When choosing the team of the year in Passaic County there’s a couple of teams that could make a case for themselves.  Wayne Valley Highschool won the Group 3 sectional final and fought hard before losing to Scotch Plains H.S. and they were a team with very little depth. Eastside Highschool can also give legitimate reasons why they could have been the Passaic county team of the year by winning the Group 4 sectional final and being three points away from beating Piscataway highschool.  They also were the runner-up in the Passaic County tournament.  While we give these two teams much props, Hoops Journals first annual Passaic County team of the year is Paterson Catholic Highschool. Without a doubt they were the most talented team led by seniors Jordan Theodore and Wayne Mack. But, the reason that we feel they were the team of the year is because it is  very hard  to live up to such high expectations and meet them.  Before the season started people said ” They had to win the counties”. Well , they did that, in a game against Eastside where their heart was questioned. They battled hard against the scrappy,tough minded Ghosts and pulled the game out. Then it was said ” They had to get a signature win against a power team”. They did that against Montrose Christian of Maryland who were ranked #13 in the country by the Sporting News.  Paterson Catholic not only won ,but did it convincingly winning by more than 20 points. Then it became ” Let’s see how they do in the states against a team like St. Anthony H.S.”. They gave them a tough go before losing by 13. Let’s keep this in perspective, they lost to the #1 team in the country by 13. The point is that it’s not easy to have the bullseye on your back and know that you are the biggest game on everyone’s schedule and still bring it physically,but more importantly mentally. For that, Hoops Journal gives the utmost props to Paterson Catholic Highschool. The Bergen County top team of the year was more cut and dry. Hoops Journal’s first annual team of the year for Bergen County is Don Bosco Prep. Although it seemed like Queen Of Peace was gonna have something to say about it, Prep established itself as the team of the year by winning it’s third straight Bergen County Jamboree championship.  This had not been accomplished in over forty years. This was a veteran team with great leadership in their two stars, Georgio Milligan and Kyle Smythe. Prep was by far,the best defensive team in the county and maybe all of northern New Jersey.Don Bosco was a very versatile team who could run when needed,but mainly established it’s halfcourt sets. They lost in the finals of the Parochial B championship to Immaculata. This team has alot to be proud of and Hoops Journal would like to give this team much props.

St.Anthonys finally got over the hump against rival St.Patricks by earning the North Non-Public B final at Rutgers. Mike Rosario, who’s headed to Rutgers next year, led St. Anthony with 19 points while junior Dominic Cheek added 13 and Tyshawn Taylor chipped in with 10. North Carolina bound junior Dexter Strickland led St. Patrick with 18 points. Paris Bennett added 12.

                                             Don Bosco Loses 64-48

    Don Bosco Prep fell to Immaculata in the North Non-Public A  64-48 final as every shot was contested by a very good defensive Immaculata team. Gamel Mohamed led the winners with 21 points, Jeff Cullinan 15, John Mack 12 points and Theo Riddick added 11. Don Bosco Prep was led by Iona bound Kyle Smythe’s 14 and Brandon Beckford 12. Don Bosco’s Georgio Milligan was held to 6 points.

They were gallant and they were tough and for three quarters it looked like Eastside was gonna move to the finals of the Group 4 championship at Rutgers. The Ghosts however, couldn’t complete the job as Piscataway Highschool finally pulled ahead in the fourth quarter and held on to a 64-61win. Bryant Lewis three point attempt to tie the game bounced off the rim at the buzzer to end any hope. 6’6″ senior J.D. Griggs,who’s headed to Iowa University on a football scholarship, led P-Way with 20 points,14 rebounds,3 blocks and altered many shots throughout the game. Omar Smith added 16 points and 8 rebounds.