The Plainfield vs. St. Anthony T.O.C. final is one for the ages and here is a summary of each team in the eyes of this website:

ST.ANTHONY-  The Friars have overcome more than it’s share of transfers and suspensions this season, as many of the key players at the beginning of the season are not there! But the one constant to this team is 6’8 Senior Kyle Anderson! Rivals #2 ranked player in the country and the U.C.L.A. commit is the best player in the state with one of the highest IQ’s and he will have to play like that in order to beat Plainfield! Anderson(right) will need his teammates to step up with him and they are more than capable! Senior Jerome Frink has gotten better and better as the season has went on as he has put up big numbers with a high percentage from the floor! Junior Hallice Cooke(left)who is a good perimeter shooter will need to hit the open shots that he is expected to have! Junior Josh Brown has gotten better at the point and Senior Tariq Carey will also man the position! While, this is the key to their offense the reason behind the true success of St.Anthony is their Division 1 type defense! They will have to do as they have done to Hudson Catholic, Gill St. Bernard and Atlantic City and take away Plainfield’s strength and keep it a half court game! Of course, Coach Bob Hurley is as good as there is in the country when it comes to highschool basketball!

PLAINFIELD –  If there is a team that can dethrone St.Anthony it is the Plaifield Cardinals! They are a veteran group that have been through it all! They have a great core group led by 6’7 Yale commit Justin Sears(right)! The active Sears is great around the rim offensively and can defend in the lane and on the perimeter! Senior guard Sekou Harris(left) is as quick a guard as any in the State and if he gets off, St.Anthony will have a problem! 6’6 forward Dijon Allen-Jordan can get out on the break and is a dynamic finisher around the rim and is also a quality defender! While these are the key three, the glue is probably 6’3 Senior Jahmal Lane! He can defend the best perimeter guy and has picked up his scoring tremendously! Has a knack for making the big play in key situations! Senior Edward Anderson, Senior Taylor Plummer and Junior Denzel Christian all add a defensive presence to the game! Coach Jeff Lubreski has done a great job and always seems to have the pulse of his team!

Prediction: St. Anthony won a 12 point game against Plainfield early in the season, but each team is playing at it’s peak! Plainfield will be out for blood and will bring it’s “A” game to the court, but in the end St.Anthony will hold on in a close one!

Rutgers University, N.J……..With all the games that was played this highschool season, in the long run it had to end like this! St. Anthony and Plainfield meeting again in the final of the Tournament Of Champions!:

                                                PLAINFIELD  70          ST. JOSEPH METUCHEN 48

      Plainfield put stifling defense on St. Joe’s in the 2nd quarter, outscoring them 18-6 which made a 19-17 1st quarter lead into a 37-23 advantage at the half! That was all the Cardinals needed in their 70-48 win over the Falcons! Senior Jahmal Lane(pictured) who has stepped up big of late led the scoring for Plainfield with 22 points, while Senior Sekou Harris scored 17 and Senior’s Dijon Allen-Jordan and Justin Sears scored 12 points apiece! Plainfield did a great job of holding down Joe’s Temple commit star Quenton DeCosey who scored 10 points in the 1st quarter, but finished with 16 as Denzel Plummer and Edward Anderson did most of the defensive work! Stonehill commit Danny Brix added 15 points for St. Joe’s, but freshman sensation Karl Towns was held scoreless in the contest but did block 6 shots!

                                           ST. ANTHONY 72            ATLANTIC CITY 42

 St. Anthony jumped out to a 22-6 1st quarter lead and by all accounts the game was over! The lead balloned to 41-16 at the half and you could get ready for the championship game against Plainfield! U.C.L.A. commit Kyle Anderson(pictured) scored 20 points and dished out 6 assists to lead the Friars! Senior Jerome Frink added 13 points and Junior Hallice Cooke chipped in 11! nobody plays defense the way St. Anthony does and Atlantic City felt it all in the critical 1st half! Senior Kayshawn Dunston led A.C. with 15 points as he was the only player in double figures! St. Anthony and Plainfield will get it on Tuesday at the Izod Center at 8:00pm!

Toms River, N.J……….In T.O.C. action, Atlantic City and Plainfield advance to the Semifinals at Rutgers University Friday:

                                            ATLANTIC CITY  68                EWING  65     OT

Senior Martel Johnson’s “Triple” at the final buzzer sent the game into overtime and Senior Kayshawn Dunston’s(right) two”triples” in overtime led Atlantic City to a 68-65 victory to advance to the Semifinals of the T.O.C.! Ewing seemed to be poised to pull off the victory as Senior David Azoroh and Senior Dontae Jones played tremendously and did everything they could to make it happen and the game seemed won when after a”triple” by Dunston cut Atlantic City’s deficit to 56-55 with 17.5 seconds a long pass to Senior Ron Valentine gave Ewing what seemed to be the winning basket! That’s when Johnson’s heroic’s sent the game to overtime at 58! In the overtime session Azoroh started the scoring on a dribble drive and scored 5 of Ewing’s first 7 points as they went ahead 65-60! That’s when Dunston hit two of the biggest shots of his highschool career with the”triples” that gave them a 66-65 lead with 31 seconds! Then Junior Gebriel Chandler clinched the game with 2 free throws! Dunston finished the game with 23 points while Senior Jahleem Montague finished with 10 points and 15 rebounds and Chandler also had a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards! Johnson added 8 and Sophomore guard Isaiah Graves scored 9 points off the bench! Azoroh led Ewing with 21 points and 6 rebounds, while Jones scored 18 points and Senior Tyquan Crews added 13! Atlantic City will go against St. Anthony!

                                                    PLAINFIELD  68         ASBURY PARK 53

 Asbury Park came out fast in the 1st quarter and took a 16-9 lead! Plainfield then proceeded to slow walk themselves back in the game taking their first lead on Senior Sekou Harris 2 free throws which made the score 32-30! Senior Jahmal Lane(right) led the scoring with 21 points on a number of layups! Senior Justin Sears, the Yale commit played a strong post game scoring 15 points and grabbing 16 rebounds with 3 blocked shots! Senior Dijon Allen-Jordan scored 17 points(5 dunks) and pulled down 6 rebounds with 4 assists! Harris finished with 13 points and 6 assists as the big four took over the contest! The game was highlighted by a follow up dunk by Sears to end the 3rd quarter and make the score 48-40! Asbury Park was led by Senior Armond Conover with 20 points and 6 rebounds, twin brother Amir Conover with 12 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals and Senior Thomond Hammary with 13 points! Plainfield will now face St. Joseph Metuchen in the Semifinals at Rutgers!