EASTSIDE HOLDS OFF KENNEDY 69-61!!!!!

Eastside H.S. Paterson,N.J…… The characters continue to change, but the Kennedy-Eastside game remains the same! Always one of the hardest fought games in the State! Tonight was no different as the smaller Kennedy team scrapped their way all night before falling to Eastside 69-61. The two new characters were Eastside’s St. Patrick transfer guard Tommy Rivera(top right) and Kennedy’s Freshman guard Alphonso Gee(bottom right)! Rivera scored 19 points, dished out 4 dimes and had 7 steals, including two late that helped Eastside’s last run to pull off the win! Kennedy’s Gee was dead in the mix as he scored 21 points and made 3 steals and was ice at the foul line going 14 for 15 from the stripe! The game was intense from the start with Kennedy playing the underdog role to perfection! When it seemed as if Eastside had control of the contest, the Knight’s would make a run to keep it close! Eastside was led by Senior guard Jetor Brown(left) who played a poised game and made clutch plays throughout!  He finished the game with 25 points, 4 dimes and 4 steals! Gee’s primary help came from Senior guard Hassan Towns who scored 13 points, with 4 assists and 4 steals and was always making the extra play for the Knights! The outcome was still in doubt late in the 4th as Eastside held a 60-59 lead with under two minutes left! That’s when as well as Kennedy had played, everything began to unravel! Rivera made a steal and scored on a layup, Brown caused another steal and scored on another layup, then Rivera had another strip and dished to Brown for the layup plus a foul! That 7-0 run proved to be the difference! Both teams showed alot of upside for the rest of the year! Eastside’s Quattier Jackson, Selwyn Rodriguez, Quincey Jones and Asem Johnson all had big contributions for the Ghosts, while Shervon St.Louis, Justin Kinchen, Aalim Jones and Janarie Morris were key contributers for the Knights!