By Richard Greco, Mike Kinney and Kevin Minnick | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Kyle Terada | USA TODAY Sports
Hot topics from the past week
It was an exciting week on the boys basketball courts across New Jersey. Golden State Warriors all-star Kevin Durant spoke on one of the Garden State's top squads and legendary St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley visited one of his former assistant coach's teams to share some wisdom. There were plenty more going on including plenty of milestones, red-hot teams and big-time comeback wins. NJ.com took a look at some of the biggest news from the last week.
Kevin Durant breaks down HC's Qunierly
In his video series with Overtime, Golden State Warriors all-star Kevin Durant broke down Hudson Catholic McDonald’s All-American Jahvon Quinerly. Durant compared Quinerly’s game to former NBA point guard Jason Williams crediting his handles and craftiness with the ball. Quinerly does more than just ball and was named to Hudson Catholic's National Honor Society alongside senior forward Shackylle Dezonie.
Mater Dei gets some legendary advice
Hall of Fame St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley headed down the Shore to conduct a practice with former St. Anthony assistant and current Mater Dei coach Ben Gamble. The legendary coach preached his wisdom on the Seraphs, who are ranked No. 10 in the NJ.com Top 20.
MORE: Vote for the top junior guard in N.J.
Lori M. Nichols | For NJ.com
Captain of the Clippers
Mahir Yilmaz became the all-time leading scorer at Clayton with his 10-point effort against Haddon Heights. It raised his career total to 1,427, breaking the mark of 1,425 set last season by Michael “Scooby” Gibson. Yilmaz, who is averaging 19.5 points per game, heads into Friday’s game against Wildwood with 1,461 career points.
Enmond reigns supreme
Jabril Enmond, a senior forward, became the all-time leading scorer in Florence history following his 25-point outburst against Maple Shade on Tuesday. He finished with 1,335 career points, eclipsing the mark of 1,313 set by Lionel Barther in 1983.
Scoring king
Patrick Holden recently became the all-time leading scorer at Lower Cape May. The senior guard reached the milestone during a 25-point performance against Cedar Creek, breaking the old mark of 1,666 career points set by Charles Johnson in 2006. Holden hit a 3-pointer in the first quarter to set the record. After hitting the game-winner to beat Holy Spirit on Wednesday, he goes into Friday’s Cape-Atlantic League game against Absegami with 1,735 career points.
Mike Kinney | NJ Advance Media
Long night in Chatham
We figured Chatham and Randolph were comparably talented this year as the top two seeds, respectively, for the upcoming Morris County Tournament. But who would have known they could be barely separated by a 10-foot pry bar?
These two weren’t close to resolving the question after 32 minutes of basketball Wednesday night in Chatham. They continued in a deadlock for three overtime periods before Chatham finally made some separation in the fourth OT to pull out a thrilling 70-65 victory. Jack Rooney scored five of his 14 points and Ryan Doherty was 4 of 4 from the foul line in those final four minutes to lead the Cougars. Chatham was an usteady 23 of 38 from the line overall, but 9 of 12 in the fourth overtime.
ALSO: Vote for the top junior forward in N.J.
John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Shedding that losing feeling
Roselle Catholic was a combined 0-7 last season against the Patrick School (0-4) and Linden, so clearly entered the current season with a few revenge issues on its plate. The season has a long way to go, but the top-ranked Lions definitely feel better about themselves after defeating Pat’s, 75-63, Saturday at the Investors Bank Scholarship Classic at Kean University and then rolling past Linden, 65-45, three nights later in Linden. McDonald’s All-American Naz Reid paced the effort against Patrick School with 30 points and 12 rebounds, and senior guard Ithiel Horton led the balanced showing against Linden with 15 points and five rebounds.
George McNish | For NJ Advance Media
Century club for Cummings
Rahway senior guard Keyshawn Cummings joined the 1,000-point club when he struck for 28 Monday night in an 85-47 victory over North Plainfield. He added 11 more points the next night in a 64-23 win over Cranford to raise his career total to 2,029 and the Indians’ record to 13-0.
Liddy reaches milestone for Westwood
Senior guard Colin Liddy became the 10th player in Westwood history to reach 1,000 points in a 48-43 win over DePaul on Tuesday. He recached the milestone on a three-pointer in the first quarter.
Diaz reaches milestone
Eric Diaz added his name to the Paulsboro record book when he reached the 1,000-point plateau in a loss to Sterling. He scored 23 points, pushing his career total to 1,005. He went into Thursday’s game against with 1,041 career points.
READ: A look at all 42 of N.J.'s McDonald's All-Americans
Joe Warner | For NJ Advance Media
Three more South Jersey 1,000-point guys
In what has been a crazy season so far for milestones, D’Andre Thurmond of Burlington City, Greg Thurman of Willingboro and Millville’s Rynell Lawrence each recently eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for their careers. Thurmond went into Thursday’s action with 1,069 points, while Lawrence had 1,049. Thurman heads into Friday’s play with 1,052.
Crawford secures No. 200
Kevin Crawford picked up his 200th career win when Eastern defeated Woodrow Wilson 81-65 in an Olympic Conference inter-division game. In his fourth season with the Vikings, Crawford owns a 203-74 career record. He was 142-36 in six seasons at Pitman, winning a Group 1 state title, two sectional crowns and five Tri-County Classic championships.
