It’s hard to describe the kind of year that legendary St. Anthony High School basketball coach Bob Hurley enjoyed. It’s the stuff that storybooks are made of, the 12 months that only most people dream about.
It started last March, when a feature-length documentary about the St. Anthony basketball team that won the 2008 national championship, entitled “The Street Stops Here,” premiered on PBS nationwide.
“They look like they just completed hell week like a Navy Seal.” – Bobby Hurley
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Hurley was inducted into the Hall of Fame in August, only the third high school coach to gain the honor. A month or so later, he was honored by his hometown by having the block where St. Anthony resides, on Seventh Street between Marin Boulevard and Grove Street, renamed “Bob Hurley Way.” He also received the prestigious Joe Lapchick Award for his years of service to the sport.
And Monday night, Hurley’s team won their fourth national championship.
Led by 17 points each from senior Myles Mack and junior Kyle Anderson, the two players who transferred in after Paterson Catholic closed its doors last June, the Friars defeated Plainfield, 61-49, at the IZOD Center to capture the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions title.
With the victory, the Friars (33-0) capped an undefeated season and captured the mythical national championship, the fourth national crown that the program has enjoyed during its remarkable tenure. St. Anthony had also won national titles in 1989, 1996, and 2008.
Breaking records
The school has now won a record 11 Tournament of Champions titles and 26 NJSIAA state crowns, another New Jersey state record.
“These kids will be attached at the hip for the rest of their lives,” a jubilant Hurley said in a post-game press conference. “It’s a much better story than ‘That Championship Season’ that’s on Broadway right now. This is a great accomplishment.”
The Friars had a tough time with the Cardinals (24-9), whom they previously defeated 59-47 in a regular season game on Jan. 2.
Most people in attendance were expecting a complete walkover, but the Cardinals would have nothing to do with the national championship coronation. The Friars were going to have to earn their title.
“Since we played them earlier in the year, we had a bit of a reference point,” said Plainfield head coach Jeff Lubreski, whose team won the Group III state title to earn a berth to the T of C. “We came into the game expecting to win. We competed and gave it our best shot. If you play St. Anthony backing up and afraid, you never have a chance to win.”
The Friars trailed midway through the second quarter, but took the lead for good on a 3-point field goal from Anderson, the North Bergen native who was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.
Anderson’s long shot gave the Friars a 28-25 lead with 1:05 remaining before halftime. The Friars led 30-26 at intermission, after Anderson made a rebound basket with just 28 seconds remaining in the half.
Plainfield cut the lead to 32-30 on a lane jumper – fittingly from a player named Jahmal Lane (12 points) – with 5:28 in the third quarter. This game was definitely a war.
But the Friars then scored the game’s next seven points to give themselves some distance from the upstart Cardinals.
Jerome Frink, who had 11 points and five rebounds, made a conventional 3-point play to push the lead to 35-30 with 5:08 left. Mack then made a steal and layup with 3:57 left in the third that made the Friars’ lead 37-30. Josh Brown scored his only two points of the game with 3:07 left in the third that gave the Friars a nine-point cushion.
The Cardinals would not go away. They sliced the lead to 39-36 by scoring three straight baskets, forcing St. Anthony Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley to call a time out.
The Friars took a 41-36 lead into the fourth quarter when senior Jordan Quick made a huge 3-pointer with 7:16 remaining in the game, pushing the lead back up to 44-36.
“I felt like I had to do something there,” said Quick, who played the last two weeks of the season with a torn meniscus in his right knee. “Doctors told me that I couldn’t play and were telling me that I needed surgery. But I had to play. I wasn’t letting this slip away.”
“If we didn’t get Jordan back, we wouldn’t have won,” Hurley said.
After Quick’s clutch shot, Mack then made a big trey off a pass from Anderson, who had eight assists and six rebounds to go along with his 17 points, giving St. Anthony a commanding 47-36 advantage.
“We just had to keep our poise at the right time,” Mack said. “It’s great how things just worked out for us.”
The closest Plainfield would get the rest of the way was six points.
“It was a long season,” legendary coach Hurley said. “This was our 33rd game. Yesterday was our 72nd practice. If I feel tired, I can imagine how they feel. There was a lot of pressure on us. Look at these kids. They look like they just completed hell week like a Navy Seal. I just think we just wore on Plainfield down the stretch. They’re a very good team and they’re definitely the favorites to win it next year.”
But it’s about this year and the improbable run the fabulous Friars made. No one expected this to be a national championship season, but after the Friars knocked off the previously No. 1-ranked Celtics of St. Patrick in the NJSIAA Non-Public B North finals in Rutgers, the road to another national title was paved.
“We’ve had four national champions in four different decades,” Hurley said. “It’s a pretty good mark of consistency. We just wanted to give our best effort and win another, but to win four, it’s amazing. Because to win a national championship, you have to win a state tournament title in New Jersey and then the Tournament of Champions. That’s a pretty tough road to take.”
“It’s not what we expected,” Anderson said. “But it’s what we got. Give a lot of credit to Plainfield. They played us tough. We were just a little better team in the second half.”
Plainfield received a game-high 19 points from Sekou Harris and 12 from Lane.
Mack, Anderson and Frink were the lone players in double figures for the Friars.
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.