Friday,
February 12, 2016
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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RJ Cole scored 8 points for St. Anthony, which remained unbeaten and firmly planted atop the state wide rankings with a 61-38 win over Bergen Catholic. |
JERSEY CITY – Although St. Anthony is in a familiar position of being undefeated with the state tournament around the corner, the Friars are hardly resting on their laurels. Facing a talented Bergen Catholic squad looking for a good showing, St. Anthony made a point to get off to its customary hot start. With the heady senior backcourt of Jagan Mosely and Shyquan Gibbs leading the way, it was business as usual.
Mosely hit his first three shots, all off assists from Gibbs, as St Anthony lit it up early then pulled away in the third quarter for a 61-38 victory over Bergen Catholic on Thursday night at the Community Education and Recreation Center in Jersey City.
“St. Anthony’s is a really, really good team but I thought we had some opportunities in the first three quarters with some open looks that didn’t go down,” said Bergen Catholic head coach Billy Armstrong. “We got ball reversal and we didn’t turn the ball over all that much. Their defense is notorious for not letting you get into an offense so that’s a positive sign. Jagan Mosley was so tough all night though and he’s going to Georgetown for a reason.”
The gym at the CERC was packed and St. Anthony put on an offensive clinic in the first quarter. What makes the Friars so dangerous is having five players on the floor who are equally adept at leading the team in scoring or keeping the offense flowing and making sure the open man gets the ball.
Mosely had the hot hand right from the opening tap, hitting a jumper off of a nice feed from Gibbs on the first possession of the game. There was more where that came from as Crusaders struggled to contain the Georgetown-bound guard with 10 first-quarter points, including six in an 11-0 run to end the opening stanza for a 22-8 lead.
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David Logan had 6 points for Bergen Catholic, which will play St. Joseph on Sunday in the Jambo quarterfinals. |
“This is the last game in a five-game home streak so I felt pretty comfortable shooting here,” said Mosley. “We practice with high intensity which helps us getting off to good starts. We had a strong first quarter but we can’t have mental lapses like we had tonight if we want to be state champs.”
Despite the deficit, Bergen Catholic showed no signs of being intimidated and cut into the lead by halftime with a strong second quarter. Gabriele Stefanini hit a pull-up jumper and David Logan scored on a floater in the lane as the Crusaders got back within 10 at the half, 29-19.
After spending the first half setting up his teammates for good looks at the basket, Gibbs was more aggressive in the third quarter with six points in a 12-4 run to close the quarter. Juvaris Hayes’ baseline drive for a layup at the buzzer gave the Friars a commanding 48-28 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Mosely had a game-high 18 points to go with four rebounds, three assists, and two steals for St. Anthony (20-0). Gibbs had 15 points and four assists, all of which came in the first quarter. Junior guard RJ Cole chipped in with eight points.
Stefanini and Thomas Binelli each had nine points for Bergen Catholic (14-5). Taj Benning and David Logan had seven and six points, respectively. The Crusaders will look to rebound on Sunday in the Bergen County Jamboree quarterfinals against rival St. Joseph Regional (Montvale).
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Georgetown-bound senior Jagan Moseley had 18 points for St. Anthony, which is now 20-0 on the season. |
Not playing in the Hudson County Tournament gives St. Anthony the singular goal of raising the Tournament of Champions trophy, which would mean the Friars would finish the season as New Jersey’s No. 1 ranked team. The state tournament is still three weeks away but Hall of Fame head coach Bob Hurley knows that this is when his team should be kicking it into high gear and getting ready for a lengthy playoff run.
“We made a lot of shots in the first quarter, but we lived too much from distance and didn’t have the balance we need to be successful down the road,” said Hurley. “Depth is generally a strength for us but we didn’t get enough contributions from them and it messes with the chemistry.”
“We’ve had 20 games and 45 practices. At this point in the season, we need to be more consistent than we were tonight. A basketball season is a grind, a marathon not a sprint. We have to get shift our focus from this game to how we are going to get better tomorrow. If we do that every day for the rest of the season, we’ll be in a good position to be where we want to be.”
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