The 2019 kyrie Irving Invitational: The Patrick School vs Roselle Catholic
Nike and Brooklyn Nets All-Star Point Guard, Kyrie Irving brought some of the best High School teams in the Tri-state area together for the 2nd annual Kyrie Irving Invitational held at the Barclays Center. The one-day extravaganza was free to the public and gave a lot of young people the opportunity to watch some great Basketball.
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – BARCLAYS CENTER: St. Patrick Legends Al Harrington and Shaheen Holloway came to the Barclays Center to root for their alma mater The Patrick School. Photo courtesy of Cal Griffin
Among the teams participating in the event was Kyrie’s alma mater, The Patrick School – formerly known as St. Patrick’s High School. There were a few other St. Patrick’s notable alumni in the crowd like Seton Hall legend Shaheen Holloway and NBA legend Al Harrington. They were treated to a great game between The Patrick School and Roselle Catholic.
We’ve been working for this every day. We don’t take any days off,” Kuminga said. “We really had to show coach that we listened during practice. We had to come out here and prove that.
Earlier in the day Blair Academy defeated Our Savior Lutheran in a good matchup. Sophomore phenom Kyle Cuff Jr went home with the MVP award for that game. In the girls game New York’s South Shore Vikings defeated Philadelphia powerhouse, the Neumann Goretti Saints.
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – BARCLAYS CENTER: CJ. Wilcher and Jonathan Kuminga both went to work in the Kyrie Invitational scoring 20 for his respective team. Photo courtesy of Cal Griffin/ATH
The main event features The Patrick School who is #1 in New Jersey (#4 Nationally) against Roselle Catholic who is ranked #2 in New Jersey (#14 nationally). Roselle fell to fell to Patrick School 72-64 for early season Garden State bragging rights and even though it’s early in the season neither team wants to lose this game. Jonathan Kuminga, the nation’s unanimous No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2021, was ruled eligible to make his debut for the Patrick School. There were some nerves early, but they soon disappeared and the small forward dropped 20 points to lead Patrick School past Roselle Catholic, 72-64, with Kyrie Irving sitting courtside. Kaminga proved that he is good as advertised. The number 1 ranked player in the class of 2021 will have his choice of college to go to with every school in the country courting him.
Roselle Catholic is a very tough team to beat and lead for the majority of the game. They forced TPS into careless turnovers and for the first three quarters TPS did not show the enthusiasm that got them ranked in the top 5. Roselle Catholic’s CJ Wilcher put a lot of pressure on TPS. The 6’5 Point Guard has committed to play with Xavier next year. He was scoring the ball with ease and pretty much did whatever he wanted on the court. He also had 20 points. Although Roselle was able to get out to an early lead, it was Jonathan Kuminga and his TPS teammates who wanted it more. They showed resilience throughout the game and proved that they are as good as it gets in the Tri-State area. In the loss Niels Lane and Cliff Omoyuri had 14 points and 12 points, respectively for Roselle.
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – BARCLAYS CENTER: Kyrie Irving does this for the kids. A free Barclays experience… you can’t beat that. Photo courtesy of Cal Griffin/ATH
Thank you to Kyrie Irving and the staff of the Kyrie Invitational. Thank you to Nike the Barclays Center for the hospitality and can’t wait to see what’s in store for next year. Salute ?
Video Courtesy of NJ Hoop Recruit