Old Tappan…….Senior Shane McLaughlin showed why he is considered one of the best, if not the best point guard in Northern New Jersey as Old Tappan held off a tough Ridgewood Highschool team, winning 62-53 and improved their record to 12-3 as they wait to see their seed in the Bergen County Jamboree! McLaughlin, despite not shooting great from the foul line finished with 23 points and 5 assists and every time the Maroons got close he would make a bucket or find a teammate for an easy shot! With Old Tappan up 25-22 before the half, Ridgewood got called for a charge and with 2 seconds on the clock, McLaughlin raced up the court and banged a half court shot to push the lead to 28-22 to end the half! O.T. held the lead the rest of the way as Ridgewood would keep fighting back, but could get no closer than 5 the rest of the way! McLaughlin got help from Senior Chris Besserer who scored 10 points and grabbed 6 rebounds, Junior Dan Brogan with 9 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocked shots and 10 points off the bench from Senior Mike Matteo! Ridgewood, who will only lose one player this year was led by Junior Evan Bartlik and Junior Alex Cohen with 12 points a piece and Ryan Schofield who added 9 points! They also got a strong defensive effort from Junior Jon Edghill who had 4 steals in the contest!

Jersey City………..Hudson Catholic got their biggest win in a few years as they went toe to toe with St. Peter’s Prep and pulled out a 67-63 victory! The Hawks who improved to 12-3 for the season got four players in double figures and never folded down the stretch! Sophomore Reggie Cameron(right) led Hudson Catholic with 24 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocked shots and put them up for good 56-55 with a “triple” from the corner with 3:57 left in the game! Junior Grant Ellis added 12 points, grabbed 5 boards with 3 blocked shots, but more importantly went at it with St. Peter’s Prep big man Keith Lumpkin! Ellis battled the whole way until he fouled out! Sophomore Rakwon Kelly scored 10 points with 8 rebounds and hit a clutch free throw late! While Sophomore Kavon Stewart manned the point with 6 assists and 5 boards to go with his 5 points, the added play of Junior Marc Wilson(bottom right) was huge in this contest! Wilson came off the bench and played an active game for Hudson, challenging the big guys enough to score 12 points and grab 5 boards! St. Peter’s Prep was led by Senior Kevin Walker with 23 points(15 in 2nd half) and Senior Stephon Whyatt who scored 17 with 15 coming in the 1st half! Lumpkin finished with 9 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocked shots! St. Peters Prep kept coming the whole time cutting the lead to one with 8 seconds left! But Cameron drilled two free throws to give them a three point lead and Prep could only get off a desperation three! St. Peter’s Prep fell to 9-3 for the season!

Paterson……Down by as much as 17 in the 3rd quarter, Kennedy made a valiant comeback but came up short to the Passaic County #1 seed Passaic County Tech! Tech who played without Senior point guard Brandon James(out 3 weeks with torn ligament in thumb) had it’s way early in the game as Junior Shackquiel Scott, Senior Xavier Nieves and Sophomore Isaac Williams helped P.C.T. take control of the game early! But Senior Jhamir White tried to will his squad back into the contest! After trailing by 17 in the 3rd, White began taking the ball to the basket and scoring on an assortment of shots! He and Senior Dawon Lighty put the pressure on Tech offensively and the Kennedy squad picked up the pressure defensively! Kennedy cut the lead to three 61-58, but Nieves steal and assist to Williams and a Williams free throw pushed the lead to 64-58!  Kennedy again fought back as White’s layup cut the lead to 64-62! Williams hit another free throw with 20 seconds left to give Tech a three point lead 65-62! Kennedy tried to set up a three to tie but couldn’t manage a good shot! Scott(pictured) played tough down low scoring 15 points with 16 rebounds and 3 blocked shots! Nieves finished with 12 points, 5 assists and 13 boards as Tech was a problem throughout the game on the glass! Williams was Tech’s high scorer with 19 and 4 steals! White played a tremendous game scoring a career high 29 points and grabbing 10 rebounds while Lighty added 18 points and 7 boards!