Kennedy H.S…..For three quarters, Kennedy didn’t look as if it would be celebrating for Coach Jim Ring(pictured right) tonight! Bergen Catholic led most of the game and seemed to be in control! But Senior Sammy Singletary wanted it for his Coach and his teammates followed suit! Pressure defense at the end of the 3rd changed the whole complexion of the game as the Knights forced turnover after turnover on B.C. Singletary(left) finally gave Kennedy the lead 41-40 with 1:50 left in the 3rd! Kennedy went on to outscore Bergen Catholic 28 to 12 to close out the game 69-52! The win was Coach Jim Ring’s 300th of his 16 year career! Singletary was a man on a mission scoring 33 points and making sure the feat would happen tonight! Bergen Catholic was led by Rich DeLuca with 17 points! Hoop Journal would like to congratulate Coach Ring on this great accomplishment, it’s a credit to the Kennedy program as some great one’s have laced them up for Coach!

   Upper Saddle River…….Hawthorne Christian’s 6’7 Sophomore Alex Thomas dominated the interior in a 62-42 win over Saddle River Day! Thomas and Senior Paul Little helped Hawthorne Christian out rebound Saddle River Day 43 to 27 as they combined for 35 boards themselves! Thomas(right) was a problem from the start and finished the contest with 25 points and 20 rebounds! Little(below left) scored 17 points and grabbed 15 boards, including 10 on the offensive glass! The game featured Saddle River Day’s Senior Dave Rosado, the ex Paterson Catholic player who led the state in scoring last year! Rosado had to overcome a box and one defense and managed to score 16 points and grab 9 rebounds! The game was tied at intermission 23-23, but Hawthorne Christian came out and outscored Saddle River Day 17-4 in the 3rd as Thomas and Little combined for 12 of the points! Hawthorne Christian improved their record to 6-0 and now go into the toughest part of their schedule, while the Rebels fell to 3-2! 

       Hackensack, N.J………. The Playaz Sponsored New Years Jumpoff had 4 games decided by 9 total points as the competition was hot and heavy all night long!

                                              ST.ANTHONY  51        ST. BENEDICTS  50

      St. Anthony had one of it’s toughest games since their Parochial B Final B lost to Trenton Catholic as the Friars held on to a 51-50 victory over St.Benedicts! St. Benedicts took a 40-34 lead into the 4th quarter but St. Anthony played tough defense in the 4th quarter and took the lead late on a”triple” by Junior Hallice Cooke(2 treys)! Senior All-American and U.C.L.A. commit Kyle Anderson led the way for St. Anthony with 13 points,11 rebounds and 5 assists and Senior Jimmy Hall and Junior Josh Brown contributed 12 and 10 points respectively! It offset the outstanding play of Miami commit Melvin Johnson who scored 25 points with 4″triples” and Junior Tyler Ennis with 14! St. Anthony held the lead but missed free throws late which gave Benedicts the final opportunity to win the game! But Ennis had to put up a rushed shot at the buzzer that fell short! Anderson(left) was voted the M.V.P. for St. Anthony and Johnson(right) was Player of the Game for St. Benedicts!

                               PLAINFIELD  59            HUDSON CATHOLIC  57

    Plainfield is a veteran team that has been in big games numerous times while Hudson Catholic is a team that is trying to learn what it takes to get to that next level and this game was the perfect example! Plainfield’s pressure gave them the largest lead of the game 47-36 at the end of the 3rd quarter as Senior’s Sekou Harris, Justin Sears and Dijon Allen-Jordan took control of the game! But Hudson came out in the 4th behind the shooting of Junior Reggie Cameron to tie the game up at 55 with 1:27 left in the game! Plainfield set up a play to get to the fouline and convert a free throw, then after a late turnover Allen-Jordan made two free throws to ice the contest! Allen-Jordan finished with 14 to lead Plainfield’s scoring! Harris(left),the Player of the Game for the Cardinals finished with 11 points,5 assists and 3 steals! Cameron(right) who was voted the Hudson Catholic Player of the Game scored 23 points with 7 rebounds, Junior Mike Young scored 12 points and grabbed 9 boards and Junior Kavon Stewart scored 11 points with 7 rebounds an        

                                                 TEANECK  65             ST. PATRICKS  63   O.T.

     Recently injured Junior Joel Hernandez came back after missing the last two games and help give his Teaneck team an improbable win over St. Patricks 65-63 in overtime! Hernandez twice was the hero for Teaneck! Once by hitting a “triple” at the end of regulation to tie the score at 53! He then got fouled on a three point shot with no time on the clock in overtime down one after St. Patricks Junior guard Darrian Collins made one of two free throws to tie the game at 63,Hernandez converted two of three foul shots to give Teaneck a 65-63 win!  Senior Chris Jones led the scoring with 22 points and 10 rebounds while Hernandez who was voted Player of the Game finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds and Junior Shakir Lindsey scored 12 points with 4 dimes!! Junior DeAndre Bembry the Player of the Game for St. Patricks scored 20 points with 4 blocks and 3 steals! Collins finished with 17 points and 3 dimes while Junior Jared Nickens added 12!  

                                      HACKENSACK  59                   ENGLEWOOD  55

          Hackensack came back from a 16 point deficit at halftime to defeat Englewood 59-55! The Comets defense was the catalyst for the stanza, along with the play of Junior point guard Chris Myers, Senior Mershan Monroe, Junior Gene Marshall and especially the scoring of Sophomore Rashard Figures in the 4th quarter! Hackensack chipped away and finally took the lead with 27 seconds left on a Marshall layup from Junior Keon Lewis! Englewood had taken control of the game behind the play of Senior Austin Mofunanya(11pts,16rebs) Junior Douglas Wade-Perry(13pts), Senior Omar Sotolongo(12pts) and Senior Tyler Kearney(10pts)! Myers(left) the Player of the Game scored 17 points, dished out 8 assists and had 4 steals, Figures scored 15 points,5 rebounds and 4 steals, Marshall 13 points and 10 rebounds and Monroe 8 points and 10 rebounds! Mofunanya(right) was chosen Player of the Game for Englewood!