An old fashion knock down drag out fight! That’s what this game was between Hackensack H.S. and Bergen Catholic. The Comets held on for a 48-45 victory. Leading 18-16 at the end of the 1st half, Hackensack held the lead throughout the second half  but never by more than 5 points. Hackensack got a big game out of 6’5 junior Terik Bridgeman who had a hard fought 14 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. He also got help from senior guards Mark Ellison with 8 points and 4 steals and Alex George  who scored 12 points, including the last 6 of the game. The pleasant surprise came from the Comets two freshman Chris Myers and Gene Marshall. Neither player seemed overwhelmed and Marshall in particular had a run in the 3rd quarter where he scored all 10 of his points. Myers played beyond his years and was in the game down the stretch to help handle the rock. Bergen Catholic got a monster game from 6’4 junior forward Mark Richards who scored 23 of the teams 45 points and also added 10 rebounds. The Comets held Sean McGuire to just 2 points and Eric Flanagan to 4.  West Virginia football recruit Doug Rigg contributed 8 rebounds for BC.

     Passaic Highschool’s bus was late getting to the game and it showed as Kennedy H.S. started the game off fast and put the pressure on them from start to finish winning  79-70 at Kennedy Highschool. Shondel (Mush) Stewart, Hoop Journal’s Passaic County Player of the Year  started where he left off from the year before, erupting for 37 points, including 26 in the first half where Kennedy did most of it’s damage. Passaic got to the game late and it showed as they started the game lethargically. Kennedy took a 31-21 first quarter lead and although Passaic made a few token runs that was just about all she wrote. Stewart got help from fellow senior guard Daquere( Da Da ) Hayes who finished the game with 18 points,4 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals. Sophomore guard Sammy Singletary finished with 9 points and 3 steals while Junior Dawon Lighty added 8 points and 5 rebounds. Najee Salaam(23 pts., 13 rebs.) and Tyshawn Pickett (16 pts,. 10 rebs,)were the primary weapons  for Passaic. Kennedy forced the Indians into  over 20 turnovers as guard Zahir Young was particularly trouble as he finished with 8 steals and put constant in your face defense  on Passaic’s young guards. Andre Dixon finished with 11 points ,while Shakir Rhodes and Reggie Penne finished with 9 and 8 points respectively for Passaic 

                                                                                                                By: K. Anderson  Dec. 20, 2009

               Familiar with the classic Charles Dickens novel, ” A Tale Of Two Cities” ? The Paterson Catholic Basketball  team lived that story last night in the City of Palms Basketball Tournament in their quarter final game against Penn Wood H.S. of Lansdowne Pa. P.C. started the game off by missing their first six shots. to go along with the cold shooting they displayed was the terrible turnovers they committed. in the 1st quarter alone PC lost the ball 6 times ( 4 by Soph point guard Kyle Anderson and 2 by junior center Derrick Randall). The period ended with PC down 16-9. Things did not get better in the second stanza. With 6:19 remaining in the quarter, PC’s senior guard Jayon James threw a lazy inbounds pass that was intercepted by Will Brown who calmly  knocked down a 3 to put his team up 21-9. Another turnover by James at the 4:10 mark of the quarter would lead to a monster dunk by Penn Wood’s Junior star Aaron Brown(26 points and 13 rebounds) that put the Pa. team up 29-13. PC did show some life in the period as 6’5 freshman Reggie Cameron would hit a 3 to help his team end on a 11-4 run. PC went into the locker room only down 7,  31-24.

              The second half began just  like the first, minus the turnovers. Ill advised shots and an impatient offense would keep PC in trouble the entire quarter. The deficit would grow to as much as 17, 43-26 with 5:00 left as Coach Damon Wright would keep the starting backcourt  of Anderson and 5’9 Myles Mack on the bench for most of the quarter. With 1:32 left in the 3rd it looked very bleak when the lead grew to 22 at 55-33. The 4th quarter was a little different as PC began to show life by attacking the basket  and playing a full court man to man defense. They chipped away alowly , but surely.  With 4:07 remaining , PC’s leading scorer 6’5 senior forward Fuquan Edwin completed a three point play to cut the lead to 6 and the momentum of the game had totally shifted to PC’s favor. at the 1:37 mark Randall leaped over three defenders for an offensive put back that would make the score 57-55. A steal by Anderson and feed to Edwin would produce another rim attacking layup…. and foul! Edwin missed the free throw but PC had knotted it at 57. Penn Wood’s Brown would make 1 of 2 to put them up 58-57. After PC missed two free throws their defense held as James came up big with a steal and assist to Edwin to put PC up for the first time in the game at 59-58 with 33 seconds to go. Penn Wood point guard Tyree Johnson then drew a foul on the next possesion and calmly knocked down 2 free throws to put his squad up 60-59. PC advanced the ball up the court where Edwin found a flashing Anderson who powered up on the right side for a “baby” bank shot that proved to be the game winner 61-60. Penn Wood’s desperation shot bounced off the rim. P.C. had gone on a 28-5 run to end the contest and come back from 22 points down. Edwin led P.C. with 24 points and 6 rebounds. 6’4 senior guard Jermaine Peart and Randall finished with 11 and 10 points respectively. Anderson, who had the game winning basket finished with 6 points and 8 rebounds. “It was the best of times and the worst of times”,fortunately the best of times ended the game for P.C. They now play the winner of Montverde of Florida and Westchester of L.A. on Tuesday December 22nd  at 9:30pm. If they win they play Wednesday night on ESPNU  at 9:30 and if they lose they will play in the consolation game at 7:30pm also on ESPNU.