Sunday,
February 28, 2016
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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After being held scoreless in the semifinals for the first time in his basketball life, Jahvon Quinerly scored 23 in the Hudson County final to help lead Hudson Catholic to a 74-55 win over St. Peter's Prep and a 5th straight title. |
JERSEY CITY – Being part of a team that wins at the buzzer in a county tournament semifinal could easily be considered one of the most memorable feelings a high school basketball player could ever have. But after Hudson Catholic’s Marion Williams did just that the other night to avoid an upset at the hands of Snyder, the feeling in the Hawks’ locker room was not one of pure joy by any means. They were embarrassed. Not by the outcome or how close the game was, but by the fact that an opposing team totally dominated in terms of effort.
In a post-game meeting after that semifinal scare, the Hawks vowed that something like that would never happen again. Saturday night’s Hudson County title game against St. Peter’s Prep was a chance to show the rest of the county that the team which has ruled the Hudson County Tournament in recent years still has the heart of a champion.
After a nightmare semifinal and the first game in Jahvon Quinerly’s basketball life in which he was held scoreless, he hit two 3-pointers late in the first quarter to get the Hawks going. St. Peter’s Prep hung around for two-and-a-half quarters before Luther Muhammad eventually wore the Marauders down. He scored seven of his game-high 30 points in a 9-0 spurt that bumped the lead up to double-digits and it stayed that way for the remainder of the game.
Top-seeded Hudson Catholic pulled away for a 74-55 victory over No. 3 seed St. Peter’s Prep to win a fifth straight Hudson County Tournament title at the Yanitelli Center on the campus of St. Peter’s University in Jersey City.
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Sophomore Brendan Thiele had a career-high 24 points for St. Peter's. |
St. Peter’s Prep held a two-point lead, 6-4, midway through the first quarter on a fast-break layup from Brendan Thiele. That would be the Marauders’ last as Hudson Catholic took the lead on a Muhammad 3 from the corner before Quinerly hit two more long-range bombs to give the Hawks a 19-9 advantage after one quarter.
“That Snyder game really was tough both individually and as a team. I knew I had to bounce back,” said Quinerly. “I had to bring the same amount of energy that I normally bring to the table. We’ve been working on patience offensively. When we run through our offense and take good shots early, it usually sets the tone for the entire game.”
The lead grew as large as 13 in the second quarter before a Thiele jump shot sliced it to five early in the third quarter, 34-29. Muhammad had the hot hand in the third quarter and the Hawks rode it. He hit three consecutive shots in a 9-0 spurt that helped them regain control and put the game away with a 17-point lead going into the fourth quarter, 53-36.
“We had to play a sense of urgency today. We had a life lesson in the semifinals and we learned from it,” said Muhammad. “When we were getting stops or forcing turnovers, we had them playing at our pace. If you play at someone else’s pace this late in the season, you’re going to be going home. We had to put our trust in our coaches, in our own abilities and in each other. Once we did that, everything started going our way.”
After a semifinal filled with tense moments, the only concern for the Hawks was when head coach Nick Marinello would take out his lone senior to a nice ovation. It came with just under two minutes to play as Williams (13 points and eight assists) got a nice reception along with the Tournament MVP trophy.
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Marion Williams, Hudson Catholic's lone senior, was named Tournament MVP. |
Muhammad, a 6-foot-3 sophomore guard, hit 10 of 15 shots from the field and added four rebounds, three assists, and three steals for Hudson Catholic (21-3). It was Muhammad’s third 30-plus point game this season. Quinerly shook off the scoreless effort against Snyder with 23 points.
Thiele, an all-tournament team selection, was the lone consistent scoring threat for St. Peter’s Prep (14-9). The sophomore notched career-highs of five 3-pointers and 24 points. Shamar Waterman, Jorge Potorreal, and Shayne Simon added 10, nine, and eight points, respectively.
Now that Hudson Catholic has held onto its HCT crown, it will try to add a section title. It will not be easy, though, in a rugged Non-Public North A bracket. They have a bye into the quarterfinals on Friday when they will take on Bergen County Jamboree champion St. Joseph (Montvale). It is as tough of a first-round matchup as the Hawks could imagine, but they will be at home and they are ready to take any challenge that comes their way.
“I’m happy for Marion and happy for our entire team with how well we played tonight,” said Marinello. “We’re still young and we still make young mistakes, but we played pretty smart for the most part. Winning this tournament is always a huge goal for us. St. Joe’s presents a very tricky opponent. They have very good guards, they’re very balanced and can create some mismatches. We’ll come in confident though and being on our home court definitely gives us a level of comfort. It should be a great game and we’re looking forward to it.”
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