Eastside HS, Paterson,NJ…..If things go the way it’s looking there will be another meeting between these two teams! DePaul and Eastside might have given a preview of the Passaic County final and if that’s true be ready for a good one because it was a good one Saturday! Eastside came away with a 75-70 win over DePaul but it was a game that could have definitely went either way! Each team held slim leads and each got good games from their star players, but in the end two big “triples” and free throws by Senior Jetor Brown(right)) late in the game was the difference! DePaul led after each of the first three quarters, including  the 3rd on a beautiful alley oop end bound pass from Junior Juwuan Carter to Sophomore Donte Wise for a dunk to end the quarter! The 4th quarter was an exciting exchange of plays from both teams! Brown, Senior Tommy Rivera and Sophomore Asem Johnson were the catalyst for the Ghosts, while Carter,Wise, Senior Josh Marquez and Senior Sanders Green made the plays for the Spartans! Brown finished with 21 points and 5 assists, while Johnson scored 16 points and Rivera scored 15 points, dished out 6 assists and had 5 steals! Marquez led the scoring for DePaul with 18 points and 4 assists, Carter(left) scored 15 points including a steal and dunk to cut the Eastside lead to 64-61 with 2:10 left in the game,Green scored 13 points and grabbed 9 rebounds and  the 6’2  Wise came off the bench to score 8 points and more importantly play big in the middle! His mere presence altered shots for Eastside as they were very aware of where he was! This was a game that gave each team a barometer of where they are for a future meeting!

Kennedy HS,Paterson,NJ…..After a security problem that caused postponements Friday, the Saturday games came off with no problems and their was plenty of action!!!

                                                            HAWTHORNE CHRISTIAN  50     EASTERN CHRISTIAN  34

    Junior Alex Thomas(right) was a problem for Eastern Christian the entire contest as he dominated the inside with an assortment of drop steps, short jumpers and dunks while finishing with 25 points,10 rebounds and 3 blocked shots in Hawthorne Christian’s 50-34 win! when Eastern Christian did double down Junior Jake Hart made them pay by hitting on 3″triples” to keep the defense honest! He finished the game with 11 points and Junior A.J. Newell added 10! Eastern Christian was led by Senior Keith Ring with 13 points and Senior Cleveland McDaniel with 11!

                                                            WAYNE VALLEY  65       NORTH BERGEN  59

Senior Andrew Keane(right) had a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds, Senior guard Josh Rigolioso scored 20 points with 4″triples” and Junior Liam Connors chipped in 18 points as they scored 59 of  Wayne Valley’s 65 points as they beat North Bergen 65-59! North Bergen trailed by as much as 14 but began to press to get back in the game! WV was able to overcome it on a couple of full court passes to Connor for layups and Rigolioso made 4 of 6 free throws late to help keep North Bergen at bay! Senior Alex Gil led North Bergen with 19 points and Sophomore Logan Santiago who looked impressive came off the bench to score 15!

                                                                                   TENAFLY  49         WAYNE HILLS  46

            Senior Kyle Hiok(right)i scored 25 points and Senior Yaniv Cotten scored 16 points as Tenafly squeaked out a close win over Wayne Hills 49-46! Tenafly held a 1o point lead 38-28 at the end of the 3rd and held off Wayne Hills late run! Hills got good games from Junior Scott Wills with 20 points and Senior Arris Hunt who scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds! 

                                                                                       PASSAIC  60       DICKINSON  49

Senior Rashaan Johnson scored 20 points, snatched 14 rebounds and controlled the interior as Passaic manhandled a 10-4 Dickinson squad 60-49! 7 of Johnson’s 14 rebounds were on the offensive end! Senior guard Aziah Miller finished with 15 points, Senior Matt Cancel came off the bench to score 10 and Senior Gervon Williams added 9 points,5 assists and 4 steals for the Indians! It was the fifth win in a row for Passaic! Dickinson was led by Senior Duane Jameswith 9 points and 8 rebounds!

                                                                 TEANECK  75               ST. JOSEPH  70

St. Joseph gave Teaneck all it could handle and led at the half 34-32! Teaneck came out and scored 30 points in the 3rd quarter to take a 62-47 lead and it seemed as if the game was over! But St. Joe’s came back and got as close as 74-70 on a layup by Junior Quai Jefferson with 24 seconds left! The Highwaymen held on for a 75- 70 win! Senior Shakir Lindsey and Senior Joel Hernandez did their usual with 21 and 18 points respectively, but it was the play of Senior Marcus Fulmore that was the difference! Fulmore(right) scored 19 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to help offset the play of Senior Pat Mensah who had 27 points and 9 rebounds and Junior Kiy Hester who scored 23 points, including 5″triples” and 3 steals for Joe’s! Junior Lavrone Green-Reels came off the bench and hit 3 key”triples”!

                                                         ENGLEWOOD   66     LAKELAND   54

      Junior Sidney Dawkins scored 19 points and Senior Leon White scored 17 to lead Englewood to a 66-54 win over an improved Lakeland team! Englewood led most of the game and thwarted any run Lakeland tried to make! The Lancers were led by Senior Ian Rohde with 14!

WEST MILFORD  89     WOOD RIDGE 82

Senior Mike Otero scored 31 points as West Milford surprised Wood Ridge 89-82! Senior Mike Gibney scored 28 and Senior Gary Whritenour added 24!

PASSAIC VALLEY  54     BERGEN CATHOLIC  50

Junior Stefan Minic led Passaic Valley with 16 points and Freshman Jihad Wright hit key free throws down the stretch as the Hornets shocked Bergen Catholic 54-50! The Crusaders seemed to have the game under control, but P.V. made a run late! Junior Matej Jurcevic finished with 18 points and Senior P.J. Reed added 13 for B.C.

KENNEDY H.S..PATERSON,NJ….. Two days of Basketball to bring Cancer awareness is on the schedule for the next two days! Coach Jim Ring of Kennedy and Kennedy H.S. will host the event! Come support the fight!

Schedule:  Friday January 18th

5:00pm       Englewood vs  Lakeland

6:30pm      Seton Hall Prep  vs  Passaic County Tech

8:00pm      St.Anthony vs   Kennedy

Saturday  January 19th

11:00am    Hawthorne Christian vs  Eastern Christian

12:30pm    Bergen Catholic  vs  Passaic Valley

2:00pm    Wood Ridge vs  West Milford

3:30pm    Tenafly vs  Wayne Hills

  5:00pm  North Bergen vs Wayne Valley

  6:30pm  Dickinson vs  Passaic

8:00pm   St. Joseph Regional  vs  Teaneck