In an unscheduled change, St. Patrick’s and Trenton Catholic will be playing each other, rather than their scheduled opponents, Windsor (CT) and Piscataway (NJ) respectively. This was one of the two games that I was most looking forward to this weekend, so it’s a pleasant surprise that it was bumped up a day. I recently found out that Dexter Strickland ’09 and Kyrie Irving ’10 will in fact not be here all weekend for the Celtics. Chase Plummer ’10, Markus Kennedy ’10 and Paris Bennett ’09, will have to carry much of the load for the Celtics. TCA is led by a strong three-man class of 2010: Markese Tucker, Frantz Massenat, and Dondre Whitmore. Their class of 2011 is very god too, as it has two top-notch players in Khalid Lewis El and incoming Neuman-Goretti (PA) transfer Frankie Smalls. The game has already begun.

1:07pm- St. Patrick’s took a quick 5-1 lead in the game.

1:08pm- Khalid Lewis El hit one of two at the stripe for TCA to cut the lead to 5-2.

1:11pm- Reggie Coleman ’09 nailed a trey for TCA with just over 12:30 in the half to even the score at seven all.

1:16pm- The Iron Mikes of Trenton Catholic are leading 13-9 with just under eight minutes to play in the half.

1:17pm- Chase Plummer is being active on both ends of the floor and is displaying nice hands.

1:18pm- Daquan Basnight ’09 grabbed an offensive board off a missed three from Dondre Whitmore, got fouled, and hit the second of two free throws. TCA is ahead 14-10 with 5:00 left in the first 20 minutes of play.

1:21pm- Reggie Coleman drained another triple for Trenton Catholic, who now leads 17-10 with slightly over two minutes remaining in the first half.

1:22pm- Dean Kowalski ’09 hit the second of two from the line for St. Pat’s, so it’s 17-11 with a little over one minute left in the half.

1:23pm- Frantz Massenat got a steal with 19 seconds to go, but good defense from Derrick Gordon ’11 forced a turnover on a five-second call with about 5.5 left.

1:24pm- Berdy Cadet ’10 swished in a three-ball at the buzzer for the Celtics. It is 19-14 in favor of the Iron Mikes at halftime.

1:25pm- Reggie Coleman is the game’s leading scorer with six points thus far. Berdy Cadet, Dean Kowalski, and Paris Bennett all have three points for St. Patrick’s.

1:30pm- Markese Tucker went down hard after being undercut unintentionally by Rich Dobin ’09. The TCA star seems fine though.

1:31pm- Lafayette Smith ’09 hit a deuce in the paint open the scoring in the second half and put Trenton Catholic ahead 21-14.

1:33pm- Markese Tucker of TCA and Paris Bennett of St. Pat’s are guarding each other and it’s becoming a battle. Both of them play AAU ball with Team New Jersey ABC (NJABC), but at different age levels. As a whole, this game is intense!

1:34pm- We are 4:32 into the second half and St. Patrick’s has called a timeout, having yet to scoring, while allowing five points. It’s a 24-14 game.

1:35pm- With about 15:07 to play in the half, Derrick Gordon hit a jump-shot to put some second half points on the board for the Celtics. The Iron Mikes answered with a bucket in their own right at the other end.

1:36pm- St. Pat’s has scored again, making it two possessions in a row in under one minute.

1:37pm- Back-to-back three-pointers from Berdy Cadet have cut the TCA lead down to one-point, 26-25. The Iron Mikes quickly took a timeout after the second three-ball from Cadet, with slightly less than 13 minutes left in regulation.

1:39pm- The St. Patrick’s bench, led by Chase Plummer, is really getting into the game, clapping and chanting “defense” when TCA has the ball.

1:40pm- Cadet missed a three that would have put the Celtics up by two. Markese Tucker then scored on a pretty up-and-under at the other end. Dobin then banged in a three from the corner for St. Pat’s that has evened the score at 28.

1:43pm- Gordon made the first of two free throws to give St. Pat’s the lead on a 15-4 run.

1:44pm- Dondre Whitmore hit a three for TCA to give the Iron Mikes the lead again. Berdy Cadet answered with yet another triple, putting the Celtics back on top.

1:45pm- Markus Kennedy, who has been quiet thus far, worked the ball in the low post, scored, drew a foul, and made his free throw. St. Pat’s is ahead 35-31 with 7:00 left.

1:46pm- Rich Dobin nailed another three-ball for St. Pat’s, who now leads 38-31. The Celtics are on a 24-7 run.

1:47pm- Derrick Gordon took it to the rim and was fouled by Frantz Massenat, sending him to the stripe for two shots, where he made both shots.

1:48pm- Trenton Catholic scored a quick basket, dropping the Celtics’ lead down to seven points. Kennedy, though, answered with a basket in the paint to stretch it back up to nine.

1:49pm- A TCA deuce has made the score 42-35 in favor of St. Patrick’s. There is just over four minutes to play.

1:50pm- Both teams missed shots, and St. Pat’s has the ball with less than 3:30 to go. Markus Kennedy missed a jumper so it’s back to TCA. The Iron Mikes took advantage of the opportunity and scored to make it a five-point game.

1:51pm- Rich Dobin missed the front end of a one-and-one for St. Pat’s. Reggie Coleman then hit another three for TCA, so it’s 42-40 with less than two minutes to go.

1:52pm- Dean  Kowalski hit both ends of a one-and-one, so it’s a four-point St. Patrick’s advantage.

1:53pm- With one minute to go, St. Patrick’s leads 44-40 and has the ball. Trenton Catholic got a steal and converted it into a quick layup. The Iron Mikes took their final timeout with 50.5 showing on the clock, trailing 44-42.

1:54pm- Khalid Lewis El forced a turnover with 37.3 left in the game, giving TCA possession. Dondre Whitmore then turned the ball over, and Derrick Gordon got a hold of the ball, passing it to Kowalski who hit a layup.

1:55pm- Lewis El missed the first of two shots from the stripe with 15.3 seconds remaining. The Celtics then took a timeout.

1:57pm- Lewis El missed t second shot as well. Paris Bennett is now at the line for the Celtics with 13 seconds left. The rising senior hit the first of two shots, so it’s 47-42.

1:58pm- Bennett fouled Whitmore with 6.2 to go, and again with 3.5 to go. Both fouls were on the floor and TCA is not yet in the bonus.

1:59pm- Lewis El was fouled with 2.4 to go. Coleman then missed a buzzer beater. St. Pat’s has won the game, 47-42.

The game’s leading scorer was Berdy Cadet of St. Patrick’s, who had 15 points on five threes. Rich Dobin had eight points, including two threes, for the Celtics. Reggie Coleman led Trenton Catholic with 11 points, hitting three triples. Berdy Cadet is Northstar Basketball’s MVP award winner for St. Pat’s, while Reggie Coleman takes the honors for the Iron Mikes.