The Journey continues for the Highwayman of Teaneck as trailing by 8 at the half Teaneck fought  its way back to pull off a 59-54 win over Shabazz H.S. to advance to the finals of the Group 3 Championship. Owen Barnes came off the bench to lead them with 15 points while Javae King-Gilchrist had 14. The Highwayman now go to Rutgers on Sunday to try to get it done. Jonathan Blue added 12 points on 4 threes while Kyle Steinbergin contributed 11. Shabazz was led by Tyre Lockhart with 16 and Dovean Boardingham 15.

        Eastside’s game plan was simple. They knew in order to win this game they had to keep their composure no matter what the situation. In the end it was Plainfield H.S. who lost their composure and it cost them the game. With Plainfield down 64-63 and 23 seconds left an altercation occurred in the Plainfield stands that caused standout guard Tyrone Johnson to leave the bench for fear his family was involved. The incident drew an automatic technical foul which resulted in two free throws by Karon Abraham and the ball for Eastside. It was the key to Eastside’s 70-67 win and the Group 4 North Championship. The sad part of it was that it was an intense game that was being played at a very high level. Stars for each team had their moments as Robert Morris University recruit Abraham led the Ghosts with 22 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals and Dave Robertson-West added 19 points with 6 rebounds and 2 steals. The Cardinals got it from University Of Pittsburgh recruit Isaiah Epps with 24 points and 3 steals and Johnson with 20 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals. The game started with Epps and Abraham matching each other with three treys apiece to start the game.  West took over for Eastside late scoring 6 straight points and dropping 9 of his 19 in the 4th quarter. The Ghosts got a strong game from Allen Dantzler, who fought hard with Plainfield’s big men scoring 7 points and 10 rebounds. Bryant Lewis also showed a lot of poise with 10 points, 4 assists and 3 steals. With Eastside holding a one point lead Travon Johnson hit two of the biggest free throws of his career to make it 60-57, Dantzler then grabbed a rebound and was fouled converting 2 free throws himself making it 62-57 and giving Eastside a false sense of relief. But Plainfield’s Epps then hit a three to cut the lead to 62-60 and after Abraham knocked down 2 more free throws, Johnson drove to the basket and got a three point play to cut it to 64-63 which set the stage for the bizarre ending. Plainfield’s Anthony Baskerville finished his career scoring 9 points to go along with 5 rebounds 4 steals. Jibreel Elliot contributed 11 points and 7 rebounds for the Cardinals. Eastside again got big contributions from their ” bigs”, Chris Albuquerque, Terrell Spaulding and Johnson.

           After winning the Bergen County Jamboree, Teaneck H.S. still had more to accomplish. They went about doing it by winning the Group 3 Sectional Championship over a game, hard working West Milford H.S. team 58-51 in overtime. Teaneck had four people in double figures again led by Javae King- Gilchrist with 14 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. The senior did it all in overtime. After the game was sent into O.T. on a Rob Nylund (9pts., 9 rebs., 3 stls.) put back to make it 43-43 , Gilchrist had a hand in three straight offensive possesions. After Jonathan Blue (13 pts., 5 rebs.) made two free throws to start the overtime, Gilchrist, playing with 4 fouls went coast to coast for a layup to make it 47-43, then after  a Jason Sofman (12 pts., 7 rebs., 3 blks.) basket, Gilchrist again made a layup  to make it 49-45 with 1:50 left in the game. West Milford would not go away, getting  a basket from Chad Houser( 16 pts., 7 rebs.) to cut the lead to 49-47. This time Gilchrist  penetrated and found  Kyle Steinbergin (13 pts., 4stls.) on the right corner for a game clinching three that made it 52-47. Teaneck got a workhorse  game from  Shomari Barber with 10 points, 9 rebounds and 3 block shots. He made a free throw late to wrap it up. West Milford’s point guard Mac Marondo had a solid game with 11 points and 5 assists.