Paterson, N.J……..Teaneck and Hackensack pulled off wins to advance to the finals of the Jingle Bells Jubilee Holiday Tournament at the Paterson School of Science and Technology(formerly Paterson Catholic)! Both teams games went differently but the results were the same! Passaic Valley and Christian Brothers Academy also won their loser bracket games!

                                                HACKENSACK  78              NEWARK TECH  73     O.T.

     Sophomore Rashard Figures had a solid game with 18 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 steals in Hackensack’s 78-73 win over Newark Tech in overtime, but he still needed help from his friends and he got it! Figures scored 17 of his 18 in the first 3 quarters so Senior Mershan Monroe and Juniors Chris Myers, Jamiek Moore and Eugene Marshall decided to make plays late in the contest to help pull out the game! Monroe(right) was extra special at times scoring and creating plays for his teammates! He finished with 16 points, but many came when Tech was making their run! Moore scored 16 points while Myers had 9 points,6 assists and 5 steals! Marshall scored 8 points and grabbed 6 boards and made two plays late in the game, scoring a bucket and assisting on another in overtime! Newark Tech trailed 49-45 going into the 4th quarter but they started putting more ball pressure on the Comets and finally tied the game at 51 on a Dwayne Dixon “triple”! The game went back and forth until Junior Jared Hall’s bucket with 25 seconds left sent the contest into overtime! Hackensack’s defense proved to be the difference late as they forced Newark Tech into 25 turnovers! The last one resulting into free throws from Myers with 9.9 seconds to give Hackensack a 77-73 lead! Tech had all five starters in double figures with Senior Abel Yekeh leading the way with 116 points and 18 rebounds! Hall also had 16 with 4 dimes while Senior Dwayne Dixon scored 14 points and grabbed 17 rebounds and Junior Dwayne Merrill scored 15 with 7 boards! Their were 8 lead changes and 8 ties in the hotly contested game!

                                                TEANECK  60          ST. PETERS PREP  45

       After losing Junior Joel Hernandez to a freak accident in which his hand was injured, Teaneck regrouped and led by Junior Shakir Lindsey, beat St.Peters Prep convincingly 60-45! Lindsey(right) scored 15 points, dished out 5 assists and had 5 steals to pace the Highwaymen! Senior Chris Jones added 17  points with 4 steals, but the unsung play of Senior Siddiq Patterson(11 pts,5rebs,2stls), Junior Marcus Fulmore(5pts,4rebs) and Devaunte Locadia(6pts,4rebs,3asts,2stls) helped offset the loss of Hernandez for this night! Sophomore Austin White scored 20 for Prep while Senior Tyrone O’Garro grabbed 19 rebounds and Junior Jordan Arthur finished with 8 points and 11 rebounds! 

                                             PASSAIC VALLEY 35      KENNEDY 33

    Sophomore Stefan Minic(right) hit the game winning “triple” with 15 seconds left and Passaic Valley survived a desperation shot to pull off a 35-33 win! Minic scored 14 points and grabbed 6 rebounds to lead the Hornets! Senior Jamir Lennon scored 9 points with 6 steals and Senior Olumide Onajide grabbed 12 rebounds! Senior Sammy Singletary led Kennedy with 15 points and Senior Jamarr Ellerbee added 9!

                           CHRISTIAN BROTHERS ACADEMY  39      PASSAIC  33

   Senior Kieran Hughes had a monster game scoring 21 points and grabbing 18 rebounds as C.B.A. beat Passaic 39-33! The game was played at a slow pace but one constant was the play of Hughes(right) who made every play throughout! Passaic was led by Senior Michael Brown with 10 points and Junior Rashaan Johnson with 8 points and 10 rebounds! 

