Bergen Catholic basketball coach Joe Dionisio resigned his position and the Crusaders are now in search of the next person to lead this prestigious program! While many names have been mentioned, it’s believed the leading candidate is assistant coach and former Bergen Catholic player Billy Armstrong! Armstrong has a great reputation in the area and would make a great choice for Bergen Catholic! Let’s see how it plays out! Good luck to Coach Dionisio, who had a strong 13 year career at the school, including winning a Parochial State Championship, among other titles in his tenure!

Hampton, Virginia,,,,,,,,,The Playaz 14u squad spent the Easter Holiday down in Virginia, participating in the first Nike sponsored Easter Invitational Tournament at the Boo Williams Sportsplex! After an opening day loss, The Playaz got their feet wet and ran off with the”CHIP”! The Playaz went 5-1 in the Tournament, concluding with a 61-57 win over Nike’s own Team Final! Isaiah Briscoe did the damage in the final, as he had all weekend, leading the scoring with 18 points! Briscoe(bottom right) averaged 25 points a game for the Tournament! Nassir Barrino added 12 in the”chip” while Alphonso Gee chipped in with 10! The game was in doubt until Playaz bigman Jordan Duncan went 3 for 4 from the freethrow line to ice it! Duncan was clutch down the stretch! The Playaz got to this point during the weekend by first losing a tough 73-70 game to Virginia’s Slam City! They wasted a 33 point effort by Briscoe and 16 from Barrino! Must be noted Slam City has one of the top 14’s in the country by the name of Marquis Cole! Cole finished with 30! After the loss, The Playaz shook it off by defeating a team from Georgia 56-47 behind Briscoe’s 22 and a great floor game by Barrino who finished with 11 points and played a strong floor game by handling the full court press! After getting their first win, they took on Team Takeover from D.C. where they won 62 -46 as Gee was the key player adding 14 points to Briscoe’s 17 and Barrino’s 16! This gave them the opportunity to advance to the Championship rounds! In the Quarters, they blew out Philadelphia’s Gym Rats Team 82-58 as Briscoe went nuts, scoring 36 points! In the Semifinals they met up with Virgina Run n Gun team and beat them 79 -65 as Briscoe finished with 25, Barrino had 17 and Gee added 17! That set the stage for The Playaz to take care of business in the”CHIP”! Coach Jamal Slappy and his hard nosed talented team should be commended for giving themselves and The Playaz Basketball Club a Happy Holiday!!!!!!

       St. Anthony Senior Myles Mack and Junior Kyle Anderson continue to be rewarded for their fine basketball season! The Ex-Paterson Catholic players were named to the E.S.P.N. RISE All-American Team! Mack(right) was voted to the 1st team,while Anderson(left) was selected to the 2nd team! They led St. Anthony to a 33-0 record and the #1 ranking in the country status this season! Mack will be playing at Rutgers University next season, while Anderson almost has the pick of the litter with all the schools vying for his services!