Tuesday, March 4, 2008

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

JERSEY CITY – With a vast amount of success built despite a rigorous out-of-league schedule, Paterson Catholic has proved that it is one the best boys basketball teams in New Jersey. But to be the best, you have to beat the best. The Cougars had a chance to do that on Monday night in the Parochial B North semifinals against New Jersey’s pre-eminent basketball powerhouse, St. Anthony (Jersey City).

Over the last 24 minutes of the game, the Paterson Catholic proved that there was not that much of a gap between the two teams. But what St. Anthony proved over the first eight minutes was that is a team on a mission and refuses to let any team, no matter how talented, stand in its way.

The top-seeded Friars blocked six shots in the first quarter and hit 9 of their 14 shots from the floor in opening up 17-point lead. They never looked back and remained the state’s only unbeaten boys basketball team in advancing to the Parochial B North final with an 84-71 win over Paterson Catholic, the No. 4 seed.

“We always set a goal of getting off to a fast start and setting the tone with our defense,” said St. Anthony’s Jio Fontan, who is a Paterson native. “We wanted to make our presence felt defensively and I thought we did that in the first quarter. Paterson Catholic came in here with something prove and we knew they were going to come out playing hard. We try to take the same mindset into every game. Whoever plays harder and executes better is going to win. We brought just as much intensity as they did and we got off to a good start.”

The top-ranked Friars, also ranked No. 1 in the country by USA Today, ripped off a 13-1 run to start the game. Dominic Cheek and A.J. Rogers both had two blocked shots during that spurt. All four blocks led to baskets on the other end as the Friars took control early and led 23-7 after one quarter.

“We had some open looks on our first couple of possessions and our shots just didn’t go down,” said Paterson Catholic head coach Damon Wright. “After that, they stepped up their defense and we didn’t respond. By the time we got our legs under us, we were already down (16-18) points. You can’t put yourself in that much of a hole against a team like St. Anthony’s.”

The Friars had an 18-point lead at halftime and pushed it to 23 by the end of the third quarter, 60-37. There was every reason for the Cougars to accept the beating and go home with their tails between their legs. Instead, they continued to put pressure on the Friar guards and finally found some success in that strategy. Wayne Mack had two consecutive steals at mid-court and both led to layups, the latter coming from Seton Hall-bound Jordan Theodore, which capped a 21-10 run and cut the Friars lead down to 12, 70-58, with 3:14 to go.

“I think for both teams, you got the whole spectrum of high school basketball,” said St. Anthony’s head coach Bob Hurley, who passed the 900-win plateau earlier this year. “I thought we played very well on both ends in the first quarter. In the fourth quarter, I thought we did not handle their press well and they took it to us. Up until late in the fourth quarter, Jio Fontan was the glue that held us together. He really makes us go and I thought he played great tonight under some intense pressure.”

Paterson Catholic got as close as nine in the final minute, but its season came to a close with the loss.

“Of course we wanted to come in here and win, but it didn’t happen,” added Wright. “We’re going to miss our seniors and I wish we could pull this off for them. But for the younger players, and we have a lot coming back, this experience will definitely help us. We played against a great team with a lot of seniors and they’re the best in the country. We weren’t scared or overwhelmed or anything like that. They just played better than we did tonight.”

Cheek had game-highs of 18 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks for St. Anthony (28-0). Mike Rosario added 16 points, Tyshawn Taylor had 13, and Travon Woodall finished with 12. Fontan also had 12 points and doled out a game-high eight assists.

Jayon James came off the bench to lead Paterson Catholic (23-5) with 18 points. Fuquan Edwin had 17 points. Theodore had 15 points, nine rebounds, and four assists. Wayne Mack played his best all-around game of the season with nine points, five rebounds, five assists, and four steals.

St. Anthony advances to the Parochial B North final to face the two-time defending Tournament of Champions winner St. Patrick’s. St. Pat’s has knocked the Friars out of the states in the Non-Public B North final in each of the last two years. The game will be at Rutgers University at the RAC on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m..

“We are going to prepare for it like it is just another game,” said Hurley. “We have a team that has a lot of experienced seniors. We have had a great two-year run and our only blemish is the loss to St. Pat’s last year. This team is definitely hungry. We know that it will come down to execution on both ends of the floor and I expect it to be a great high school basketball game.”

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