by Alex Schwartz

I made my way to Trenton today for the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions semifinal matchups at the Sovereign Bank Arena. In the 5:30 game, the second seeded Immaculata Spartans, the Non-Public A champs, and the third seeded Science Park Chargers, the Group II champs, squared off. In the 7:30 tilt, the top seeded St. Patrick's Celtics, the Non-Public B champs, and the Lenape Indians, the Group IV champs, took the court. I was there for every minute of both games, and—for the most part—it was some great basketball.

The Science Park Chargers are the defending Group I state champs, and after moving up to Group II this year, they won another state title and were looking to get to back-to-back TOC championships (they lose in the TOC finals to St. Anthony's last year). The number three seed, Science Park knocked off Newark rival and Group I champ, the sixth seeded University Phoenix, which is what set up their game with Immaculata. The Spartans are the only other team besides Science Park to have made both the 2008 and 2009 Tournament of Champions. This was expected to be a great game, and it certainly was. With coaches from schools such as UMBC and NJIT on hand, Immaculata scored the game's first bucket on a nice alley-oop tip-in by Notre Dame-bound (football) Theo Riddick '09 from Gamal Mohamed '09. After that, the Chargers went on an 11-0 run, which was countered by a 6-0 run by 'Lata, so it was 11-8 Science through one quarter. A three by Theo Riddick tied the game at 11 just 15 seconds into the second quarter. Then the Chargers went on yet another run, making it 19-11. 'Lata would not go away, and entered the half trailing by just one, 21-20. Rameel Johnson '09 and Kenneth Ortiz '09 led the way for Science Park, with Tevin Barber '09 lending a hand. Theo Riddick scored—stats are unofficial—14 of his team's 20 first half points, while Gamal Mohamed had just two points, though he did have at least three assists. Matt Dudzinski '09 made it two straight quarters opened with an IHS trey, putting the Spartans up 23-21 just 23 seconds into the second half. Science then took a 25-23 lead, but then for the next five plus minutes, it was all Immaculata. A 13-3 Immaculata run that included seven straight points by Mohamed gave the Spartans a 38-28 advantage. That 10-point cushion was the largest for either team up to that point. The Chargers took a timeout with 1:52 to go in the third quarter, hoping to stop the Spartans' momentum from getting too strong. Science did just that, scoring four straight points to end the quarter, making it 38-32 IHS entering the final eight minutes of regulation. Ramon Johnson '11, Rameel Johnson, and Kenneth Ortiz teamed to keep the charge—no pun intended—going, and it was 49-42 Science with 3:57 to go in the game. The 21-4 run was mainly due to the fullcourt press instituted by Milton Gaylord, which had his Chargers forcing turnovers left and right. Rameel Johnson was the main beneficiary of those turnovers, as he scored, and scored, and scored some more. Jess Scheirer '09 then hit a three to make it a four-point game, but a Science Park free throw gave the team 50 points, and that was all the Chargers would need, as the game ended 59-49 in favorite of the public school. The victory sends the school to its second consecutive TOC championship.

Team                                 1          2           H           3          4           F    
#2 Immaculata                8         12         20        18        11         49
#3 Science Park            11        10         21        11        27         59

The second game tonight featured a Cinderella and national powerhouse vying for a spot in the TOC finals. The fifth seeded Lenape Indians, went on a magical run to the South Jersey Group IV crown, and then to the Group IV state title, and followed that up with an upset over fourth seeded Neptune, the Group III champs, in the TOC opening round. Their opponent, the St. Patrick's Celtics, won Non-Public B and have been considered the favorite to win the TOC since the start of the season. Kevin Boyle's team is led by a talented quartet: North Carolina-signee Dexter Strickland '09, George Mason-bound Paris Bennett '09, Kyrie Irving '10, and Michael Gilchrist '11. The Celtics asserted their authority early, jumping out to a 17-4 lead behind six points from Irving. The boys from the Elizabeth school led 18-7 at the end of one quarter. It looked as though Lenape would make a game out of it, as they cut the lead to seven, 18-11, with 6:58 to go in the first half after a 7-1 run dating back to the opening quarter. There was a scary moment with 6:45 to go in the second quarter, when Paris Bennett was on the floor at a break and receiving medical attention. The 6'6 future GMU Patriot got up after about three or four minutes and was being looked at on the bench. It appeared that he had an injury to the face—Bennett told me after the game that it was his nose—and he did not return. By the end of the game Paris did seem to be feeling better, which is a good sign. Bennett's injury must have got his team going, as the Celtics then went on a 10-0 run to go up 28-11, their largest lead of the first half. Eight of those points came from Michael Gilchrist, and six of the 10 points came from the charity stripe. A 9-3 run by the Indians ended the first half, with Kendall Peters '09 scoring seven points—a trey and 4/4 free throw shooting—during that spurt. As close as the game seemed on the scoreboard entering the intermission, 32-20, it was clear that the Celtics were in complete control of the game, though they could not deliver a knockout blow. Fifteen seconds into the second half, Lenape big man CJ Meyer '10 picked up his third foul, and that was the first of many bad things to happen in the quarter for the Indians. Behind seven points during a 14-2 run, the Celtics took a 46-22 lead with 3:57 to go in the third period of action. Derrick Gordon '11 stepped up his play in the third period, as St. Pat's took a commanding 58-29 edge into the final eight minutes of play. Mike Celestin '09 and Pete Dinich '09 both picked up their fourth fouls with the first 2:05 of the fourth quarter, and the Celtics led by 30, 62-32, with 5:33 to play. The fullcourt press from Boyle's squad was too much for Lenape to handle, as the Celtics forced numerous turnovers. Harman Ghuman '10 scored six points in the fourth quarter for the Indians, while Josh Daniell '10 had five points for the Celtics in the final minutes. Both players will likely be relied on much more next season. When all was said and done, the St. Patrick's Celtics advanced to the TOC finals with a 66-40 win.

BOX SCORE (statistics are unofficial)

Team                                1          2          H           3          4           F    
#1 St. Patrick's             18        14        32         26         8         66
#5 Lenape                       7        13         20          9         11        40

St. Patrick's
Kyrie Irving- 20 points (11 in 3rd quarter), 8/11 FT (6 FT in 3rd quarter)
Michael Gilchrist- 13 points (11 in 1st half), 7/8 FT (5 FT in 2nd quarter)
Dexter Strickland- 12 points (10 in 1st half), 4/6 FT
Derrick Gordon- 6 points (all in 3rd quarter), 2/2 FT
Josh Daniell- 5 points (all in 4th quarter), 1/1 FT
Paris Bennett- 4 points (all in 1st quarter)
Kevin Boyle, Jr.- 4 points (all in 2nd half), one 3P, 1/2 FT
Chase Plummer- 2 points

Lenape
Kendall Peters- 9 points (7 in 2nd quarter), one 3P, 4/4 FT (all FT in 2nd quarter)
Mike Celestin- 7 points (5 in 1st quarter), one 3P, 2/2 FT
Harman Ghuman- 6 points (all in 4th quarter), one 3P, 1/2 FT
Kevin Cunningham- 5 points (all in 3rd quarter), 3/4 FT
Tyshawn Jackson- 4 points
Isiah Dixon- 3 points, 1/2 FT
CJ Meyer- 2 points
Pete Dinich- 2 points
James Cunningham- 2 points