No Surprise Atop Hamilton Park Summer League
by Ray Floriani
JERSEY CITY, N.J. – In the end it was a familiar name in the winner’s circle. But the final encounter gave us proof that a sleeping giant is awakening. St. Anthony’s captured the boys division of the Hamilton Park Summer League in Jersey City. The final proved to be a test as the Friars held off Hudson Catholic 40-36 to take it home.
Summer League Action?
Actually the Hamilton Park League, which begins in June, wrapped up just before Labor Day. And the league affords competition in a high school bys and girls division plus a boys grammar school circuit.
The first time Hudson played St. Anthony’s the Friars won in a thirty-point rout. This time out, before a packed crowd, it was a similar result but a much closer contest. St. Anthony’s was able to prevail, but this time it was right down to the wire. Mike Rosario led the Friars with 15 points while running mate Tyshawn Taylor earned MVP honors by adding 12. The high scorer of the game was Hudson’s Jonathan Cortez, who hit for 18 points. Cortez had a solid summer at the guard spot for Hudson and earned the game’s Sportsmanship award.
In the girls division, Bayonne made sure there would be no sweep by St. Anthony’s. Bayonne stopped St. Anthony’s in the semifinals to earn the right to play the Brooklyn Saints AAU team for the title. In the championship, things weren’t decided until the final few possessions. Brooklyn held on to earn the title with a 44-42 triumph. Ashley Devaney, an outstanding guard for Bayonne, paced all scorers with 21 points. Devaney kept her team in the game with timely shots, good penetration and outstanding hustle. In the end, Brooklyn had too much size and depth to overcome. Christina Hiltvren led Brooklyn with 16 points while teammate Leryncia Miller was chosen MVP. Bayonne’s Lynda Fisher received the Sportsmanship Award.
In the grammar school division Team Paterson, behind Taquese Franklin’s 16 points, stopped Bayonne 50-43.
Summer League Notes
- All games were on the outdoor courts at Hamilton Park in Jersey City. In the event of inclement weather the games were moved inside at St. Peter’s Prep and later McNair Academic High School. “If we didn’t have those facilities during the rain, this league might have gone on to October,” noted league director Pat Devaney.
- A large part of Hudson Catholic’s turnaround and strong summer is the enthusiasm interjected by new head coach Damel Ling. An assistant to Bob Hurley the last few years at St. Anthony’s, Ling has put his stamp on the Hudson program. His teams play aggressive on both ends of the floor and they play hard. Even in that thirty-point loss to the Friars earlier in the season, Hudson hustled and worked through every last possession. Ling had Hudson in several leagues and tournaments over the summer. They plan to get after it early in the regular season as December alone brings meetings with Bloomfield Tech, Linden and Elizabeth.
- The Hamilton Park all Stars faced the Bolwek Eiffel Tower Den Bosch team in August. The Towers, of Holland, were in the midst of their New York area tour having dropped previous games to St. Anthony’s and a team from Harlem. The visitors from across the pond gave it a good run before Hamilton posted a narrow 57-53 victory. Alberto Eastwick (committed to Fordham) of St. Anthony’s led the way with 15 points for Hamilton Park.
- One of the most improved teams during the course of the season was the Bergenfield (NJ) High School team. Facing tougher competition on a nightly basis compared to their high school league, Bergenfield struggled early. They gradually adapted, continued to work hard and became more competitive. Bergenfield started getting into the win column and playing opponents a lot tougher in contests they came up short. They even captured a first round playoff contest by defeating a good St. Mary’s (Elizabeth) squad before bowing out in the second round.
- The league was basically a high school circuit but there were a few AAU teams present. The Jersey Jayhawks, a northern New Jersey-based team, made it to the league semifinals before being eliminated by Hudson Catholic. On the girls side the Brooklyn Saints, the eventual champion, and Harlem USA were both strong entries. Harlem USA actually won the girls all-star game by handily defeating (48-30) a team of all stars from the rest of the league’s teams. Harlem USA went into the playoffs the team to beat but were stopped by Brooklyn Saints in the semis.
- You can learn a lot from how a team responds to an adverse setback. Hudson Catholic suffered a 20-point drilling at the hands of a good Union Hill squad late in the season. Following that loss Hudson stayed in the win column right up until the league’s championship game.
- Plans are set to keep the league outdoors and go inside on those rainy nights. The court is going to be redone over the winter. Pat Devaney is hoping to expand the high school division. One thing in his plans is to keep JV and varsity teams in separate categories. This season JV squads were paired with the varsity teams, which did not always make for an equitable situation. The league is run under the auspices of Jersey City Recreation, whose director is legendary St. Anthony’s coach Bob Hurley.
- The Hamilton Park area, actually, is walking distance from three high schools that were part of Jersey City lore for years. About a block away is (now closed) St. Michaels’. Two blocks away is St. Anthony’s and another couple of blocks from them is St. Mary’s. What a time that was when all three had it going.
