The public school is back ! After a 9 year hiatus Teaneck H.S. gave the public schools their first Bergen County Jamboree championship since 2000 when Englewood H.S. was the last winner as the Highwayman beat St. Joe’s 55-53. Javae King-Gilchrist, who transferred from Queen of Peace after losing a heartbreaker in the semis of the jamboree to Hackensack H.S. last year, made the most of his second opportunity this year. King-Gilchrist brought a new found maturity to his game this year, and in the biggest game of the high-school career Gilchrist showed onions. Teaneck was down by as much as 15 in the 1st half and cut the lead to 7 at 32-25 after Kyle Steinbergin’s (13 pts.) three point banker at the buzzer. The 2nd half is when Teaneck decided that they could not miss out on this opportunity led by Gilchrist who scored 12 of his 17 points. With 8 of those coming in the 4th quarter. When he had the ball, good thing happened for the Highwayman. He either got to the basket or left it for Shomari Barber (6 pts. 6 rebs.) or Jonathan Blue (12pts. 8 rebs.). Gilchrist layup gave  Teaneck its first lead 37-35 with 1:49 in the 3rd. St. Joe’s tied it on a Joe Efese (9 pts. 7 rebs.) basket as the 3rd ended at 37. The 4th quarter was back and forth with Mike Marchman (12 pts.), will Giles (6 pts.), Andrew Belizaire (5 pts. 8 rebs), Kai Dominguez (7 pts.) and Efese all making big baskets for St. Joe’s. The game was not decided until Teaneck’s Owen Barnes free throw with 8.1 seconds. St. Joe’s had one last chance but could not get a shot off at the end.  

  St. Joe’s Ends Pascack Hill’s Unbeaten Season 61-57  

     The dream of the jamboree title and an unbeaten season ended for Pascack Hills as St. Joseph H.S. who lost to Hills by 30 early in the season got sweet revenge in a 61-57 win. In a hotly contested game Joe’s defense against Hill’s stars Jake Wolfin was held Friedberg proved to be the difference. Wolfin was held to a hard earned 13 points, while Friedberg scored 23 points but was slowed down considerable in the second half. Friedberg battled on the boards with 10. St. Joe’s had 4 peop;e in double figures led by Kai Dominguez, who dropped in 19 points. Mike Marchan (13 pts.) Joe Efese (11 pts, 9 rebs) and Alex Aitkens (10 pts.) all scored in double figures and Dominguez did a credible job chasing Wolfin. The biggest shot of the game may have been Andrew Belizaire’s bank shot from the top of the key to give St. Joe’s a 4 point lead late.

Teaneck Pays Back D.B.P  60-52

     After losing a heart-breaker a few weeks ago to Don Bosco Prep, Teaneck H.S. got their revenge in the Bergen County Jamboree semifinals. Javae King-Gilchrist and reserve Owen Barnes led the Highwayman to a 62-50 win. Teaneck turned the heat up defensively in the 2nd half after being down 27-23. Gilchrist had 13 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals and did a tremendous defensive job on Pre’s Mike Dudas who shot 1-9 for the game and 0-5 from the three line.The surprise for Teaneck was the play of guard Owen Barnes. A starter early in the season, Barnes came off the bench to score 17 points and was part of the 12-0 run to start the 2nd half that made a 27-23 deficit into a 35-27 lead. Prep could never get the lead back even though they cout it to 2. Shomari
Barber (12pts.) Kyle Steinbergin (10 pts. 7 fts.) and Jonathan Blue (8pts ., 10 rebs.). All had moments for Teaneck. Don Bosco Prep was led by senior Brandon Beckford’s 16 points and Max Brewer’s 12.

                                              Stewart and Kennedy Rout Depaul 85-70

  Kennedy is on a roll again and Shondel Stewart is playing the best basketball in the area. The Knights pressure defense and fast paced play was too much for DePaul to handle as the knights rolled to a 85-70 win to go into the Passaic County Finals against Paterson Catholic and Stewart is using a calculator after scoring 37 points. This, after putting up 34 against Eastside the game before. His 12 points in the 1st quarter helped Kennedy go on a 9-2 run after being tied at 11. They never looked back. Asmar Edwards again had a strong game scoring 20 points and 8 rebounds, but more importantly harassing  DePaul’s Justin Crosgile. Crosgile was limited to 16 points with most coming late. Edwards and Antoine Alexander (14 pts.) stayed up on him from start to finish. The Knights led by as much as 22 in the third. Matt Miller led DePaul with 18 while Wally Siljame added 15.  Sophomore Zaire  Young started in place of Kennedy’s playmaker Daquere Hayes (injured left hand) and played a solid floor game orchestrating the offense for the Knights. His five assists and leadership offset the loss of Hayes.   

James Leads P.C. Over Eastside 63-55

     Jayon James offense and Fuquan Edwin’s defense helped propel Paterson Catholic into the Passaic County Tournament Final with a 63-55 win. James had perhaps his best offensive game of the year, scoring 25 points and dishing out 5 assists. Edwin meanwhile, was assigned to follow Eastside’s Karon Abraham. P.C. played a box and one on Abraham and limited him to 3 points in the first half and 11 points for the game. Fuquan also added 12 points and 6 rebounds. Eastside struggled with P.C.’s length on offense as they would see a lineup with 4 people 6’5″ or better and could not get to the bucket. Dave Robertson-West willed his way to 24 points. Bryant Lewis added 9 points. Sophomore Myles Mack added 8 points and 4 assists for P.C. as his team maintained a 8 to 14 point lead throughout.