Bergen Catholic, Oradell, N.J………Hoop Journal travelled to Bergen Catholic H.S. for the Bergen County Jamboree and watched Ridgewood, Garfield and Bergen Catholic advance to the next round!

                                                     RIDGEWOOD  59          LYNDHURST  41

     Senior Evan Bartlik and Senior Alex Cohen combined for 40 of Ridgewood’s 59 points as they fought off a game Lyndhurst team in the 1st round of the Bergen County Jamboree! Bartlik who is a fine athlete scored on a number of acrobatic buckets to the basket to score 24 points and Cohen(pictured) was efficient from the perimeter in scoring 16! Lyndhurst played tough in the 1st half as Senior Justin Cosenza and Junior Danny Kesack provided the offense! Ridgewood led 24-21 at the half, but they had a big 3rd quarter to open a 46-27 lead as they upped the tempo defensively, led by Senior Jon Edghill(4stls)! That just about did it as Lyndhurst could never get as close as 15 the rest of the contest! Ridgewood will now meet Tenafly in the sweet sixteen next week!

                                                  GARFIELD  53          ST.MARY  46

       In the best game of the day, Garfield and St. Mary battled to the end and free throws ended up having Garfield hold on! The Boilermakers took a 39-28 lead into the 4th when St. Mary began to close the gap! Behind Junior Connor Cuccinelli and Sophomore Shawn Johnson, the Gaels battled back by creating turnovers and cut the lead to one 47-46 on a”triple” from Junior Ryan Monoghan with 1:47 left! That’s when Junior Isaiah Morales(right) who played a very good game, Junior Damon Godbolt, Pompey and Senior Josh Leclerc(left) made big free throws down the stretch to keep St. Mary at bay! Garfield also got a great defensive effort from Junior Jahad Pompey! His energy ignited Garfield as he finished with 4 blocked shots and made a number of put backs on offensive rebounds! Morales finished with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists, while Leclerc finished with 17 points and 4 assists! Pompey came off the bench to score 10 points and grabbed 7 rebounds with four on the offensive end! Cuccinelli finished with 14 points and 8 rebounds and Johnson added 13 points! Garfield will now face Hackensack next weekend! 

                                                  BERGEN CATHOLIC  73       RIDGEFIELD  39

         Bergen Catholic will meet Wood Ridge next weekend as they methodically beat Ridgefield 73-39! Sophomore Nadi Beciri led the way for the Crusaders scoring 16 points and grabbing 14 rebounds and Senior Chuck Wingate added 9 points, with 6 rebounds and 4 steals! Beciri(right) dominated inside early and helped B.C. get a 33-21 halftime lead! They then outscored Ridgefield 40 to 18 in the 2nd half! Senior Rudy Chavez led Ridgefield with 13 points while Junior’s Wilson Mateo and Wilmer Cedeno each scored 10 points!

      Teaneck, N.J…… Teaneck Senior Chris Jones scored his 1,000th point this week in a 48-47 win over rival Hackensack! Jones is a legitimate candidate for North Jersey Player of the Year and continues to get strong D1 interest! He has led the Highwaymen to a 15-0 record so far this season! Hoop Journal would like to congratulate Chris on his big time accomplishment!

  Kennedy H.S. Paterson,N.J……The backyard rivalry between Eastside and Kennedy was a good one as we once again threw away the team records! The difference was the play of Eastside Senior Ky’re Jackson(pictured)! He was outstanding with 26 points and 23 rebounds to go with 3 steals and a block! It seemed as if Eastside would make easy work of the Knights as they took a 31-19 lead at the half,  but the Knights outscored the Ghosts 21-14 in the 3rd to cut the lead to 7 and eventually tied it at 47 with 6:57 of the 4th on a layup by Senior Gary Simpson! Kennedy had a chance to go ahead three times and each time could not convert! They got as close as 51-50 when Jackson converted a layup and made two free throws to give Eastside a 55-51 lead with 2:20 left! Extra offensive rebounds and clutch foul shooting, particularly by Junior Jetor Brown got the Ghosts the win! Kennedy got  strong games from Senior Sammy Singletary who scored 18 points, including 2 four point plays and Freshman Donte Wise who continues to impress with 14 points and 6 blocked shots! Senior Kazmeek Mack added 12 points for Kennedy! Brown scored 16 points for Eastside and Senior DeAndre Noble-Haywood added 12 points! Eastside is now 14-1 while Kennedy fell to 8-8!

NOTE: The game was heard on 1500 WGHT AM radio and voted Jackson Players Of Game!