              Fridays Games :     Christian Brothers Academy vs. Passaic Valley 

                                                     St.Peters Prep   vs.  Newark Tech

                                                     Teaneck vs. Hackensack

 Oakland, N.J…….. The Indian Hills Tournament began today and Tenafly, Indian Hills, St. Joseph and Passaic County Tech all advanced to the semifinals! Senior guard Chris Orozco, the New Hampshire recruit scored 17 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, dished out 6 dimes and had 3 steals and Senior Zach Rush who was the recipient of many of his teams passes scored 20 points and grabbed 7 rebounds as Tenafly handled Englewood easily in a 64-39 win! Tenafly jumped out to a 20-7 1st quarter lead and never looked back! Orozco(right) and Rush(left) got plenty of help as Senior Marco Barrata scored 12 points with 6 rebounds, Junior Kyle Hioki scored 9 points and Senior point guard Tyler Garson only scored 2 points but ran Tenafly’s offense to perfection assisting on 7 baskets! Indian Hills beat Christ the King 79-41! No, not that Christ the King! They beat a Newark school with that name as Sophomore Ryan Warnet led the scoring with 17 points! Senior Valen Kortoci added 14, Senior Danny Green 11 and Junior point guard dished out 7 assists! Senior Dashon Adamson and 5’5 Freshman Rayshawn Stewart each scored 12 points for CTK while Senior Semiu Durowoju added 11! Junior Kori Haggie scored 20 points and Senior Shackquiel Scott added 14 as Passaic County Tech beat Memorial of West New York 70-64! Senior Luis Perez scored 25 for the Tigers! St. Joseph beat North Bergen 72-64 as Senior Dan McKinless(bottom right) led the scoring with 20 points! Sophomore Mike Jurzynski scored 18 points and Junior Terrence McNair added 12! Senior Alex Gill scored a game high 26 points for North Bergen!

         Paterson, N.J……..The Jingle Bell Jubilee Holiday Tournament got underway with four games that concluded with a tough overtime finish between Hackensack and Kennedy!Newark Tech, St. Peters Prep and Teaneck all won their games but the final contest proved to be the most exciting! Kennedy’s Senior guard Sammy Singletary hit a “triple” at the end of regulation to send their game against the Comets into overtime 66 all! But Sophomore Rashard Figures(pictured right) and Junior Chris Myers(left) helped Hackensack shake off the shock and pull the game off 82-74 in the extra session! Figures scored 27 points and grabbed 6 rebounds and Myers scored 14 points and dished out 10 dimes to offset the 27 point performance of Singletary! The contest was close, but Hackensack seemed to have the game in hand late in the 4th quarter! Kennedy crept back in it behind the play of Singletary, Senior Syquese Clyburn, Senior Kazmeek Mack, Junior Hassan Townes and Senior Jamarr Ellerbee! Ellerbee hit 3″triples” in the comeback! After Figures hit two free throws with 11 seconds left to put the Comets up 66-63 it set the stage for Singletary’s at the moment heroics! Junior Jaimek Moore added 12 points and Senior Mershan Monroe had 10 before fouling out! Ellerbee came off the bench to score 11 points, while Mack and Clyburn finished with 8 points and Townes added 5 dimes! Special mention must go to Kennedy freshman Donte Wise! Wise was a bundle of energy and contributed 8 blocked shots!Hackensack will play Newark Tech in the Semifinals as the Terriors beat Passaic Valley 49-39! Senior Abel Yekeh scored 16 points and dominated the boards with 16! Senior Desmond Cotton added 14 points for Newark Tech! Sophomore Stefan Minic led Passaic Valley with 14 points and 5 rebounds while Senior Jamir Lennon scored all 13 of his points in the 1st half! Senior Olumide Onajide grabbed 12 boards for the Hornets! Teaneck, behind the Senior Chris Jones and Juniors Joel Hernandez, Neville Fincher and Shakir Lindsey took a close contest at intermisssion and ran away 74-50 over Passaic! Jones scored 17 points while Hernandez(pictured right) scored 15 points and snatched 9 boards, Fincher scored 11 points and grabbed 9 rebounds and Lindsey scored 11 points and 6 steals! Junior Rashaan Johnson led Passaic with 17 points and Senior Michael Brown added 13 as the Indians only trailed 36-31 at the end of the half! Teaneck will face St.Peters Prep as they beat Christian Brothers Academy 58-53 in a tough game throughout! Senior Tyrone O’Garro scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Sophomore Austin White went 10 for 10 from the free throw line and scored 15  and Junior Tre Bell had 12 points and 5 assists for St. Peters Prep! Senior Kieran Hughes led C.B.A. with 15 points and Junior Tom Aldridge finished with 13!