In a contest that wasn’t esthetically pleasing , Depaul Catholic grinded out a win over Hackensack H.S. 48-44. Freshman Josh Marquez came off the bench to lead Depaul with 14 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. He got help from Mike Minerik with 9 points and Matt Matthews who scored 8 and had 7 boards. The win marked Coach Bart Fazio’ s 400th career victory. Hackensack led at the end of the 1st quarter 9-4 as the only person on the floor that seemed to have an offensive flow to his game was senior Alex George who scored 7 of the 9 points and finished the contest with 21. The rest of the game was a hard fought effort by both teams with no flow. The game was tied at 19 at the half and DePaul held a 1 point lead 35-34 to go into the final stanza. Terik Bridgeman finished with 11 points,6 rebounds and 4 blocked shots for Hackensack. They are looking for junior swingman Bright Mensah to come out of his shooting slump because although the defense is there, the offense has been very erratic accept for the play of George and Bridgeman. DePaul also needs  to find consistency on the offensive end of the floor. Sophomore Davon Jacobs looked as though he would have a big game scoring 6 quick points,but an injury to his back limited his play.Marquez looks as though he will have a lot thrown his way as the season moves on.

      Wayne Valley’s Jake Rosenberg knew just what to do against an Eastside H.S. zone defense. He penetrated and kicked to his two primary scorers, Nick Siljee and Tom Larranga for open 3’s that led to a relatively easy 76-61 win. Rosenberg finished with 9 points, 10 assists and 4 steals. When he wasn’t finding the perimeter people, he found Keith Greeve underneath for easy layups. It was basically a clinic on how to beat a zone! Siljee finished with 17 points(3 treys) and 7 rebounds, while Larranga  added 18 including 4 from behind the arc. Greeve finished with 12. After Valley took a 45-28 lead into the half, Eastside came out playing much more aggressively after intermission by pressuring the ball more. They cut the lead to 8 at one point behind the play of Terrell(Escalade) Spaulding who finished with 18 points and 8 rebounds and Chris Albuquerque (14points, 10 boards). Valley, behind the legs of Rosenberg regrouped to take back control of the game in the 4th. Eastside played without starting swingman Allen Dantzler(back) and Khalil Anderson(leg) due to injuries. 

           An old fashion knock down drag out fight! That’s what this game was between Hackensack H.S. and Bergen Catholic. The Comets held on for a 48-45 victory. Leading 18-16 at the end of the 1st half, Hackensack held the lead throughout the second half  but never by more than 5 points. Hackensack got a big game out of 6’5 junior Terik Bridgeman who had a hard fought 14 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. He also got help from senior guards Mark Ellison with 8 points and 4 steals and Alex George  who scored 12 points, including the last 6 of the game. The pleasant surprise came from the Comets two freshman Chris Myers and Gene Marshall. Neither player seemed overwhelmed and Marshall in particular had a run in the 3rd quarter where he scored all 10 of his points. Myers played beyond his years and was in the game down the stretch to help handle the rock. Bergen Catholic got a monster game from 6’4 junior forward Mark Richards who scored 23 of the teams 45 points and also added 10 rebounds. The Comets held Sean McGuire to just 2 points and Eric Flanagan to 4.  West Virginia football recruit Doug Rigg contributed 8 rebounds for BC.