Back-2-Back

By Mike Kinney

Junior guards Kasim Chandler and Tariq Carey had already done plenty to help East Side keep pace with upset-minded Central.

But both knew their jobs would not be nearly done until one of them fed the ball to Aaron Bodie for one of his thunderous dunks. Because when Bodie soars high above the rim and throws one down, it’s always worth a lot more than the two points recorded in the scorebook.

Chandler did the honors with a feed in transition to Bodie, who finished it with a two-handed jam that highlighted an early fourth-quarter spurt and sent defending-champion East Side to a 59-50 victory in the finals of the Newark Public Schools Tournament yesterday before a capacity crowd at Barringer High.

``We had to get a dunk,’’ Chandler said. ``When we got that dunk, the crowd got going, our momentum got going and we started making a little run.’’

That dunk opened a 43-42 lead and Bodie scored again a half-minute later on a putback jam. Carey scored on a fastbreak layup 1:54 into the fourth quarter for a 48-42 lead it never relinquished.

It was not quite as stirring as East Side’s 29-12 fourth-quarter rally that beat University, 62-57, for last winter’s NPST crown. But it was darn good.

Chandler scored a game-high 19 points and also had four steals, Carey collected 18 points and nine rebounds and Bodie closed with 11 points and eight rebounds for East Side, No. 9 in The Star-Ledger Top 20. Central, ranked No. 13 and playing in its first final, received 14 points and six assists from senior guard Patrick Cole and 13 points and 12 rebounds from senior center Ramon Johnson.

Cole was an all-round spark for Central with his ability to locate open shooters or drive hard into the lane and Johnson was a steady presence off the low block. Their team had comeback opportunities, but was undone by 2-of-8 foul shooting in the fourth quarter, 4-of-16 for the game.

``Free throws cost us,’’ Cole said. ``Next time in practice, we have to stop messing around during free throws and take that practice more seriously. How you practice is how you play.’’

East Side likely would have won even if Bodie had kissed in Chandler’s skip pass off the glass instead of jamming it home. But the 6-6 junior is a gifted athlete whose feats are already well known among the student population. Chandler and Carey both understand how important a frenzied fan outburst can be to a run.

``Every time Aaron gets a dunk, the crowd gets up and we go from there,’’ Carey said. ``He’s an engine and he never stops working.’’

Carey was a scoring force in the second quarter with eight points, including four on feeds by Chandler and two on one of his three offensive rebounds. Chandler added seven points that period to help East Side to a 30-29 edge.

``Our coaches said play smart, share the ball and make hustle plays,’’ Carey said. ``Once that happened, things fell into place for us.’’

Cole scored six points and had two assists in the third quarter to help Central grab a 42-39 lead.

SHP Edges East Side In Thrilling Opener To Get SEC-American Season Off & Running

By Steve Tober
for sidelinechatter.com

NEWARK- Just another season opener you say…No way, not when two Top 10 teams tip-off 2010-2011 before a packed house, Down Neck, on a Friday afternoon in the hectic Brick City, where Essex County hoops fans willing to brave the holiday traffic in and around Penn Station and a snarled McCarter Highway found it all worthwhile once they sat crammed together while taking in a little primetime Jersey high school basketball.

Seton Hall Prep and Newark East Side treated the fans packed in the Red Raiders’ gym to a memorable debut to the regular season for both Super Essex Conference-American Division teams, each a favorite in their respective state sections this winter, Non-Public A for the Pirates and Group 3 for East Side, and if the first of possibly three meetings this season is any indication of what’s to come than brace yourself.

With junior center Stephon Mosley scoring eight of his 12 points in the fourth quarter, Maryland-bound senior guard Sterling Gibbs pouring in a game-high 30 points, and junior guard Dallas Anglin putting together a solid 20-point, 5-steal performance in his Pirate debut, SHP hung on to edge the Red Raiders, 69-67.

With the two teams scheduled to meet again Thursday, Jan. 20 (7 p.m.) at SHP, and, perhaps, in an Essex County Tournament final the end of February, there could be plenty more fireworks from two teams that appear destined to cause all sorts of headaches for the opposition throughout this season.

“A great high school basketball game between two teams that really played hard,” said SHP veteran coach Bob Farrell, happy to escape Ironbound with a season-opening win. “They are a real excellent team with great penetrators.

“I told our kids that playing on the road we will have to overcome adversity and our kids, for the most part, did that.”

When Anglin connected on a free throw to give his team a 69-66 lead with 5.1 seconds left, the cagey, experienced coach made a critical decision, one which would ultimately pay off: foul the dribbler and force East Side to try and score off an offensive rebound to tie or win the game.

SHP fouled East Side’s superb junior point guard Kasim Chandler (18 points, 4 steals) with 2.5 seconds showing and the Red Raider made the first free throw and purposely missed the second.

However, a tap by sophomore forward Will Joyce was well off the mark and junior center Aaron Bodie’s off balance put-back also was off target.

