Eastside Wins Sectional”CHIP”Over Kennedy 68-51!

Paterson…….This time Eastside was ready! They dominated down low and point guard David Burgos proved to be the best player on the floor as they revenged their Passaic County Tournament loss to Kennedy with a 68-51 win and became the North 1 Group 4 Sectional Champions! Eastside controlled the game from the start, going inside to 6’4 Senior Ky’re Jackson early and often as he scored 10 1st quarter points and the Ghosts took a 19-11 lead to end the quarter! Their other big man Senior Najee Seabrooks was tough on the defensive end, intimidating in the interior and going after every shot down low that Kennedy took! After the 1st quarter, the game more or less became a game featuring Burgos(right) and Eastside’s domination on the boards! The Senior controlled the tempo and was a threat on literally every possession! He scored on drives, made pullups and still kept his teammates involved! Kennedy could not press because of his handling of the ball! He finished with 25 points,4 assists,5 rebounds and 3 steals! Jackson(left) finished with 20 points and 11 boards and Junior DeAndre Noble, who also played a solid game added 15 points and 5 rebounds! Senior Jhamir White went down fighting for Kennedy as he finished with 17 points,4 assists and 4 rebounds! Junior Jamaar Ellerbee scored 14 points and Junior Sammy Singletary added 11 as the Knights got only 5 points from standout Senior Dawon Lighty! Eastside will now play for the Group 4 North Championship against Linden at the Dunn Center in Elizabeth Wednesday! 

NOTES: Hoop Journal would like to acknowledge the career’s of Senior’s Jhamir White, Dawon Lighty and Kaheem Davis of Kennedy! Davis(left) became a pleasant surprise for the Knights and the reality is that he is probably the most surprising kid in the area! This is a guy who played J.V. his Junior year and at times didn’t start! But his perseverance paid off and he made himself into a quality basketball player! Lighty(right) has been a pleasure to watch and get to know! It will actually be strange to watch a kennedy game next year and not see his #5! He seems to have been on the squad forever! Not only that, the kid can play and their aren’t many who can shoot the rock from as deep as he can! I truly expect to see him playing on the next level! Has a good family also! White(right) came from Paterson Catholic after they closed down and finally had a chance to shine! And that’s what he did! He quarterbacked Kennedy to a Passaic County Championship and one game away from a Sectional title and was exactly what Kennedy needed! He probably can play on a higher level than he is being looked at, but because he didn’t get crazy time with P.C. might have been overlooked! He is a tough minded kid and you can expect to here from him again on the next level!