Friday,
March 24, 2017
By The Unknown Ranker
NJS.com's Anonymous Source
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1.
DON BOSCO PREP (30-2) --
The Ironmen concluded their greatest season ever by riding their 21 game win streak all the way to the TOC finals before bowing to national power The Patrick School, 69-55, in a game that was 55-53 with 4:40 remaining. TPS had 7 D1 players, highlighted by Kentucky-bound Nicholas Richards. who was held to 7 points. Senior Chris Paul had 19 points and Junior Marcellus Earlingtofinished with 13 points. Upset No. 2 Linden, 65-58, in the TOC semis. Earlington and Harper dominated the paint in that win as they had 23 and 17 points respectively. In the end, what a year: League, county and state titles and an appearance in the TOC final, a first for a Bergen County school since Teaneck in 1999. |
RON HARPER |
PREVIOUS
RANKING: No. 1 |
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2.
HUDSON CATHOLIC (26-3) --
The Hawks captured the Non Public B North title as they knocked off longtime rival and Jersey City power St. Anthony, 64-61, in what is arguably the schools biggest win ever. It is believed the last time they beat the Friars was the 1976-77 season. The 'Big 3' all came up big as Jahvon Quinerly had 25 points, Louis King 20 points and Luther Muhammed 15 points. The Hawks then fell in the Non Public B state final to The Patrick School, 65-48, . The Hawks started down 10-0 before taking their only lead of the game 13-12 before Patrick School put the game away with a 17-3 run. Quinerly, the NJ Player of the Year, finished with 613 points on the season. |
JAHVON QUINERLY |
PREVIOUS
RANKING: No. 4 |
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3.
ST. ANTHONY (23-6) -- The Friars were unable to defend their Non Public B North title as they lost to Hudson Catholic, 64-61, in the final. Both Ithiel Horton and RJ Cole had solid games scoring 17 and 16 points respectively, but it was not enough as the Hawks were able to stay out in front pretty much throughout. The key to the game was when Jahvon Quinerly went out with 3 fouls with 4 minutes until halftime and the Hawks still led 26-23 at the break, and then extended the lead to 45-39 after three quarters. The Friars have won 28 state titles, 13 TOC titles out of the 28 that have been played, and four National Titles. |
RJ COLE |
PREVIOUS
RANKING: No. 2 |
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4.
ST. JOSEPH REGIONAL (22-6) --The Green Knights might have had an amazing year if Don Bosco wasn’t around; their season came to an end last Saturday, losing to the Ironmen for the fourth time this season, 43-40, in the Non-Public North A semifinals. The Knights only other losses were to St. Anthony and Bergen Catholic. In the quarterfinals they beat Delbarton, 66-51, as it built a 30-17 lead at the half and were led by Chauncey Hawkins' 26 points. |
CHAUNCEY HAWKINS |
PREVIOUS
RANKING: No. 3 |
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5.
BERGEN CATHOLIC (22-7) --
The Crusaders throughout the offseason will be asking, 'What if?' as Don Bosco ended their state run at Rutgers University, 60-59, in almost identical fashion as they did in the Kambo final two weeks earlier. Bosco hit 1 of 2 free throws with 3.4 seconds for a 1-point lead. Gabriele Stefanini did all he could to help his team as the Columbia-bound senior had 27 points, including 5 triples, but his 40-footer at the buzzer was off the mark. That was their third loss in four games against Bosco this season. Beat St. Peters Prep, 47-46, In the section semis as Fairfield-bound Taj Benning led with 15 points. |
GABE STEFANINI |
PREVIOUS
RANKING: No. 5 |
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6.
TEANECK (27-6) --The Highwaymen captured their second straight Group 3 State title as they defeated Ewing, 74-68. Trailed by 13 late in the second quarter, but Leondre Washington came up huge as he scored 13 of his 24 points in the decisive fourth quarter. Ja’Quaye James added 23 points and Corey Gordon (9 points, 12 rebounds) had a huge basket right before the third quarter ended and then added some huge blocked shots late in the game. That win put them in the TOC where against West Side and rallied for the 70-62 overtime win as James led with 21 points, all in the second half. They then lost to Patrick School in the semifinals, 65-45. |
JA'QUAYE JAMES |
PREVIOUS
RANKING: No. 6 |
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7.
