December 19, 2011

Hudson Catholic's Kavon Stewart drives to the basket in the first quarter. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

Hudson Catholic vs Rutgers Prep Boys Basketball Photo Gallery

WEST ORANGE – Even with his team up by 17, Hudson Catholic head coach Nick Mariniello felt his team's lead was far from secure while in the locker room at halftime.

Mariniello's fears proved prophetic as Rutgers Prep rallied back to jolt the Hawks 44-43 yesterday in the Hoop Group Tip-Off at West Orange High School.

"I was very concerned at halftime even though we were up and held them to nine points. I knew they'd come out and make some shots in the second half," said Mariniello placing the blame on himself for the loss. "They're a well-coached team, they had a game plan and they stayed within themselves and we didn't."

Trailing for virtually the entire game, Rutgers Prep (2-0) took its first lead of the day on a driving basket from Matt Rennie with 2:15 left in the fourth.

Hudson Catholic (1-1) regained the lead at 43-42 with 52 seconds left when Grant Ellis buried a 3-pointer from the corner. The Hawks' advantage would be short lived as Mike Klinger calmly connected on a pair of foul shots with 25.1 seconds remaining. Hudson Catholic would have two chances to take back the lead, but came away empty-handed each time. The first possession ended on a traveling violation. The final buzzer would go off before the Hawks could get a shot.

"I think our guard just kind of lost track of time late in the game," Mariniello said. "For us not to get a shot off with 25 seconds left is bad. We didn't execute."

Early on the game had all the making of a Hudson Catholic blow out. Juniors Reggie Cameron and Rakwan Kelly scored seven and six points respectively as the Hawks scored 16 unanswered points in an eight-plus minute run which spanned the first and second quarters.

Hudson Catholic would extend its league to a game-high 18 late in the half with an old-fashioned 3-point play from Mike Young and a long-range 3 from Ellis.

Rutgers Prep responded in the second half with a 16-4 culminating with a fastbreak layup from Greg Grippo to tie the game at 37-all with 4:40 left in the game.

"I felt we got a little selfish on offense in the second half and we got to do a better job of sharing the ball and playing together," Mariniello said. "I didn't think we played together in the second half of the game."

Young was selected as the Hawks' MVP with nine points and six rebounds. Cameron and Ellis scored nine points apiece with Cameron adding nine rebounds. Point guard Kavon Stewart chipped in with eight points.

Klinger scored a game-high 15 points to take MVP honors for Rutgers Prep. Grippo added 12 points and six rebounds. Rennie chipped in with seven points and 11 rebounds.

Senior guard Grant Ellis hit three 3-pointers for Hudson Catholic in defeat. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

Hudson Catholic vs Rutgers Prep Boys Basketball Photo Gallery