SPORTS WRAP
BY WILLIAM HATHAWAY, JR.
PHOTO COURTESY FRED CAFFEY SR
The New Jersey high school football season has concluded with the group championship games.
This past weekend at MetLife Stadium in the Non-Public A state final, St. Joseph of Montvale took the crown over Don Bosco Prep in a 24-21 upset. Stalin Knowlden was one of the players who showed up big for the Green Knights, grabbing a 38 yard touchdown pass from Lamar Best, who had a 10 yard TD run himself in the game. Nate Bailey had a key 37 yard run to close out the scoring for St. Joe’s.
The defense of the Green Knights was up to the task, holding the Ironmen to just seven points in the second half. Keyon McClain led his team with 8 tackles and Ryan Barry tallied 5 in the win.
On the Don Bosco side, Isaiah Alvarez found the end zone, and Zakai Murphy caught a 40 yard pass from Carson Schoen, who had 12 completions and had two TDs.
Bailey and Knowlden are known names, as they were key players for the Orange Bengals and even won a league championship.
In women’s college basketball, the Essex County College women’s basketball team has started off great. They scored a huge win over the County College of Morris 125-20. Leading ECC was freshman Gabriella Brown with 31 points, 11 steals and 4 rebounds while Essence Cushionberry had 25 points and 10 rebounds. Aniya Brown had 12 points, 6 rebounds and 9 assists, Natalie Fonseca had 17 points and Kassandra Phanor added 13.
Seton Hall men’s basketball team had a big win on the road during Thanksgiving week at the Maui Basketball Classic by beating North Carolina State 85-74. However, this was followed by a tough loss to USC 83-81. The Pirates did manage to win the third place game over Washington State 75-61.
