Kennedy H.S. and Passaic H.S. will go against each other for the second time already this season as each advanced to the Playaz Basketball Club 2nd annual Jingle Bells Jubilee Holiday tournament championship game. Kennedy advanced by beating Teaneck H.S. in overtime, while Passaic overcame a tough  Bloomfield Tech.

                                                   Kennedy H.S. – 95                         Teaneck H.S. – 92   O.T.

 It can’t get any better than this! Kennedy and Teaneck put on a show for the packed crowd at Paterson Catholic H.S. gym where the Jubilee is being held. Kennedy, behind the outstanding play of senior Shondel Stewart and senior Daquere Hayes outlasted the Highwaymen in overtime 95-92. It was an up and down game with plenty of spurts by each team as momentum constantly switch from one to the other. In the long run ,no one on Teaneck could stop the offensive game of Stewart. Nicknamed Mush, he scored 42 points and added 9 rebounds in a dominating shooting performance. Hayes was also brilliant scoring 26 points and adding 5 steals. Teaneck also had individuals come up with high quality games. Senior Kyle Steinbergin scored 23 points and had  4 steals, senior guard Owen Barnes produced 22 points ,along with 7 assists and 6 steals, senior Travon King added 15 points and 7 rebounds and senior Jonathan Blue contributed 13 points and 8 rebounds. Blue converted 2 free throws to give Teaneck a late lead 83-81 ,but Stewart hit a runner with 6 seconds left to tie the game and send it into overtime at 83.  The session began fast with Stewart hitting a jumper and Steinbergin answering back with a jumper of his own. Hayes, Barnes and King all had moments in the overtime. With Kennedy up by 2 Barnes got the steal and was fouled attempting a shot. Unfortunately he missed the first after already converting 9 in the game. He then had to miss the second on purpose but a lane violation nullified it and Kennedy walked out with a squeaker after Stewarts free throw iced it.               

                                       Notes: Teaneck’s Travon King left quite an impression when he took off from inside the paint to throw down a monster dunk over a Kennedy defender that brought the house down! The play was negated as the referee called him on a charge! Very questionable!

                                                       Passaic H.S. – 62                         Bloomfield Tech – 56

               Behind the strong play of Senior forward Najee Salaam, Passaic held off a late Bloomfield Tech rally  to reach the finals of the Jingle Bells Jubilee title game with a 62-56 win. Salaam produced a double double with 15 points and 12 rebounds as, for the second day in a row they took an 11 point lead into the 4th quarter and held on. Salaam got help from Senior Tyshawn Pickett with 16 points and 7 rebounds, sophomore Reggie Pennie’s 14 points and 8 rebounds and junior Andre Dixon with 11 points and 5 rebounds and two outstanding blocks on breakaway layup attempts by Tech. Rashid Subur led Bloomfield Tech with 19 points and 6 rebounds. Passaic will face Kennedy Tuesday. Kennedy won the first matchup 79-70 at home. 

                                                                 CBA  -54                                   Don Bosco Prep – 50

                Senior guard Roy Mabrey had 14 points and 6 rebounds and got help from junior Matt McMullen with 13 points and  junior J.P.Koury’s 11 as CBA will play in the fifth place game by defeating Don Bosco Prep 54-50. The Colts held Prep’s high scoring Vaughn Gray to 15 points. Nick Nova added 14 points and 6’9 sophomore Mike Tobey had 8 points and 7 rebounds.

                                           Schedule for Tuesday Dec. 29,2009 :

 3:30pm:      Hudson Catholic  vs.  Christian Brothers Academy

 5:15pm:       Teaneck H.S.    vs.        Bloomfield Tech

 7:00pm:      Kennedy H.S.   vs.     Passaic H.S.

               Teaneck, Passaic and Kennedy highschool all won their  games in The Playaz Basketball Club 2nd annual Jingle Bells Jubilee Holiday tournament. Don Bosco Prep fell in their opening round contest: 

                                                               Teaneck H.S.- 76                      Newark Tech -50

                 Senior  Kyle Steinbergin drained 5 threes and  sophomore Chris Jones scored 18 points enroute to a 76-50 Teaneck win over Newark Tech. Steinbergin finished with 19 points and 3’s seemed to get deeper and deeper as the game went on and Jones continued to make mid range jumpers throughout. Teaneck got a strong game from reserve Junior Branden Davis who came off the bench to score 17 points and collect 7 rebounds. He, along with Junior Justin Hodge picked up the defensive intensity for the Highwaymen as they took a 21-21 tie in the 1st and turned it into a 62-41 blow out by the end of the 3rd quarter. Newark Tech was led by Kazim Jones with 12 and freshman Jared Hall added 9.

                                                                   Passaic H.S. – 57                   Christian Brothers Academy – 56

            Junior Shakir Rhodes knocked down a 3 point shot with 0:0 seconds on the clock as Passaic stunned CBA 57-56.  Passaic took an 11 point lead into the final quarter, but CBA behind the shooting of Junior J.P. Khoury(27 points) and Nick McMullen( 17 pts., 11 rebs.) came all the way back to take the lead late in the game. Passaic got it from last year’s All Hoop Journal player Tyshawn Pickett who  dropped 22 points and added 10 rebounds. Senior Najee Salaam contributed 9 points and 9 rebounds. Pickett hit a bucket with 35 seconds to give the Indians a 55-54 lead at which point Khoury and McMullen each went 1 for 2 from the free throw line. That set the stage for Shakir’s(11 pts, 4 asts.) heroics.

                                                         Kennedy H.S. – 77                         Hudson Catholic – 52

         With Senior Shondel Stewart in foul trouble early in the game Kennedy looked elsewhere for their scoring. They found it in 5’9 senior Daquere Hayes! Hayes used an assortment of ways to score enroute to a 29 point game. He converted on layups and running floaters to go with an occassional trey. His play spurred the Knights to an easy 77-52 win over a young Hudson Catholic team. Hudson Catholic  boasts a team consisting of 5 sophomores  and 3 freshman and their inexperience showed. Stewart came back into the game to finish with 16 points and 4 steals and Junior Zahir Young played tenacious defense with 6 steals. Hudson Catholic was led by freshman Rakwon Kelly with 13 points and 8 rebounds. Junior Danny Liming added 12 points and 5 rebounds

                                                                   Bloomfield Tech – 70                      Don Bosco Prep – 60

              Bloomfield Tech’s 5’9 point guard Asaad Bell had 22 points and 6’3 senior Rashid Sabur added 19 points and 6 rebounds to lead the Spartans to a  70- 60 win over Don Bosco Prep. Tech doubled Prep’s high scoring swingman Vaughn Gray whenever he touched the rock. It helped neutralize him as he had to give it up to other teammates. Junior Gary Nova and sophomore Jemal Mosley seemed to be the only two willing to accept that responsibility. Gray finished with 18 points and 7 rebounds , while Nova added 13 and Mosley finished with 10. Prep led at the half 29-23 but Tech took control early in the second half as senior Kevin Philemon (15pts., 5rebs., 4asts.) provided a spark to take a 49-43 3rd quarter lead.  Bell’s last 9 points came from the free throw line to ice the game. 

                                                                                           Sunday’s Lineup Dec.27th:

                  2:00pm:     Newark Tech vs. Hudson Catholic

                  3:45pm:      CBA     vs.        Don Bosco Prep

                 5:30pm:       Teaneck H.S.  vs.  Kennedy H.S.

                7:15pm:         Passaic H.S.     vs.     Bloomfield Tech