By Richard Greco, Mike Kinney and Kevin Minnick | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
The biggest stories in boys basketball
This week's action featured some absolutely breathtaking finishing between rivals from Bergen County all the way down south.
From stunning finishes to McDonald's All-Americans being announced to transfers becoming eligible after sitting 30 days, there are plenty of hot topics to talk about from the last week of boys basketball.
NJ.com's boys basketball reporters took a look at some of the hottest topics in the state and, of course, show some love to this week's 1,000-point scorers.
Larry Murphy | For NJ Advance Media
3 "Burger Boys" from the Garden State
For the first time in the McDonald’s All-American game’s 41-year history New Jersey will have three representatives taking the floor. Roselle Catholic's Naz Reid as well as Jahvon Quinerly and Louis King of Hudson Catholic will all suit up for the All-American game on Wednesday, March 28 at Atlanta's Philips Arena at 7 p.m.
East Side alum and current Miami Heat gets jersey retired
Miami Heat center and Newark East Side alum Hassan Whiteside had his No. 32 Red Raiders jersey retired on Thursday. Whiteside played his junior year at Newark Eastside in 2006 where he averaged 18 points, 10 rebounds and 5.5 blocks per game. He will join 2002 N.J. player of the year Randy Foye as the two jerseys hanging in East Side's gym.
MORE: Vote for the top senior guard in N.J.
Courtesy of Mick Hughes
Owen Raab scores 1,000th point
Raab scored 20 points, including his 1,000th career point, to lead New Egypt over Riverside, 57-37, Thursday night. The senior is averaging 22.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game this season.
George McNish | For NJ Advance Media
Paterson Kennedy's Colon hits milestone
Jaylen Colon scored 24 points, including the 1,000th of his career, to lead Paterson Kennedy over Columbia in the Freedom Fighters Hoop Challenge at Don Bosco Tech on Monday. The senior is averaging 18.3 points per game.
John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Ross Gang hits milestone for Millburn
Gang scored 19 points, including his 1,000th career point, to lead Millburn over Bloomfield Tech, 46-45, on Saturday. He recahed the milestone late in the second quarter on a free throw and finished the game with 1,010 points. He is the ninth boys basketball player in Millburn history to reach the milestone.
Keeping it in the family at Jackson Liberty
Jackson Liberty junior Daniel Sofield entered Thursday’s game against Brick Memorial with 999 career points. On the first possession of the game, Sofield hit a three to join his brother James as the only two players in Jackson Liberty boys hoops history to reach the 1,000-point milestone.
ALSO: Vote for the top senior forward in N.J.
Joe Warner | For NJ Advance Media
Jawan Roane joins 1,000 point club
Roane surpassed the 1,000-point milestone. His totals are built up from games played at Penns Grove and Woodstown. He is averaging 20 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.
Courtesy of Scott Weber
Pingry's Mike Weber joins the club
The four-year starter and two-time co-captain scored his 1,000th point when Pingry defeated Bevidere, 45-44, on Jan. 9. He finished the win with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Larry Murphy | For the Times of Trenton
Watkins bursts onto the scene for Mater Dei
Trenton Catholic transfer Jamir Watkins made his debut Tuesday and led Mater Dei to a 78-63 win over Point Pleasant Beach. Watkins recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds in the win.
Al Amrhein | For NJ Advance Media
Syer back at Sterling
Noah Syer, a 6-7 junior forward, scored 15 points and blocked three shots in Sterling’s 62-53 win over Woodbury on Tuesday. It was his second back after sitting the first 30 days following a short stay at Neumann-Goretti in Philadelphia. He averaged 10.5 points and 3.7 rebounds last season for Sterling.
READ: Stat leaders lighting it up this season
John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Patrick School finally finishes
After an early season filled with frustrating second halves resulting in losses, the seventh-ranked Celtics finally conducted a second half it could hold up to admiration when they rallied to beat No. 5 Linden, 84-82, in a white-knuckle double overtime battle Tuesday in Hillside.
Pat’s trailed, 32-24, after two quarters, but got behind the sturdy interior work of both Vladir Manuel and Giorgi Bezhanishvili to outlast the small but always scrappy Tigers. Manuel finished with 29 points, 14 rebounds nd Bezhanishvili had 22 points, 11 rebounds to help the Celtics overcime a 41-point outburst from Linden senior Tavon Jones. Next up for Pats is a showdown with No. 1 Roselle Catholic at The Investors Games at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Kean University.
