It was a basketball smorgasbord Monday afternoon/night in Jersey City, with two NJSIAA Non-Public B North semifinals taking place almost simultaneously, with the two winners getting the opportunity once again to face each other in the state playoffs.
First, there was a journey to downtown Jersey City to watch St. Anthony dispose of Dwight-Englewood in impressive fashion, racing out to a 25-0 lead before coasting to a 90-35 victory. The fabulous Friars look almost as invincible as the University of Kentucky does in NCAA basketball. All of the members of the St. Anthony roster saw action. None scored more than 12 points. It was as dominant a performance as one could witness. Butch and Sundance didn’t get ambushed in Bolivia as bad as Dwight-Englewood did by the Friars.
“We’ve been consistently playing well throughout the course of the season,” said legendary St. Anthony Hall of Fame head coach Bob Hurley. “I think even that start surprised us.”
Brilliant junior guard Jagan Mosely led the Friars’ balanced attack with 12 points and senior forward Markis McDuffie had 10, including a thunderous slam dunk that rocked the house.
Then, there was the journey up Montgomery Street – sidelined a bit by some serious Jersey City police action near the Montgomery Gardens, with at least 10 JCPD vehicles in use – to McGinley Square to witness another lambasting, the one that the Hudson Catholic Hawks laid on St. Mary’s of Rutherford.
The fast-paced Hawks fast broke the Gaels up and down the floor en route to an easy 91-47 victory, with impressive freshman Jahvon Quinerly knocking down 3-pointer after 3-pointer in eye-popping fashion, good for 20 points off the bench. Sophomore Patrick Strzala added 19 points, also putting on a shooting clinic. Sammy Friday had 19 as a force down low and another freshman Khalid Muhammad added 12, mostly off the break.
Needless to say, the Hawks were equally impressive with their victory.
“We want to play like that,” Mariniello said. “We played really hard early in the game. Sammy played hard and that’s the way we need him to play.”
Mariniello said that he never did anything like this before in coaching his team – getting ready for one team, namely St. Anthony.
“Whatever we’ve done in the past hasn’t worked,” Mariniello said. “I used to prepare for the team we’re playing, but this year, we did some things that we needed to do to try to win this one game against St. Anthony. We have to play fast. Their size concerns me. Sammy has to be a rebounding machine, but I think our guards are good enough and talented enough to match up with them. The freshmen will not be intimidated by the bright lights.”
So since this is the fifth straight year that the Friars and Hawks will meet for the sectional title, once again at Rutgers for some reason. The NJSIAA doesn’t realize that if this game was played at St. Peter’s University, the place would sell out on its own.
But it goes back to the RAC and has an 8 p.m. tipoff. Which means these kids are finished at Rutgers at 10 p.m., get showered and changed, get back on the bus and head home to Jersey City by 11:30 p.m. and some managed to make it to bed by 1 a.m. – and then are asked to be back in school the next morning?
What in the world is that all about? High school athletics?
In any case, since this is becoming an annual event, is the St. Anthony-Hudson Catholic game a legitimate rivalry?
A few years ago, when Jason Kidd became a member of the Knicks as a player and was asked if the Knicks and Brooklyn Nets had a rivalry, Kidd said that it wasn’t an actual rivalry until the Nets beat the Knicks.
Well, the Hawks have never been able to defeat the Friars. So is it a legit rivalry?
“It has the makeup of a rivalry,” Mariniello said. “But we haven’t beaten them. I have a lot of respect for Coach Hurley and what they’ve been able to do and for the length of time he’s been able to do it. People tell me that I shouldn’t praise Coach Hurley, but I think that’s just respect. I have to respect what he’s done. He’s set the tone for everyone else. I know I work hard, so he has to be doing something right. I know we’re not St. Anthony. We’re Hudson Catholic.”
Hurley was asked if he believed that there was a rivalry with Hudson Catholic.
“I don’t think geography factors in,” Hurley said. “It does make things interesting locally. The magnitude of the game makes it significant. I think they’ve replaced St. Patrick’s and Paterson Catholic as the teams we have to get by. Hudson Catholic is the one now.”
Hurley is impressed with what he sees from the Hawks.
“I think the two freshmen can play,” Hurley said. “I think Sammy Friday is a much improved player. He can provide defense, rebounding and scoring. I think they have experienced players who can play.”
But the Friars have multi-talented diverse players like McDuffie, good sized players like Taurean Thompson, Mohammed Bendary and Kaleb Bishop and a brilliant backcourt led by Mosely, but featuring R.J. Cole, Shyquan Gibbs and Juvaris Hayes. It’s as deep and as talented of a team that Hurley has had in a while.
And ready for this? Only McDuffie and Bendary are seniors. All the rest return. No wonder why Hurley is so enthused about his team.
Regardless of what happens in Rutgers – and during the weekend in Toms River – the Friars will be back next year.
Come to think of it, with players like Quinerly, Muhammad and Strzala, so will the Hawks.
It just adds to the rivalry. Yes, when two local schools meet for a state sectional title every year, it has to be a rivalry.
Let’s see what this edition brings.
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.
You can also read Jim’s blog at www.jimhaguesports.blogspot.com.