February 22, 2012

Hudson Catholic's Grant Ellis (in white) drives to the basket for two of his 10 points. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

Hudson Catholic vs Marist Boys Basketball Photo Gallery

JERSEY CITY – There was a not-so-subtle hint of excitement in Grant Ellis' voice and when asked about having the opportunity to play for a county championship this Saturday.

One year after they were denied at this round, Ellis and his Hudson Catholic teammates will get their chance after a convincing 72-47 win over Marist in the semifinals of the Hudson County Tournament last night at the Yanitelli Center at Saint Peter's College.

The victory was a bit of revenge for the top-seeded Hawks (22-2) as they were upset in the semifinals by this same Marist squad in 2011.

"Last year the loss killed us," junior guard Travis Flagg said. "We needed this win. It was tremendous thing and we needed this."

"(Last year we) were very young and it's a big stage playing in a college arena," said head coach Nick Mariniello. "The kids talked about getting to this point last year and how we haven't accomplished anything yet. We still have a lot of basketball left, but I was really, really pleased with the way they competed the whole game."

Unlike last year's matchup (an overtime thriller won by Marist 62-56), there would be little suspense as Hudson Catholic and Reggie Cameron came out firing. Cameron, the standout 6-foot-7 junior drained his first three shots of the night and scored 10 points in the first 5:40 of the game. His old-fashion three-point play off a feed from Mike Young made it 12-3 in favor of the Hawks.

"(Reggie) was knocking down shots and it opened everything else for us," Flagg said.

Cameron and the rest of Hudson Catholic kept their foot on the pedal, scoring the last seven points of the second quarter to take a 41-19 lead into the locker room.

The lead would expand to as much as 29 points when Kavon Stewart (six points, six steals, five assists) sliced through the Marist (14-8) defense for a three-point play as time expired in the third quarter.

"We're definitely hitting our peak and we're hitting it in stride," Ellis said. "This is the perfect time in the season for us to be playing together as a unit."

"They're getting the message now," said Mariniello, noting he felt Monday's practice was one of the best they had all year. "They're starting to hold each other accountable a lot more and I think everything's starting to fall into place."

Cameron led the way with 23 points and six rebounds. Young scored 15 points (12 in the first half) to go with six rebounds and five assists. Ellis connected on a pair of 3-pointers as he finished with 10 points. Freshman Nassir Barrino had seven points, seven assists and five rebounds. Junior captain Rakwan Kelly chipped in with eight points in his first game back after missing the previous four contests due to injury.

Junior Manny Suarez led the way for the fourth-seeded Royal Knights with 18 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks. Alquan Jones and Joel Elder added 10 and eight points respectively off the bench.

St. Peter's Prep, the four-time defending champs represent the last step in the way of Hudson Catholic's goal of a county championship. The Hawks were victorious 59-43 in the lone regular season matchup back on Jan. 19.

Joel Elder had eight points and four rebounds off the bench for Marist in defeat. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

Hudson Catholic vs Marist Boys Basketball Photo Gallery