Friars make it four in a row

Nadirah Durr, St. Anthony

Senior Nadirah Durr scored 12 of her 18 points in the first half for St. Anthony.

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By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director

JERSEY CITY – Dissatisfied with its performance in the Hudson County Tournament, the St. Anthony girls basketball team has found the perfect target for its anger – the rest of the league.

The Friars continued their post-tournament success with their fourth-straight win, this time a 62-46 victory over Snyder yesterday at the C.E.R.C.

“Since we got knocked out of the counties (we’ve been really motivated),” forward Naquell Simmons said. “We knew we had to show the other teams that we weren’t the ones (who struggled in the tournament). We knew that we could beat these teams so we’re just trying to show that.”

During this stretch (three of the games coming against teams which reached the quarterfinals), St Anthony (13-8) has won by an average margin of 21 points per game and has scored at least 61 points in all four contests.

“Right now we’re in a decent rhythm, as long as they stay focused we’re ok,” said St. Anthony head coach Tony Jackson, who called that tournament loss to St. Dominic Academy a ‘wake up call.’ “We’re in a good place right now, I feel confident heading into the states.”

The Friars would take control on this day in the third quarter behind the towering trio of Simmons, Kadecha Everett and Nadirah Durr. The three forwards combined for all 23 St. Anthony points in the period.

Simmons opened the quarter with nine points in four minutes as part of an 11-2 Friars run to put the game out of reach. Everett and Durr had eight and six points respectively in the period.

“Once we settled down, we started playing our basketball, getting the ball to our bigs,” said Jackson, calling his group of forwards the best in the county. “We punish people down there.”

Simmons (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Everett (13 points, 14 rebounds) had double-doubles in the win. Durr finished with a team-high 18 points.

After a tightly-contested start, momentum started to shift towards St. Anthony when Snyder’s top forward Princess LaRoche exited with her third foul midway through the second quarter.

The Friars took full advantage of the senior’s absence, scoring 13 of the next 18 points before the half. Megan Hart put St. Anthony up for good when she buried a 3-pointer followed by a steal and a basket to make it 27-22 in the final minute of the second quarter.

“I think the game changed when I had to sit Princess down right before the half,” head coach Chris Grant said. “We had a five-point lead at the time and then it became a five-point deficit at the half.”

The two runs sandwiching halftime was enough for the Friars to hold off the Tigers (12-12) and guard Tamara Tyre.

Despite facing double-teams from most of the game, the junior had 26 points, 15 rebounds, six assists and five steals.

“One person can not beat us,” Jackson said. “A team? Yes. But not one person.”

LaRoche added five points and 11 rebounds in the loss.

Hart had 10 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals for the Friars. Senior Wakeemah Sawyer chipped in with seven assists and six steals.

Tamara Tyre, Snyder

Snyder junior Tamara Tyre led all scorers with 25 points in the loss.

	1	2	3	4	Total
Snyder Tigers (12-12)	12	10	12	12	46
St. Anthony Friars (13-8)	11	16	23	12	62

Snyder

St. Anthony

	2s	3s	1s	Pts
Sharisse Francis	2	0	1	5
Princess LaRoche	2	0	1	5
Brenda Williams	0	0	0	0
Naquilla Bowens	0	1	0	3
Tamara Tyre	7	2	6	26
Rashida Washington	2	0	3	7
Total:	13	3	11	46

	2s	3s	1s	Pts
Megan Hart	2	2	0	10
Kadecha Everett	6	0	1	13
Wakeemah Sawyer	0	0	0	0
Naquell Simmons	7	0	3	17
Nadirah Durr	7	0	4	18
Cassandra Houghton	2	0	0	4
Janasha King	0	0	0	0
Naisha Orisini	0	0	0	0
Total:	24	2	8	62

Snyder: Tyre 15 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals; LaRoche 11 rebounds; Washington 5 rebounds. St. Anthony: Everett 14 rebounds; Simmons 10 rebounds; Hart 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals; Sawyer 7 assists, 6 steals; Durr 6 rebounds; Houghton 5 steals.