SPORTS WRAP
BY WILLIAM HATHAWAY, JR.
PHOTOS BY FELICIA LAGUERRE OWENS
This past weekend in the city of Newark, the Newark Board Of Education along with sponsor Prudential Financial hosted its first ever Brick City Showdown Basketball Classic at Essex County College. The three day tournament was held from December 15-17th and featured over 20 high schools and eight Newark schools.
In the first night of boys games, the Newark Tech boys basketball team defeated Caldwell 66-54. Leading Newark Tech was Marcus Bragg with 14 points and Malcolm Bragg with 18 points and 6 rebounds. Caldwell was led by Joe Giannetta’s 11 points. In the 2nd game of the night, Montclair beat University 76-49.
In girls competition, the ladies from University fared better, beating Lake Minneola from Florida 68-39. Morgan Marshall gave the victorious Lady Phoenix 26 points and 3 rebounds and teammate Paradise Fisher had 14 points. Lake Minneola got 7 points and 5 rebounds from Patricia Casmir.
For Dec. 16-17, the Hillside Comets girls basketball team beat Shabazz 60-27. Leading Hillside was Precious Onyeagoccha with 21 points while Shabazz was led by Mariener Mateo with 10 points. Saint Francis of Maryland beating Franklin High 49-31, while Lake Minneola rebounded to beat the Newark Central girls 61-58. Casmir had 22 points and Mia Saunders pitched in 18 points. The Blue Devils were led by Dyshanna Austin 15 points and Faith Robison with 24 points in the loss.
That afternoon, the Newark Central boys team beat Academy Charter School of New York 61-43. Leading Newark Central was Malachi Thomas with 21 points and 6 rebounds and Malik Bass led with 15 points and 4 rebounds. Also, Eagle Academy of the Bronx beat Trenton 94-51. The Weequahic boys defeated Linden 80-40. Riyahd McDonald led the win with 13 points and 12 rebounds and Ty Barlow had 7 points and 5 assists. The last game of the day saw Saddle River Day lose to Elizabeth 55-47. Cameron McRae had 18 points and 5 rebounds and Jordan Torres added 11 points.
In another round of games, St. Francis from Maryland beat Newark Central’s girls team 68-41. The Old Tappan girls slipped by Paramus 52-51. In the boys games of the day, St. Peter’s Prep beat Payne Tech 71-40. Leading St. Peters was Nico Pena with 25 points and 4 rebounds while Payne Tech got 14 points from Gerald Edwell. Bergen Catholic beat Newark Collegiate 75-39. Leading Newark Collegiate was Najee Graham with 14 points and Bergen Catholic was led by Declan Wuchenfene with 14 points and 4 rebounds. The last game of the night saw the Patrick School beating Roselle Catholic 86-56.
