Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
Paterson Catholic to Play for ‘Chip on ESPNU; NIA Prep Wins Battle of the Bay
Paterson Catholic on Wednesday will have its biggest chance to make a statement on the national stage since perhaps the Tim Thomas Era.
The Cougars will meet junior guard Austin Rivers (pictured courtesy MaxPreps) and Winter Park for the championship of the City of Palms Classic. The game will be shown at 9:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
Paterson CAtholic advanced with a wild 63-51 semifinal victory over Montverde Academy Tuesday night.
According to New-press.com, Montverde led 47-46 with 0.1 seconds left on the clock when its bench was given a technical foul for excessive on-court celebrating.
PC junior guard Myles Mack made 1 of 2 foul shots to force overtime and the Cougars outscored Monteverde 16-4 in the OT.
Mack finished with 21 points, Seton Hall-bound forward Fuquan Edwin scored 17 and junior forward Derrick Randall added 8 points and 12 boards.
“I’ve never seen anything like that to end a game,” PC coach Damon Wright told news-press.com.
Jamail Jones (Marquette) scored 14 points and James Bell (Villanova) tallied 13 for Montverde.
The Cougars will now get Winter Park after Rivers poured in 45 points in a 75-60 victory over Dan Hurley’s St. Benedict’s team. That total was one off the school record of 46 that Rivers scored last year.
Texas-bound guard Myck Kabongo had 15 for the Gray Bees and Temple-bound guard Aaron Brown added 11.
Now Rivers, who has committed to Florida but is also considering Duke, will get Paterson Catholic in the final.
“We came here to win it,” Rivers told The Orlando Sentinel. “Everyone talks about how good we did last year, but we want to win it this year.”
NIA PREP WINS BATTLE OF THE BAYNewark’s NIA Prep won the Battle of the Bay prep school tournament in Tampa, Fla. held Dec. 18-20.
NIA and CJEOTEO, also of Jersey, beat four teams from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida to win the title.
Former Newark Science guard Rameel Johnson hit a buzzer-beater for NIA’s 90-89 victory in the final and was named finals MVP. Jamir Hanner scored 20 points in the final and was named tourney MVP.Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter
Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle.
A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013.
He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.
Paterson Catholic on Wednesday will have its biggest chance to make a statement on the national stage since perhaps the Tim Thomas Era.
The Cougars will meet junior guard Austin Rivers (pictured courtesy MaxPreps) and Winter Park for the championship of the City of Palms Classic. The game will be shown at 9:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
Paterson CAtholic advanced with a wild 63-51 semifinal victory over Montverde Academy Tuesday night.
According to New-press.com, Montverde led 47-46 with 0.1 seconds left on the clock when its bench was given a technical foul for excessive on-court celebrating.
PC junior guard Myles Mack made 1 of 2 foul shots to force overtime and the Cougars outscored Monteverde 16-4 in the OT.
Mack finished with 21 points, Seton Hall-bound forward Fuquan Edwin scored 17 and junior forward Derrick Randall added 8 points and 12 boards.
“I’ve never seen anything like that to end a game,” PC coach Damon Wright told news-press.com.
Jamail Jones (Marquette) scored 14 points and James Bell (Villanova) tallied 13 for Montverde.
The Cougars will now get Winter Park after Rivers poured in 45 points in a 75-60 victory over Dan Hurley’s St. Benedict’s team. That total was one off the school record of 46 that Rivers scored last year.
Texas-bound guard Myck Kabongo had 15 for the Gray Bees and Temple-bound guard Aaron Brown added 11.
Now Rivers, who has committed to Florida but is also considering Duke, will get Paterson Catholic in the final.
“We came here to win it,” Rivers told The Orlando Sentinel. “Everyone talks about how good we did last year, but we want to win it this year.”
NIA PREP WINS BATTLE OF THE BAY
Newark’s NIA Prep won the Battle of the Bay prep school tournament in Tampa, Fla. held Dec. 18-20.
NIA and CJEOTEO, also of Jersey, beat four teams from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida to win the title.
Former Newark Science guard Rameel Johnson hit a buzzer-beater for NIA’s 90-89 victory in the final and was named finals MVP. Jamir Hanner scored 20 points in the final and was named tourney MVP.
Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter
