Bayonne advances in HCT

Rodney Wilson, Bayonne

Rodney Wilson (l) scored 17 of his game-high 25 points in the first half for Bayonne.

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By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director

BAYONNE – The past couple of weeks have been a struggle for Rodney Wilson and the Bees. The 6-foot-3 junior was fighting to bounce back from an ankle injury and his team had its season go into a tailspin, losing seven of its previous eight.

Both Wilson and Bayonne rediscovered that early-season success as he scored a game-high 25 points in a 77-60 victory over Lincoln yesterday in the first round of the Hudson County Tournament.

“He’s finally getting his rhythm back,” Bees coach Mickell Taylor said. “That’s our team leader. When he goes, we go.”

Less than 24 hours removed from a blowout loss to Union City, sixth-seeded Bayonne (9-8) came out firing. The Bees would score the first 12 points of the game and held a 19-4 advantage after the first quarter. Wilson in particular started off strong, scoring 11 points and displaying an explosion which had been missing since suffering the ankle injury last month.

“I felt like my speed was back, my jumper was working,” Wilson said. “Everything was just back.”

“He’s getting a lot stronger,” Taylor said. “He’s getting a lot of lift, he’s rebounding. That helps.”

Fully healthy, Wilson was able to attack the basket at will for most of the contest. He got multiple baskets in the paint and converted a trio of three-point plays as well.

“I’ve tried to be aggressive the entire season, but the injury messed it up a bit,” Wilson said. “This has been the most aggressive I’ve been since coming off the injury.”

“It helps us a lot,” junior guard Steve Betancourth said. “When Rodney’s on, going to the basket and getting fouled, it brings the defense up and the shooters get open for us. It’s much easier for us to shoot.”

Betancourth and the rest of the Bees took full advantage of the open looks as the hit eight 3-pointers on the evening. Wilson, Betancourth and Biaggio Cancro each hit two from long range in the win. With their outside shooting game working, Bayonne stayed in control the entire way as they led by as many as 27 points and never let the lead get lower than nine.

Wilson added 10 rebounds to finish with a double-double. Senior Steve Roberts, just missed out on a triple-double as he posted 12 points, nine blocks and eight rebounds. Sophomores Cancro and Garry Gaston scored 12 and nine points respectively in the victory.

Donavan McClean led the way for the 11th-seeded Lions (6-10) with 20 points, 16 of them coming in the second half. Mark Hallman scored 17 points and had six steals. David Rivers scored 13 points and Dyllin Smith pulled down 10 rebounds.

With the victory, Bayonne will travel to face No. 3 seed Memorial in the quarterfinals. The Tigers cruised into the next round after defeating Secaucus 88-52 last night in West New York.

Donavan McClean, Lincoln

Donavan McClean scored 20 second-half points for Lincoln in defeat.

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lincoln Lions (6-10)	4	17	13	26	60
Bayonne Bees (9-8)	19	18	22	18	77

Lincoln

Bayonne

	2s	3s	1s	Pts
Donavan McClean	7	1	3	20
Mark Hallman	5	2	1	17
Jeremiah Allen	0	0	0	0
Dyllin Smith	0	0	1	1
Zakee Adams	0	0	0	0
Tony Danh	1	1	1	6
Darren Carr	1	0	1	3
Johnny Brown	0	0	0	0
David Rivers	6	0	1	13
Total:	20	4	8	60

	2s	3s	1s	Pts
Garry Gaston	1	1	4	9
Steve Betancourth	0	2	0	6
Biaggio Cancro	3	2	0	12
Rodney Wilson	8	2	3	25
Steve Roberts	6	0	0	12
Justin Guthrie	0	0	0	0
Dayron Caldwell	2	1	1	8
Richard Hoffman	0	0	0	0
Malcolm Robinson	0	0	1	1
Charles Breland	0	0	0	0
Chris Wright	0	0	0	0
Jonathan Jackson	1	0	2	4
Louie Mendez	0	0	0	0
Total:	21	8	11	77

Bayonne: Wilson 10 rebounds; Roberts 9 blocks, 8 rebounds; Betancourth 6 rebounds; Gaston 5 assists, 4 rebounds; Jackson 4 rebounds. Lincoln: Smith 10 rebounds; Danh 6 assists; Hallman 6 steals, 5 rebounds, 4 assists; Adams 4 rebounds; Allen 4 rebounds.