HOLIDAY HIGHSCHOOL REVIEW!!

Gardenstatehoops was at as many places as possible watching Highschool basketball during the holiday season and while we weren’t able to see everything we got a good overview of some of the things to watch for in the coming basketball year!

 

Roselle Catholic when on all cylinders is the best team in the State and Kentucky commit Isaiah Briscoe(right) is the best player in the State, South Carolina commit Chris Silva is a great athlete and Junior’ Matt Bullock and Asante Gist along with Monmouth commit Pierre Saar make a formidable squad, but this talented team has lapses that can catch up to them during the year! If the effort is consistent they will hold T.O.C. title!

St. Anthony once again will be there at the end and will not be a surprise if they are having that rematch with Roselle Catholic! Wichita St. commit Markis McDuffie and Junior Jagan Mosely are two of the best players in the State, but the play of 6’8 Junior Taurean Thompson will be the key to where they are at in the end!

Pope John(Sparta) is one of the most talented teams in the State with 5 legitimate D1 players led by Syracuse commit Moustapha Diagne! Junior James Scott has upped his game while Damien Rance and Jeromy Rodriguez each have D1 interest! Guard Max Zignorski, a Fordham commit has been out with a foot injury!

All ways fun to watch Gill St.Bernard play! They constantly attack you and will make you pay when they are left open! Junior Adam Mitola and Senior J.M. Mea lead them as they await the return of Junior Tyus Battle who is the best Junior in the State and in the discussion for best player in the State due to a foot injury! 

After an unfortunate incident in California, let’s hope the Patrick School can still be eligible for the New Jersey States! So much talent!! Judging by the tape they did seem to be screwed! 

Hudson Catholic are talented and deep! They have top Seniors in Nassir Barrino and Sammy Friday and a great young nucleus in Freshman Luther Muhammad and Jahvon Quinnerly, plus Sophomore’s Tyheem Burno and Patrick Strzala! The present and the future is bright!

Paterson Eastside has been up and down early in the season and has looked vunerable! Has played well in spurts but no consistency yet this year! Asem Johnson and Shakur Juiston will have to stabilized this team!

Bergen Catholic has established itself early as the team to beat in Bergen and Passaic county! Pierfrancisco Oliva is a stud and he has a nice compliment in veterans Anthony Uribe and Justin Salem plus talented young players Riley Welsh and Taj Benning!

Teaneck hasn’t seen 4 losses this early in a season in years, but don’t count them out yet because the experience this young team is getting early will do nothing but help them! They have lost to stud squads in Paterson Eastside, Life Center, Gill St. Bernard and East Orange! Leondre Washington is arguably the best player in Bergen County and one of the top players in the State! Freshman Ja’Quaye James has shown signs of having a big future!

Don Bosco Prep made a statement in their win over St.Joseph! Junior Brandon Anderson is their quiet leader, while American commit Lonnie Rivera, Matt Stranzl and Amani Craddock bring Senior leadership! Junior Omar Mostafa is shooting the ball very well early in the season!

St.Joseph(Montvale) has a lot of talent with strong guard play, but their big question mark will have to be can they find a true post player to take some slack off their perimeter players!

Bergenfield has proven to be a tough team and Junior Jovani Haskins is a player! Haskins has been impressive early in the season, leading them to a 4-0 record !

Junior Matt Latka has handled double teams and become a better all around player in leading Ramapo to a 5-1 record early! His supporting cast led by Joe O’Hagan and  Ryan Curtiss does whatever it takes to win ball games!

DePaul’s Senior Debon Bright put on the best shooting performance of the early season in his 37 point performance against Our Saviour Lutheran of New York! The other bright spot for DePaul who are struggling for a win has been the play of Freshman Jamir Lattimore and Freshman Khristopher Banks!

Hackensack is another team that will get better as the season goes on! Led by Junior Edward Emedoh, M.J. Richardson and Freshman Atiba Taylor they have a lot of young talent learning to jell! Sophomore Ahmed Bailey and Freshman B.J. Saliba are two important pieces to a team that doesn’t rely on a Senior!

Passaic Valley can not hide anymore starting the season off 6-0! Junior Jihad Wright, Senior Shawn Ulrich and Sophomore Tito Ramirez lead this team to it’s fast start! 

Kennedy is more versatile than it’s been in recent years as it can go small with their array of talented guards, led by Junior Alphonso Gee and Senior Jevon Rawl and big with 6’6 Ahmad Baker! They are a major threat for the Passaic County title!

Passaic has two good big men in Senior John Oguje and Sophomore Jamir Thomas and a tough guard in Junior Jeremy Greene!

Passaic County Tech Junior guard Yohanly Ortiz and Junior wing Eric Alford-Johnson have been the key players early! Senior Tyree Frazier has displayed great athleticsm!

Dwight Englewood was impressive in their Christmas tournament! Senior Vinny DeBellis, Junior Sean Layne and Freshman Jalen Carey played well and will be a sleeper team as the season goes on!

Paterson Charter in it’s second Varsity season will be a major player in Group 1! Freshman Armani Sexton has already established himself as a legitimate double-double player! Sophomore Jahki Clark and Freshman Jaylen Colon have both proven to be big parts to this teams success!

St. Mary’s lost of Dino Braduric to an ACL injury hurts,, but Junior Tim Klarmann, Amir Hicks and Naseer Walker have tried to pick up the slack! And so far, have done a good job!

West Milford has proven to be good in State but not so good out of State! Left the State undefeated but went on a Christmas tournament out of State and took some losses on the chin! Should not deter them in Passaic County this year

Wayne Hills has struggled out the gate due to injuries to some of their top players! We will see how it plays out the rest of the year!