Let’s face it. Maybe
Lady Gaga was right that it’s really never as good the second time around.
This year’s showdown between Hudson County’s elite boys’ basketball programs, namely St. Anthony and St. Peter’s Prep, never reached the intensity and the fervor that came when the two powerhouses clashed at the 2010 Dan Finn Classic, a game won in overtime by St. Anthony.
Last Monday night at New Jersey City University, the two teams squared off again in the added edition to the Dan Finn Classic, because scheduling conflicts prohibited the two titans from facing off when the tourney was initially held at the Jersey City Armory last month.
This time, there was no real drama, no intrigue. The outcome of the contest was pretty well decided before the opening tip. The Marauders hung around early and trailed by only three at one point of the second quarter, but eventually, the Friars got the most of the play as expected and won going away, 59-39.
There had been a distinct separation between the two programs. St. Anthony, bolstered by the addition of two extremely talented transfers, had made a step up from a year ago. The Marauders, who lost some key players due to graduation, academic casualties and financial problems, were not as strong as they were in January of 2010.
The Friars entered the game as the No. 2 team in the entire nation in some polls and No. 2 in the state in another.
The Marauders were not complete mismatches for the Friars, taking their No. 11-ranking in New Jersey into the game.
But the Marauders were coming off a tough win over Memorial in the Hudson County Tournament just a day earlier. It’s very hard to ask a team to play two emotionally draining games in consecutive nights.
“Our county game got switched,” St. Peter’s Prep head coach Mike Kelly said. “You never want to play back-to-back nights. We already came out behind the eight-ball with that. It wasn’t fair to our kids to face the No. 2 team in the nation after playing the day before.”
The Marauders had another disadvantage. They didn’t have Kyle Anderson on their side.
It seems as if every passing game evolves into a coming-out party for the talented junior, who is now so much of a better all-around player than what he showed at Paterson Catholic. The transfer to St. Anthony after PC closed last June has worked wonders for the North Bergen native.
The 6-foot-8 Anderson, considered one of the top juniors in the country, gave the Marauders fits, because they couldn’t match up with him at all.
If the Marauders put a guard on Anderson, he would merely go down close to the basket and post up the smaller guard. And when the Marauders tried to put center Keith Lumpkin on Anderson, the much quicker Anderson just put the ball on the floor and went right by Lumpkin.
Someone said that when Lumpkin was covering Anderson, at least he was getting some work on his foot speed to help Lumpkin when he plays football at Rutgers in the fall.
Anderson finished the game with 15 points, nine rebounds, six assists, three steals, and two blocked shots in an epic all-around performance, earning the game’s Most Valuable Player honors, adding that trophy to the one he received for winning the MVP of the SNY Invitational at Long Island University earlier in the month.
Never mind his scoring output, Anderson’s best ability comes within passing the basketball. He’s the best passing player of his stature since a guy named Magic Johnson. And that’s no joke and no understatement. Anderson makes passes that 5-foot-11 point guards, natural floor leaders, simply dream of making.
“We knew going in that it was going to be a bad matchup for us,” Kelly said. “We even tried to play zone there for a while and that didn’t work.”
“I hate to use this term about him, but he’s our facilitator,” St. Anthony Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley said of Anderson. “He gets everyone else good shots. He’s like an option quarterback in football, like the Michael Vick of basketball. You can’t cover him because you don’t know what he’s going to do. The sky’s the limit for Kyle athletically. His development will be ongoing. It will be my job to try to harness all of his talents and use it.”
Anderson’s stock just continues to skyrocket with every passing day.
Myles Mack, the other talented transfer from the defunct Paterson Catholic, led the Friars with 16 points. That’s a total of 31 points that the Friars didn’t have when they faced the Marauders a year ago. Needless to say, Anderson and Mack made the difference.
The Marauders were led by senior Stephon Whyatt, who had 15 points. Whyatt, the hero of last year’s win over Seton Hall Prep in the Non-Public A North title game, has definitely played himself into a college prospect.
During the game, Lumpkin scored the 1,000th point of his career, joining teammate Kevin Walker in the elite club. The Marauders hadn’t had a single 1,000-point scorer since former Monmouth standout Jack Gordon scored his milestone point in 1992. Before Gordon, the last Prep 1,000-point scorer was Ed Lawson in 1984. Now, there are two on the same team, which had never happened before in Prep history.
“It was amazing when I got it, but I was happy that Keith got it as well,” said point guard Walker, who also should be playing college basketball somewhere next fall. “I know what Keith is feeling. It’s great for the two of us, because we started it all.”
The Marauders (19-5) had no problem moving past the Friars. They have bigger fish to fry. They have to play Marist this weekend for the Hudson County Tournament championship, with their fourth straight county title on the line. Then, they will move on to the state tournament and a shot to repeat as state sectional champions.
“I told them that they can do everything that last year’s team did,” Kelly said. “We’re happy where we are.”
“When you play against the No. 2 team in the country, it should prepare you for everything else,” Walker said. “It will put us in a great position the rest of the way.”
The undefeated Friars, now 24-0, also have higher goals in mind. They will prepare for the Non-Public B playoffs and another looming showdown with St. Patrick of Elizabeth in a few weeks.
“We did things in this game that are uncharacteristic of us,” Hurley said. “We had the yips a little and didn’t finish some things. I think the crowd, facing another Jersey City team, made it a little more difficult for us and some of our kids were a little nervous. That’s good for us. We can address that.”
One thing is for sure: The showdown did bring an enthusiastic crowd to NJCU. There was an air of electricity that only comes with a big game, a championship-type atmosphere. Noted alumni from both schools were on hand. Perhaps the greatest St. Anthony player ever, Bobby Hurley – now an assistant coach at Wagner College with his younger brother, Wagner head coach Danny – was on hand to receive an award and his place on the Dan Finn Classic Wall of Fame. Regardless of what the final score read, this was a good night for Hudson County basketball, even if the distance between the two programs was fairly evident.
“If they continue to run this tourney and we get a chance to play this game, you can see what it does for Jersey City high school basketball,” Hurley said.
It’s just not known whether the Marauders will ever get the chance to be on the same competitive level with the fabulous Friars ever again. That window of opportunity has appeared to have closed. It just wasn’t the same the second time around.
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.