Kennedy shook off the rust and residuals of their Jingle Bell Jubilee championship lost to Passaic H.S. by getting back on track with a workman like 59-55 win over Passaic County Tech.  Tech was coming off a disappointing loss in the Indian Hills Holiday final, losing to St. Joseph H.S. Kennedy showed no effects in the 1st half , building a 36-21 halftime lead behind the play of  senior Shondel Stewart who finished with 25 points and 7 rebounds, senior Daquere Hayes (12pts., 5stls) and junior Dawon Lighty (13 pts., 6rebs.). The Knights went to sleep in the 2nd half as PCT cut the deficit to 2 at 41-39 to end the 3rd. Kennedy committed 9 turnovers in the quarter as sophomore Asaad Hinton (16pts, 4stls) and senior Terrell McDuffie (12pts,5 rebs) led the comeback. Tech also had to overcome the fact that their two top players, junior Brandon James and junior Xavier Nieves both had subpar games. James did manage 7 assists and Nieves hit a couple of 3’s at the end of the game, but Stewart hit 4 free throws late to ice it. Senior Wilson Jiminez finished with 8 points and 8 rebounds for Tech, while senior Jaemille( soldier boy) Barnes provided a big lift for Kennedy coming off the bench to score 7 points and pull down 8 rebounds.                             Kennedy’s Shondell Stewart (The Calculator )             

                       Behind 28 points and 7 rebounds from senior Zachary Anderson, Englewood was able to hold off the young upstart players from Hudson Catholic H.S. Junior Brandon Lee added 13 points and 8 rebounds and 6’8 senior Greg Francisco scored 11 with 7 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Englewood led by as much as 16 and held on for the final score. Freshman Travis Flagg led Hudson Catholic with 22 points and freshman Rakwan Kelly finished with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 5 steals         Englewood’s Zach Anderson

                                                      Plainfield H.S. 61                             Don Bosco Prep. 58

             Two of the best juniors in the state met in this Jumpoff contest as  Plainfield H.S. Tyrone Johnson and DBP’s Vaughn Gray each showed why they are seen that way. Johnson had 26 points and 5 rebounds and made the game winning shot  as his squad overcame an 11 point lead in the second half and pulled off the win 61-58. Gray was just as special scoring 22 points with 7 rebounds and 4 assists as he had moments where took over the game. Johnson got help from 6’4 sophomore Dijon Allen-Jordan( 9 pts., 6rebs.) and 5’9 sophomore Sekou Harris( 9 pts.,3 asts.) Gray’s help came from junior Gary Nova with 17 points. DBP’s Vaughn Gray( pictured)

                                                                Lakewood H.S.-   58                      Hackensack H.S.- 56   O.T.

                      Senior Alex George- Sabater’s  23 points, including 7 treys was not enough to hold off Lakewood H.S. as Hackensack had to overcome a late ankle injury to 6’5 junior Terik Bridgeman, who had already contributed 18 points in the contest. 6’7 junior Jarrod Davis led Lakewood to the 71-55 victory with 16 points.

                                                       St. Anthony’s H.S.-  59                 Teaneck H.S. – 45

                                      The score was not indicative of the way  St. Anthony’s dominated the game. The contest was over after the 1st quarter as the Friars took a 21-4 lead and really never looked back on their way to a 59-45 win. The #3 ranked team in the state was led by 6’6 university of Richmond recruit Derrick Williams, who dominated the game with 16 points and 18 rebounds. St. Bonaventure  recruit Elijah Carter finished with 11 points, 5 rebounds and 3steals. Teaneck was led by senior Jonathan Blue and  junior DeQuan Russ with 9 points apiece.

                                                    Seton Hall Prep-  71                     High Tech- 55

       Senior John Caprio scored 23 points and added 9 rebounds, while  6’1 junior Sterling Gibbs finished with 27 points to cruise past High Tech 71 -55.

              Highschool basketball can’t get any better than this. Six games pitting some of the best teams and players in the state. That’s what you got from The New Years Jumpoff sponsored by the Playaz Basketball Club at Teaneck Highschool. From noon to 10:00pm action was hot and heavy in this venue. The featured game of the day was a contest between two of New Jersey’s finest as the #2 ranked team in the state, Paterson Catholic H.S. matched up against #4 ranked St.Peter’s Prep. P.C. (6-0) was playing it’s first game in the state this season as they just got back from West Virginia the day before. The game matched up two of the best seniors in the state, PC’s 6’6 Fuquan Edwin (Seton Hall Commit) and St. Pete’s 6’7 Ronald Roberts( St. Johns Commit) and also some of the best underclassmen in the state such as PC’s  5’9 junior guard Myles Mack and 6’8 sophomore Kyle Anderson and St. Pete’s 6’1 junior Myles Davis and 6’9 junior Keith Lumpkin. For three quarters the game was a back and forth contest with each team bringing out the best in the other. Edwin (23 pts.,5stls) and Mack (23 pts.,4stls.) did it from the perimeter, while Roberts (19 pts., 9 rebs.) and Lumpkin (11 pts.,8 rebs.)tried to get it done inside. With St. Peter’s (4-1) holdimg a 47-44 advantage at the end of the 3rd, the Cougars shook off the jet lag and outscored the Maurauders 31-8 in the final quarter as they won 75-55. PC’s balance from top to bottom became too much as  Anderson(12 pts.,7rebs.,5asts.) and 6’5 senior Jayon James ( 5pts., 5 rebs., 8asts., 3stls) controlled the tempo of the game and 6’9 junior Derrick Randall( 6rebs., 5blks) and 6’6 senior T.J. Clemmings began to make their presence felt in the paint. It offset the play of Davis who finished with 17 points.  Back to back 3’s by Edwin gave PC the lead in the 4th and they never looked back, as that with strong D and cold shooting by St. Peter’s proved to be their undoing.  

  Notes: Back to back crowd pleasing dunks came as Clemmings caught an alley-oop from James that brought the house down and was then upstaged by a two handed rebound dunk from Roberts where it looked like he came from out of the sky! Edwin(pictured left,with Roberts and Playaz spokesman Mark Jerrell Wright) was the player of game for the winners, while Roberts was for the losers.