Garden State showdown.
ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY – The St. Patrick
Celtics (Elizabeth, N.J.)
came up short in a fourth quarter comeback against the St. Benedict’s Prep Gray
Bees (Newark, N.J.)
in the Elizabeth Coalition to House the Homeless Basketball Classic at the Thomas G.
Dunn Sport
Center.
Kabongo scores 17 points.
Photo by Steve Goldberg
“It
was a heartbreaking loss, but I couldn’t have asked for more from any of my
guys,” St. Patrick guard Kyrie Irving said.
St.
Patrick, ranked fifth in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25, played without their star
junior forward Michael Gilchrist who was not in attendance due to a family
illness.
The
Celtics trailed No. 9 St. Benedict’s Prep 55-46 with four minutes to play, but in
the next minute, the Celtics went on a 9-3 run to cut the St. Benedict’s Prep
lead to 3.
Irving blocked Xavier Munford’s shot
attempt, drove down the court, and found Derrick Gordon slashing to the hoop
for a layup. Gordon was fouled on the play and hit the free throw to tie the
game at 58.
The
teams exchanged points for the next two minutes. Junior Myck Kabongo made 5 of
6 free throws for the Gray Bees, and Irving and Oney Kinman each scored for the
Celtics after getting offensive rebounds.
St.
Benedict’s Prep held a 63-62 lead, but St. Patrick fought back to take the lead
again. Kevin Boyle, Jr. missed on a layup, but Gordon grabbed the loose ball
and scored the basket with 15 seconds remaining.
Kabongo
responded by driving down the court and scoring the game-winning layup in
traffic with under five seconds left. The Boyle, Jr. last second prayer from
midcourt was no good, and the Gray Bees fans stormed the court to celebrate
with the team.
Kabongo
scored 10 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter and held Irving to only 14 points in the first three
quarters.
“[Teammate]
Mike Poole was telling me this is where stars are born,” Kabongo said. “I took
it upon me just to carry my team. That’s why I love playing with my teammates
because they count on me, and I came through for them.”
Kabongo
has already committed to play college basketball for the Texas Longhorns. The
guard hopes to improve his game and be successful in Austin.
Kyrie Irving's 26 points not enough for the Celtics.
Photo by Steve Goldberg
“There’s
T.J. Ford, D.J. Augustin, Kevin Durant, and I just want to be in that category
with those guys,” Kabongo said. “I just work hard every day so I can get
prepared for the next level.”
“Myck
[Kabongo] is just a great, young player and he’s just going to get better and
better,” St. Benedict’s Prep Head Coach Dan Hurley said. “He has a great IQ for
the game, and he’s a winner. He makes plays at the end of games because he has
a lot of confidence and a lot of guts.”
Lithuanian
forward Gil Biruta had a stellar first half for the Gray Bees. Biruta scored all
13 of his points in the first two quarters and dominated the boards throughout
the game.
“It
was team chemistry and team defense,” Biruta said. “Our defense came together
like a fist, and we became a better team.”
St.
Patrick overpowered St. Benedict’s Prep 88-62 at Rutgers University
when the rivals played last season.
“We’re
a different team with a different identity,” Kabongo said. “Last year we didn’t
prepare right. We took it for granted that we were No. 3 in the country, and we
came in a little overconfident. We needed a game like this for our team to be
underdogs and come out here and get a good win.”
St.
Patrick lost 71-70 to No. 4 Findlay Prep (Henderson,
Nev.) last Monday in the Spalding
Hoophall Classic, putting an end to their undefeated season and reign as the
No. 1 team in the country. The Celtics play their next game on Tuesday against
the Plainfield Cardinals (N.J.), ranked fifth in the state. The Cardinals are
led by Tyrone Johnson who is No. 61 on the MaxPreps Class of 2011 Top 100
recruits list.
“We
just need to get back in the gym and work hard every single day,” Irving said. “We can’t
bring this game back, all we can do is move forward.”
