West New York, N.J…………….Hudson Catholic’s young basketball squad went into a loud, hostile environment and had to develop a mental toughness that may carry them the rest of the season! Memorial H.S.of West New York is a tough minded senior laden team that can shoot the rock and they made the Hawks grow up fast in this fast paced game! Hudson Catholic walked out with a hard nosed 86-79 victory over Memorial H.S.! Memorial came out quick, raining “triples” all over the place to take a 24-17 1st quarter lead! Hudson regrouped behind the play of Sophomore’s Kavon Stewart, Reggie Cameron and Rakwon Kelly(left)! They have each had great season’s so far for the Hawks, but the main key to this contest was the play of 6’4 Junior Grant Ellis! The athletic Ellis(right) played his best game of the season as he has had to acclimate himself after transferring from St. Benedicts! He showed an abundance of energy on the offensive and defensive end of the floor! Hudson Catholic took their largest lead of the game at the end of the 3rd 56-48, but Memorial, behind the play of Senior guard David Almonte and Senior point guard Kenny Amparo came all the way back to tie the game at 71! But Stewart knocked down a baseline jumper to give the Hawks the lead and Cameron and Kelly finished them off at the foul line! Cameron led the scoring for Hudson with 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Ellis finished with 20 points and 9 boards! Kelly finished with 16 points and 7 rebounds and Stewart added 11 points and 4 assists! Memorial was led by Amparo’s(left) 21 points and 5 assists and Almonte(right) with 18 points and 8 rebounds! Junior Derek Sierra added 15 points and Senior Alex Carpio had 12 on 4 “triples”! 

Wayne………..Passaic Valley and DePaul is as good a rivalry as it gets in Northern New Jersey and again the two squads proved it! In a nip and tuck battle Passaic Valley held on behind the free throw shooting of Senior Dave Clough ! The Hornets struggled from the line most of the night, but Clough made his last 5 to keep the Spartans at bay! DePaul trailed by as much as 9 in the game but kept coming back and eventually took the lead 45-43 with 3:13 left on two free throws by Sophomore Josh Marquez!! But the intensity was so high on the defensive end that each team missed shots late in the game that they usually convert on! Passaic Valley got the lead back on a layup and foul for Clough! The lead was cut to one on a Marquez “triple” off the backboard, but Clough converted his three foul shots and they held on after a three attempt by Marquez hit off the rim which could have sent the game into overtime! Clough finished with 16 points and 7 rebounds, while point guard Nick DiCristina added 15 points including 4 “triples”!Marquez led Depaul in scoring with 14 and 5 assists,while Junior Davon Jacobs played a strong game in the loss with 13 points and 14 rebounds! DePaul freshman Ky Hester scored 7 points and grabbed 6 rebounds before fouling out! Senior Tom Gaccione added 8 points for P.V. 

Paterson…….Senior Connor Healy(right) steal late in the 4th sent the game into overtime and his 7 points in the extra session helped West Milford sneak out of Kennedy H.S. with a 66-58 win! In an exciting contest, Kennedy seemed to be in control until a turnover and a steal by Healy tied the score at 53! Kennedy got one last shot in regulation, but Junior Sammy Singletary’s jumper just missed! The overtime stanza began with a “triple” from Singletary to put the Knights up 56-53, but a jumper and a “triple”by Healy moved West Milford ahead 58-56! Senior Tyler Coyle‘s layup off a feed from Healy made it 60-56 and took the air out of a Kennedy comeback! Coyle(left) who is going to Lehigh for football was a man amongst boys in the paint! He scored 12 points and grabbed an impressive 20 rebounds in the game! West Milford also got great contributions off the bench from Senior Jordan Wright(right) and Junior Josh Basket(#5)! Each came off the bench to score 13 points apiece with Wright hitting on three “triples’! Healy finished with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists! Singletary led Kennedy with 16 points while Senior Dawon Lighty added 12 and Senior Jhamir White and Junior Jamaar Ellerbee scored 11 points apiece! West Milford record moves to 8-2 while Kennedy fell to 8-4!