Paterson, New Jersey…… The Playaz sponsored Freedom Fighters Basketball showcase has four games on tap today January 16, 2012 at Eastside Highschool in Paterson, New Jersey!

THE LINEUP:

3:00pm     Kennedy H.S.   vs. Newark Eastside

4:30pm     Newark Tech  vs.    St.Peters Prep

6:00pm      Hudson Catholic  vs.  Roselle Catholic

7:30pm       Eastside H.S.    vs.    Pope John (Sparta)

All proceeds will go to the Brayden Carr Foundation!  Carr was the 2 year old son of Rutgers Assistant Coach Jim Carr who died May 10 of complications from epilepsy!

Englewood, N.J…….. Rundown of two of the contests in the Ozzie Osbourne ran Dwight Morrow Highschool Showcase featuring Public Schools vs. Private Schools:

                                             KENNEDY  60       SACRED HEART(N.Y.)  45

         Senior Sammy Singletary(center with Coach Osbourne and Matt Balaj) scored 16 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and 3 assists and was the Player of Game in leading Kennedy to a 60-45 win over Private School Sacred Heart of  New York! Kennedy was never truly challenged after a 25-19 halftime lead! the lead changed twice in the 1st quarter and that was it! Freshman Donte Wise scored 11 points with 5 rebounds, while Senior Syquese Clyburn came off the bench to score 12 points as he went 5 for 5 from the field and 2 for 2 from the foul line! He also snatched down 5 boards! Junior Hassan Townes played a strong all around game with 7 points,12 rebounds and 4 steals!  Balaj who was Sacred Heart’s Player of Game led them with 15 points, 6 rebounds and 2 steals and Junior Arjon Bequiri added 11 points and 6 rebounds!

                                                         HACKENSACK  79             MARIST  58

           Hackensack put the full court pressure on and never let go! Playing without the services of star Sophomore Rashard Figures(ankle), the Comets did not miss a beat! Hackensack had many stars in this one and was led by Junior Gene Marshall(pictured left) who scored 17 points with 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals! Marshall was voted Player of Game, but he got help as 5 players scored in double figures! Junior Keon Lewis and Senior Mershan Monroe each scored 15 points and combined for 10 steals, with Monroe having 6 and Lewis 4! Junior Jamik Moore and Junior Chris Myers each scored 10 points with Myers also adding 5 dimes! Marist welcomed the debut of 6’10 Junior Manny Suarez(pictured center) who played his first game after sitting 30 days for transferring from Cliffside Park! Suarez, the player of the game for Marist finished with 21 points,10 rebounds and 3 blocked shots!

NOTE:  One good thing with the Showcase is it also recognizes players that are also doing it in the classroom! Selected in these games were Hackensack’s Marshall, Kennedy’s Junior Justin Kinchen, Marist’s Senior Brandon Walsh and Sacred Heart’s Arjon Bequiri!

Jersey City, N.J……. The Dan Finn Classic took place yesterday and here are the results:

                                               TEANECK   76             NEXT LEVEL( Canada)  64 

        Teaneck met a team from Canada and introduced them to America’s basketball as they played a tough game and got it from their 4 studs in a 76-64 win! Senior Chris Jones led the assault with 21 points and 6 rebounds, Junior Joel Hernandez scored 19 points with 6 boards and 3 steals, Junior Neville Fincher had 18 points, 3 blocks and numerous thunder dunks while Junior Shakir Lindsey(right) named the game M.V.P. had 13 points, 8 assists and 4 steals! Next Level, the Canadian squad was led by William Judge with 28 points, including 8″triples” and Darlington Owzava who finished with 12 points and 6 rebounds! Teaneck took a 35-26 halftime lead and never was really challenged!

                                        ST. BENEDICTS  89             PATTERSON(MD.) 63

  The crowd came to see the dare-devil talented guard from Baltimore, Maryland 5’7 Junior Aquille Carr who just verballed to Seton Hall! And while he more than showed his wares, Benedicts who won 89-63  had to let you know about their star guards as Senior Melvin Johnson, Junior Tyler Ennis and Freshman Isaiah Briscoe also displayed thier talents in a can you top this type game! Benedicts overall talent was too much for Patterson H.S. as the frontline also dominated on the glass! Ennis(right) voted team M.V.P. scored 21 points with 5 assists, while Johnson,the Miami commit scored 19 points, with 3 assists and 4 steals and Briscoe scored 15 points, 3 assists and 3 steals! Senior forward Kamal Richards added 15 points and 11 rebounds and Junior Isaiah Watkins scored 9 points and grabbed 10 rebounds! Carr(left) lived up to the hype! He scored 37 points on an assortment of moves and even showed his range from the perimeter! He also assisted on 5 buckets and added 2 steals! The kid is a show!!!! Senior Devin Hebron added 9 points for Patterson! Benedicts is evolving into one of the best teams in the Country, let alone the State! And Briscoe(#3) is becoming a true stud as he seems to never be over whelmed by the game or situation! He made agreat open court steal on Carr that not many people would be able to make! 

                                         ST. ANTHONY  61             ST.PETERS PREP  21

   St. Anthony had 4 players in double figures and coasted to a 61-21 win over St.Peters Prep! Senior Jerome Frink(right)voted player of game led the scoring with 13 points, Junior Hallice Cooke scored 12 points, while Senior Kyle Anderson and Senior Tariq Carey scored 11 points apiece! Anderson also had 6 assists and 3 steals! After taking a 29-14 lead into the half, St.Anthony held Prep to 7 second half points and never got a challenge! Junior Sean Cummings led Prep with 6 points! Coach Bob Hurley was induted into the Dan Finn Walk Of Fame! 

                                                  LINDEN 61             NORTH BERGEN 20

Senior Shakir Phelps scored 19 points and grabbed 7 rebounds to lead Linden to an easy 61-20 win over North Bergen! Sophomore Anthony Rodriguez led North Bergen with 9 points!!