NJ vs. DC Collision
The first annual New Jersey vs D.C. Collision took place over the weekend at Roselle Catholic High School in Roselle, NJ. The event was action packed with 8 well known schools competing. The gym was packed and eager to see some of the regions top student athletes take to the court and showcase their talent. At the end it would be the New Jersey area schools winning three of the four contests.
Photo Gardenstatehoops.com
The first game of the day was Hudson Catholic taking on Bishop McNamara. The pace was uptempo, with both teams speeding up and down the floor trying to take control of the game. Led by Junior swingman Louis King’s 17 points, Hudson Catholic came out victorious 56-42. Juniors Luther Muhammad and Jahvon Quinerly added 15 and 14 points, respectively. On the other end, for Bishop McNamara, Cam’ron Smith added 11 points. Both Louis King and Cam’ron Smith were chosen as the game’s most outstanding players and took home some nice hardware.
Photo: GardenStateHoops.com
The second game of the day featured Immaculate Conception vs St. Mary’s Ryken. Both teams were well coached and disciplined. Both teams hustled on every possession and it was relatively close throughout. Immaculate Conception had a balanced attack from their bunch. Junior Justin Winston scored 16 points and 8 boards to lead the team while Freshman Raejon Figures came off the bench to fill the stat sheet up with 13 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. Immaculate won the game 60-54. Junior Winston
Tabbs dropped in 17 points to lead St. Mary’s Ryken. Winston and Tabbs went home with the hardware as the game’s most outstanding players. Great game!
Photo: GardenStateHoops.com
The third game on the schedule was must see TV! Paul VI versus the home court favorite Roselle Catholic. There was a lot of hype around this game and whatever seats were available in the bleachers got filled up quickly. I had the chance to see these two teams play over the course of the last few months and knew to expect a good game. Paul VI was a scrappy team with good guard play and athletic wings who can score. Roselle Catholic was the home team and they were feeding off the energy of the home crowd, not to mention they had one of the top ranked Juniors in the country in Nazreon Reid. This was a battle out the gate. Roselle came out to an early lead and attempted to maintain it. The tenacious defense from Paul VI forced turnover after turnover and they overcame a 14 point deficit to win it in regulation 73-67. Paul VI Junior Brandon Slayter poured in 19 points and collected most outstanding player while Roselle senior Barry Brown scored 13. Nazreon Reid added 11 points and 8 boards in the loss.
Photo: GardenStateHoops.com
The last game of the evening was the game that everybody came to see, The Patrick School versus DeMatha. These two storied programs have a long history of great players. This night it would be Nick Richards, the All American and Kentucky commit who at 6’11 was as agile as a gazelle and could rebound, block shots, and finish around the rim at a professional level. On the opposite end DeMatha was a young athletic squad and on paper appeared to be a pro team. There were 5 players who were 6’9 or better. As the game started The Patrick school got an early lead and never looked back. DeMatha tried to make something happen late but couldn’t come back. The Patrick School won 63-56. Junior Jordan Walker came out hot and looked to keep DeMatha’s guards guessing all night. Walker had 21 in the victory while his Minnesota bound teammate Jamir Harris had 13. For DeMatha seniors John McRae and Ryan Allen had 17 points and 16 points, respectively. Jordan Walker and Ryan Allen were selected as the game’s most outstanding players. Well deserved!
This showcase ended up pretty good. The people came out and definitely enjoyed the show. All teams played hard right down to the final whistle. Looking forward to the 2nd Annual.