Thursday, March 19, 2015

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

CJ Webb came off the bench to nail five 3-pointers, four of them in the first half, for Newark Tech, which ended Eastside's season, 66-56, in the T of C first round in Toms River.

TOMS RIVER – The Tournament of Champions is the provenance of the big boys, the New Jersey boys basketball elite. And make no mistake, despite the 13 losses on its record, Newark Tech, the Group 2 state champion, is one of those. The Terriers went out and played every elite program it could find during the regular season: St. Benedict's Prep, Pope John, Seton Hall Prep...you name the power program and Newark Tech not only accepted, but sought out the challenge.

So, with its 13 losses and the No. 6 seed in the six-team T of C, Newark Tech went out and ended the brilliant season of Passaic County power Eastside, 66-56, on Wednesday night at Pine Belt Arena in Toms River.

“We are always going to be the underdog because we have 13 losses, but we don't feel like an underdog,” said Mustafa Lawrence, Newark Tech's standout senior guard. “We are confident and we came out here to win.”

So did Eastside and it was hot early. With a 9-0 run that took just 1:12 to complete, the Ghosts opened a 16-6 lead and looked every bit the favorite. Enter senior CJ Webb, who came off the Newark Tech to close the first quarter with a 3-pointer and then did the same to open the second quarter. Webb hit four first half 3s, and after three ties and two lead changes in the second quarter, Jordan Zagadou's shot from the short corner put Newark Tech in the lead for good.

Eastside's Shakur Juiston had a double-double (24 pioints, 10 rebs.) in his final high school game.

“This team has confidence and I have confidence in my shot. We know that even if we get down early, we can come back against anybody,” said Webb. “We weren't just happy to be here, we wanted to win and just because we fell behind early, we weren't going to let that stop us.”

Zagadou's shot kicked off a 7-0 run that Newark Tech used to take a 32-26 lead at the half and the last of Webb's five 3-pointers in the game gave the Terriers a 47-38 lead after the third quarter. Eastside could just not find an outside compliment to Shakur Juiston. The 6-foot-7 senior did damage inside all game long and finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds, but the Ghosts could not get their perimeter game going. They made just two second half 3-pointers and four in the game, even though there were some open looks created when the Terriers collapsed on Juiston.

Eastside, the Group 4 champion making its first T of C appearance since 2011, was looking to become the first Passaic County school to win a game in the tournament since Paterson Catholic in 1994, cut the deficit to six points on five different occasions in the fourth quarter, but could get no closer. Marquel Sheffield's baseline drive with 3:46 remaining got the Ghosts to within 56-50, but Zagadou tapped in a miss on the other end with 3:28 to play, and Newark Tech slammed the door from the free throw line down the stretch.

Lawrence made two from the stripe with 2:05 to play and Webb then went 6 for 6 in the final minute to seal the win.

Mustafa Lawrence had 24 points to help lead Newark Tech into the T of C semifinals where it will get a shot at second-seeded Pope John.

Juiston finished his final high school game with the double-double and Asem Johnson also sneaked into a double digit finish with 11 points. Nhazir Smith added 9 points, Sheffield finished with 7 and Abrams had 5 for Eastside, which finished the season with a 25-7 record that included an inspired run through the state tournament where it beat East Orange on its own home floor to win the section title, then beat Union County champion Linden before blowing out Cherry Hill East in the Group 4 final.

Lawrence finished with a team-high 24 points with 18 of those coming in the second half. He was also 11 of 13 from the free throw line from where the Terriers shot 26 of 31 as a team in the game and 15 of 19 in the fourth quarter. Webb finished with 21, Zagadou posted a double-double (14 points, 13 rebounds) and Walker Wilson (5 points) and Issiah Streeter (2 points) rounded out the scoring for Newark Tech.

In their third straight tip to the T of C and for the second time in those three years, Newark Tech is heading to the semifinals where it will play No. 2 Pope John, a team it lost to by a single point in overtime earlier this year.

“We played them early in the season and it was definitely a good game. They got the last shot at the buzzer in overtime and it did fall. Going into it this time we know what they are going to bring and they know what we are going to bring,” said Lawrence. “It is a great chance for us to go in and knock off one of these parochial school teams and it might not even be an upset.”

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