Wayne, N.J………The A.A.U. season has began and once again The Playaz Basketball Club organization kicked off the year with it’s annual Spring Fling Tournament! This marked the 13th year that director Jimmy Salmon and the Playaz have ran this event! And, just like the last 12 years their was great talent in the building all weekend! In the end the Playaz White 14u pulled off a “Chip”while Playaz Red 16u had to win two games in overtime to walk away with their own “Chip”while Playaz Black 15u showed well during the weekend playing up!

                                        Playaz Red  76           Baltimore Elite 72  O.T.

   The Playaz Red had to overcome some outstanding shooting from the Baltimore Elite squad and got contributions from their entire team in gaining a tough 76-72 win to earn the Spring Fling “Chip”! The Playaz had 4 players in double figures and in the end got clutch baskets and defense to offset the tremendous scoring of Baltimore Elite’s Daquan McNeil( 29pts,6rebs) and Cameron Williams(21pts,5treys)! 6’2 Geno Thorpe(Shaylor H.S.,Pa.)and 6’2 Joel Hernandez (Teaneck H.S.) led the Playaz balanced scoring with 13 points, while 6’7 Reggie Cameron(Hudson Catholic) and 6’8 Mike Young(St. Benedicts) each added 12! But that was half the story as every player at some point put their mark on the game which seems to be how they will be the rest of the season! 5’10 Kavon Stewart(Hudson Catholic) hit a big bucket late in overtime and added 6 dimes, 6’2 Josh Marquez(DePaul) scored 8 points and dished out 5 assists, 5’11 Jared Hall(Newark Tech) knocked down two big”triples”, 6’1 DeAndre Noble(Eastside) got an and one play in a crucial moment and played well on the defensive end and 6’8 A.J. Sumblin( Nia Prep) provided defensive presence in the paint! It was a game that had to be won in this fashion! Stewart was M.V.P. for the tournament, while Young, Cameron and Hernandez were all tournament! McNeil, Williams and Dexter Miles were Elite all tournament players! The Playaz 16u team got to the championship game by beating Washington D.C.’s Team Takeover 90-86 in overtime as Cameron had a big game with 27 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks and 3 steals, Hernandez had 19 points,8 rebounds and 2 steals, Young added 14 points and 7 rebounds, Stewart had 12 points and 8 dimes and Marquez added 7 assists and 4 steals! Takeover was led by Josh Harten with 21 points, Jarius Lyles with 20 and Will Ferguson with 14!

                                                Playaz White  82         Philly Aztec 73

             Isaiah Briscoe was lights out for the Playaz 14u team as his 32 point, 10 rebound assault led them to the Spring Fling “Chip”Gold in a 82-73 win over Team Philly Aztecs! Briscoe did it from the perimeter and with penetration as he was not to be denied! His partner in crime was Nassir Barrino who scored 22 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and dished out 3 assists! The Philly team led by as much as 16, but the Playaz White came out like a different team in the 2nd half! Alphonso Gee came off the bench to hit two big”triples”to help the run to get them back in the game! Briscoe, the game and tournament M.V.P. and Barrrino, who was all tournament took care of the rest! The Playaz got to the championship by defeating King Street Kings 83-79 as Briscoe(left) scored 29 points and Barrino(right) added 20! Javon Rawls added 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in the contest!  

NOTES: The Playaz Black 15u team showed signs of having a good A.A.U. season as they lost in the quarterfinals to eventual runnerup, Baltimore Elite and beat a tough Metro Hawks team in pool play! Jordan Forehand(St. Anthony), Rashard Figures( Hackensack), Nadi Beciri(Bergen Catholic) and Ky Hester(DePaul) are a few of the players that will try to make it a magical                                           

                                                 City Rocks(Albany) 60          Faces  56

         City Rocks John Sica was the M.V.P. as City Rocks beat Faces of Newark in the 14u Silver! Sica(pictured with director Jimmy Salmon) led the scoring with 15 points for the winners!  

     When a Senior finishes his Highschool season, Hoops Journal likes to acknowledge the Players career! But in this case it’s even more special! You see, Myles Mack is family!!!! Not blood family, but Paterson family and Paterson Catholic family and Playaz Club family and Paterson Rec League family and 12 year old fall League family and more importantly The “L” Family(remember Myles?) So this is very special! Hoop Journal has known Myles Mack since he was 7 years old and the truth is, None of the things he has accomplished is a surprise! This kid was born to do this! He always played beyond his years and the saying was “Myles was here before and came back to do it right this time”! He is only 5’10 and 170 pounds and probably was made that height and weight to give others a chance! Myles was a killer when he was young and still is! But the main thing about Myles is he is a winner! He won at Paterson Catholic, then went to St. Anthony and not only won, but captured the Tournament Of Champions this season and the mythical #1 team in the country title! He has won in A.A.U., winning the prestigious IS8 Tournament in New York, and anyone who knows basketball knows how difficult that is! He is a fierce competitor and Rutgers University lucked up when they got him! Rutgers is not known as a big winning school, but he is a kid that can change the culture of a Program! He is a leprechaun and big time players will follow him! Just can’t see him losing there! Hoops Journal would like to finish by saying “Thanks for the Highschool memories Myles, it will not be long forgotten” and Good Luck in your future! There is no doubt it will be a success!

Let’s do the math! 2 T.O.C. champs, 1 State champ, 1 County champ, 2 League champs and the State scoring champ! Add the fact that head coach Damon Wright was part of a Sectional title with Teaneck as an assistant coach, it is both remarkable and bittersweet! It’s 20-20 hindsight, but imagine these kids lacing them up for Paterson Catholic this season! Led by Senior Myles Mack and Junior Kyle Anderson, the St. Anthony T.O.C. Champs! Junior DeAndre Noble, a State champ with Eastside getting significant minutes! Senior Jhamir White helping out at the point as he did for Kennedy, the Passaic County champs this year! Sophomore’s Reggie Cameron and Kavon Stewart showcasing their talent as they did for Hudson Catholic, winning a League title and improving the teams record from 11-11 to 22-6 this season! And add Junior Dave Rosado, who led small Saddle River Day and the State in scoring! Very impressive! Disappointing that this group would never get to prove the kind of team it possibly could have been! It will always be a what if : But on the bright side each player established themselves as legitimate talents! More than likely Mack and Anderson will be All State selections, while Noble, White, Cameron, Stewart and Rosado all were County selections! This is a credit to the Program that had been established by Paterson Catholic and it’s coaches and staff! Now that this transition season has come to an end for these players expect even more noise in the next few years from this talent!