Paterson Catholic Shocks In City Of Palm Classic With “CHIP” 62-54!

            Paterson Catholic had no idea what it was in for when it travelled down to Fort Myers, Florida to play in the City Of Palms Basketball Classic. Without a game under their belt they had many questions to answer and what they found out was that if they play as hard in New Jersey as they did in Florida they have a chance to be a very special team! Playing in a field with top teams from all over the country such as Westchester H.S. in California, Dudley H.S. in North Carolina, Montverde H.S. in Florida and even the nationally ranked St. Benedicts in their own state of New Jersey when the smoke had cleared Paterson Catholic walked away the champion of one of the most elite tournaments in the country. They won in the finals by beating Winter Park H.S.of Florida 62-54 in the championship game that was televised on ESPNU. Winter Park is led by one of the top players in the country, 6’5  Austin Rivers who is the son of Boston Celtics coach Glen”Doc”Rivers and has verbally committed to The Univ. of Florida. It actually seemed like it might be easy as PC streaked out to a 13-0 lead to start the game. Rivers and company took the hit by cutting the lead to one 15-14 in the 1st quarter and leading at the half 31-26. That’s when the team effort of the Cougars kicked in as every member had key moments in the contest. 6’5 Seton Hall recruit Fuquan Edwin, who made the All-Tournament team led the team with 17 points and pulled down 7 boards created mismatches in the open court. 5’9 junior Myles Mack was consistent throughout being named player of the game by ESPNU. He finished with 15 points,3 assists and 3 steals including one in the open court  that resulted in a layup for himself. 6’5 senior Jayon James added 11 points and 5 assists and played a solid floor game creating for himself and others. 6’9 junior Derrick Randall was a beast throughout the game altering shot after shot and contributing 6 points before fouling out. 6’4 senior Jermaine Peart played solid defense against Rivers and punctuated a steal with a nice two hand dunk. 6’8 sophomore Kyle Anderson proved why he is considered one of the best players in his class. He stuffed the stat sheet with 6 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocked shots and 3 steals. He made two big baskets in the lane and made a great block on Rivers down the  stretch. The surprise came from 6’6 freshman Reggie Cameron who after sitting for three quarters came in and made one of the clutch plays of the game. Down 45-42 James found Cameron on the opposite side of the floor where he calmly drained a 3 with a man in his face to tie the game up at 45. It was the only shot he would take but he added 3 rebounds and more importantly made no mistakes. That shot seemed to give the Cougars extra life as the rest of the crew took over down the stretch. Mack and Edwin were the catalyst in finishing Winter Park H.S. off. Rivers was phenomenal with 27 points after scoring 45 against St.Benedicts in their semi final game and was named Tournament M.V.P.  The 4-0 Cougars now travel to West Virginia to play Huntington H.S. on New Years Day!