Passaic Sneaks Past DePaul Catholic 65-61!

 Wayne………. Junior Shakir Rhodes two free throws and senior Najee Salaam’s steal helped Passaic Highschool sneak out of DePaul Catholic with a 65-61 win. Passaic jumped out to an 11- 0 lead to start the game and put DePaul on it’s heels, but to their credit  the Spartans slowly chipped away by the end of the 1st quarter to make it a respectable 22-14 deficit. Passaic’s main threat came from senior forward Tyshon Pickett who scored 20 points in the contest to go with 9 rebounds and was virtually unguardable in certain situations. DePaul used a balanced attack to keep the game close led by senior Matt Miller’s 16 points. He got plenty of help from his mates as sophomore Davon Jacobs (13 pts., 7 rebs), seniors Keith Ford (12 pts.,9 rebs.) and Mike Minarik (11 pts) and freshman Joshua Marquez (7 pts., 5asts.) all had moments where they shined. Jacobs and Ford fought particularly hard on the boards against a bigger Passaic frontline. Salaam (pictured)  finished with 11 points and 6 rebounds and junior Andre Dixon added 11 points which included a ferocious two hand jam in the 4th quarter off a steal from sophomore guard Naji Mack. Depaul saw it’s first lead 24-23 on a Minarik layup in the 2nd quarter, but that quickly evaporated on a Pickett put back of his own missed shot. Passaic would hold the lead until with 24.5 seconds on the clock in the 4th Minarik got a layup and was fouled on the play. His free throw would tie the game at 61. That’s when Rhodes was fouled on a move to the basket and made both free throws to put Passaic back ahead 63-61 with 17.2 seconds on the clock. DePaul called time and milked the clock when Salaam got a hand on a pass and Pickett picked it up and was fouled with 5.2 on the clock. Pickett calmly sank both free throws to ice it.

Note: If this is a prelim to the Passaic County tournament it may end up wetting your whistle a little more than expected!