SPORTS WRAP
BY WILLIAM HATHAWAY, JR.
The New Jersey high school basketball season is near its end. In the Section 2 Group 1 final, top seeded Newark Tech boys’ squad came back after being down by 19 points in front of a packed crowd at home, with the help of Tyshawn Boyd who led his team with 14 points and 10 rebounds The 21-6 Tech was also led by Marcus Bragg’s 12 points and Kyrie Fisher’s 11 points and 6 rebounds to beat Hoboken 56-50. During their playoff run, Newark Tech beat University High 52-50, Ridgefield Park 70-56, and American History 56-50 on their win to the title.
Staying with Newark, West Side fell short in its ride to a Section 2 Group 2 state title, losing 66-38 to Caldwell. East Side suffered a heartbreaking loss to Linden 63-62 in their journey for the Section 2 Group 4 crown.
Also in the state tournament, Montclair Immaculate defeated Gill St. Bernard 80-57. Montclair Immaculate, who at this time is 20-10 on the season, got 28 points from TJ Robison. We’ll know in the next edition if they win a state title in Nonpublic Group B against Roselle Catholic. This also holds true for the girls’ team, as they will take on Morris Catholic in the title game.
In the girls’ basketball tourney, University High is once again North Section 2 Group 1 champions. The 24-6 Lady Phoenix blazed through Bard, Belvidere, North Arlington, and Glen Ridge, the latter 78-35, to take the crown.
In college basketball, the Seton Hall men took it on the chin in an 82-60 loss to Xavier at the Prudential Center in Newark. SHU was plagued by turnovers and point guard Kadary Richmond having to miss the game after getting hurt against UConn. The Davis brothers Dre and Tae tried their best, giving the Pirates 13 points and 11 points respectively. Overall, Seton Hall record is 16-13 and 9-9- in the Big East Conference. They’ll have to do some damage in the conference tourney in order to reach the Big Dance in a few weeks.
Meanwhile, the Seton Hall women fared no better, taking a hard loss at Walsh Gym to high ranked Villanova 83-58. SHU only shot 40 percent while Villanova hit on 50 percent. Leading the Pirates was Azana Baines with 22 points and 5 rebounds, with the Wildcats getting 32 points and 6 boards from Maddy Siegrist. The Lady Pirates are 17-13 on the season and 10-10 in the Big East Conference.
Finally, in some big hockey news, the New York Rangers have acquired star player Patrick Kane form the Chicago Blackhawks.