It was a very long 2.5 seconds since the clock operator failed to start the scoreboard clock right away, but the Pirates survived the extended extra couple of ticks and came away with the win.

“Last year, when we played here, we were up three at the same juncture and they had the ball,” recalled Farrell. “I told our guys to stay on the shooters and don’t get sucked in, but we got sucked in, they missed a wide open ‘3’ and I said I wasn’t going to take that chance again.

“I wanted them to win on an offensive rebound…The timekeeper said to me he was watching play and was sorry….It was some exciting basketball game, that’s for sure!”

East Side’s splendid 6-2 junior guard Tariq Carey (18 points) scored six points in the final 1:20 and his two free throws with 53.1 seconds left brought the Red Raiders to within 66-64.

After a Mosley layup off a nice feed from Anglin with 43 seconds showing, Carey hit a runner, to make it 68-66, with 29 seconds still left.

A key block by SHP junior guard Zahki Davis led to the ball going out of bounds and the Pirates regaining possession with nine seconds remaining.

Anglin missed the front end of a two shot opportunity at the charity stripe, but made the second, setting the stage for the coach’s decision to foul and not allow the tri-fecta to tie.

“He’s been doing this for 34 years and Coach Farrell knows everything about basketball,” said SHP sophomore swingman Spencer Weisz, who didn’t score, but had a fine floor game (12 rebounds, five assists). “We have total faith in our coach and if he wants us foul we’re going to foul.

“Heck, it all worked out in the end and we earned a hard-fought victory against a very good East Side team!”

Anglin, watching his backcourt mate Gibbs put on yet another superb show, his classmate Mosley come up big with key buckets and rebounds in the fourth quarter, and the rest of his teammates hold off a splendid Red Raider squad in a classic season opener, couldn’t help but soak in the afterglow of a fine debut for all, including himself.

“This is a great way to start the season, against a very tough team, but we knew it would be hell coming in here,” said Anglin, who played his freshman season at St. Peter’s Prep before transferring early in his sophomore year (Jan. 11, 2010) to SHP and sitting out the rest of last season. “Sterling is simply clutch and Stephon is a great prospect whose in my grade and I love playing with him.

“This is a great group of guys and coach Farrell has us ready for every situation. It definitely was a tough game, but we’re thrilled to begin the season with a big victory, that’s for sure!”

Seton Hall Prep (1-0) 14 24 17 14 -69

East Side (0-1) 15 16 19 17 -67

SHP: Sterling Gibbs 7-2-10-30, Dallas Anglin 5-1-7-20, Stephon Mosley 4-0-4-12, Spencer Weisz 0-0-0-0, Elijah Brown 1-0-0-2, Kelly Willoughby 0-0-0-0, Zahki Davis 2-0-1-5. Totals: 19-3-22-69.

East Side: Kasim Chandler 1-3-7-18, Tariq Carey 6-0-6-18, Aaron Bodie 6-0-2-14, Jamal Reid 4-1-2-13, Will Joyce 2-0-0-4, Omar Martinez 0-0-0-0, Shaquan Johnson 0-0-0-0, Victor Oliyani 0-0-0-0, Abdul Lewis 0-0-0-0. Totals: 19-4-17-67.

Top 20 Preview: Newark East Side

Head coach: Bryant GarvinLast season: 19-7 NJ Hoops Final Ranking 17thPostseason: Advanced to Group 3 North 2 semifinals, Advanced to Essex County semis
OverviewAn excellent group of juniors and a big time sophomore. If they play together and stay focused it could be a memorable year.

NEWARK EASTSIDE
Point guard Kasim Chandler is one of four very good juniors for the Red Raiders.

PLAYERS TO WATCH
Tariq Carey Wing
Aaron Bodie Post
Kasim Chandler Point
Jamal Reid Combo
Will Joyce Wing
Ismael Sanogo Wing

Akbar Hoffman Wing

Backcourt
A potent three guard lineup of explosive scorer, 6-foot-2 Jr. Tariq Carey. 5-foot-11 Jr. Jamal Reid and quick penetrator 5-foot-9 Jr. Kasim Chandler. A very dangerous high scoring group provided they share the ball and play together.
Frontcourt
6-foot-6 Jr. Aarom Bodie is an excellent leaper and good a few putback dunks every night. He is capable of a double/double every night. 6-foot-3 So. Will Joyce is an exciting prospect who can also score in bunches and go get the ball off the backboard.

Bench

There is not great depth although the reports on freshman Ismael Sanogo are good.

Coaching
Year's back the administration went with almost co Head Coaches in Bryant Garvin and Anthony Tavares. They have done a remarkable job working together and creating a winning program.
Season Prediction
Our pick for the Group 3 title although Teaneck will provide a major challenge. The interesting aspect of the roster is there are no seniors in the nucleus.

NJHoops Preseason Top 5? Let's Go!