Linden Takes Home Metro Classic Title
by Ray Floriani
TEANECK, N.J. – Last March Linden advanced to the finals of the New Jersey Tournament of Champions. The Metro Classic served notice that Linden will be hard from again this winter. The defending Group IV New Jersey champions defeated Newark East Side 59-44 in the championship at FDU’s Rothman Center last weekend to claim the Metro title.
The format under the direction of tournament director Jay Gomes changed a bit his year. Rather than have single elimination, with losing teams getting added contests in consolation games, the Metro went to a pool format. Maybe it’s “World Cup fever”. At any rate it worked fine. There were eight pools consisting of three teams each. Actually, the soccer World Cup organizers could take some advice from Gomes and his tournament associates regarding seeding. The eight groups were all seeded equitably according to strength of the teams. Simply, there was no “group of death” as found in the World Cup. But that’s another story.
Pool play was contested on Saturday of the tournament. Each team played two games in their respective pool. Last Sunday the elimination brackets were played. It was single elimination, though losing teams did have the opportunity for an extra game or two in the consolation bracket.
A rundown of the games officiated by his writer:
Bishop Ford (NY) 65, West Orange (NJ) 49
West Orange enjoyed an early lead and was competitive in the first half largely due to their three-point shooting. In the second half, the threes stopped falling while Bishop Ford got their transition game going. West Orange also had difficulty handling Ford’s press, especially in the latter part of the game when fatigue was a factor.
Passaic County Tech (NJ) 69, St.Mary’s (NY) 41
Tech came out with a great deal of energy and full court pressure. They jumped on the opposition early and St. Mary’s never really established a rhythm and was forced to play catch up the entire way. By the second half, the lead was in the twenties with PCT in complete command.
Passaic Valley (NJ) 69, McClancy (NY) 50
A consolation bracket contest on Sunday was close in the beginning. Passaic Valley had enough of an inside game to handle McClancy, and once they established an appreciable first half lead they were in total command.
Newark (NJ) East Side 60, White Plains (NY) 57
A semifinal contest that saw White Plains play a strong first half and lead by 16 at the break. East Side appeared to be finished. White Plains was clicking on all cylinders and the last few minutes of the half saw East Side players starting to disagree with each other.
East Side began the second half hitting several threes and getting a 16-point halftime deficit under double digits. The rest of the way the teams battled on even terms. White Plains made a run to pull ahead by eight with approximately five minutes remaining. Resilient East Side answered with a run of their own which gave them the lead. In the final minute, East Side hit their free throws to preserve a narrow victory.
Tournament Notes
- Saturday was the last day Division I coaches could be in attendance. There was a sparse gathering as by that final day coaches have seen whom they want, probably several times.
- The air-conditioned Rothman Center was a blessing. Driving to the games Sunday morning, a sign on Route 17 in East Rutherford (yes, that’s the same East Rutherford where Dick Vitale began his coaching career) revealed the mercury at 91 – minutes after 10:00 A.M.
- The Eight pool winners in the tournament: Don Bosco (NJ), Edison Academy (NJ), East Side, Kennedy (Paterson, NJ), Linden, Piscataway (NJ), Science (Newark, NJ) and White Plains. All pool winners went 2-0 on Saturday with no need for tie breaking procedures to be implemented.
- Science and Linden battled into overtime in the quarterfinals. The Newark school gave Linden all they could handle and led for a good portion of the contest. Linden had enough to prevail in the extra session of what probably was the best game on Sunday.
- Rutgers’ new Director of Basketball Operations and the founder of this tournament, Dennis Gregory, was in attendance.
- The field was quite respectable with a concentration of New York and New Jersey schools.
- A few players of note: Jonathan Rodriquez, 5-10 So. G (Passaic County Tech), Jamell Cromartie, 6-0 Sr G (White Plains), Rishaun Johnson, 6-6 Sr (White Plains), Alfry Nuna-Zapata, 5-10 Sr G (Newark East Side), Corey Chandler, 6-2 Sr G (Newark East Side), Kason Frierson, 6-5 C (Science), Chris Carty, 6-3 G/F (Bishop Ford), Desmond Wade, 5-9 Sr G (Linden), Jerry Jones, 6-3 Sr G/F (Linden).
- Former FDU assistant Russ Thompson was on hand both days to watch his son Russ Jr., a sophomore guard for West Orange. Russ assisted Tom Green for several years during the 1990s. Russ Sr. noted that sitting in the stands has given him a different point of view. “You see the game with a whole different perspective when you are on the bench.”
- Both Linden and East Side are members of New Jersey’s powerful Watchung Conference.
- Members of the FDU women’s basketball team handled the concession stand. Coach Sandy Gordon was just finishing a high school team camp where the FDU women’s players officiated. To a person, the FDU team members found running up and down the floor with a whistle was not that easy. “I’m tired and sore,” said FDU junior point guard Megan Kirkland. “I decided there’s no way I want to be an official.”
