December 19, 2011

St. Anthony guard Josh Brown drives to the hoop for two of his six points on the day. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

St. Anthony vs Trenton Catholic Boys Basketball Photo Gallery

WEST ORANGE – When it comes to opponents on the court, Jerome Frink has a long memory.

Twenty-one months and 34 varsity games have passed since Frink and St. Anthony last saw Trenton Catholic, but time - and a national championship - has done little ease the 6-foot-6 forward's need for revenge as he put up 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Friars to a 53-33 win yesterday at the Hoop Group Tip-Off at West Orange High School.

"I just had to get revenge for my sophomore year since they beat us in the state finals," said Frink of his team's 57-56 triple overtime loss to Trenton Catholic in the 2010 Non-Public, B title game. "This game was very personal to me. I just had to get them back."

Regardless of the reason, Frink and the rest of the Friars (2-0) came out of the gates firing on all cylinders. Even with starters Kyle Anderson and Tariq Carey bench for the first 5:06 of the contest after being late to a weekend practice, St. Anthony raced out to a 7-0 advantage.

"If we get Jerome a shot early and he scores, he's a much better player if he puts up a shot or two early," head coach Bob Hurley said. "With Kyle and Tariq not being in the game it was definitely going to go to (Jerome) early. He had a couple of shots, felt good about it. He's such a long, physical, tough kid that when you get him going like that, he's a tough matchup."

"Jerome played well," Anderson said. "Inside he made a couple of layups, had a couple of big rebounds and took a couple of charges. Jerome played really well."

The Friars would pull away with a 20-3 run in the first half, capped off with a steal and thunderous two-handed jam from Frink, who scored six points in the surge and 10 in the opening half as he takes on a bigger role in the offense after the graduations of Myles Mack and Lucky Jones.

"It really motivated me," Frink said. "It's a big step for me and I've handled it well."

Trenton Catholic's Malachi Richardson scored 10 unanswered points in a span of 40 seconds late in the third quarter to cut the Friars' lead to nine. But a Frink put-back off a miss moved the lead back to double-digits and sparked a 13-1 run which put the game out of reach.

Frink took home MVP honors for St. Anthony with his performance, which also included, two blocks, two steals and a pair of charges. Anderson, in the unfamiliar role of coming off the bench, added 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

"It was pretty weird, but I just had to adjust to it," Anderson said. "It wasn't a big deal."

Hallice Cooke drained a pair of corner 3-pointers and finished with 10 points.

Richardson had 12 points to take home MVP honors for the Iron Mikes. Charles Cooke added eight points and eight rebounds in defeat.

St. Anthony senior Jerome Frink scored a game-high 15 points and had 10 rebounds. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

St. Anthony vs Trenton Catholic Boys Basketball Photo Gallery