In the first matchup on Friday evening at the RAC on the campus of Rutgers University, the 11-1 Falcons of St. Joseph’s Metuchen (NJ) took on the 11-1 Spartans of Immaculata (NJ) in a Non-Public A showdown. St. Joe’s jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, and then Immaculata went on an 8-0 run to make it a 10-8 game. From there on out, the game would be close, up until the final minutes. The Falcons took an 18-16 lead into the second quarter. Once the second period got underway, senior Theo Riddick, a Notre Dame football commit, began to take over for the Spartans, while senior Gerard Lewis went to work for St. Joe’s in the low post. At the half, the Falcons were ahead 32-25, behind the strong play of Lewis and fellow senior Nikko Vastola. In the second half of play, St. Joe’s opened with an 11-4 run to take a 41-29 lead, but Riddick quickly brought Immaculata back into it, teaming with senior shooter Gamel Mohamed, as the Spartans stormed back into the game, and trailed just 43-40 through 24 minutes of play. An old-fashioned three-point play from Theo Riddick tied the game at 43, making it a 14-2 run for Immaculata. When the Falcons took a timeout with 2:32 to go, they led by one, 48-47, and whatever Head Coach Dave Turco said to his team certainly worked, as St. Joe’s then closed the game on an 11-2 run, led by Vastola, to come away with a 57-47 victory. Gamel Mohamed, who scored 17 points, was named MVP for Immaculata, while Nikko Vastola went home with the trophy for St. Joe’s after dropping 27.

The second game of the night pitted two national powerhouses against one another, as the Duncanville (TX) Panthers and LeFlore (AL) Rattlers squared off. Duncanville, which was the preseason number one ranked team in America in most polls but has lost nearly 10 games, is led by Texas-signee Shawn Williams, Oklahoma State-signees Roger Franklin and Reger Dowell, and junior big man, Perry Jones, a Baylor commit who is ranked as the #13 player in the class of 2010 by Rivals.com. LeFlore, which has just one loss, is paced by DeMarcus Cousins, an uncommitted senior, who is the nation’s #2 player according to Rivals. The first quarter was very sloppy, and Cousins was held to just two points as Duncanville took a 15-6 lead. The second eight minutes of play were also sloppy as well, and the Rattlers used it to their advantage, taking a 20-19 advantage into halftime, the squad’s first lead of the game. DeMarcus Cousins, who is 6’10, opened the third quarter with a three-pointer, making it a 14-2 run for the squad from the Yellowhammer State. Then, after trailing by as much as 11, Duncanville went on a roll, and was down just four, 36-32, with one quarter to go. DeMarcus Cousins completely dominated the third quarter, while Shawn Williams led the Panthers’ charge. In the fourth period, the score remained close the whole time, but Duncanville never could even things up or go ahead and eventually left with a 54-51 defeat. Shawn Williams was the MVP for Duncanville, scoring 22 points. DeMarcus Cousins received the honor for LeFlore, dominating the Panthers to the tuned of 28 points.

The Lincoln (NY) Railsplitters and the Paterson Catholic (NJ) Cougars met in the third contest of the evening. Lincoln is led by Lance Stephenson, the #9 senior in the nation according to Rivals, and Maryland-bound big man, senior James Padgett. Paterson Catholic, which was without Lance Brown, a senior headed to Fordham, has a deep squad filled with talent. Lincoln was up 10-9 after the first quarter, and then it became game of runs. In the second period, Paterson Catholic went on a huge 22-4 run, which included a 12-0 stretch to open it up, and went ahead by as much as 17, with juniors Fuquan Edwin and Jayon James leading the way. Lincoln took a bit of momentum into the intermission when senior Darwin “Buddha” Ellis drained a three at the buzzer to make it a 33-19 deficit through two periods of action. As much as Paterson Catholic dominate the second quarter, Lincoln was even better in the third quarter, as Lance Stephenson finally got into the groove after a silent first half. With about 1:20 to go in the third period, Ellis knocked down another three, giving Lincoln a 40-39 advantage, its first lead since being up 10-9. Through the first 5:40 of the quarter, Lincoln outscored Paterson Catholic 21-7. A three from freshman phenom Kyle Anderson put the Cougars back on top right after Ellis’ three and from there on out, it was a back and forth game. When the buzzer went off to end the third quarter, Paterson Catholic held a 42-41 lead. With less than two minutes to play in regulation, Lincoln was up 50-46, having outscored Paterson Catholic 31-13 in the second half. Two free throws from Edwin and a jumper from James evened the score at 50 apiece. Stephenson missed an off-balance three as time expired in the fourth quarter, sending the game to overtime. “Buddha” Ellis hit a three to open the scoring in the extra period. Ellis would later miss two free throws, and Jayon James would score on a tip-in to make it 53-52. James Padgett made one of two free throws for Lincoln, putting the NYC squad up 54-52 with just over 60 seconds to play. James, who was dominant in the fourth quarter and overtime, then made the play of the game. The junior missed a shot, got his own rebound, put it back up and made it, drawing a foul in the process. James made his shot from the line to give Paterson Catholic a 55-54 lead. Ellis could not hit a runner in the lane with about seven seconds to go, and Fuquan Edwin grabbed the rebound, and was fouled. He hit two free throws with 0.4 seconds to go, giving the Cougars a 57-54 victory. For Lincoln, Lance Stephenson was named MVP, dropping 21 points. Fuquan Edwin had 24 points and was the MVP for Paterson  Catholic.

The last game of the evening featured two teams in the North II section of Group IV in New Jersey, the one-loss Piscataway Chiefs and the four-loss Plainfield Cardinals. Piscataway is all about big men, featuring Temple football pledge Aaron Hush and fellow senior Tristan Benjamin, along with junior Wayne Newsom, all of whom are 6’4 or taller. The Cardinals are the opposite, relying on its guard play, which is led by senior Anthony Baskerville, nationally regarded sophomore Tyrone Johnson, and junior Pitt-commit Isaiah Epps, the #40 in the class of 2010 according to Rivals. For the first 13 or 14 minutes, it was all about Plainfield, which stormed to a commanding 34-12 lead, riding the play of Epps and Johnson, while no one on Piscataway could get anything going until late in the half when the Chiefs went on a 9-0 run to make it a 34-21 deficit at the half. Wayne Newsom opened the second half with a pair of buckets to cut the Plainfield lead down to single-digits. After a Plainfield three, Newsom scored two more baskets and Aaron Hush hit a free throw, making it a 20-3 run for Piscataway en route to slicing the Cardinals’ lead all the way down to five, 37-32. By the time the clock showed 4:22 to play in the third quarter, Piscataway had cut the lead down to just two points, 39-37, riding a 25-5 run, with Newsom scoring 12 of the Chiefs’ 16 points up to that time in the quarter. Tyrone Johnson made two free throws with no time on the clock in the third quarter to give the Cardinals a 49-43 advantage entering the final quarter. Despite fighting hard, Piscataway could never get the deficit under two points in the second half, as Isaiah Epps and Tyrone Johnson made free throw after free throw in the fourth quarter. Those shots at the line combined with some Piscataway turnovers leading to Plainfield baskets gave the Cardinals a 12-point win, 68-56. Wayne Newsom was selected as the MVP for Piscataway, finishing the game with 21 points. Tyrone Johnson, who had the high point total on the night with 30, was named MVP for Plainfield.

Note- first three photos are of Nikko Vastola, DeMarcus Cousins, and Lance Stephenson respectively, and are all from http://njhoops.rivals.com/
Note- fourth photo is of Tyrone Johnson and is from http://scouthoops.scout.com/