Paterson,N.J………..The 8th Annual Playaz Sponsored Freedom Fighters Challenge brought back some of Paterson’s favorite son’s in the 4 hot contests that were on display! In the end Teaneck, Hudson Catholic, Nia Prep and Newark Eastside walked away with wins in the showcase that honors Dr. Martin Luther King!
Teaneck 59 Union 49
Sophomore Joel Hernandez led Teaneck with 15 poi
nts and 7 rebounds and Junior Chris Jones added 11 points as the Highwaymen took control early and held on throughout the contest in a 59-49 win over Union! Senior Will Thompson brought the energy early for Teaneck as his putbacks negated any Union run! Thompson finished with 9 points and 11 rebounds as the bench also was a key factor for Teaneck as Senior Donta Davis(8pts,5rebs,2blks), Senior Daquan Russ(5pts,5asts,2rebs) and Senior Anthony Upshaw(6pts,2triples) all played pivotal roles! Senior Chris Foreman led Union with 14 points as they lost the services of one of the better Sophomores in the State in 6’7 forward Tyler Roberson who had to sit the 2nd half due to an ankle sprain!
Hudson Catholic 56 Kennedy 47
Sophomore’s Kavon Stewart and Reggie Cameron came b
ack to Paterson as members of Hudson Catholic to beat Paterson Kennedy 56 – 47 in a close contest the entire way! Stewart, a native of Paterson and Cameron, who resides in Hackensack, but learned a lot of his trade through the Paterson Rec League gave them a chance to see their development! The two ex Paterson Catholic players did not disappoint as Cameron#2(pictured with Paterson Councilman Benjie Wimberley) scored 23 points and 
grabbed 10 rebounds and went 12 for 12 from the foul line and Stewart added 14 points, dished out 6 assists and had 5 steals to help get the Hawks the win! Hudson Catholic needed it all as Senior Dawon Lighty straight lit it up in the 1st half scoring 17 points on an assortment of jumpers!The Hawk’s Sophomore Rakwon Kelly tried to match him by scoring 14 of his 16 points in the 1st half as Hudson Catholic led 24 -23 to end the stanza! But in the 2nd half Cameron scored 19 points and Stewart added 10 to keep the pressure on Kennedy! Lighty(pictured with Wimberley) finished the contest with 22 points! Senior Jhamir White added 10 points for the Knights to go with 3 steals and Junior Sammy Singletary added 9 points with 3 steals!
Nia Prep 72 South Kent Prep 59
Ex Paterson and Paterson Catholic native Shaquille T
homas came home and flat out put on a show in his Nia Prep team’s 72 -59 defeat of South Kent Prep! Thomas, a Cincinatti Commit knocked down “triples and made an assortment of acrobatic moves to the bucket, including a few impressive dunks! Thomas(right) finished with 26 points and 6 rebounds in the fast paced contest! 6’3 Kelvin Amayo added 18 points, also throwing down a few power dunks himself! The highlight of the gam
e was a baseline dunk thrown down by 6’6 Deo
n Maddox, who caught a South Kent player with his hands up! He finished with 12 points and Junior Darrick Wood added 11! South Kent was led by St. John’s Commit Maurice Harkless#4 with 15 points and 7 rebounds, while former Paterson Catholic alum and Rutgers Commit Derrick Randall #20 added 7 points and 8 rebounds!
Newark Eastside 50 Paterson Eastside 33
Sophomore Will Joyce(right) scored 16 points and grabbed 14 
rebounds and Junior Aaron Bodie added 13 points and 10 rebounds to go along with 5 blocked shots in Newark Eastside’s 50 – 33 win over Paterson Eastside! After a 6 point lead 35 -29 at the end of the 3rd quarter, Newark Eastside o
utscored Paterson Eastside 15 to 4 in the 4th to pull away! Junior point guard Kassim Chandler added 12 points and 3 steals for Newark Eastside! Paterson Eastside was led in scoring by Junior DeAndre Noble with 15 points and Senior Dave Burgos with 8 points, 4 assists and 2 steals!
Paterson……….Wayne Valley kept Eastside at bay for a half as they were able to do what they wanted on the offensive end! They led 30-24 to end the 1st half and if things kept going the way it seemed there is no doubt that Valley would have walked away with the “W” and Eastside would have lost their 5th straight contest! But a funny thing happened to the Ghosts of Eastside! They remembered what it was like to play defense! Hard nosed defense! That end of the floor was led by 6’4 Senior Kyr’e Jackson, who got limited minutes in the 1st half due to foul trouble! Jackson(pictured) came in the game in the 2nd half and literally shut down the interior on defense as those easy layups Wayne Valley was getting turned into contested shots! By the end of the 3rd quarter, Eastside had a 39-36 lead, holding Valley to 6 points in the stanza! Offensively, The Ghosts got 16 points apiece from Senior Dave Burgos and Junior DeAndre Noble and got a pleasant surprise from Senior Carl Barrett who came off the bench to score 14 points! Jackson finished with 8 points,8 rebounds and most importantly 5 blocked shots! Wayne Valley was led by Senior Andrew Herasimtchuk’s 13 points and Senior Tom Larranga’s 10 points! Scott Arkin came off the bench to grab 8 rebounds for Valley to go with his 6 points! Eastside is now 4-5, while Wayne Valley is 6-5!