ST. PETER'S PREP (19-8) --The Marauders almost pulled off the upset before falling to Bergen Catholic, 47-46, after leading by 3 heading to the fourth quarter. Shayne Simon and Luke Buckoweic both had 11 points to lead Prep. They knocked off a very good Pope John in the sectional quarterfinals, 73-64, as they used a 17-5 first quarter to give them some breathing room. Shayne Simon proved to be the difference as he had 22 points and Jorge Portorreal added 3 triples and totaled 15 points. They finished winning 11 of their final 14 games; other 2 losses were to Hudson Catholic and Group 2 state finalist Johnson. |
JORGE PORTORREAL |
PREVIOUS
RANKING: No. 11 |
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8.
KENNEDY (18-7) -- The Knights after knocking off Memorial in the opening round of the state playoffs 86-69, their season came to an abrupt end as they lost to Ridgewood at home 63-61 in a wild triple overtime game in a sectional quarterfinal game. The Knights received great games from Jamir Lattimore who had 21 points and Tamir Williams who hit for 13 points. In the win over Memorial they led 50-27 at the break while Eric Dean had 15 points to lead the way. |
TAMIR WILLIAMS |
PREVIOUS
RANKING: No. 7 |
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9.
NV/OLD TAPPAN (19-9) --
The Golden Knights had their season come to a close in the sectional semifinals on their home court, as Teaneck knocked them off 58-47. Justin Minaya had 23 points to lead his team, but the combo of Washington and James, who each had 23 points, was too much to overcome. In the opening game of the states they beat Montville, 57-34, as Kevin Eifert led with 16 points and then in the next game they beat Northern Highlands, 47-35, as both Justin Minaya and Erik Slater each had 15 points. |
KEVIN EIFERT |
PREVIOUS
RANKING: No. 9 |
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10.
PASCACK HILLS (23-4) --
The Cowboys were stunned at home by Jefferson in the North 1, Group 2 quarterfinals, 38-37. Clearly, not having Nick Guillemain, who still had 17 points, at 100% was an enormous factor in this game as he does so much more than just score. The Cowboys made a furious comeback after being down 23-9 at the half, but could not climb out of that hole. In the opening game of the states they beat Dumont, 76-41, as Michael Murphy had 30 points. |
MICHAEL MURPHY |
PREVIOUS
RANKING: No. 9 |
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11.
DWIGHT-ENGLEWOOD (22-4) --
The Bulldogs' season came to a close via the No. 10-ranked team in the state, Hudson Catholic 78-56, despite 30 points from Tyson Etienne. They hung around through the first half only trailing 33-28 at the break, but were outscored 26-13 in the third quarter. In the opening game of the states they won 85-43 over Newark Academy as Etienne had 31 points and then knocked off Montclair Kimberly in the quarterfinals, 79-53, as Ettiene had 29. The sophomore sensation dropped 668 points this season for a 22.3 per game average. |
TYSON ETIENNE |
PREVIOUS
RANKING: No. 10 |
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12.
RIDGEWOOD (19-11) -- The Maroons were 2:34 away from a state sectional title, but ended up losing at Bloomfield, 39-34, in the North 1, Group 4 final. Down 24-12 at half, Ridgewood used a 13-0 run in the third quarter to pull to within 3 and then a Michael Schretter 3-point play with 2:34 left in the game tied it at 30. In the semis, the Maroons beat Kennedy on the road in a wild triple overtime game, 63-61, where Schretter scored 23 points and Quin Peene added 17. Beat North Bergen in the sectional semifinals, 80-71, in a game that was tight throughout. Gabe Milstein’s 21 and Schretter’s 17 points contributed heavily in that upset. |
MICHAEL SCHRETTER |
PREVIOUS
RANKING: No. 15 |
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13.
NORTH BERGEN (22-6) --
The Bruins had their outstanding season come to an end at home in the sectional semifinals against Ridgewood, 80-71, as they were outscored 28-19 in the final quarter despite getting 19 points from Kayton Darley (finished year with 525 pts) and 15 from Abdallah Saleh. In the game before, the second seeded Bruins needed overtime to knock off Hackensack, 87-84, as Darley erupted for 29 points and Gino Randriamore had 22 in the win. The Bruins held a 36-28 halftime advantage. In the opening game of the states they beat Clifton, 62-51. |
NORTH BERGEN LOGO |
PREVIOUS
RANKING: No. 19 |
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14.
