players in the area! Senior Forward Justin Hodge and Junior Jason Modak are the other keys to this squad as they both have to step up to a more prominent role! Junior guard Justin Wills will provide outside shooting and Sophomore guard Jake belli is primed to be big time contributor! Will get help from Sophomore Jakeem Rutter!

 

 

 

8.) WAYNE VALLEY—Wayne Valley always seems to lose key players, but find others! They loss three key players in Nick Giuliano, Nick Goodwin and Alex Kokos, but Senior forward Elijah Beard, Senior forward Charlie Pollack, Senior guard Joe Scancarella and Junior A.J. Tedesco are more than ready to take their place on the mantle piece! a well coach team that plays hard, Wayne Valley will be in it until the end!

9.)Kennedy—The Knights will have a balance of veterans and youth! They will be led by Junior guard Jaylen Colon who is primed for a big year! Junior Jamir Lattimore is also key, but if he can’t go Kennedy will look to their young ones as Freshman Jah-Mahli Carnegie, Jalen Hargrove, Deishon Harrison as well as Sophomores Joshuel White and Avante Gilbert are ready to compete on this level! Seniors Joseph Shoulers, Tamir Williams, Jameir Taylor and Eric Dean have to be scoring threats and provide leadership!

10.)PASCACK HILLS—Senior Nick Guillemain and Senior Jason Shill will lead an always tough Pascack Hills squad! They will miss Evan Schumer and Evan Lazarus, but Senior forward Kevin Michael was a key piece last season and Seniors Michael Murphy, Thomas Brown and Sean Jancovic are ready for expanded roles

 

 11.)PASSAIC—-6’7 Felician University commit Jamir Thomas might be the best player in Passaic County if not the area and his expanded game will be worth the watch! Senior Quasim Wilson is a rebounding  fiend with a nose for the ball and Senior guard Robert Sierra will man the point guard spot! The addition of Senior guard Delino Dixon from Clifton makes them a force and a legitimate contender for the Passaic County title!

12.) DEPAUL—The most interesting squad in the area as they are young and talented! 6’7 Freshman Elijah Hutchins-Everett is a Division 1 prospect with a huge upside! Freshman guard Zion Bethea is also a high level player! Sophomore point guard Eddie Davis is as good a quarterback in the area and Sophomore wing Skylar Wicks and Sophomore transfer Bryan Henderson will be looked to hit open shots! DePaul will need the leadership and solid play from Senior Isaiah Robinson and Senior transfer Malcolm Mcleod to reach their goal!!

 

 

 

13.) RAMAPO—- The tough minded Ramapo squad has lost 9 Seniors, but still has enough to make a serious run in Group 3! Senior wing Jason Oppler and Sophomore guard K.C. Hunt are the key cogs to Ramapo’s attack, but as always they will go deep in their rotation and wear you down on the defensive end! New squad, same work ethic! Senior guard Peter Gostowski, Sophomore Matt Wingfield, Sophomore John Whooley and Senior Andrew Cucura will be ready to go and Freshman forward Max Pernetti has a chance to be one of Ramapo’s finest!

 

14.) PASCACK VALLEY—- Pascack Valley is good and has a chance to make a lot of noise! Senior guard Legend Dominguez, Senior guard Matt Vasel, Senior forward Nick Baumgarten and Senior Center Matt Domville have been together three years and are primed to make a big impact in their Senior Season! Sophomore wing Alex Lin will be a nice addition to the rotation!

 

15.) OLD TAPPAN— Old Tappan has Division 1 prospect Justin Minaya to lead them and who when he’s on can lift a team by himself! Senior forward Erik Slater, Senior forward Kevin Eifert, Senior guard Mike Patullo and Senior Chris Baker are all capable players who can get it done!

 

16.) QUEEN OF PEACE—-After looking like it was closing, Queen Of Peace  survived and was resurrected! And they will be a factor with the addition of incoming Freshman Center Cliff Omeruyi! The 6’10 player has improved tremendously on the offensive end and that combined with his defensive ability puts him on par with some of the top Bigs in the area if not the State! Sophomore Rajah Cameron is a solid guard with big upside!  Senior forward Justin Thompson and Sophomore forward Isa Brown will be important pieces for QP!

 

17.) DWIGHT-ENGLEWOOD— Dwight-Englewood has two of the best players in the area in Sophomore guard Tyson Etienne and Sophomore wing Jordan McKoy!  Sophomore Judah McIntyre and Senior Isaiah Pean are both solid, dependable players as McIntyre has matured nicely at the point! The trick for them will be the dropoff when they have to go to their bench!

 

18.)PARAMUS CATHOLIC— Paramus Catholic has a deep roster with interchangeable players! Senior Jared Simmons is a solid reliable player and Sophomore Malachi Gayton provides interior scoring! Sophomore guard M.J. Scott is the catalyst as the ball will be in his hands the majority of the time!

 

19.) RIDGEWOOD—- Ridgewood is a solid squad with most of it’s core players returning! 6’7 Junior Michael Schretter is due for a breakout year, while 6’4 Senior Quin Peene will help with the interior play, while Junior Gabe Millstein will be a key player in the backcourt!

 

20.)PASSAIC TECH—- Tech lost point guard Yohanly Ortiz and Eric Johnson-Alford to graduation and their lost will be felt! Senior guard Julian Briggs and Senior forward D.J. Cuavers are the key pieces to Tech’s offense! Senior Christian Przybyla is a good long range shooter, but the rest of the team will be young, inexperienced players who have to learn on the job!

 

21.) WEST MILFORD— West Milford is a deep hard working squad that is led by two very good shooters in Junior guard Andrew Finke and Freshman Josiah Basket! Senior center Bobby Klein is their down low presence! 

 

22.)  PASSAIC VALLEY– Senior guard Tito Ramirez is as good as they get at the point and Senior Nick Melograno is a bigtime long range shooter! Passaic Valley will miss the services of Junior guard Dylan Mulroony!

 

23.) PATERSON CHARTER—- The Charter team has a nice Senior trio in Guard Dazmir Staton, Rahmir Davis and Jahki Clarke! Their play will dictate how far Paterson Charter can go this Season! They will need Junior forward Omar Morrison to be a factor in the middle! Freshman guard Marquis Harris and Sidiki Miller will have to contribute in a hurry!

 

24.) HASBROUCK HEIGHTS— Solid Senior shooting guard Niko Regus and Senior wing Leroy Casimir spearhead Hasbrouck Heights offense! Sophomore Nick Monahan will be a key component this year!

 

25.)  CLIFTON— Clifton has a chance to make some noise! Senior wing Danny Santana, Senior forward Harlan Stephenson, Senior guard Luis Rodriguez and Junior guard Tyler White gives them a nice nucleus! Sophomore guard Armani Brinson is the Mustangs future!