Friday, March 12, 2010

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

Elijah Carter had a double-double by halftime and finished with career-highs of 28 points and 14 rebounds as St. Anthony handed Paterson Catholic its first loss of the season, 63-49, in the Non-Public North B state final.

PISCATAWAY – When Paterson Catholic beat St. Anthony on its home floor to end the Friars’ season last year, it was a crushing blow to then-junior guard Elijah Carter. Despite having a Division 1 scholarship in his back pocket, Carter was a virtual non-factor in the loss and it turned on a switch inside him. He knew he had to work as hard as humanly possible to get himself and his team prepared for the next level.

While St. Anthony has played in numerous tough games, all of the hard work of Carter and his teammates did in the off-season and throughout this season was going to be measured by one game.
Ever since then the No. 1 ranked team in the state St. Patrick’s (Elizabeth) was barred from the state tournament for a rules infraction, the Friars were on a collision course with Paterson Catholic, which was ranked in the top 10 in the country by several media outlets.

It was a chance for Carter to show how far he has come personally and how far he could bring this St. Anthony team when the day finally came, Carter was anything but a non-factor. He was a versatile force on both ends of the floor and his teammates followed in line behind their leader on and off the court.

Carter had a double-double by halftime and finished with career-highs of 28 points and 14 rebounds as St. Anthony took the lead just over a minute into the game and never trailed in winning the Non-Public North B title and handing previously undefeated Paterson Catholic its first and only loss of the season with a convincing 63-49 victory over the Cougars at the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway.

Derrick Williams had 9 points and 7 boards for St. Anthony.

“I remember how bad it felt when we lost to Paterson Catholic last year and how bad it felt, I didn’t want to feel that again,” said Carter. “I worked really hard in the off-season to become stronger so I could be a better rebounder and take more of a pounding in the paint and still finish at the rim. Everything I worked hard for was poured into this game.”

Seton Hall-bound Fuquan Edwin threw down a dunk off the opening tap to put Paterson Catholic ahead 2-0. The Friars responded with a 9-1 spurt, including four points and six rebounds during the span by Carter, to grab the lead and take control of the game.

“Our key was to score and then set up the 2-2-1 zone press to slow them down and get them out of their rhythm,” said St. Anthony’s head coach Bob Hurley. “Paterson Catholic had not really played a tight game since the first week of January and that worked to our advantage. I think a lot of things worked to our advantage and we got a kick out of finally getting to play the role of the underdog. We threw the kitchen sink at them and stuck with certain defenses that were effective in slowing them down.”

Carter continued to give them a spark before halftime with three-pointers on consecutive possessions, along with a Devon Collier layup and a free-throw from Derrick Williams as St. Anthony’s took a 27-16 halftime lead.

The Cougars sliced the lead to nine heading into the fourth quarter when Carter turned out the lights on any thoughts of a comeback. His three-pointer from the wing put St. Anthony’s up 15 with six minutes to play and the game was all but over.

“Every time we tried to make a push and get on a run, they did something to counter us,” said Paterson Catholic head coach Damon Wright. “Every time St. Anthony’s needed something to be done, (Elijah) Carter did it. It’s disappointing the way we played, but St. Anthony’s deserves all the credit they get. They just came here and played a better basketball game than we did.”

Collier finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds for St. Anthony (26-2), which is now riding a 16-game winning streak. Williams added nine points and seven boards and the Friars got outstanding defense from guards D’Marcus Owens and Jordan Quick. Edwin finished with a team-high 22 points, 10 of them coming in the fourth quarter for Paterson Catholic (26-1). Sophomore forward Kyle Anderson added 10 points.

St. Anthony’s win over Paterson Catholic marked the fourth time this year that the Friars beat a team that beat them a year before and now move onto the Non-Public B State Championship game on Saturday at the Ritacco Center at 2:00. There they will another top-notch team in Trenton Catholic for the right to get back to the Tournament of Champions.

“We want to be the best and to do that, you have to prove yourself against the best,” said Carter, who will play next year at St. Bonaventure in the Atlantic 10 Conference. “We wanted this game really bad and it’s a good feeling to play this well in our biggest game of the year. But we can’t be satisfied with this. We have to build on it and make another goal ourselves.”

FOR MORE PHOTOS OF THIS EVENT OR TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS GAME STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com.