February 22, 2012

St. Peter's Prep sophomore Austin White hits a 3-pointer and finished with 22 points. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

Bayonne vs St. Peter's Prep Boys Basketball Photo Gallery

JERSEY CITY – Dissatisfied with the play of his sophomore two-guard, St. Peter's Prep head coach Todd Decker sent a challenge to Austin White at halftime of last night's Hudson County Tournament semifinal showdown with Bayonne.

Decker's locker room message delivered its intended effect as White proceeded to show why he is one of North Jersey's most promising young guards.

White would score 15 of his game-high 22 points after the intermission to help propel the No. 2 seeded Marauders into Saturday's championship game with a 59-51 win last night at the Yanitelli Center at Saint Peter's College.

"In the first half I came out kind of lethargic," White said. "I wasn't really in to it and Coach got on me. That's when I really started to tune in. Once he got on me, it just started to click and the second half was a better one for me."

"I challenged him at halftime," said Decker, citing White's first half defense as a main cause of the anger.  "I think he stepped up to that challenge."

White responded quickly, burying a pair of 3-pointers within the first four minutes of the half to increase the Prep (19-5) lead to 39-29.

The third-seeded Bees (16-6) cut the deficit down to six, but White struck a mid-range dagger just before the third-quarter buzzer. He then opened the fourth with seven points in the first 2:16 of the period. White's old-fashioned three-point play on a give-and-go with Trevis Wyche with 5:44 capped off 12-1 Marauder run to effectively put the game out of reach.

"Austin White is going to be a special player," Decker said. "He's got a gear that a lot of kids don't have and he's just starting to utilize it.""

"I knew I kind of let my team down in the first half, not playing as well as I could," White said. "I really wanted to get to this county championship game and I said to myself I really need to step it up and help my team get to where we needed to go."

As dominant as White was in the second half, his backcourt mate Wyche was equally impressive in the opening 16 minutes. The physical junior point guard was fearless attacking the basket, scoring 14 points to give Prep a 33-25 advantage in the first half.

The bruising aggressiveness of Wyche (18 points, five rebounds, four assists) along with the speed and outside shooting of White have quickly meshed together since Wyche joined the team after having to sit out the first 30 days as a transfer from St. Patrick.

"It's really easy to play around him," said White, adding that he felt Wyche makes him a better player. "At one point he can get to the basket whenever he wants and then at the next moment he'll find the open guy. He sees the floor well and when he plays well, we all play well."

"At the start we had to get used to each other, but it wasn't that hard," said Wyche. "We both kind of play the same style. We both drive to the basket, we both shoot.

"We had to be to be the scorers today. They were all about stopping Tyrone (O'Garro) so I had to step up. Austin hit some big shots and I was getting to the basket and getting fouls."

O'Garro, the Marauders' leading scorer, scored just six points, but more than made up for it as he added 12 rebounds, five assists and five blocks in the win. He put Prep on top for good with a put-back to make it 10-9 late in the first quarter.

Garry Gaston led Bayonne with 11 points, eight coming in the opening half. Sophomore Qadry Callaway scored nine points and Rodney Wilson added seven points and 12 rebounds.

St. Peter's Prep will place for a fifth-straight County Championship on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. when they square off with Hudson Catholic.

Bayonne's Garry Gaston (left) is fouled by Prep's Sean Ryan. Gaston scored 11 points in defeat. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

Bayonne vs St. Peter's Prep Boys Basketball Photo Gallery