Seton Hall University……..Senior Vaughn Gray scored 18 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and handed out 4 dimes to lead St. Benedicts to a tough 67-62 win over New York’s St. Raymond Ravens! Gray(pictured with hoop group directors), a transfer from Don Bosco Prep and a George Mason commit showed an explosive first step throughout the game and got help from Senior forward Tyler Harris(N.C. State commit) with 16 points and Sophomore Mike Young who also scored 16!  St. Raymond’s Junior 6’6 forward Daniel Dingle was a beast down low scoring 23 points and grabbing 13 rebounds, while Junior Nkereuwm Okoro had 10 points,6 rebounds and 3 steals and Sophomore Shane Rector who scored 15 points!  

    Paterson………….Eastside displayed new players and a new coach in their 52-38 win over St. Joe’s. Transfers Dave Burgos and DeAndre Noble led the Ghosts to help get Coach Juan Griles his first win in his head coaching debut. Burgos(pictured right), a transfer from New York was just as good as advertised scoring 18 points and dropping 5 dimes! Noble(pictured bottom), a transfer from Paterson Catholic added 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists  as Eastside took an early lead and held it throughout the game, never trailing! Eastside also got good games from Ky’re Jackson( 6 pts, 6 rebs) and Nashian Brimley( 6 pts, 2 stls) The Ghosts took a 10-5 1st quarter lead and never looked back! St.Joe’s was led by 6’5 Nick Gardner with 8 points and 11 boards!

    Wayne………… In Passaic County Tech’s 55-50 win, Tech and Kennedy showed first game jitters in the 1st half as neither team could find a rhythm! After all, P.C.T. is considered one of the favorites and Kennedy has a new cast of characters to go with Dawon Lighty to try and keep the Kennedy tradition going! After a half of shaking off the rust the two teams got to the act of playing ball! The 3rd quarter began on a spectacular alley oop between Xavier Nieves to Shaqkiel Scott as the Bulldogs seemed ready to take over the game leading by as much as 11 points, 37-26! But Kennedy is still Kennedy and their tenacious defense caused turnovers and steals to close the gap to 1 at the end of the 3rd quarter 41-40! the Knight’s then took the lead 43-41 with 7:43 in the 4th on a steal and three point play by Junior Sammy Singletary! Kennedy held the lead until forward Joe Bennett hit a free throw to tie it at 47 with 4:16 left in the game. That’s when the star’s took over as Nieves, Senior Brandon James and Junior Asaad Hinton made key plays down the stretch for Tech, while Lighty, Jahmir White and Singletary made plays for the Knights! P.C.T. was led by Nieves(pictured #2) with 12 points, 3 assists and 4 blocks and Asaad Hinton who also scored 12. James(pictured right) contributed 10 points and 6 rebounds and Scott(# 11) finished with 7 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks! Lighty led Kennedy with 19 points and 5 rebounds while Singletary finished with 11 points and White ended with 9 points and 4 assists!

NOTES…….. Both teams will be there at the end fighting for a Passaic County title. Paterson Catholic transfer Sophomore Isaac Williams made his P.C.T. debut with 4 points, a steal and an assist! Kennedy’s Ethan McMillan played tough down low finishing with 6 points and 7 rebounds!