Eastside’s Historic Run Comes To An End In O.T.

Toms River…….. For three quarters, it looked like Eastside was going to see St. Anthony in the Semifinals of the T.O.C. The Ghosts were having their way against a tough Newark Central team and after leading by as much as 10 with over 6 minutes left seemed to be in control! But then Newark Central did to Eastside what the Ghosts had done to teams in their previous four games on their way to the Group 4 State championship! Newark Central which pulled off a stunning 73-67 win,created turnovers and Eastside went cold from the field as well as the foul line and the Blue Devils came all the way back and after trailing the entire game, finally tied it at 59 with 24.3 seconds left in the 4th quarter on a “triple” from Junior guard Brandon Waiters! That forced the game into overtime! After Senior David Burgos found Junior DeAndre Noble underneath for a layup to give Eastside a 61-59 lead, Newark Central, behind the play of Senior guard Patrick Coles(pictured) went on a 13-0 run to make the score 72-61! Cole’s “triple” and runner on Newark Central’s next two possession’s started the run, finally getting their first lead of the contest in O.T. Eastside could not find anymore magic to overcome it! Coles finished the game with 15 points(12 coming in the fourth and O.T.), while Newark Central’s big men Ramon Johnson and Kameen McPleasant led the scoring for the Blue Devils with 16 and 19 points respectively! McPleasant also grabbed 10 rebounds! Eastside was led by Burgos who was spectacular in the game, with 22 points, 6 assists and 2 steals and Noble with 21 points,9 rebounds and 7 steals! The Ghosts capped off their great season as the first Passaic County team in 82 years to participate in the T.O.C.

NOTES: Hoop Journal would like to acknowledge the season’s of Eastside Senior’s Najee Seabrooks, Nashian Brimley,Carl Barrett, Ky’re Jackson and Burgos! Seabrook’s came in late in the year and quickly established himself as an enforcer and a terror on the defensive end! He helped stabilized the middle for Eastside! Brimley was a defensive stopper for the Ghost who did all the dirty work! He has quick hands and seemed to be all around the ball! Barrett(left) was the team’s perimeter player who was streaky, but when he was hot could really stroke it! Ky’re was a shock in the fact that he did not even play basketball last year and got better and better as the year went on this season! Jackson(top right) was part of the triple threat scorers with Burgos and Noble! He was the post guy and improved that part of his game every day! David Burgos(bottom right) was like a Comet that fell from the sky for Eastside! His whirlwind season was stuff of dreams as he became the leader and catalyst of this team that shocked everyone to a Group 4 State Championship and a T.O.C. appearance and he will be seen on the D1 level next year! This his been great covering the Ghosts this season! Hoops Journal would like to give all the Props to these senior’s and their phenomenal year!

                          Plainfield 68       Asbury Park  35

Plainfield has a strong Junior class and they showed Asbury Park what it looks like! They blew out Asbury Park 68-35 as Junior’s Sekou Harris, Dijon Allen Jordan and Justin Sears all played very well! Harris finished with 13 points and 3 assists, Jordan added 11 points and Sears finished with 8 points and 15 rebounds! they play St.Augustine at Monmouth College on Friday! Maurice Dickerson led Asbury with 14 points!