Coming off of a victory at St. Anthony’s (NJ) on Monday, the Cougars entered the tilt with the Celtics on an emotional high. St. Pat’s—who blew out PC earlier in the year at the Beach Ball Classic in South Carolina—came in as the prohibitive favorite all season long to win not just Non-Public North B, but the Tournament of Champions too. It did not look like that would be the case when PC jumped out to a 6-0 lead that became an 11-2 advantage less than three and a half minutes into the game. Whatever Damon Wright’s squad had in that 204 seconds was quickly gone, as St. Pat’s stormed back into the game, led by eight points, including two threes, from North Carolina-signee Dexter Strickland '09. "We had to pick it up big-time. What motivated us, was [that] KB [Head Coach Kevin Boyle] pointed out this might be our last game if we lose," said Strickland when we spoke after the game. The Celtics went on a 16-4 run to take an 18-15 lead and were up 18-17 through eight minutes of play. Kevin Boyle’s boys opened the second quarter with a 10-2 run, making 26-8 overall, to take a 28-19 lead. At the intermission it was a 33-23 game, as the Cougars were outscored 31-12 after that impressive start. Dexter Strickland scored 12 first half points, while Michael Gilchrist '11—his second game back from an ankle injury—had seven. For PC, Fuquan Edwin '10 led the way with eight, while junior Jayon James added seven.

      As much as the Cougars struggled in the last 12 minutes of the half, they came out hard in the third quarter, cutting the lead to six, 37-31, but it then fell apart once again, as St. Pat’s went on yet another huge run to close out the quarter. This time it was a 15-4 stretch that made it 52-35 entering the final eight minutes. Kyrie Irving '10 led the charge with nine of his 14 points coming in the third period of action, including a dagger three from the corner in transition that gave the Celtics their biggest lead of the night up to that point, 48-35. After those first 204 seconds, St. Pat’s doubled PC’s score the rest of the three quarters, 54-27. The Celtics’ domination continued in the fourth quarter, as the lead grew to as much as 26, 66-40 with under five minutes to play. Fuquan Edwin, who was the only Cougar to finish with more than eight points, never gave up, and he scored PC’s first eight points of the final period. Myles Mack '11 also found his shot in the fourth quarter, nailing two treys, but it was far too little far too late, as George Mason-signee senior Paris Bennett and his fellow Celtics controlled the action.  St. Patrick’s cruised to a 79-54 victory, meaning the team will have a rematch with the Trenton Catholic Iron Mikes on Saturday at 4:00pm at the Ritacco Center in the Non-Public B state title game. "I think we [are] going to keep it up and I think we [are] going to keep winning. . . . I don't think any time [is] going to beast us. Hopefully we get the TOC [crown]," said Strickland after the game. The 6'3 combo guard added, "It would mean a lot [to win the TOC]. I don't think anybody [in St. Patrick's school history has] won three state and county titles." The Celtics are just three wins away from achieving their ultimate goal.

Box Score (statistics are unofficial) 

Team                              1          2          H          3          4          F   
St. Patrick’s                    18        15         33         23        23        79
Paterson Catholic           17        6          23         13        16        54 

St. Patrick’s
Dexter Strickland- 18 points (12 in 1^st half), two 3P, 2/2 FT
Paris Bennett- 17 points (13 in 2^nd half), 3/4 FT
Kyrie Irving- 14 points (9 in 3^rd quarter), one 3P, 1/2 FT
Michael Gilchrist- 10 points (7 in 1^st half), 2/4 FT
Derrick Gordon- 5 points (4 in 4^th quarter), 1/2 FT
Dean Kowalski- 5 points (all in 2^nd half), one 3P
Chase Plummer- 4 points
Kevin Boyle, Jr.- 3 points, one 3P
Alex Jones- 2 points
Jerome Billings- 1 point, 1/2 FT 

Paterson Catholic
Fuquan Edwin- 22 points (14 in 2^nd half), 4/7 FT
Myles Mack- 8 points (all in 2^nd half), two 3P
Kyle Anderson- 8 points, 2/4 FT
Jayon James- 7 points (all in 1^st half), one 3P, 2/2 FT
Derrick Randall- 4 points (all in 1^st quarter)
Jermaine Peart- 3 points, one 3P, 0/2 FT
Lance Brown- 2 points

In other NJSIAA state tournament news, I caught the Asbury Park (NJ) victory over New Egypt (NJ) on Tuesday at Franklin (NJ) in the Central Jersey Group I sectional final. The Bishops knocked off Desmond Hubert '11 and Co. 51-34, limiting the sophomore sensation to 11 points and holding Kevin Janowski '09 to just six points and one field goal in his final high school game. For AP, Lamar Young '09 led the way with 14 points, while Joseph Anderson '09 added nine and K'Von Shaw '09 had eight. I saw coaches from Ursinus (DIII) and Penn State in the building. Ursinus was there for Janowski, who they are actively recruiting, while PSU was likely looking at Hubert, a high-major recruit. In the second game, heavily favored Neptune (NJ) took on Princeton (NJ) in the Central Jersey Group III sectional final. The game was tied at 13 at the end of the first quarter, but a big run by Neptune made it a 10-point game at the half. I had to leave at the intermission, but Neptune rolled to a 72-44 victory.