St. Anthony’s, Ewing, Atlantic City And Asbury Park Win Titles! Pascack Hills Comes Up Short!

Rutgers University, N.J………In State Championship games St. Anthony, Ewing, Atlantic City And Asbury Park all picked up a New Jersey state title:

 

 

 

                                                 ST. ANTHONY   67        GILL ST. BERNARD  39

 

     St. Anthony is playing on all cylinders, especially on the defensive end! They locked down the high scoring, perimeter shooting Gill St. Bernards and held them to 3 for 23 in the 1st half as they took a 28-8 halftime lead! By all accounts the game was over and the Friars won the Non-Public B state title 67-39! Senior Kyle Anderson led St. Anthony with a stat line of 15 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 blocks and 2 steals and Senior Jerome Frink and Junior Hallice Cooke each scored 15 points as they had a balanced attack! Junior Josh Brown added 13 points and did a great job defending the perimeter shooters of Gill St. Bernards! Junior Jaren Sina led Gill in scoring with 16 points and Senior’s Alex Mitola and Dominic Hoffman added 9 points in the contest!

 

NOTE: Hoop Journal would like to acknowledge the highschool careers of Mitola and Hoffman! Mitola is one of the most hard nosed ball players in New Jersey and is a prolific 3 point shooter! He will be lacing them up for Dartmouth next year and they are getting a good one! Hoffman has been the consummate post player and has been the rock of the Gill St. Bernard squad! He will be headed to Bucknell next season! Hoop Journal would like to wish the best for these two outstanding players and individuals! 

 

 

                                                         EWING  59           PASCACK  HILLS  50

 

         She tried to make it unimportant, but the significance was not lost on anyone! In Ewing winning the Group 2 State Championship over Pascack Hills 59-50, their Head Coach  Shelley Dearden became the first female to win a boy’s state title! Coach Dearden had won a title once before for Ewing in 1999 as the girl’s basketball coach! Senior David Azoroh led Ewing with 14 points and 8 rebounds as four players scored in double figures! Junior Isaiah York had 13 points, Senior Dontae Jones had 13 points and Senior Tyquan Crews added 12 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocked shots! Pascack Hills played very tough, cutting the lead to one 32-31 late in the 3rd! Senior Jared Shill led the scoring with 18 points but the Cowboys found it difficult getting to the foulline as they shot only 4 for 5 , while Ewing shot 21 of 27 with  10 of them coming in the 4th quarter! Senior Cole Dorfman added 11 points for Pascack Hills who got further than any team in their school’s history!

 

NOTE: Hoop Journal would like to wish the best for Senior’s Shill and Dorfman! Both have been integral parts of Pascack Hills attack over the last two years! Shill became a 1.000 point scorer over the season, while Dorfman took control of the team at the point!

 

 

 

                                                 ATLANTIC CITY  53             ELIZABETH  47 

 

 Atlantic City trailed for three quarters, before getting their first lead with 7:17 left in the 4th on a follow up from Senior Kayshawn Dunston 38-37 as they went on to win 53-47 to win the Group 4 State title! The game seemed to be in Elizabeth’s control and they even regained the lead 37-34 at the end of the 3rd quarter! But Atlantic City made the plays late as Senior guard Martel Johnson put them up 48-41 on a layup with 2:42 left in the game!  Senior Jaleem Montague led A.C. with 15 points,12 rebounds and 4 blocked shots! Junior Dayshawn Reynolds finished with 10 points and Dunston added 9! Elizabeth was led by Junior Isaiah Davis with 16 points and Junior Hakeem Rogers who scored 15 points!

 

 

 

                                                      ASBURY PARK  79             UNIVERSITY  76

 

   In what turned out to be the most exciting game of the day, University was down 15 at the half and came all the way back, but Asbury Park took the hit and held on to win it’s second straight Group 1 Championship! The 4th quarter was a wild affair as Senior Keith Foster hit a”triple” to give University it’s first lead 73-72 with 1:16 since 2-0! It was short lived as Senior Thomond Hammary hit a”triple” with 1:11 left to give Asbury Park the lead for good! Hammary led the scoring with 22 points! Senior Armond Conover scored 21 points and his twin brother Amir added 11! Junior Elijah Brown scored 21 points for University, Foster had 17 points and Sophomore Joseph Kelley added 13! 

 

 

                                                   Tournament Of Champions Seedings:

 

                           1.  St. Anthony     2. St.Joe’s Metuchen   3. Plainfield   4.  Atlantic City     

                                 5. Ewing       6. Asbury Park