Boys Basketball

March 1, 2010

Prep wins third-straight title

St. Peter's Prep

The Marauders celebrate their third consecutive title after beating North Bergen.

Click Here for photos from St. Peter's Prep vs North Bergen.

By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director

JERSEY CITY – It’d be hard to blame St. Peter’s Prep for having a low-key celebration after their 81-65 victory over North Bergen in the final of the Hudson County Tournament.

As important as winning their third straight county championship for the first time since 1962 was for the Marauders, it isn’t their ultimate goal. That would be success in this week’s state playoffs.

“(Winning the county) doesn’t get old,” guard J.J. Hladik said. “We have bigger fish to fry. We have a lot more bigger games ahead of us and we’re really focusing on that (Non-Public) A title and going on to the Tournament of Champions.”

“Our guys expect to win every time we step on the floor,” head coach Mike Kelly said. “Even if it’s Oak Hill Academy. I don’t expect to beat them, but they do which is a good thing for us.”

St. Peter’s Prep took that business-like approach right from the start, scoring the game’s first 10 points to set the tone.

North Bergen would rally back, cutting the deficit down to 15-12 late in the first quarter, but Prep’s Ronald Roberts slammed home a teammate’s missed shot. Myles Davis ended the opening period with a bang, stripping the ball from the Bruins’ Noel Allen and delivering a 3-pointer from more than 30-feet away at the buzzer to make it 20-12.

“That took a lot out of us,” North Bergen coach Kevin Bianco said. “They’re fighting to get back in the game and it’s hard to stop the momentum.”

“Steals and threes are always tough,” Hladik said. “They guarded him well, but Myles Davis is Myles Davis and he’s always going to get his (points).”

Davis and the Marauders never looked back as the junior guard scored 10 points in the second quarter. He hit four 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 18 points.

Roberts had an array of jaw-dropping dunks to finish with a team-high 20 points. Point guard Kevin Walker, who took home MVP honors for Prep scored 12 points and Hladik added nine points in the win

“This is a good feeling because these teams all think they can compete with us, but we know that no one in the county can beat us,” center Keith Lumpkin said. “We just had to go out there and show people that we’re the number one team.

“We love it with the big bulls-eye on our back because that makes us want to play harder and show them that they can’t compete with us.”

While the Marauders’ goals go beyond a county championship, there is still something special about taking home another title, especially for guys like Walker, Lumpkin and Chase Fluellen who were key contributors on the first title team as freshmen as well as Hladik who was a sophomore that year.

“It feels real good,” Walker said. “We’ve been here since the first one and we’re still together. There were not letdowns or breakdowns. And it’s exciting that all three of us can still be a part of it with the help of Myles Davis and Ron and all the role players.”

The balanced Marauder attack proved more than enough to withstand another huge performance from Allen. The 6-foot-5 senior led all scorers with 32 points and added 13 rebounds, after scoring 31 points during the regular season matchup between the two teams.

“He came to play,” Bianco said. “Unfortunately we needed them to play badly and we had to play mistake-free.”

Chris Rodriguez and Alejandro Vasquez added 12 points apiece for a Bruins squad which has title aspirations of their own in North 1, Group IV. North Bergen reached the sectional finals in 2005 and 2007 and Bianco believes the talent is there for another playoff run.

“If we regroup the way we’re capable of doing, which we’re going to work hard to do, we can put together a little run and hopefully play for again for another state final and advance this time,” said Bianco.

The Bruins open the state playoffs tomorrow when they host Livingston.

The Marauders’ title quest begins on Wednesday against Pope John XXIII. A season ago, Prep was upset in the sectional semifinals against Seton Hall Prep. St. Peter’s enters the tournament as the favorites and Kelly hopes that this year’s tough schedule will have prepared them well.

“I think that we had a chance last year, but I thought we were so young. I was concerned about our youth,” he said. I’m not concerned this year about our youth. Our guys are battle tested. We have played some of the best teams in the country and this year there will be no excuses. We’re hoping our strength of schedule will now pay dividends. We can’t use youth (as an excuse) any more.”

Noel Allen, Keith Lumpkin

North Bergen's Noel Allen (left) drives past Keith Lumpkin (right).

  1 2 3 4 Total
North Bergen Bruins (20-4)
12
12
16
25
65
St. Peter's Prep Marauders (21-3)
20
26
16
19
81
North Bergen   St. Peter's Prep
  2s 3s 1s Pts
Justin Glennon
0
1
0
3
Chris Rodriguez
3
0
6
12
Noel Allen
11
1
7
32
Dany Abrue
2
0
1
5
Peter Ramanand
0
0
0
0
Giovanni Rodriguez
0
0
0
0
Alejandro Vasquez
0
4
0
12
Khalied Saled
0
0
0
0
Orel Thompson
0
0
0
0
Eduardo Garcia
0
0
1
1
Total
16
6
15
65
 
         
         
         
 
  2s 3s 1s Pts
Kevin Walker
4
0
4
12
J.J. Hladik
3
1
0
9
Ronald Roberts
10
0
0
20
Myles Davis
2
4
2
18
Keith Lumpkin
1
0
2
4
Stephon Whyatt
3
0
0
6
Sequan Jackson
0
0
0
0
James Calabrese
0
0
2
2
Chase Fluellen
0
0
2
2
Raphael Ortiz
0
0
0
0
Alex Diaz
0
0
0
0
Jordan Arthur
1
0
1
3
Tre Bell
0
0
2
2
Tyrell Gibbs
1
0
1
3
Total
25
5
16
81
     
North Bergen: Allen 13 rebounds, 4 steals; Glennon 5 rebounds; C. Rodriguez 5 rebounds; Ramanand 4 assists. St. Peter's Prep: Roberts 8 rebounds; Davis 7 rebounds; Fluellen 5 rebounds; Lumpkin 4 rebounds.