The Just June tournament that ran for the month of  June showcased a few of the area teams and gave an idea of what’s in store for the coming highschool season. Team’s that participated in the Paterson Recreation and the Playaz Club sponsored event were Paterson Catholic, Teaneck, Don Bosco Prep, Hackensack, Eastside, Englewood, Passaic and Newark Eastside. The championship was played by Pat. Cath. and Teaneck. Teaneck played well in the 1st half, behind the shooting of Kyle Steinbergin,Jonathan Blue,soon to be sophomore Chris Jones and the tough work displayed by New York City transfer, Travon King.The 2nd half was dominated by P.C. behind the play of Fuquan Edwin, Myles Mack, Jermaine Peart, Kyle Anderson and especially the play of 6,9″ Derrick Randall who’s hustle on both ends of the floor spearheaded the Cougars attack. Randall,s energy, especially defensively helped him win player of the game honors as P.C. won 75-63. Throughout the month many  gave notice to the type of players they look to be next year. For instance, Mack has taken his game to another level. All ready an all Passaic County player the upcoming Jr. has opened up the eyes of many division 1 major colleges.  Edwin, who has committed to Seton Hall University was the co-m.v.p. of the league along with Don Bosco Preps  Jr. Vaughn Gray, who has also taken his game to another floor.Gray led  Prep into the semi finals averaging 24pts. a game during the month long season season. The schools also have  Gray on it’s radar. Other players that have shown the expansion of their games were Hackensack’s Bright Mensah and Alex George, Prep’s Yuri Wright, Teaneck’s Owen Barnes, Blue, Steinbergin and Jones, Eastside’s Terrell Spaulding, Allen Dantzler and Travon Johnson, Passaic’s Tyshawn Pickett,Najee Salaam and Reggie Penney, Englewood’s Zachary Anderson and Paterson Catholic’s,  Randall,  Anderson, Peart and Jhamir White. The fun part of the league was watching the development of a few young player’s that are headed to highschool and got their first true awakening playing against older, more experienced varsity players.They included Hackensack’s Chris Meyers and Eugene Marshall, Don Bosco’s D. J. Foreman and Paterson Catholic’s Kavon Stewart and Reggie Cameron.

        In a spectacular display of young talent, the 7th annual Blowup Tournament ended up being a showcase for the Jimmy Salmon ran Playaz basketball club’s 12u, 13u and 14u teams. The tournament featured a number of strong teams around the metropolitan area (New Heights, Metro Hawks, Brooklyn Ballers, K.B.R.Fliers) and from around the northeast coast from as far as Washington D.C.( D.C. Assault) to Connecticut (Conn. Elite) to Springfield, Massachusetts(S.E.C.C.). The three day tournament became a showcase for the three Playaz teams involved. The 14u group solidified their position as the best team in the state, pulling off yet another chip (5th of year) and the  12u squad, the state champs in their age group also showed their worth with a chip in the tournament. The pleasant surprise group was the 13u team. Although they fell in the chip against D.C. Assault, they showed a different spark throughout the weekend. Playing without one of their best players in Nassir Barino, the Playaz 13’s, who have been up and down this a.a.u. season found new intensity and put on probably their best performances of the year. In the loss to Assault they trailed by as much as 12, but rallied to tie the game at 35 before falling 37-35 on two free throws by game M.V.P. Corey Henson. D.C. Assault had a deep, balanced team that had no player score more than 6 points in the contest. The Playaz got great efforts from Nadi Beciri, Jawaan Carter, Isaiah Briscoe and Xavier Fulmore. The Playaz 12u team played in what was the most exciting game of the day against S.E.C.C. Led by Sherman Alston (25pts., 5stls.) and Javon Rawls (22pts.,4stls) the Playaz full court pressure and high intensity proved too much for the Massachusetts team to handle as they were a 62-55 victor. Alfonso Gee and Asem Johnson also contributed big in the contest. 6’4″ Chris Baldwin led S.E.C.C. with 18 points. Alston walked away with the M.V.P. of the game. The Playaz 14u team met up with a talented and game K.B.R. Fliers squad from Neptune, N.J. After a close 1st half, the Playaz big three of Reggie Cameron, Josh Marquez and Kavon Stewart took over. Cameron (16pts., 10rebs) and Marquez (19pts., 7rebs, 4stls) did the scoring, while Stewart ran the show. They never looked back, winning going away 53-39. The 14u’s also got solid play from DeAndre Noble, Amir Maddred and Isaac Williams. The Fliers were led by Evan Hubbard with 15 points and got strong contributions from Keshawn Rice and Fuquan McDonald. Marquez’s effort in the game earned him the M.V.P. As a whole it was a solid weekend for the Playaz Basketball Club.

