Tuesday, March 10, 2009

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

UNION CITY – Paterson Eastside’s Karon Abraham has made his name throughout his high school career by finding ways to beat a defender with his diverse offensive skill set. The extremely quick guard can get to the basket with relative ease, can use his dribble to create space for a jump shot, and is one of the state’s best free-throw shooters. But to make sure last night’s North 1, Group 4 final against Union City was not his last game in an Eastside uniform, the senior had to make his presence felt on the defensive end.

Abraham did just that and his teammates picked up the slack with an offensive explosion that ensured the Ghosts’ season was not going to end just yet.

Abraham held Union City sharpshooter Jonathan Arguerto without a field goal over the final two-and-a-half quarters. David Robertson-West scored a game-high 27 points and Bryant Lewis scored all 16 of his points in the third quarter as fourth-seeded Paterson Eastside pulled away late to repeat as North 1, Group 4 champions with an 87-59 win over Union City, the No. 2 seed, at Union High School.

Union City came into the section final on a roll, having already taken out two Passaic County schools, Passaic County Tech and Passaic, in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. Arguerto came out hot and the Soaring Eagles were clicking on all cylinders. He hit a pair of three-pointers and Anthony Arias’ shot from beyond the arc put them ahead 18-6. However, the momentum they had did not last long. Union City’s lone post presence, Ramon Martinez, and Arias each picked up their second fouls and were forced to watch most of the first half from the bench.

The lead was still 12 with 1:44 to play in the period when the Ghosts finally caught stride. Robertson-West hit a 35-footer at the buzzer to cap a quick 10-0 spurt that cut the Union City lead to a basket at the end of the first quarter, 18-16.

“We had to sit two of our starters with two fouls and we never really came back from that,” said Union City head coach Drew Morano. “Give Eastside credit. They just killed us on the glass and one of their big three was on fire at pretty much all times throughout the final three quarters.”

After a backdoor layup inside by Arguerto, Abraham knew what his mission was for the rest of the game. That was not to let Arguerto get any clean looks at the basket.

“(Arguerto) killed me in the first quarter, but I knew there were three more left,” said Abraham. “He had it going and when he got an open look, it was automatic. They wanted to run everything him to get him looks at the basket. No matter what, I had to fight through it and focus on stopping him.”

Eastside’s 14-5 run to end the second quarter gave it a 33-25 halftime lead. The Ghosts were on fire behind Abraham and Robertson-West, but it was the emergence of Lewis in the third quarter that all but put the game away.

After picking up two quick fouls and sitting for all but three minutes of the first two quarters, Lewis provided instant offense in the third. The senior hit all six of his shots, including a trio of three-pointers and a conventional three-point play, to end the third quarter with Eastside holding a nearly insurmountable 22-point lead, 58-36.

“We told Bryant (Lewis) that we were going to get him the ball and that he needed to stay confident,” said Robertson-West. “He came out on fire in the third quarter and now they had to pick their poison on who their defense should try to focus on.”

Union City did what it always does as it kept fighting and clawing until the very end. Abdul Ais gave the Soaring Eagles a lift off the bench, scoring 10 points in a 20-8 run that pulled the Eagles to within 10 points with three minutes to play.

But with the ball mainly in Abraham’s hands, the Ghosts are among the best at holding a lead late. They finished 13 of 14 from the charity stripe over the final three minutes, including 8 of 8 by Abraham, to turn a potentially disastrous collapse into a romp back into the Group 4 state semifinals.

“We were hoping to win the section and we were hoping we could at least keep it closer than the final score,” said Morano. “Eastside just played better than we did and they really shot the ball well. We fought hard and played well in a couple stretches. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to the team that plays better.”

Robertson-West punctuated the victory late in the fourth quarter with a vicious one-handed dunk for the last of his 27 points. He also had a game-high with 10 rebounds for Paterson Eastside (21-9). Abraham had 26 points, including a perfect 12 of 12 from the foul line, along with six rebounds and five assists.

Arguerto scored 13 of his 16 points in the first half for Union City, which finished with a 20-8 record. Ais had 15 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Arias added 12 points and Jose Matta had another solid overall game with eight points, seven assists, five rebounds, and four steals.

Eastside was hoping to get a rematch with Piscataway, which knocked them out of the state tournament in the Group 4 semis last year. But instead they will get Plainfield, a 70-52 winner over Piscataway last night in the North 2 Group 4 final, in tomorrow’s Group 4 semifinal round at the Dunn Center in Elizabeth at 7:00.

“It is a great feeling to win the section title, but it’s something we’ve already done before,” added Abraham, who will play at Division 1 Robert Morris next year. “We have to keep our composure because for a lot of us, this is our last shot. We know if we lose, our high school careers are over. We’re excited about the opportunity we have in front of us. But we’re not going to be nervous because we’ve been here. Now we’re more mentally prepared to take this another step.”

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