St. Anthony answers No. 1 question - runs past St. Patrick

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Four months of hype foreshadowed Wednesday's night's mythical national championship game before a big fourth-quarter surge anointed St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.) as the country's new No. 1 team.

Many among the crowd of 8,000-plus filed for the exits well before the Friars' fans stormed the court to celebrate with their triumphant team seconds after a shocking 62-45 victory over previous No. 1 St. Patrick (Elizabeth) in the North Non-Public B championship game that ranks as the biggest boys basketball game in Garden State history.

Unless St. Anthony slips up in Saturday's Non-Public B final – or defies its odds as heavy favorites to win New Jersey's Tournament of Champions – no less than Kevin Boyle says they are the country's best.

"Unless they get upset it does," said the St. Patrick coach, whose team got outscored 23-5 in the fourth quarter. "They've clearly got to get the stamp of No. 1 in the country."

"We're excited that it's us (who won)," St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley, Sr., said. "But we understand how good that team is that we just played."

Through three periods, a capacity crowd including several Division I coaches such as Kentucky's John Calipari and Villanova's Jay Wright created an atmosphere Hurley compared to a "heavyweight fight." St. Patrick threatened to turn in a first-round knockout by reeling off 15 of the first 21 points over the opening five minutes, including nine from Western Kentucky-bound Derrick Gordon, before the Friars rallied back.

Until the fourth quarter began, both teams punched and counter-punched, with St. Patrick up a point, 40-39, entering the final eight minutes. Everyone on hand anticipated a finish worthy of all of the pre-game hype.

However, St. Anthony began its knockout flurry quickly with a 9-0 run to start the fourth quarter, going ahead to stay when senior Lucious Jones converted a lay-up in traffic with 7:21 left. After 6-foot-8 junior Kyle Anderson (11 points, eight rebounds, five assists) buried a short jumper, he came down to the other end of the court and emphatically swatted away a Michael Gilchrist shot, leading to Jordan Quick fast-break lay-up with 6:15 left.

One of the leading contenders to win national player of the year honors, the Kentucky-bound Gilchrist was never a factor offensively, finishing with seven points (2-for-11 shooting), 14 rebounds and five blocks before fouling out in the final minute.

Although the Celtics climbed within 47-42 on a jumper from Gordon, who scored a game-high 26 points, the Friars scored 15 of the next 18 points to produce an unlikely anticlimactic ending.

"I don't know if they sense what we can sense but the thing you look for, just like if you're watching a fight, you look for the mouth open," Hurley said. "We saw some situations where the kids were doubled over. We worked pretty hard. We were tired. We're tired now. But we managed to get through those minutes."

Boyle agreed, adding, "I thought we were almost emotionally tired. It felt like … it's been such an emotional roller coaster for several weeks."

For Anderson and senior point guard Myles Mack, a pair of transfers from now-defunct Paterson Catholic, Wednesday night provided a different ending than last March, when they played for the Cougars against Hurley's Friars and lost in this very same title game. Mack will play at the RAC next year for Rutgers and scored a team-high 19 points, while Anderson is surely a 2012 priority recruit for Scarlet Knights' coach Mike Rice.

"I get to come out with a win. That's the biggest thing in my career," Mack said.

"This is big. We prepared very well," Anderson said. "Everybody's doing a great job, everybody contributed. I'm really excited for this."

From here, the Friars continue their run toward what appears likely to result in Hurley's fourth national championship, although the first the Hall of Famer will have won by beating the nation's No. 2 team in the postseason. They will face South Non-Public B champion Cardinal McCarrick (South Amboy) for the overall bracket championship Saturday in Toms River before probably vying for their 11th Tournament of Champions in a few weeks.

Although St. Anthony needs three wins to finalize its top ranking in New Jersey, Wednesday night clearly established the Garden State's greatest program as our new No. 1 nationally.

"Kevin and I talked about this, it's really the responsibility of the team that wins the game today to continue to play well and not have this be the highest point of your season," Hurley said. "So now I told them (nodding toward his players) to go home, let everybody hug you and tell you how great you are. We start practice tomorrow at 4:30 and we'll get ready (for Saturday)."