Bergen-Bosco thriller
It was a wild showdown with plenty of twists and turns when No. 9 Bergen Catholic and No. 4 Don Bosco Prep met Tuesday night. Bergen Catholic used a 26-0 run to pull ahead 30-4, but Bosco mounted a third quarter charge and evened the score at 35-35 heading into the final frame. The two sides traded leads in the fourth before Matt Zona drained a trey at the buzzer to lead Bergen Catholic to a 52-49 victory.
Cresskill makes a statement
The top two teams in the NJIC faced off on Tuesday and Cresskill made a major statement with a 74-47 win over Bogota. The victory improved Cresskill's record to 8-0.
Jesse Bair | For NJ Advance Media
Career day for Regan
Conor Regan is making an impact for Gloucester Catholic. The junior guard posted career-highs in last Saturday’s 85-53 victory over Clayton, scoring 31 points and grabbing 18 rebounds. He also drained his 100th career 3-poiner in the game. Through the Rams’ first nine games, he averaged a team-leading 17.4 points and 5.2 rebounds.
MORE: Boys basketball players of the week
Rumson's Sourlis makes his college decision
Last Thursday, Teddy Sourlis of Rumson announced that he will be continuing his basketball career at Babson College. Sourlis is averaging 7.7 points per game this season.
Emerson Boro lives for the theatrics
Nick Minck sealed a 55-52 win for Emerson Boro over Saddle River Day on Tuesday. He clinched the victory with a layup-and-one to improve Emerson Boro's record to 8-2.
Matt Smith | For NJ Advance Media
St. Joe's shows some love to Letrell
St. Joe's honored 2017 graduate Letrell West for scoring 1,000 points in his high school career. West, who has helped coach the team this year, reached the milestone in his final high school game, a 63-46 loss to Bishop Eustace in the South Jersey, Non-Public A semis.
Joe Warner | For NJ Advance Media
Lawrence just 10 away from milestone
A junior guard, Rynell Lawrence needs 10 points to become the eighth player to reach the 1,000-point plateau in Millville history. Jaymere Hadden was the last, finishing with 1,120 points in 2011. Alan Shaw is the program’s all-time leader with 1,479 career points, a mark set in 1969.
ALSO: NJ.com Top 20 for Jan. 15
David Gard | For NJ Advance Media
Turning things around
Winners of just six games in 2016 and seven a year ago, Burlington Township continues to take steps in the right direction. The Falcons defeated Highland on Tuesday, improving to 8-3 overall. Included in their start was a five-game winning streak. Jarek Johnson, a 6-5 senior, is averaging a team-leading 15.1 points. Jordan Livingston, a 6-3 point guard, was expected to make his season debut Thursday after transferring from Montclair Immaculate.
Courtesy of Mike McDonagh
Hackettstown takes Florida by storm
Hackettstown headed down to Florida to take on Canterbury (Fl.) and Keswick Christian (Fl.). It pulled out two wins to improve its record to 9-2. While its trip was centered around basketball, Hackettstown still had time to kick back and relax with some swimming, volleyball, paintball, a USF men's basketball game as well as pleny of Chick-fil-A and Taylor ham sandwiches.
Wayne Hills checks out the RAC
Wayne Hills boys basketball team headed to New Brunswick to see Rutgers take on Ohio State on Sunday. Rutgers lost the Big Ten showdown 68-46. Wayne Hills has been a little more successful than Rutgers. It headed into Thursday's game against Paterson Kennedy with a 9-3 record on a five-game winning streak.
Larry Murphy | For NJ Advance Media
Florence gets its revenge
After losing to New Egypt by 29 points in its season opener, Florence extended its winning streak to four games with a 37-31 victory in the rematch on Tuesday. Kailee Coles and Nick Hazel had 11 points apiece to lead the Flashes.
PLUS: Latest statewide rankings
Lori M. Nichols | For NJ.com
From the gridiron to the hardwood
Nick Kargman, who holds a scholarship offer from Rutgers for football, earned team MVP honors for Woodrow Wilson following its overtime win against Lindenwold on Monday. The junior scored 23 points, which included five 3-pointers, in the MLK Showcase game played at Paulsboro. Kargman, who played his first two seasons at Pitman before transferring, followed up that effort with 14 against Paul VI and 19 in a loss to Pennsauken.
