The 2010-11 Hudson Reporter All-Area Boys’ and Girls’ High School Basketball teams again represent the very best that one of the state’s premier hotbeds of basketball talent can offer.
However, the two teams are very different, in that one features a host of newcomers and first-time honorees, while the other is packed with repeat performers, showing their consistency and durability.
First, let’s look at the Hudson Reporter All-Area girls’ squad, which is the one that features the repeat honorees.
Two young ladies make their third straight appearance on the First Team, namely the brilliant Lisa Rovatsos of county champion Bayonne and the multi-talented Andrea Innis of Secaucus. Both were clearly the two best players in the county this season. They were definitely a cut above the rest.
Two of the other First Team honorees, namely Ashley Vazzona of North Bergen and Bria Smith of St. Dominic Academy, were Second Team honorees a year ago.
The lone new honoree is Snyder super scorer Tamara Tyre, who earns All-Area honors for the first time.
Shannon Waters of Secaucus and Antoinette Blake of Marist, both picked to the Second Team, are former All-Area selections, the same for Third Team honoree Diane Forker of Holy Family Academy.
The pick for Hudson Reporter Player of the Year was not an easy one, considering that Rovatsos led her team to the county title and to the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group IV championship game.
But for the third straight year, the nod goes to Secaucus’ Innis, who averaged 22 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for the 23-4 Patriots.
Innis becomes the first three-time Player of the Year honoree since North Bergen’s Lauren Jimenez accomplished the feat four years ago, before heading off to a solid collegiate career at James Madison University.
The Hudson Reporter Girls’ Basketball Coach of the Year nod goes to Jimenez’s high school coach, namely Dan Reardon of North Bergen, who guided the Bruins to 23 wins and a berth in the Hudson County Tournament title game.
Innis, a senior, certainly leaves a legacy of greatness at a school that has produced a host of great athletes, especially of the female variety, over the years. Innis, now the school’s all-time leading scorer for both boys and girls, is right there among the all-time greats from Secaucus.
Now, time for the flipside.
The Hudson Reporter All-Area boys’ team features only three repeat honorees and none on the First Team, a complete rarity.
The undefeated national champion St. Anthony Friars placed two members of the First Team, namely senior Myles Mack and junior Kyle Anderson.
Of course, neither player could have made the Hudson Reporter All-Area team last year, because they both attended Paterson Catholic and transferred to St. Anthony after their former school closed its doors last June.
The other First Team honorees are also newcomers Marvin Williams of Marist, Kevin Walker of St. Peter’s Prep, and Brent Burgess of Dickinson, although Williams was a Second Team pick and Walker a Third Team selection last year.
The other repeat honoree is Hudson Catholic sophomore Rakwan Kelly, who earned a Third Team nod. The remaining 12 of the area’s elite performers are all first-time honorees.
The Hudson Reporter Player of the Year selection is a no-brainer. Kyle Anderson developed into perhaps the best all-around player in the state with his ability to do everything. He is the best passing player of his 6-foot-8 stature this reporter has seen since some guy named Earvin Johnson played for Michigan State, before he became simply known as “Magic.”
Anderson, who averaged 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists per game for the national champs, developed into a double threat offensively, both from the perimeter and the post. He became a sensational defender and rebounder. He can do it all and he’s only a junior. The sky’s the limit and he will be one of the most recruited players in the country next year.
If he continues down the road he’s traveling, plain and simple, Kyle Anderson will be the best all-around basketball player that the storied St. Anthony program has ever produced and will go down as one of the best, if not the very best, player Hudson County has ever seen.
The Hudson Reporter Coach of the Year honor goes to Tom Lalicato of St. Mary, who had to endure the thought of his school’s demise and still managed to keep the Ramblers competitive through the county and state playoffs. The guy known as “Tommy Bell” and “The Bell of St. Mary’s” has been a true humanitarian and ambassador to the game of basketball in Hudson County and if he’s coached his last game, then he will be so sorely missed, because coaches and people like Tom Lalicato don’t come around every day. – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.