Teaneck……….. Senior Owen Barnes came out ready! His 29 points led Teaneck H.S. to a 71-53 win in their North 1 Group 3 State tournament contest. Senior Kyle Steinbergin added 14 points and Senior Jonathan Blue scored 10. Teaneck came out slow in the 1st half leading 24-15 at intermission. The 3rd quarter belonged to Teaneck and Barnes as they turned the score into a 42-26 lead to end the quarter. Sam Pressler led Wayne Hills with 14 points.

Notes : Hoop Journal would like to acknowledge a few of the seniors that played their last highschool game for Wayne Hills. Joe Brandl, Chris Fonti and Sam Pressler are a few from Hills. Hoop Journal would like to congratulate them on their careers. BEST FOR THE FUTURE!

Wayne………..Wayne Valley took a 20 point lead into the half and held on for a 62-54 win over Eastside H.S. in the North 1 Group 3 State basketball tournament. Valley was led as usual by their dynamic duo of Senior point guard Jason Rosenberg and Senior forward Nick Siljee(both pictured). Rosenberg finished with 15 points and 10 assists, while Siljee finished with 19 points and 6 rebounds. Trailing at the half by 20, Eastside made a furious comeback behind the offense of Senior forward Terrell Spaulding ( 19 pts, 8 rebs.), Senior guard Randy Blue ( 11pts,3asts) and the outstanding, harrassing defense of Senior guard Khalil Anderson. Anderson, who had the tough task of guarding Rosenberg dished out 6 assists and accounted for 5 steals, holding Rosenberg to 5 points in the 2nd half. Eastside outscored Wayne Valley 19- 7 in the 3rd quarter to cut the lead to 41-33 entering the 4th. The Ghosts cut the lead to 4  on two free throws by Blue 58-54 with 36.5 seconds in the game, but 2 layups by Sophomore Scott Arkins ( 9pts) finished off Eastside’s comeback attempt.

Notes : Hoop Journal would like to acknowledge the end of the Highschool careers of Eastside seniors Khalil Anderson, Marquis Matthews, Randy Blue, Isaiah Brinson, Travon Johnson, Janif Green, Chris Albuquerque, Allen Dantzler and Terrell Spaulding. Spaulding, Dantzler,Johnson and Albuquerque were key members of last years Group 4 North sectional champs. Although the season didn’t go quite as well as they would have liked the effort that these young men gave was appreciated by this website! GOOD LUCK TO ALL IN THEIR FUTURE ENDEAVORS!

Wayne………………Kennedy Highschool came to play! They got a great scoring game from Senior Shondell Stewart. They played tenacious defense from end line to end line and they showed no fear. But they weren’t Buster Douglas and Paterson Catholic was not Mike Tyson. Because in the end the superior talent of the Cougars won out as they captured the Passaic County Tournament championship for the third consecutive year with a 80-61 triumph over a game,but overmatched Kennedy team. Paterson Catholic was led by Junior Myles Mack, who scored 14 of his 20 points in the 2nd half when the Cougars lost Senior Fuquan Edwin most of the last two quarters with a foot injury. Mack(#2) added 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals in the contest. Edwin scored all 14 of his points in the 1st half, before being injured early in the 2nd half. Five people scored in double figures for PC, with the most impressive being the all around play of 6’7  Kyle Anderson(right with Mack). The sophomore seemed to be involved in every play as his 18 point, 12 rebound, 8 assist performance proved. Junior Derrick Randall added 12 points,6 rebounds and 5 blocked shots and intimidated a number of looks by the Knights. Senior Jayon James(left with Mack) had the task of trying to control the lethal Stewart, but more importantly controlled the game offensively, showing the unselfishness that is the key to what makes PC what they are. James scored 11 points and dished out 8 assists. The praise of Paterson Catholic in no means can minimize the play of Kennedy H.S. Shondell Stewart had moments of brilliance scoring 30 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. He never gave in , challenging the size of PC and getting 10 points from the foul line. Kennedy made a run early in the 3rd quarter, cutting a 14 point lead down to 8, 50-42. Two things happened to stall the run. Junior Dawon Lighty( 13 pts,2 stls), who was doing a good job getting to the basket and hitting open shots picked up his 4th foul and Mack picked up his game. His three point shot and feed to Anderson off a steal calmed down the Knights run. Junior Zahir Young played a solid game for Kennedy with 6 points, 6 assists and 4 steals. It must be noted that Kennedy is still without the services of Senior Daquere Hayes (fainting spell) and it’s still not known whether he will be back. The Knights will now prepare for the States, where they will meet Ridgewood H.S. The Knights should come in with alot of confidence, knowing they competed hard with Paterson Catholic. The Cougars play Thursday against the winner of Montclair Immaculate vs. Morristown Beard winner. There sights are even higher, hoping to become the areas  first T.O.C. champion.The County championship was heard on 1500am!