There’s an old adage that says, “When one door closes, another one opens.”
It’s never been truer than in the case of Ravon Anderson.
Last September, Anderson, the former Hoboken High School All-American football player, was informed that he was not being retained as the head softball coach at the school, despite leading the Red Wings to the school’s first-ever HCIAA title last season, earning Hudson Reporter Coach of the Year honors in the process. Former coach Carmine Ronga wanted his position back, so Anderson was unceremoniously shown the door.
Now, five months later, the sun is shining on Anderson once again, because Tuesday night, he was officially hired as the new softball coach at High Tech High, ironically the team that Hoboken upset in the HCIAA Seglio title game last May, ending a five-year winning streak within the Seglio Division.
“It makes me feel good, and it’s definitely a good opportunity for me,” said Anderson, who will bring assistant coach Vinnie Johnson with him to High Tech. “It makes me feel like I’m wanted, and I’m glad the people there (athletic director Rich Myrlak and former coach Vince Nardiello) think that highly of me to give me a chance to run a program like High Tech, one of the best programs in the county. It makes me feel appreciated.”
Anderson said that he had some trepidation about leaving his alma mater, the only high school program he had ever known.
“I do feel bad,” Anderson said. “But we all know what happened. It was wrong and I wasn’t happy about it. But the situation turned out better for me. I’m wanted by someone else, and I’m inheriting a team that can compete for a championship.”
A championship that is currently held by Hoboken – which will make things very interesting when the two teams meet later this spring.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Anderson said. “It’s not me against them. It will be Hoboken against High Tech. But the hardest thing about all of this will be coaching against those girls. But High Tech is giving me a chance to coach and I have to take it.” …
Last week, a very rare occurrence in Hudson County girls’ basketball took place, when three standout performers all reached the prestigious 1,000-point plateau in the matter of days of each other.
The first to reach the milestone was Bayonne’s talented senior forward Christy Altamirano. That was followed by the 1,000th point from North Bergen’s super center Lauren Jimenez. Two days later, Secaucus’ Cory Roesing joined the exclusive points club.
The only difference between the three is that Jimenez and Roesing are juniors, so they have plenty more chances to pad their scoring totals and make their way toward school scoring records. Both have chances to become their respective schools’ all-time leaders, so that’s something to watch in the future.
However, it’s pretty impressive when one area gets three more members of the 1,000-point club in the same season, never mind the same week…
Time for some Hoop Musings: St. Peter’s Prep’s Joe Valenti had a dream football season, emerging as one of the Marauders’ top players in the state championship run, including making a sack of Matt Simms in the state title win over Don Bosco Prep in Giants Stadium.
Now, Valenti has been making his presence felt for the Marauders on the hardwood, becoming the team’s leading scorer, virtually out of nowhere.
Valenti scored 17 points in his team’s big win over Hudson Catholic last week. Two weeks ago, the 6-2 senior had 29 points in a huge win over Ferris. Talk about going from virtual unknown to two-sport standout practically overnight…
Marist’s boys’ basketball team has catapulted itself into the race for an HCIAA Coviello playoff berth, courtesy of big wins over Ferris and Emerson in recent days. Andre Riley has been the big gun for the Royal Knights, averaging 18 per game over the last two weeks…
And rip up the ballots for this year’s Coach of the Year. It’s Bob Hurley. Although it’s safe to say that Hurley could earn that title every year. However, this year, it’s so much different.
The Friars of St. Anthony are now an amazing 9-1, after stunning the nation’s No. 7 team, Mater Dei of California, at the Basketball Hall of Fame last Monday.
Everyone has been waiting for the arrival of junior Miles Beatty as a player of impact and it looks as if the Guttenberg native is ready to make the quantum leap to stardom, which has been anticipated since he first was spotted in grade school.
Beatty scored 18 points in two straight wins, over Monmouth Regional, then Mater Dei.
This clearly could be Hurley’s best coaching job to date, considering all the adversity the Friars had to face…
Moles tell me that the New York Jets continue to look toward Jersey City as a possible site for their permanent practice facility and headquarters, once the new stadium is built by 2009. There have been several meetings between Jersey City officials and team representatives over a possible site, like the Caven Point area. Stay tuned…
And there is another rumor floating around that the newly refurbished Jersey City Armory might become the home for a franchise in the National Developmental Basketball League, sponsored by the NBA. The league, which is currently operating in towns in the southeast, wants to have a presence near the NBA’s headquarters in Secaucus. The NBDL would be perfect for the Armory…
– Jim Hague