January 19, 2010
High Tech stuns No. 10 Paterson Kennedy
Xavier Corporan connected on four 3-pointers in High Tech's comeback victory.
By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director
Trailing by 20 after the opening quarter, it would have been easy for High Tech to just roll over and accept defeat to a Paterson Kennedy squad ranked No. 10 in the state yesterday in the Freedom Fighters Hoop Challenge at Paterson Eastside.
Instead, behind huge second half performances from Xavier Corproan and John Greenwald, the Lasercats (11-3) rallied back for a 69-63 win which head coach Steve Ricciardi called the biggest in the school’s history.
“It’s nice to be invited to play in these events, but to put the school on the map you have to win one of these games against a top 10 team,” said Ricciardi, referring to his team’s earlier loss to Seton Hall Prep. “You only get so many chances to do that.”
After taking just two shots in a quiet first half performance, Corporan rediscovered the aggressiveness and scoring touch that made him one of the county’s premier scorers. The junior connected on four 3-pointers and scored all 15 of his points in the second half.
Greenwald scored 13 of his 15 points after the intermission. High Tech scored 48 points in the second half and outscored Paterson Kennedy (10-2) 22-9 in the final period.
Trailing the entire game, High Tech tied it up at 58 on a pair of free throws from Greenwald. Dmitri Pearson gave the Lasercats their first lead of the game two minutes later when he buried a 3-pointer.
High Tech would later ice the game thanks to a Kari Williams layup and a free throw from Derek Sierra.
Sierra and Pearson finished with 14 points apiece while Williams added nine in the victory.
Shondell Stewart scored a game-high 26 points for the Knights and Dawon Lighty scored 13 in the loss. Jaemille Barnes added 14 points, 10 of them coming in the first quarter when Kennedy built up an early 25-5 lead.
“They kept playing and they didn’t quit,” Ricciardi said. “It would have been easy to stop playing after that first quarter.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Tech Lasercats (11-3) | 5 |
16 |
26 |
22 |
69 |
| Paterson Kennedy Knights (10-2) | 25 |
8 |
21 |
9 |
63 |
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