Manchester…….. Manchester proved that they are much more than bigman Tyquese Franklin tonight in their 71-51 win against Leonia! The Falcons had great guard play from Seniors Amani Dyer#12, Zhimir Butler#10, Tuhray Smith#3 and Sophomore Jetor Brown#11! Leonia had no answer for the quartet as they took turns having spurts in the game in an unselfish manner! They combined for 56 points, 24 rebounds, 18 assists and knocked down 11 “triples”! Butler  and Smith led them with 16 points apiece, while Brown had 7 assists to go with his 10 points and Dyer had 6 assists to go with his 14 points! Franklin only had 6 points tonight, but still managed 8 rebounds and a couple of blocked shots even though he spent most of the night in foul trouble! Manchester, ranked # 12 in the Hoop Journal preseason top 20 created a lot of turnovers as Butler had 5 steals, Brown 4 steals and Smith and Dyer had 2 apiece! Leonia wasn’t a true measuring stick, but Manchester actually looks like it will be a tough opponent night in and night out and if they shoot the ball like tonight can pull off a few shocking wins this year! Junior Wilfredo Munoz was impressive for Leonia with 16 points and 6 rebounds, while 6’8 Senior Chris Chuchill added 13 and 8 rebounds!

    Jersey City………Sophomore forward Reggie Cameron scored 28 points including 20 in the 1st half, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked 6 shots to help Hudson Catholic defeat Hoboken 75 – 37 and go 3 and 0 to start the season! Cameron hit 5 “triples” in the contest as he also got help from his fellow Sophomores Raekwon Kelly who scored 12 points and grabbed 8 rebounds and point guard Kavon Stewart who scored 6 points, but more importantly dished out 7 assists! Junior Marc Wilson added 12 points for Hawks! Hoboken was led by Luis Santiago with 11 points!

Oradell………….In a rematch of the Bergen Jamboree finals last year, Paramus Catholic not only continued where it left off last year but made a clear statement to a Bergen Catholic squad that felt ready to push the Paladins hard this year! Paramus Catholic held Bergen Catholic to 6 points in the 3rd quarter and scored 21 to open the game wide open! They went on to coast to a 73-47 win! Senior Justin Harris was the best player on the floor, dominating inside with 22 points and 13 rebounds! Bergen had no answer for the 6’8 big man! But the key to the entire game was the relentless defense that P.C. applied to B.C. Led by guards Albert “A.J” Pizon, Manny Hernandez and Vaughn Dudley, they never let the Crusaders guards get comfortable! Pizon(pictured), in particular played a tremendous game scoring 12 points with 5 rebounds and a big 5 steals including a steal and layup to end the assault for a 54-29 lead at the end of the 3rd quarter! After a tough opening day two point win against DePaul, it proved to be a wake up call for P.C. as they were prepared to go at it in the hostile home court of Bergen Catholic from the start! Hernandez added 10 points for P.C.  Bergen was led by Senior Eric Flanagan with 12 points and 6 rebounds and 8 points by Maurice Grant!

NOTES: Transfers, Sophomore point guard Tommy Rivera and Sophomore swingman Elijah Davis are gonna be huge factors for Paramus Catholic this season. Rivera had 7 points and 3 steals even though he was in foul trouble most of the game! Davis was also very active scoring 5 points and grabbing 6 rebounds with 2 steals! Freshman guard Jalen Henriquez came off the bench to score 8 points!

Hoop Journal would like to extend heart felt sympathy to the family of Bergen Catholic legendary coach Chris C.J. Donfield who passed away today. Donfield compiled a 648 – 230 won lost record in his highschool coaching career at Bergen!