His team had just defeated Plainfield, 66-62, to win the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions for a second straight year, when legendary Hall of Fame St. Anthony basketball coach Bob Hurley addressed the throng of reporters waiting to speak to him in the press room at the IZOD Center.
“This team just accomplished something that I don’t know if it’s ever happened before,” Hurley said. “I don’t know if there’s ever been a team that had back-to-back undefeated seasons. I know it certainly wasn’t us.”
There have been countless honors and achievements by the St. Anthony basketball program over the historic four-decade coaching career of Hurley, who gained induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame two years ago. There have been more than 1,000 victories, 27 NJSIAA state championships and after Tuesday night’s win over Plainfield, 12 Tournament of Champions titles in the 24-year history of the tourney.
But this marked the first time that the fabulous Friars posted consecutive seasons without a single loss. They won all 33 games in 2010-11, earning the school’s fourth mythical national championship and with the win Tuesday, they won all 32 games this season.
“It’s a great accomplishment,” Hurley said. “We beat everyone that was put in front of us. You have a bunch of kids who did everything they were asked to do and did just about enough to get this final win.”
Senior forward Jerome Frink had a brilliant final game in a Friar uniform. The Jersey City native scored 26 points and collected 13 rebounds, improving his stock with the college recruiters.
Frink scored 20 of his points in the second half, including six straight points to start the second half.
Senior reserve guard Tariq Carey came off the bench to add 18 critical points, eight of which came in the second quarter after the Friars’ starting guards ran into a bit of foul trouble.
All-American senior Kyle Anderson also ended his high school career with a flourish. The UCLA-bound Anderson, called by Hurley as “the most complete player to ever play in the school,” had 14 points, six rebounds, four assists, four steals and five blocked shots.
Anderson ended his high school career with a mark of 93-1 over the last three seasons, with the lone loss coming at the hands of St. Anthony when Anderson played for the now-defunct Paterson Catholic. Anderson transferred to St. Anthony after Paterson Catholic closed its doors two years ago.
Anderson will now go on to play in the McDonald’s All-American game in Chicago next month.
St. Anthony has dominated play since the Tournament of Champions was initiated in 1989. The tourney was started to capitalize on the immense popularity of the 1989 St. Anthony team, considered by many to be the best high school basketball team of all time, featuring future NBA players Bobby Hurley, Terry Dehere and Rodrick Rhodes, as well as former Seton Hall great Jerry Walker.
An astounding string of championships
The Friars won the T of C in 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2011 and now 2012. They remain the only program to win consecutive T of C titles, now having done it four times.
“We’ve had the ability to stay up at the top and get back to these games,” Hurley said. “But to have done this back-to-back and run the table is quite remarkable.”
What made the Friars’ run even more impressive is that the team lost six players since the start of the season for an assortment of reasons. Some transferred to other high schools, while others were removed from the team for disciplinary reasons.
“As you might know, I can be very demanding as a coach,” Hurley said. “We had six guys who couldn’t go through it for some reason, but we have kids right here who stayed through it and now are enjoying this.”
Ironically, the Friars also defeated Plainfield in the 2011 T of C finale, winning last year’s game by a 61-49 margin. Most of the same Plainfield players on last year’s team returned this year. The Friars also defeated Plainfield in the regular season, winning 43-31 on February 7.