By Danny Wild
MaxPreps.com
JERSEY CITY, N.J. - Undefeated and No. 1 in two major national polls, it's hard to find a better team around than St. Anthony of Jersey City.
The Friars (11-0) jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 in the USA Today Super 25 poll on Monday after two easy in-state wins last week. St. Anthony defeated Life Center Academy (Burlington) 73-43 and New Brunswick 93-19.
How dominating are the Friars? Get this: St. Anthony, through 10 games, had out-scored its opponents 780-337.
I can't even find a word to describe the destruction St. Anthony laid down upon Morris Catholic on Jan. 2; 95-18 sound like a convincing win? The Friars followed that up with an 80-24 victory over Bergen Catholic three days later in Oradell.
Hun (Princeton) managed to scored 45 points against St. Ant's way back on Dec. 16, and that has stood as the most any team has been able to put up against this club. (By the way, Hun lost 72-45).
Life Center Academy almost matched that high-score mark with 43 points. Dominic Cheek had 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists as the Friars defeated the Burlington, N.J., school by 30 points, 73-43. Mike Rosario led St. Anthony with 16 points while Travon Woodall had 12, six assists and three steals in a 93-19 rout of New Brunswick.
So, there's not much debate. St. Anthony is No. 1 according to MaxPreps and The Star-Ledger of Newark as well.
Rank `Em
Three Jersey schools made both the MaxPreps and USA top-25 rankings. St. Benedict's Prep, of Newark, entered the week at No. 3 in the MaxPreps poll, while St. Patrick, of Elizabeth, came in at 12-1 and No. 25 in the nation.
St. Benedict's, also No. 3 in the USA Today poll, is 14-1 and riding high after spanking Rice at the Garden on Sunday. The Gray Bees, in case you haven't seen, are huge. One photographer at the Nike tournament jokingly told me that half the St. Ben's team looked like they could be NBA players. You can see photos from the game here.
St. Ben's hosts Coney Island's finest on Jan. 25 when Lance Stephenson and No. 15 Lincoln crosses the Hudson for a metro-area showdown. Should be a great one.
The Celtics, ranked No. 5 by USA Today, have reeled off six consecutive wins, highlighted by an impressive 64-56 win over St. Raymond of the Bronx on Sunday at Madison Square Garden. Check out the exclusive MaxPreps photos.
St. Patrick, who could eclipse the 1,000-point mark in their next game, are 5-0 at home and have only one defeat, a six-point loss to Yates (Houston, Texas) on Dec. 29. Photos from Houston.
Check out even more coverage of Jersey's big wins at the Nike Super 6 with MaxPrep's Steve Spiewak.
Here's the rundown on the Garden State's Top-10 from MaxPreps:
1. St. Anthony: 11-0 and will host Monmouth Academy on Saturday.
2. St. Benedict's Prep: 14-1 and prepared to give Paterson Catholic some nightmares at the Dan Finn Classic on Saturday.
3. St. Patrick: 12-1 and looking to make it seven wins in a row.
4. Science Park: Chargers are 9-1 after whipping Whippany Park on Friday by a ridiculous 79-19 score.
5. Paterson Catholic: 8-2 overall after self-destructing against Mt. Vernon (NY) on Sunday at the Garden.
6. Don Bosco Prep: The football Ironmen can dominate on the hardwood too. Bosco will face Clifton on Tuesday.
7. Bloomfield Tech: 10-1, will face Passaic County Tech and Colts Neck this weekend.
8. Piscataway: Chiefs knocked off East Brunswick on Monday and will take on Perth Amboy next.
9. Plainfield: Cardinals are 7-1 and take on Newark's East Side on the road on Saturday.
10. Holy Spirit Spartans: At 12-0, the Spartans definitely are playing with some kind of spirit. They'll take on St. Joe's of Hammonton on Monday.
Related, here's how the Star-Ledger has it: 1-St. Anthony (11-0), 2-St. Patrick (12-1), 3-Paterson Catholic (8-2), 4-Science Park (9-1), 5-Bloomfield Tech (10-1), 6-Linden (9-2), 7-Holy Spirit (11-0), 8-Plainfield (7-1), 9-Columbia (9-0), 10-Bridgewater-Raritan (11-1).
MaxPreps Video Exclusive: Strickland Picks Tar Heels
Ten months before he will be eligible to sign an early national letter of intent, St. Patrick's Dexter Strickland gave his word on Sunday that he'll be suiting up in that famous North Carolina baby blue after high school. MaxPreps has exclusive video from the Nike Super 6 post-game press conference at MSG, and you can watch Strickland put on the Carolina hat for the first time.
The 6-3 junior, who led his team to a win over St. Raymond of the Bronx on Sunday, told his soon-to-be coach Roy Williams of his plans to attend North Carolina before making it public in a press conference. It was a tough call for the third-year guard, but seeing UNC's coach courtside at the Garden could have helped clear Stickland's mind.
Strickland, in a written statement, thanked his school, principal, family and friends before flipping on a UNC cap amidst cheers and applause.
"He saw good things in North Carolina, Florida and Michigan State, and saw them all," St. Patrick head coach Kevin Boyle told the Star Ledger. "But his mom thought there was a little more sparkle in his eyes when he went to North Carolina."
Strickland, who helped St. Patrick win its second straight NJSIAA Tournament of Champions crown last year, had visited to the three colleges, and others, with his family in the off-season. Quintrell Thomas, a senior forward at St. Patrick's, signed a letter of intent in November to attend Kansas, ranked No. 3 in the AP poll.
Player of the Week
Bloomfield's Jamil Goodwin was named the Star-Ledger's Player of the Week on Tuesday after he matched a career high with 33 points and also grabbed 19 rebounds last Tuesday in a 57-53 overtime victory over Montclair. Goodwin, who is averaging 24.4 points-per-game, told the newspaper that he's planning on transferring to Notre Dame or Winchendon, two prep schools in Massachusetts. Get out to Montclair to see Jamil before he's New England-bound.
Newton Dethrones Pope John
Newton improved to 9-1 on Thursday after a 19-point win over Pope John (Sparta). The win moved the team into first place in the Sussex County Interscholastic League.
"That was a huge game for us with Pope John coming in unbeaten in the league," Newton coach John Davey told NJ.com. "It was still relatively early, but I considered it a must-win game for us."
Have You Seen?
MaxPrep's Dan Coppola is all over the Jersey hoops action. Check out the NJ photo gallery page to see if your team has been posted.
Danny Wild is a writer and photographer for MaxPreps and can be reached at danny@danny-wild.com
