East Orange Campus, N.J……. Despite the play of Junior swingman Dominick Wilson, Cresskill got close but could not overtake University in the North1 Group1 final as they fell 64-53! University led the entire way as Senior Keith Foster, Junior Elijah Brown and Junior Akrum Wadley supplied the offensive damage! Foster(right) finished with 21 points and 6 rebounds, Brown(left) had 14 points and Wadley added 12 points with 5 steals! Cresskill fought hard and as well as University played using their superior quickness, they would not go away! Cresskill cut the lead to three 54-51 with 3:32 left in the 4th quarter, but a layup by Brown pushed the lead to 56-51 and then with 2:16 left Wilson fouled out! He, along with Junior Alex DeCandia were the main scoring threats and when Wilson left Cresskill’s offense left with him! Foster went 4 for 4 from the foul line late to lock the game up! Wilson finished with 20 points, while DeCandia added 14! Junior Tyler Jackson chipped in 8 points and 6 assists! University will meet Asbury Park in the Group 1 State final!

Paterson, N.J……. Strange things were happening in Passaic County Tech’s 43-39 upset win at Eastside as the Ghosts hosted the Sectional “Chip”! The scoreboard kept going out and the SRO crowd was pretty silent most of the 1st half and even though Eastside was ahead 25-16, it was not a cleanly played Eastside game that people had become accustomed to seeing! P.C.T. ended up creating the real problem as they held the Ghosts to two 3rd quarter points and closed the game to 26-25 entering the 4th quarter! That’s also when the place got loud! Senior Shackquiel Scott tied the game with a little over 5 minutes left at 30 on a jumper from the foul line! Eastside seemed to take back control as Senior DeAndre Noble-Haywood got loose for a fastbreak dunk and Senior Nassir Crawford hit a big”triple” to make it 35-30! But on this day P.C.T. was not going away! Sophomore Zaheem Beal tied the game at 35 on two free throws and a”triple” with 2:45 left in the game and with 1:45 left Senior Jarrad Sykes hit a short jumper in the lane to give Tech a 37-35 lead! Then Beal made a steal and found Senior Aazaad Hinton for a layup to make it 39-35! Noble-Haywood then made two free throws to cut it to 39-37, but Scott made the biggest play of the game with a put back of a missed layup to give Tech a 41-37 lead with 31 seconds left in the contest! A tip in by Senior Ky’re Jackson with 10 seconds left cut it to 41-39 but Sykes iced the game with 2 free throws and Tech had pulled off an improbable win! The game was low scoring but their were many heroes on Tech’s side! Scott(pictured) finished the game with 15 points,7 rebounds and 2 blocked shots, Hinton scored 10 points, Sykes had 9 points and 7 rebounds including those big points late! Beal finished with 5 points and 5 assists and Junior Isaac Williams scored 5 points and had 4 steals! Eastside was led by Noble-Haywood with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals! Jackson finished with only 7 points and 4 rebounds! The only other player to play well was Crawford who scored 8 points including 2″triples and 3 steals as the Ghosts only shot 6 for 14 from the fouline! Eastside finishes the season with a 25-3 record! Tech improves to 20-8 and will be at the Dunn Center Thursday for the North Group 4″Chip” against Elizabeth who beat Bridgewater-Raritan 51-47!

NOTE: Hoop Journal would like to acknowledge the final highschool games of Seniors Ky’re Jackson, Nassir Crawford, Jordan Smith, Najee Ricks, Curtis Askew and Shaquille Murphy for Eastside! All will have a chance to continue their basketball careers on the next level! Jackson has also proved to be a great character kid and was the glue to the Ghost’s great season!

A special acknowledgement goes to Senior DeAndre Noble-Haywood! Having known Deandre since he was a little kid watching not only the evolution of his basketball game which has reached Division1 level, but his maturation in his attitude as a person has been a pleasure! The 6’1 combo guard has a big future ahead of him! Noble-Haywood came from Paterson Catholic and spent two years with the Ghosts where he became a State champion and a 1,000 point scorer! His improvement over the last two years is a credit to the hard work that he has put in! With a strong family to support him, led by his mother Janet there is no doubt that DeAndre has what is needed to succeed! Noble-Haywood is like family and he still acknowledges his P.C. family as well as his Eastside family so here is a special acknowledgement DeAndre, you deserve it!!!!!!! Hoop Journal hopes for nothing but the best for your future!!

Wayne, N.J….. In an entertaining game, DePaul made the last big play of the game to beat Don Bosco Prep 58-56 and advance to the North Non-Public A final at Rutgers University! Junior Josh Marquez scored on what proved to be the winning bucket on a layup with 22.5 seconds in the game and DePaul played tough defense to hold Prep in the final seconds! Both teams played the 2nd half as if they didn’t want to go home! After being all tied up at the end of the 3rd at 41 the intensity heated up even more! DePaul held a 53-49 lead with 1:53 when Senior Paddy Quinn got a steal and converted on a three point play to cut the lead to 53-52! Marquez then made two free throws with 1:28 left to make the score 55-52! Sophomore Paul Jorgenson’s short jumper with 1:11 left closed the gap to 55-54 and after Sophomore Kiy Hester made a free throw to go up 56-54, Senior Jemal Mosley tied the game up for Prep by knocking down two clutch free throws with 31.5 seconds in the contest! This set the stage for Marquez’s heroics as he went end to end for the deciding bucket! There were many players who stepped up in the contest led by Marquez who finished with 12 points and 10 assists as DePaul had four players in double figures! Senior Davon Jacobs who’s head to head matchup with Don Bosco Prep’s Leonte Carroo was a show in itself finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Sophomore Kiy Hester, who did a good job defending Mosley late scored 11 points and Sophomore Juwuan Carter added 10 points and 3 steals! Special note has to go to Senior Mas Aronson who knocked down 2 huge”triples” in the second half! Mosley showed his wares in the game finishing with 22 points, 4 assists and 3 steals and Carroo finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for Prep! DePaul is now 21-6 for the season, while Prep finished the season at 21-5! DePaul will face Seton Hall Prep who beat Pope John 73-60 at the Rac on Thursday!

NOTE:  Hoop Journal would like to acknowledge the careers of Don Bosco Prep Senior’s Dajon Toddman, John Landro, Paddy Quinn, Carroo and Mosley(pictured)! Toddman will be playing college ball somewhere next year as he is a raw talent! Carroo who has been a pleasure to watch will put the round ball down and concentrate on his football career at Rutgers University! The sky is the limit for him! Mosley will really be missed on the court! He has the ability to do some special things on the next level if he finds the right situation! It has been a pleasure to cover these players and Hoop Journal wishes nothing but the best in their future endeavors!