SCOREBOARD

State champs…for the 23rd time

St. Anthony Friars need week off after winning NJSIAA Parochial B to healIf there has ever been a team, a group of people who were deserving of a vacation, it would have to be the Friars of St. Anthony, who carved out another piece of history last weekend by winning the NJSIAA Parochial B state championship with a 58-43 victory over St. Rose of Belmar.

It marked the 23rd time that the fabulous Friars have marched home with a state championship trophy, trailing the national record set by Cheyenne Central High School of Cheyenne, Wyoming now by just one title.

Think about that fact. St. Anthony has won 23 state titles.

Now, here’s something else to digest. There has only been one state championship ever won by a Jersey City public school, that being Snyder in 1990. However, St. Anthony now has 23 parochial state championships in the last three decades. When you compare those numbers, you’ll find simply mind boggling statistics.

The Friars rolled to this state title in impressive fashion, soundly defeating all of their competition, including a 19-point win over St. Patrick’s of Elizabeth in the sectional finale on March 6.

However, the Friars didn’t hit the state playoffs at 100 percent physical capacity. Star guard Donald Copeland was sick with a stomach virus for the week prior to the St. Patrick’s game and was a question mark right up until game time.

A few days later, guard Elijah Ingram, who learned last week that he will play in the McDonald’s All-America game at Madison Square Garden on April 4, joining the 24 best high school players in the nation, was also slowed by the stomach flu.

And then, the stomach virus struck the Big Kahuna, as head coach Bob Hurley was also felled by the flu and actually had to miss a day of practice – a thought that is generally unheard of from the diligent coaching legend. A few years ago, Hurley continued to coach after he was diagnosed with pneumonia. For him to miss any time at this point of the season, he had to have been very sick.

Add to the mix that forward Obie Nwadike has been battling a sprained knee, and center Terrance Roberts has been hobbling on a sore ankle and you have the makings of a walking wounded M*A*S*H unit.

All of it makes the Friars’ state championship run this year even more impressive.

But the stars have all had their moments.

Ingram was downright brilliant against St. Patrick’s, scoring 25 points with a variety of crossover dribbles and tantalizingly quick steps. Copeland, easily the team’s Most Valuable Player all season, scored 18 points in the win over St. Rose.

“Donald was sick for a week,” Hurley said after the win over St. Patrick’s. “He had a temperature of 103 [Monday] and was just trying to play through it. Elijah then got it as well. But those two kids have played so well for us down the stretch that we needed them to perform.”

One of the reasons why the Friars have been so successful is their ability to shoot from the perimeter. They are perhaps the best high school team ever witnessed in shooting the 3-point shot.

“We generally have a minimum of six 3-pointers made per game,” Hurley said. “Usually, it’s like seven or eight. We shoot the ball so well from the outside that it stretches the opposition’s defense and opens up everything. The 3-point shot is such a focal part of our offense.”

“We all look for our shots,” Ingram said. “We look to take any threes we can get, because we know we can hit them. When we open up things on the perimeter, it’s a great feeling, because we feel no one can stop them.”

Opposing coaches know that there’s no stopping the Friars if they’re making long-range jumpers. Might as well just send in the result and go home.

“When they shoot the ball well like that from the outside, I don’t think anyone can play them,” said St. Patrick’s head coach Kevin Boyle. “They have three guys [Copeland, Ingram and fellow senior Dwayne Lee] who are outstanding on the perimeter. Most teams don’t have one. And when they get hot, they can bust the game open in two possessions. And if they get the lead, then you’re in trouble, because they’re not going to give it up.”

After winning the Parochial B title last Saturday, the Friars have enjoyed the week off, waiting for another journey to the prestigious world of the elite known as the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions, a get-together that has simply been dominated by the Friars since its inception in 1989.

In that time, St. Anthony has won the T of C seven times. No other New Jersey school has won more than once. The Friars are the clear-cut favorite to make it T of C trophy No. 8 next weekend at the Meadowlands. They received the top seed and the first round bye. They will face the winner of Middle Township-Bergen Catholic on Wednesday night at Rutgers.

The Friars deserved this break to recover from the rash of illnesses and the slew of injuries. They will be refreshed and ready to make another attempt at history.

The Friars own a 27-1 record entering the T of C. The lone loss? It came at the hands of Neptune, which won the Group III title and also earned a bye in the first round of the T of C.

Can someone smell some sweet revenge on the horizon? Provided the Friars get healthy, then everything else will just fall into place over the weekend.

And the tiny school on Eighth Street will have to find another place to store yet another trophy, to go with the hundreds of other brass statues that already grace the school.