Friars May Be Poised For a Run in 2008
by Ray Floriani
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – The old axiom tells us next winter’s champions are made in summer. Judging by their play in the Hoop Group Metro HBC Basketball Classic at Seton Hall University, St. Anthony’s will be primed to make a run at the New Jersey Tournament of Champions crown in March. The Friars knocked off St. Raymonds 63-55 to claim their second straight title in this event held the June 23-24 weekend.
From the officiating end were four games, two Saturday and two on Sunday that afforded a closer look.
Seton Hall Prep 52, Brick Township (NJ) 37
Brick battled gamely and trailed by only seven at the half in this second-round contest. The second half saw the quicker and bigger Pirate squad pull away. Pitt-bound Ashton Gibbs played well for Seton Hall. The 6-2 senior guard had a nice touch on the perimeter and was strong enough to get in the lane.
Atlantic City 52, Ridge (NJ) 38
AC trailed by 10 early, as they threw the ball away, made poor decisions and their competition didn’t back down. Ridge had a difficult time matching up with AC’s quickness and athleticism but utilized screens on offense and did a good job controlling the tempo. Ridge led by one at the half, but AC had established the shift in momentum by then. Over the final 16 minutes, the South Jersey team forced turnovers of their own, got some easy baskets and wound up winning by double digits in a game that was closer and more contested than the final score hinted.
St. Anthony’s 60, Paterson Eastside 30
This Sunday morning semifinal matchup saw the Friars get out to a fast 9-0 lead and never look back. Eastside was basically five guards on the floor. St. Anthony’s had outstanding guard play with Trevon Woodall, Tyshawn Taylor and Jio Fontan, and strong inside play anchored by 6-6 St. Joseph’s-bound A.J. Rogers and 6-8 Madut Bol. Rogers is strong inside and runs exceptionally well. Bol, the son of former NBA center Manute Bol, is heading into his junior year and appears ready to contribute on varsity after two years on JV.
Hudson Catholic 65, Windsor (CT) 64
This consolation bracket game was hotly contested as neither club wanted to exit Seton Hall on a losing note. In a game that saw multiple lead changes, Hudson pulled it out with two baskets in the final 15 seconds.
A few added notes from officiating and generally observing:
- Hudson Catholic of Jersey City is now under the direction of Damel Ling. A player for Hudson in the 1990s, Ling spent the last few years as an assistant to Bob Hurley at St. Anthony’s. He coached the Friar JV team under Hurley and always had an aggressive and active demeanor that demanded a solid effort from his kids. At Hudson he is in a rebuilding mode but still has that same approach, working every possession and instilling a good work ethic. Putting his team in this event served as a method to gain experience and expose his players to a very high level of basketball for two days.
“We have these kids in the Jersey City Summer League and we got them in this,” Ling said after the win over Windsor. “For a lot of these kids these are new experiences.”
Hudson might be a program to watch in the near future. - St. Anthony’s and Paterson Eastside proved to be a contest where players on both sides knew quite a bit about each other. Travon Woodall and Jio Fontan of St. Anthony’s both hail from Paterson and are AAU teammates. On the Eastside squad, senior swingman Jaron “Two Step” Gardner spent his first two years at St. Anthony’s before transferring to Eastside last summer.
- St. Raymond’s got a lift from 6-5 junior Kevin Parrom and 6-1 senior point guard Darryl Bryant. Parrom was especially effective outside but did show the ability to get in the lane.
- Among those in attendance were veteran talent evaluator Tom Konchalksi, Jim Salmon of Playaz Club, Rob Kennedy of the Hoop Group, Chris Lawlor of USA Today and former Eastern Basketball colleague Jay Gomes, who is very active on the New Jersey prep scene.
- The “Elite Eight” of the tournament included St. Patrick’s, Newark Science, St. Raymond’s, St. Anthony’s, Paterson Eastside, Seton Hall Prep, Christian Brothers Academy and Academy of the New Church (PA).
- St. Pat’s, the defending TOC titlists in New Jersey, exited the quarterfinal round at the hands of Newark Science. Taking away nothing from a good Science team, it must be noted that the Celtics were minus three starters as Dexter Strickland, Quintrell Thomas and Paris Bennett had other commitments. Interestingly, Thomas played very well for Science last summer before transferring to St. Pat’s just before school began in September.
- St. Benedict’s was also an earlier-than-expected exit. It was the same situation as St. Pat’s, as a number of starters had other commitments. St. Anthony’s had virtually their entire squad intact, though they did miss Mike Rosario up until the final. The Rutgers-bound senior was at the NBA Players Association Camp and flew into Newark Sunday morning and made it to the 2 p.m. tip-off against St. Raymond’s.
- Sixty teams were in the field with teams guaranteed a minimum of three games over the two-day event. Most of the schools were from the New York-New Jersey area with a few out of state. The farthest travelers were the International School of Trinidad. It’s a good thing there was a three game guarantee as they lost their opener to Brick Township.
- I was very impressed with the play of Tyshawn Taylor. The St. Anthony’s senior guard is an outstanding defender, strong with good basketball intelligence and threw some gorgeous passes in transition. The 6-3 Taylor could use a little work on his perimeter shot. He is being looked at by several Big East and ACC schools, and the feeling here is he could play in either conference.
- Travon Woodall of St. Anthony’s committed to Pitt several months ago. Ashton Gibbs of Seton Hall Prep did the same very recently. Both players know each other and Gibbs told several writers he didn’t feel there would be competition for playing time with Woodall when they enter the Big East school. Gibbs feels both players are versatile and could see appreciable minutes as contributors in Jamie Dixon’s system.
- On Sunday morning after checking in and learning my semifinal partners would be Fred Gaines and Frank Davis, the officiating coordinator Joe Battiato and Renee Ruth started trading Tom Lopes stories. Both Battiato and Ruth have been in the Northeast Conference and both expressed how Lopes went out of his way to help the younger Division I officials get acclimated on and off the floor.