Sayreville looks to disrupt perfection
Sayreville had a nice bounceback win Tuesday by edging North Brunswick, 45-43, with timely defense in the clutch while its offense struggled a bit. The Bombers (11-2 had fallen to Carteret, 79-60, two days earlier to snap a five-game winning streak. Elijah Clark, Zaire Jackson, Zac Kazmarek and the rest of the squad has a chance to force a bounceback game upon Rahway—its first this season—when they battle at 1 p.m. Saturday in Rahway in a non-conference affair. Rahway is one of eight undefeated teams left in New Jersey at 10-0.
John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
The upside for West Side
The Rougriders from Newark are quite young and inexperienced and not very tall. But they’re tough as nails when work must be done and they have, as a program, developed a taste for winning. And they’re not settling for leftovers, as No. 13 Montclair Immaculate discovered Tuesday when it was shocked by West Side, 70-58, at Caldwell University.
West Side six of its top eight players from last year to graduation, yet still has memories and lessons it is holding from winning the last two Group 2 state championships.
West Side (8-5) began the season at 0-3 against a string of Top 20 teams and later lost twice to 12th-ranked East Side, but it finally figured some things out with this young, smallish crew. The Roughriders got 23 points and a remarkable 17 rebounds from 6-3 junior James Bell against an Immaculate team with guards that big. Junior guard TyJon Huntley scored 21 points and sophomore guard Kirk Parsons had 15 points and five steals.
Camden Tech enjoying success
Winners in eight of its first 11 games, Camden County Tech is off to a solid start. The Warriors picked up a 69-64 win over Hammonton on Monday. Warren Bethea leads the team, averaging 21.2 points and 7.2 rebounds. Davaughn Williams (15.9 ppg) and Damon Jones (15.7 ppg) are right behind, while Zayre Kinslow averages nearly 6 assists. They didn’t win their eighth game last season until Feb. 1.
Stephanie Maksin | For NJ Advance Media
Red-hot Cherokee
One of South Jersey’s hottest teams, Cherokee will take a five-game winning streak into Saturday’s Olympic Conference inter-division game against No. 15 Timber Creek. The Chiefs started the season 1-4 but have since been playing much better. They knocked off Eastern 65-60 on Monday behind Anthony DiCaro and Gavin Gibson, who drained three 3-pointers apiece. Tymere Bennett is averaging 13.2 points to lead a balanced attack, with Gibson (11.9 ppg) and DiCaro (11.7) also in double figures.
Stephanie Maksin | For NJ Advance Media
Watch out for the Panthers
Under second-year coach and former Rutgers standout Anthony Farmer, Middle Township has emerged as a team to keep an eye on in South Jersey Group 2. The Panthers came into the week riding a three-game winning streak and with seven wins under their belt. They didn’t get No. 7 last season until Feb. 11. Jalen Freeman and Mack Selby, a transfer from Vineland, have led the attack.
John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Bloomfield bounces back
Bloomfield suffered a heartbreaking loss to Ramapo, 46-43, last Saturday at the Dan Finn Classic, but did not dwell upon it at least not in public). The Bengals faced a hot Bloomfield Tech squad six days later and dealt the Spartans just their third defeat this season, 52-47. Junior guard Michael Ramos, a spark plug in a variety of ways, scored 15 points to lead Bloomfield, while junior guard Will Robinson hit for 13 and senior guard Richie Guillaume had 11.
J.P. Stevens finds a groove
The Hawks are feeling much better about themselves after producing four wins in their past five games, including a cherished 47-33 victory over sister school Edison in their annual City of Light Game. Tyrese Conover scored 13 points and Kasi Hazzard and Elisha Smith contributed to the balanced effort against Edison with 11 points, while everyone else, it seemed, played hard-nosed defense. That’s been one of the staples for first-year coach Chris Garcia, and one his Hawks have not been afraid to follow. J.P. Stevens is now 6-5, which is only three victories shy of last year’s total.
MORE COVERAGE
Richard Greco may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Richard_V_Greco.
Mike Kinney may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on twitter @MikeKinneyHS.
Kevin Minnick may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on twitter @kminnicksports. Like NJ.com HS sports on Facebook.
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