                                                        NAMES OF SOME OF TALENT SEEN DURING WEEKEND!

                                                                                                           12u’s

Playaz:   Javon Rawls,  Sherman Alston,  Devin Gilbert,  Alfonso Gee,  Asem Johnson,  Markis McDuffie,  Aaron Abraham,  Jordan Thomas         Metro Hawks:  Jermaine Bishop,  Tyree McGlocklin,  Shaun Vick        S.E.C.C.:  Chris Baldwin,  Charles Davis,  T.J. Brantley,  Quadir Anderson,  Jake Ross,  Justin Stewart         Connecticut Elite: Roy Kane, Channing Thomas 

                                                                                          13u’s

Playaz:   Juwaan Carter,  Nadi Beciri,  Isaiah Briscoe,  Xavier Fulmore,  Donte Brewington,  Dereck Williams, Travon McGuire,  Najee Clayton            Brooklyn Ballers:  Tyrone Johnson,  Neuby  St. Hillare       Metro Hawks:  Jerry Mejia,  Khalik Howell,  Hassam Rorde     Connecticut Elite: Tajh Eaddy,  Larry McKinney,  Ian Gardner,  Eric Damon- Bowen, Lucien Fortier    D.C.Assault:  Corey Henson,  Darius Speaks,  Kevin Goode,  Anthony Mosley, Reggie Parker, Lennard Freeman,  Devin Steele, Malik Morgan,  Darian Anderson, Marcus Derickson,  Tumi Onaghise, Marvin Stewart.

                                                                                             14u’s

  Playaz :  Reggie Cameron,   Kavon Stewart,   Josh Marquez,  DeAndre Noble,  Amir Maddred,  Isaac Williams    New Heights:   Isaiah Lewis,  Jordan Washington,  Jerrell Harris      Metro Hawks:  Travis Flagg, Joel Hernandez    K.B.R. Fliers:  Fuquan McDonald,  Keshawn Rice,  Jaheem Woods,  Evan Hubbard    Brooklyn Ballers:  Terrence Samuels, Shamik Sheppard, Jordan Fukes

                                            

    From the minute Justin Crosgile put a DePaul Catholic H.S. jersey on you knew he was something special because he could make the game look so easy. At 5’10 Crosgile has become one of the most proficient scorers in Passaic County history. Justin became the first person to go over 2,000 points in his career since N.B.A. veteran Tim Thomas did it for Paterson Catholic H.S. He also is unselfish and a great passer who kept his teammates alert at all times. His great highschool career makes him Hoops Journal’s 1st Northern New Jersey Player Of The Year. His incredible career has gotten him a scholarship to St. Joseph University. He is the type of player that can seem like he’s had a mediocre game, then you look at the stat sheet and he has off the charts numbers. He spent most of his career being double teamed and still at the end of the day he has gotten the job done. Got to the semis of the Parochial A Championship, before losing to St. Peter’s Prep. A game in which he finished his career with 43 points and 10 rebounds. The sky is the limit for Crosgile and his College coach has already said he expects him to contribute right away. In a year when their were so many great area players, Justin Crosgile stands on top.