Paramus Catholic H.S. will play in the finals of the inaugural Mighty Ghosts Holiday tournament after beating the host school, Eastside H.S. 61-47.  6’7  center Justin Harris dominated the game with 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Ghosts had no one that could match him inside. Andre Blackledge had 10 points and Manny Hernandez had 10 points and 3 steals. Jordan Wade also played a solid game. He finished with 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3steals and a blocked shot to go  with 4 points. Eastside was led by Terrell Spaulding with 12 points and Travon Johnson who added 10 points and 6 rebounds. Paramus Catholic  will play Montclair H.S. in the final Tuesday, while Eastside will play Cranford H.S. in the consolation game.

         St. Joseph Regional H.S. and Passaic County Tech advanced to the Indian Hills Christmas Tournament championship with tough wins:

                                                       St. Joseph H.S. – 62                     Bergen Catholic H.S. -59

             Senior guard Kai Dominguez scored 22 points and St. Joe’s played tenacious defense late to beat Bergen Catholic 62-59 and overcome the play of junior Mark Richards. Richards finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds, but Joe’s pressure on the BC  guards proved to be the difference late. Richards tied the game at 55 on a layup, but Dominguez layup and freethrows gave Joe’s the lead for good. Bergen had one last chance but Senior guard Mike Marchman picked the pocket of guard Sean McGuire to seal it. Tony Efese scored 8 points and grabbed 8 rebounds  and Marchman added 8 for Joe’s. Junior forward Eric Flanagan finished with 19 for Bergen , including 5 three’s.

                                                      Passaic Co. Tech – 71                      Hackensack H.S. – 67

                   Asaad Hinton scored 19 points to lead a balanced attack as Tech squeezed by Hackensack 71-67. Junior Xavier Nieves had 15 points and senior Terrell McDuffie added 13 for the Bulldogs. Hackensack were led by Mark Ellison and Terik Bridgeman with 17 points apiece and Bright Mensah with 15. Tech held high scoring guard Alex George- Sabater to 5 points in the contest. Tech will play St. Joe’s in the chip Wednesday and Hackensack will meet Bergen Catholic in the consolation game.      

         Kennedy H.S. and Passaic H.S. will go against each other for the second time already this season as each advanced to the Playaz Basketball Club 2nd annual Jingle Bells Jubilee Holiday tournament championship game. Kennedy advanced by beating Teaneck H.S. in overtime, while Passaic overcame a tough  Bloomfield Tech.

                                                   Kennedy H.S. – 95                         Teaneck H.S. – 92   O.T.

 It can’t get any better than this! Kennedy and Teaneck put on a show for the packed crowd at Paterson Catholic H.S. gym where the Jubilee is being held. Kennedy, behind the outstanding play of senior Shondel Stewart and senior Daquere Hayes outlasted the Highwaymen in overtime 95-92. It was an up and down game with plenty of spurts by each team as momentum constantly switch from one to the other. In the long run ,no one on Teaneck could stop the offensive game of Stewart. Nicknamed Mush, he scored 42 points and added 9 rebounds in a dominating shooting performance. Hayes was also brilliant scoring 26 points and adding 5 steals. Teaneck also had individuals come up with high quality games. Senior Kyle Steinbergin scored 23 points and had  4 steals, senior guard Owen Barnes produced 22 points ,along with 7 assists and 6 steals, senior Travon King added 15 points and 7 rebounds and senior Jonathan Blue contributed 13 points and 8 rebounds. Blue converted 2 free throws to give Teaneck a late lead 83-81 ,but Stewart hit a runner with 6 seconds left to tie the game and send it into overtime at 83.  The session began fast with Stewart hitting a jumper and Steinbergin answering back with a jumper of his own. Hayes, Barnes and King all had moments in the overtime. With Kennedy up by 2 Barnes got the steal and was fouled attempting a shot. Unfortunately he missed the first after already converting 9 in the game. He then had to miss the second on purpose but a lane violation nullified it and Kennedy walked out with a squeaker after Stewarts free throw iced it.               

                                       Notes: Teaneck’s Travon King left quite an impression when he took off from inside the paint to throw down a monster dunk over a Kennedy defender that brought the house down! The play was negated as the referee called him on a charge! Very questionable!

                                                       Passaic H.S. – 62                         Bloomfield Tech – 56

               Behind the strong play of Senior forward Najee Salaam, Passaic held off a late Bloomfield Tech rally  to reach the finals of the Jingle Bells Jubilee title game with a 62-56 win. Salaam produced a double double with 15 points and 12 rebounds as, for the second day in a row they took an 11 point lead into the 4th quarter and held on. Salaam got help from Senior Tyshawn Pickett with 16 points and 7 rebounds, sophomore Reggie Pennie’s 14 points and 8 rebounds and junior Andre Dixon with 11 points and 5 rebounds and two outstanding blocks on breakaway layup attempts by Tech. Rashid Subur led Bloomfield Tech with 19 points and 6 rebounds. Passaic will face Kennedy Tuesday. Kennedy won the first matchup 79-70 at home. 

                                                                 CBA  -54                                   Don Bosco Prep – 50

                Senior guard Roy Mabrey had 14 points and 6 rebounds and got help from junior Matt McMullen with 13 points and  junior J.P.Koury’s 11 as CBA will play in the fifth place game by defeating Don Bosco Prep 54-50. The Colts held Prep’s high scoring Vaughn Gray to 15 points. Nick Nova added 14 points and 6’9 sophomore Mike Tobey had 8 points and 7 rebounds.

                                           Schedule for Tuesday Dec. 29,2009 :

 3:30pm:      Hudson Catholic  vs.  Christian Brothers Academy

 5:15pm:       Teaneck H.S.    vs.        Bloomfield Tech

 7:00pm:      Kennedy H.S.   vs.     Passaic H.S.