Kennedy wins, Eastside and Passaic fall in Jingle Bells

The first annual Jingle Bells Jubilee Holiday Tournament provided mixed results for local area teams. Kennedy reached the semifinals and will meet Plainfield High School by dominating Monsignor Bonner H.S. from Philadelphia 71-52. Shodell Stewert led the Knights with 25 points and Asmar Edwards added 14 as the Knights blew the game open in the third quarter behind relentless fullcourt pressure defense. Meanwhile, Eastside and Passaic had different results. They will meet each other in the losers bracket. Eastside played a great game for three quarters in their 89-78 loss to Bishop Loughlin of Brooklyn, N.Y. Led by Karon Abraham (24pts. 5 stls.) and Dave Robertson (23pts. 6 rebs.) the Ghost held a 10 point lead at the half and a 3 point lead at the end of the third, but Loughlin slowly wore them down behind the play of the Rivals.com #1 ranked junior out of New York City Jayvaughn Pinkston. The 6’6″ 240 lb junior scored 16 of his 23pts in the second half as he dominated the fourth quarter. Pinkston also had 11 rebounds. He got help from Trevon Hamlet (26pts. 8rebs.) and junior swingman Brandon Frazier (24pts.) Allen Dantzler (9pts. 9rebs.) and Joe Moore (12pts. 6rebs.) each gave quality efforts for the Ghost. Passaic H.S.’s Tyshawn Pinkett got into foul trouble early and it hurt the Indians. Najee Salaam (9pts. 8rebs.) was the lone bright spot with Pinkett sitting a lot of the in the 51-38 loss to a talented Linden High School team. St. Joseph recruit David Bruce’s 22points and 12 rebounds proved too much for Passaic.

Plainfield H.S. beats St. Peters Prep 61-53

Isaiah Epps 21 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and Tyrone Johnson’s 16points, 5 rebounds, 4 assist and 3 blocks offset the play of Ronald Roberts 25 points, 12 rebounds and Keith Lumpkins 11 points 11 rebounds in probably the most entertaining game of the day.  Plainfield will meet Kennedy and Prep will meet Monsignor Bonner.