March 22, 2012

St. Anthony's Kyle Anderson (right) shoots over Plainfield's Denzel Christian. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

Plainfield vs St. Anthony Boys Basketball Photo Gallery

EAST RUTHERFORD – Roughly 20 minutes after winning their second-straight Tournament of Champions title, St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley decided to deliver a playful verbal jab to star pupil Kyle Anderson, asking the 6-foot-9 All-American about the most recent and most well known loss in his stellar high school career.

Anderson and everyone else inside the media room at IZOD Center knew the answer - the same St. Anthony team he has starred for the past two seasons. Anderson was with Paterson Catholic on that March 2010 night at Rutgers, playing for a Non-Public, North B title. Paterson Catholic would close a couple months later, prompting Anderson to transfer the Friars and become arguably the greatest player in the history of the Jersey City school.

"He's only lost one game in his last three years of high school and tell him who it was against? St. Anthony, so he did the logical thing. He joined us," said Hurley with a hint of sarcasm. "He really helped us with this winning streak."

The storied history of St. Anthony basketball is littered with legendary performers - Mandy Johnson. David Rivers, Bobby Hurley, Rodrick Rhodes, Anthony Perry and countless others. But for a program that has been defined by winning, no one has won more than Anderson.

Since putting the maroon and gold of St. Anthony, Anderson is a perfect 65-0. No other Friar team has had back-to-back undefeated seasons. Over the final three seasons of his brilliant high school career he went 93-1.

"He's the most complete player to ever play at the school," Hurley said. "In a time that we've had some really good ones. His overall game and what he's done over these last two years."

"It's pretty good, but I definitely didn't do it by myself," said Anderson of the winning streak. "I had teammates that helped me every day in practice. Guys that don't really get too many minutes, but they push us in practice. It's just great to have something to share with my teammates. Ten years, twenty years, thirty years (from now) we're going to have something we can look back on this and be so proud of ourselves."

The selflessness carried over from the court on Tuesday night against Plainfield as Anderson was more than happy to play the role of facilitator rather than force the issue for the benefit of his own personal stats.

Anderson may have had only 14 points, but his impact on the game was felt throughout the 32 minutes. His length allowed him to be a human eraser in the paint with five blocks and also force four steals on the perimeter. He pulled down six rebounds, moved the ball up the court and when the heavy pressure came from the Plainfield defenders, he would find an open teammate to finish with four assists.

Thanks in large part to the attention Anderson attracted, Jerome Frink scored 26 points and Tariq Carey added 18.

"They had guys there waiting for me so Coach just told me to just come to a jump stop and look for other guys," Anderson said. "I found Jerome under the basket a bunch of times. I found Tariq and Hallice (Cooke) out on the perimeter for threes, Josh (Brown) cutting (towards the basket). It wasn't a game of me scoring a lot, but more getting my teammates involved."

"This was Jerome's statistical game and Tariq Carey statistically played really well," Hurley added. "But the blood and guts, the glue and the player that makes us the team we are is Kyle Anderson. There's no question about that."

With his high school career over, the debate of where Anderson can rank among Friar greats such as Hurley, Rhodes, Rivers can truly begin.

After Hurley once against asked about that last loss two years ago, Anderson excitedly reminded the Hall of Fame coach of one other thing he accomplished that those other St. Anthony legends hadn't - a win over the Friars, which came in the 2009 Non-Public, North B semifinals.

"I got one freshman year," said Anderson with a smile.

Jerome Frink (left) and Kyle Anderson (right) celebrate a second-straight undefeated season. (Photo: Jason Bernstein)

Plainfield vs St. Anthony Boys Basketball Photo Gallery