A Strong Showing
South Jersey boys’ basketball teams are now well into their conference schedules. Before that, there were some key tournaments and showcases. Here are some of the boys’ basketball teams that enjoyed a good holiday season:
Cherry Hill East
The Cougars hosted their own showcase and went 3-0, with convincing wins over Willingboro and Mastery Charter and then a 55-51 triumph over rival Cherry Hill West. That was a West team that had been among the top teams in South Jersey and entered the game 5-0.
Jamieson Young, a 6-0 freshman, averaged 22 points in the three games, but he had a breakout performance against Cherry Hill West, with 35 points as East began the season by winning its first six games.
Haddon Township
The Hawks were the champions of the Audubon Tournament, beating Gloucester Catholic 54-49 and then host Audubon, 51-42 in the championship game. That avenged a 47-39 loss to Audubon nine days earlier. Sophomore guard Sean Crawford led the Hawks with 14 points in the title game. It’s possible these two teams could meet four times this season. The third meeting is Jan. 21 at Audubon. These two could also meet in the South Jersey Group 1 playoffs.
Pitman
The defending South Jersey Group 1 champions won their own holiday tournament for the second year in a row Senior Elijah Crispin was named the MVP as Pitman won both games convincingly, defeating Paulsboro, 71-46 in the semifinal and Triton, 81-51 in the final. Crispin scored 62 points in the two games, including 35 in the championship. Pitman has shown early in the season that the Panthers won’t easily relinquish their sectional title from last year.
Eastern
The Vikings went 3-0 over the holidays. They won their four-team tournament, beating Medford Tech, 81-56 in the first round and Moorestown, 57-46 in the championship. Eastern then beat Sterling, 50-48 in the Brook Ball Classic at Overbrook. Nasir Benjamin led the Vikings against Sterling with 13 points. In the championship win over Moorestown, senior Kaedon Harper-Myricks scored 23 points after exploding for 35 in the semifinal win over Medford Tech. Like Cherry Hill East, Eastern will look to feed of the momentum of the holidays while gearing up for the treacherous competition in the Olympic Conference American Division.
Kingsway
The Dragons, who hope to contend in the Tri-County Royal Division, had a 3-0 week during the holidays. It began with two wins in the ESCIT Tournament in Hamilton. Kingsway opened with a 46-45 win over Hunterdon Central as Dasir Williams-Bey’s put-back at the buzzer was the game-winner and Kai Tolley scored a team-high 12 points. That was followed by a 61-36 win over Hamilton West as Williams-Bey scored a team-high 13 points. Kingsway ended its week with a 45-43 win over Rancocas Valley in Wildwood’s Boardwalk Classic as Mikah Hart scored a team-high 12 points. What was impressive is that Kingsway had a different leading scorer in each game, showing the Dragons’ balance.
Photo: Haddon Township's 51-42 win at the Audubon Christmas Tournament / Courtesy HAWKS Basketball's Twitter
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Author: Marc Narducci
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