WAYNE HILLS (20-7) --
The Patriots had their outstanding season come to a close at Teaneck where they almost pulled off the upset but fell 78-68 in overtime. The Patriots, who led for most of the game (20-14 after 1, 31-30 at half and 54-52 after 3), used a 3-pointer with 8 seconds left to push the game into overtime. In the OT, however, Teaneck was able to get to the line constantly and was able to pull away for the win. The Patriots had contributions from everyone as four players were in double figures, led by Justin Wills' 16 points and Joey Belli’s 13 points. In the opening round they beat West Essex, 49-43, as Belli had 20 points. |
JOEY BELLI |
PREVIOUS RANKING: No. 12 |
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15.
HACKENSACK (19-8) --
The Comets opened the states with an easy 77-51 win over Passaic Tech as junior BJ Saliba Jr. had 20 points and junior Atiba Taylor Jr. added 19 points. They then traveled to North Bergen and, despite getting 30 points and 12 rebounds from Taylor Jr., they lost 87-84 in overtime. The Comets will return both Saliba and Taylor, who averaged 15 and 21 respectively and also have more talent in the pipleline after their freshmen team won the Bergen County title. |
ATIBA TAYLOR, JR. |
PREVIOUS RANKING: No. 13 |
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16.
RIVER DELL (20-6) -- The Hawks had their season end on their home court in the North 1, Group 3 final in an 81-18 loss to Teaneck. However, their post season will be remembered by the big comeback the Hawks had in the semifinals as they found a way to come back from 13-0 deficit to start the game and defeat Ramapo, 58-55, in overtime. Jack Caposso was the star of the game as he led with 12 points, but had a key triple to open overtime and then converted another 3 point play to pull away. In the quarterfinals they rallied in the final minute to beat Demarest, 39-37, as Alex Sebastian had 11 points. |
DAVE ESTEVEZ |
PREVIOUS
RANKING: Unranked |
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17.
NV/DEMAREST (17-10) --
Finishing 17-3 in their last 20 sets things up for next year as the Norsemen will return everybody. However, the season ended in disappointing fashion as they led late in their sectional quarterfinal game at River Dell and lost 39-37. They held a 37-35 lead but could not hold on in the final minute. In the opening game of the states, 11th-seeded Demarest traveled to Pascack Valley and pulled off the mild upset, 52-50, as Jake Runyon had 18 points and 11 rebounds in the win. Demarest trailed all game until Runyon gave them the lead with 2:30 remaining in the game, and the team hit 8 of 9 FT down the stretch. |
JAKE RUNYON |
PREVIOUS
RANKING: Unranked |
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18.
SNYDER (15-10) --
The Tigers had their season come to an end at the hands of Orange in the North 2, Group 3 quarterfinals, 52-46, despite getting 18 points from DaShawn Emmanuel and 17 from senior Isiah Small. In the opening game of the states they beat Kennedy (Iselin), 54-46, as they opened an 11-1 lead after the first quarter. |
ISIAH SMALL |
PREVIOUS
RANKING: No. 18 |
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19.
DEPAUL (14-13) --
The Spartans ended their season with a predictable loss to Don Bosco Prep, 85-52, for the third time this season. However, watch out in the next couple of years as the starting five consists of all freshmen and sophomores and are led by Zion Bethea, a freshman who scored over 450 points for the year. In the opening game of the states they beat Oratory, 63-48, as Bethea had 22 points in the win. |
DEPAUL LOGO |
PREVIOUS
RANKING: No. 14 |
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20.
PASCACK VALLEY (11-13) --
The Indians lost in the opening game of the states, 52-50, to Demarest, a team they lost to three weeks earlier but without their point guard. This time around they led the whole way until the final 2-plus minutes, but could not hang on. Legend Dominguez led with 14 points to end his career. Junior Alex Lin finished with 10 points |
LEGEND DOMINGUEZ |
PREVIOUS
RANKING: No. 16 |
DROPPED OUT:
Lincoln & St. Mary
ALSO RECEIVING UNKNOWN VOTES:
Lincoln, Bayonne, Ramapo, Dickinson & Hoboken
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