The dream season has come to an end as Eastside H.S. fell short of it’s goal of winning the Group 4 State Championship losing to Lenape Highschool 68-48. Eastside overcame a Lenape 8-0 run to start the game and fight back to take a 23-19 halftime lead. It all came apart in the 3rd quarter for Eastside as they were outscored 17-4 to fall behind 36-27 and had trouble recovering due to the half court sets that the Indians ran, as they were patient and played on the Ghosts over aggressiveness to get easy baskets. Point guard Mike Celestin (12 pts., 5 assts., 4 rebs.) controlled the tempo and helped Lenape blow it open with a 32 point 4th quarter. C.J. Meyer led Lenape H.S. with 18 points and was named M.V.P. of the game. Isiah Dixon added 13 points with 5 rebounds, while Pete Dinich was a key contributor scoring all of his 13 points in the second half to go along with 5 assists. Eastside’s “Big Three” scored 42 of the Ghosts 48 points. Karon Abraham and Dave Robertson-West each scored 15 points, while Bryant Lewis added 12 and was named player of the game for the Ghosts.

Notes: After the hurt of this painful loss subsides in a few days, Eastside will look back and be very proud of the accomplishment they have achieved this season. They overcame an 0-4 start  to go on a ride for the ages. As the years go by this team will be recognized as one of the greatest teams in the history of Eastside basketball. Eastside has had many special teams,but only the 1975 squad ever went as far as this team has. Special mention has to go to their star seniors, Karon Abraham, Dave Robertson- West and Bryant Lewis. They will go down as three of the greatest players to ever put on the uniform because of how far they have gone the past two years. Two Group 4 Sectional Championships and a Group 4 North Championship. I am not ashamed to say that Abraham has a special place in the heart of Hoops Journal and West is one of the toughest players for his size in the state. Abraham will be attending Robert Morris University next year and while West and Lewis aren’t sure where they will be next here’s hoping nothing but the best for all three. So when the frustration and crying calms the Eastside family should take the time to give these three and their teammates a standing ovation and thank them for making you proud! They deserve it!

       The Journey continues for the Highwayman of Teaneck as trailing by 8 at the half Teaneck fought  its way back to pull off a 59-54 win over Shabazz H.S. to advance to the finals of the Group 3 Championship. Owen Barnes came off the bench to lead them with 15 points while Javae King-Gilchrist had 14. The Highwayman now go to Rutgers on Sunday to try to get it done. Jonathan Blue added 12 points on 4 threes while Kyle Steinbergin contributed 11. Shabazz was led by Tyre Lockhart with 16 and Dovean Boardingham 15.

        Eastside’s game plan was simple. They knew in order to win this game they had to keep their composure no matter what the situation. In the end it was Plainfield H.S. who lost their composure and it cost them the game. With Plainfield down 64-63 and 23 seconds left an altercation occurred in the Plainfield stands that caused standout guard Tyrone Johnson to leave the bench for fear his family was involved. The incident drew an automatic technical foul which resulted in two free throws by Karon Abraham and the ball for Eastside. It was the key to Eastside’s 70-67 win and the Group 4 North Championship. The sad part of it was that it was an intense game that was being played at a very high level. Stars for each team had their moments as Robert Morris University recruit Abraham led the Ghosts with 22 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals and Dave Robertson-West added 19 points with 6 rebounds and 2 steals. The Cardinals got it from University Of Pittsburgh recruit Isaiah Epps with 24 points and 3 steals and Johnson with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals. The game started with Epps and Abraham matching each other with three treys apiece to start the game.  West took over for Eastside late scoring 6 straight points and dropping 9 of his 19 in the 4th quarter. The Ghosts got a strong game from Allen Dantzler, who fought hard with Plainfield’s big men scoring 7 points and 10 rebounds. Bryant Lewis also showed a lot of poise with 10 points, 4 assists and 3 steals. With Eastside holding a one point lead Travon Johnson hit two of the biggest free throws of his career to make it 60-57, Dantzler then grabbed a rebound and was fouled converting 2 free throws himself making it 62-57 and giving Eastside a false sense of relief. But Plainfield’s Epps then hit a three to cut the lead to 62-60 and after Abraham knocked down 2 more free throws, Johnson drove to the basket and got a three point play to cut it to 64-63 which set the stage for the bizarre ending. Plainfield’s Anthony Baskerville finished his career scoring 9 points to go along with 5 rebounds 4 steals. Jibreel Elliot contributed 11 points and 7 rebounds for the Cardinals. Eastside again got big contributions from their ” bigs”, Chris Albuquerque, Terrell Spaulding and Johnson.