Saed Hindash | The Star-Ledger
Gigliello reaches 100 wins
Woodbridge coach Matt Gigliello recorded his 100th career win when Woodbridge defeated North Brunswick, 60-55, on Jan. 9. The sixth-year coach's milestone win was highlighted by 25 points from Curtis Nesbit.
Bergenfield gets major wins
Bergenfield may have only won four games, but its most recent victories have definitely been eye-opening. It stunned Ridgewood, which entered the game with nine wins, 42-41 last Thursday and picked up a 41-39 win over Westwood, which had 12 wins at the time, on Saturday.
MORE: NJ.com Top 20 for Jan. 22
Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal
The durable Darby
Lincoln junior Donte Darby is proving as this season reaches it midpoint that no duty at all is beneath him. Or, for that matter, too far above the 6-0 guard, either. A quick perusal of his season stat line shows that Darby is not afraid to dig into any job, as he averages 16 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 3 steals and even 1.2 blocks for the 10-4 Lions. Lincoln carried a four-game winning streak into its game Thursday against Hoboken.
Scott Faytok | For NJ Advance Media
Marlboro stuns Manasquan
Marlboro was in need of a statement victory and that came on Saturday when it handed Manasquan its first loss in a 55-43 win. The victory was highlighted by by 25 points from Alex Ratner and snapped a two-game skid for Marlboro and an 11-game winning streak for Squan.
Alicea off to great start at Dayton
Sophomore guard DJ Alicea finished last season strong in the state tourney and is breaking out this season. He has reached double-figures in all 10 games has competed in and is averaging 22.3 points per game. He scored a career-high 30 points in a 58-46 loss to New Providence on Jan. 20.
David Gard | For NJ Advance Media
Noll is on some kind of roll
Shawnee point guard Dean Noll has taken his game to another level this season. The senior is among state scoring leaders at 24 points per game and dropped a career-high 41 in last Saturday’s double-overtime win against Delsea. And in Tuesday’s 51-48 win over Camden, Noll scored 13 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to help secure the outcome.
ALSO: NJ.com's first-ever South Jersey Top 20
David Gard | For NJ Advance Media
Golden Eagles flying high
Winners of just nine games last season, Seneca picked up its 10th win of the year Tuesday against Pennsauken Tech and took a five-game winning streak into Thursday’s Olympic Patriot matchup with Cherry Hill West. Jack Brockett (15.1 ppg), Michael Ginyard (11.3) and Malin Jasinski (11.2) have helped pave the way.
Jesse Bair | For NJ Advance Media
Delsea is on a crusade
Among the hot teams in South Jersey right now is Delsea. The Crusaders went into Thursday’s Tri-County Diamond game against Gloucester Catholic having won six of its last seven – the lone loss being an 89-87 setback to Shawnee in double overtime. Javon Gordon, Aziz Saud, Nate Cox and Kobey Evans are combining for better than 48 points per game.
David Gard | For NJ Advance Media
CBA is on fire
Christian Brothers has found its form. Heading into Thursday's road game against Manalapan, the Colts rattled off six straight wins, including statement wins over Colts Neck and Eastern. Stephen Braunstein has been the catalyst for CBA's offense with 17.3 points per game, while Josh Cohen has 15.4 points per game.
North Star points upward
North Star Academy of Newark returned to its winning ways Tuesday with a 43-41 victory over Caldwell after dropping back-to-back games against fellow Newark teams Barringer and state-ranked East Side. All wins are steps in the right direction for this third-year program, which was 7-14 last season and claimed just one victory in 2015-16. As good as North Star feels right now, this may be merely the start of positive things. The team’s leaders in most every category are all juniors, guards Hakeem Wilson (16.7 ppg.) and Nashir Taylor (10.5 ppg.) and forward Mahomed Jalloh (11.5 ppg., 10.4 rpg.). The versatile Wilson also averages four assists and two steals per outing.
PLUS: Conference Players of the Week
Bogota makes it rain
Bogota hit 14 3-pointers on its way to a 78-50 win over Hawthorne Christian on Jan. 23. Deiker Padrino led the way with six 3-pointers and 25 points, while Timothy Uzor added four 3-pointers and 23 points. Argenis Soriano added three 3-pointers and finished with 14 points in the win.
Scott Faytok | For NJ Advance Media
Can't count out Ramapo
Last Thursday, Ramapo had a solid comeback when it took on Tenafly. It feel behind 15-5 in the first quarter before outscoring Tenafly 10-2 in the second quarter and 6-0 in the third on its way to a 37-29 victory. Individual stats for this game, however, were not reported to njschoolsports.com.
Oratory Prep raises money for cancer
Oratory Prep will host a Beat Cancer Day on Saturday to raise funds for the Jimmy V Foundation. Sub varsity games will get underway at 10 a.m. with the event capping off with a girls-boys double-header at 2:30 p.m and 4 p.m. The girls game will pit Kent Place against Oak Knoll, while Oratory Prep hosts Johnson in the boys game.
David Gard | For NJ Advance Media
Showdown set in BCSL
Moorestown will put its seven-game winning streak on the line Friday when it takes on Trenton Catholic in a Burlington County League Liberty Division matchup. The Quakers (10-2) handed TCA a 55-53 setback on Dec. 21, but the Iron Mikes now have junior sensation Khalif Battle in the lineup. Nick Cartwright-Atkins, Akhil Giri and Jagger Zrada have paced Moorestown’s offensive attack.
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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