By Danny Wild
MaxPreps.com
NEW JERSEY – Samardo Samuels and St. Benedict’s Prep returned to the top of the rankings again on Wednesday, but that's becoming old news already. Amidst their slugfest with St. Anthony for the nation’s top ranking, the Gray Bees will have to deal with Brooklyn’s Lincoln, who is crossing the Hudson for a date with America’s “best team” on Friday.
Newark’s St. Benedict’s returned to the No. 1 spot in the MaxPreps National Rankings on Jan. 23, passing its state rivals St. Anthony (13-0) en route to the top. The Gray Bees (16-1) have little time to celebrate, though, as Coney Island’s Lincoln Railsplitters (14-2) are set to derail the Jersey power on Friday night in one of the best national high school match-ups this season.
Samuels vs. Lance Stephenson. Hard to top that showdown.
Lincoln, the defending New York state PSAL champions, is ranked No. 46 by MaxPreps, but don’t be fooled. The Railsplitters, surrounded by drama, TV crews and New York media, are ranked No. 12 in the nation by Sports Illustrated and No. 15 by USA Today.
Without getting too hung up on rankings, it is interesting to note that St. Ben’s is not ranked No. 1 – or even No. 2 – in any other national poll this week. Sports Illustrated, ESPN and USA Today all agree that the Bees are No. 3 in the country – and heck, MSG has St. Ben’s ranked No. 3 in the NY/NJ region!
Forget the rankings and just know this: both teams are enormous powers on their sides of the river. St. Ben’s, who fell from the No. 1 spot they owned in December, reeled off three wins last week. Samuels had 22 points and seven rebounds and Tamir Jackson added 20 points in a 75-41 destruction of DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) at the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass. The 6-foot-8 Samuels, rated the No. 1 center in the nation by ESPN, scored 12 of his 22 points in the first half.
“Rare is the team that beats DeMatha by 34 points,” wrote SI’s Kevin Armstrong, “but the Gray Bees made the Stags look like a JV team.”
MaxPreps' Kevin Yen has the photos.
Samuels scored 24 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and had three blocked shots when St. Ben’s snuck by Paterson Catholic, 57-52, at the Dan Finn Classic in Jersey City. The Newark squad also knocked off Solebury last week, 70-46. St. Ben’s has outscored their opponents 1162-73 this season. Looking past Lincoln, St. Benedict’s will take on Passaic County Tech in the Brian Doherty Classic on Saturday.
But let’s not look past Lincoln. The Brooklyn Railsplitters got their star junior, Lance Stephenson, back from school suspension last week in time to crush Milwaukee’s Pius XI, 89-56, at Hoophall. Lincoln needs Stephenson – who has his own reality TV show – to step up bigtime this week, especially with Holy Cross on the schedule for Sunday in the Hoops for Hope Classic in Pittsburgh.
Jersey and Jordan Already Invited for 2009
Clearly the Spalding Hoophall Classic has become one of the best showcases of national high school talent each year, and the event planners have ensured that trend will continue in 2009. The Republican (Springfield, MA) reported that New Jersey’s St. Benedict’s, St. Patrick and St. Anthony will return for next year’s event, along with Michael Jordan’s son, Marcus, who stars at Whitney Young Magnet High School of Chicago.
Memphis coach John Calipari, Travis Ford of UMass, Maryland's Gary Williams, Rhode Island's Jim Barron, Washington's Lorenzo Romar and Connecticut's women's coach Geno Auriemma all took in the action last week at Blake Arena alongside several NBA scouts.
Rank ‘Em
We know St. Ben’s is No. 1 in the nation. Jersey City’s St. Anthony is both No. 2 in the nation and the state this week. Here’s a look at this week’s Top-10 from around the Garden State:
1. St. Benedict's Prep (Newark) 16-1 and taking on Brooklyn’s finest on Friday night
2. St. Anthony (Jersey City) 13-0, smacked around Monmouth Academy 87-56 and owned Scott County, 95-52
3. St. Patrick (Elizabeth) 13-2 and ranked No. 35 in the nation
4. Science Park (Newark) 12-2 after spanking Mountain lakes by nearly 30 points on Tuesday
5. Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey) Ironmen will travel to Washington, DC next week to face Kamit Inst.
6. Paterson Catholic (Paterson) Cougars will face Glen Rock on Friday and Plainfield on Sunday in the Cougar Classic
7. Linden – 11-2 with a big challenge coming on Saturday against New York’s Mt. Vernon
8. Bridgewater-Raritan (Bridgewater) 15-1, the Panthers have not lost since Dec. 14. They’ll face Franklin this weekend in Somerset.
9. Piscataway – Chiefs knocked off Old Bridge on Tuesday and will visit South Brunswick on Friday
10. Bloomfield Tech (Bloomfield) Handed Colts Neck a 64-57 loss last week, and MaxPreps’
Dan Coppola has got some photos from the game.
St. Anthony Now "Second Best"
The Jersey City squad lost its title of No. 1 team in the MaxPreps poll despite a pair of wins last week. The undefeated Friars (13-0) got 18 points from Dominic Cheek in a 87-56 win over Monmouth Academy this past week, and Travon Woodall led the way in a 95-52 destruction of Scott County. MaxPreps' Kevin Yen has the photos again.
Expect St. Anthony to return to the No. 1 ranking, at some point. They are still No. 1 in most other national polls.
Garden State Leaders
Compiled from stats submitted to MaxPreps by coaches as of Thursday, Michael Burwell of Cardinals McCarrick (South Amboy) leads the state with 30.8 points-per-game. Bloomfield’s Jamil Goodwin (25 ppg), and Metuchen’s Dejuan Miller (23.4) fill out the top-3.
Here's the full stats report. If you think your stats are missing from the MaxPreps leader board, here’s how to fix it.
From the Turnpike to the Parkway…
Not too many close games this past week in New Jersey outside of Marist’s (Bayonne) 55-54 win over Hudson Catholic of Jersey City. Academy of the New Church ripped Moorestown Friends on Thursday, 97-47, while Somerset Tech was held to just 23 points in a loss to Sussex County Tech. 23 points?
Manchester Regional of Haledon has won five of its last six games and stands at 10-4. Lincoln (Jersey City), Union Hill, and Williamstown each scored wins on Thursday night.
Passaic senior Elvin Morales put up 23 points in a 65-46 victory over Paramus last week and recorded his 1,000th career point. The guard now has 1,023.
Not to be outdone, Emerson senior guard Jairo Cruz scored 32 points against Memorial on Friday and collected his 1,000th career point with a fourth quarter free throw.
Wayne Hills (11-2) just barely held off previously undefeated Pascack Hills of Montvale (10-1), 57-56, and has now won 10 consecutive games.
St. Mary’s (6-5), Immaculata (8-4), St. Joseph (Montvale), St. Patrick (12-3, Elizabeth), Elizabeth (8-4) and Union County squad Scotch Plains-Fanwood (12-3) will compete Saturday in the 14th Elizabeth Coalition to House the Homeless Classic at the Dunn Center.
Don’t miss the final game when St. Joe faces St. Pat – another chance to see the Celtics junior guard Dexter Strickland, who recently committed to North Carolina. St. Pat’s also touts Kansas-bound senior forward Quintrell Thomas and junior forward Paris Bennett.
Another good match-up Thursday when North Brunswick (8-4), winner of seven of its last eight, travels to Carteret (9-4), which has won its last six.
Metuchen's Dejuan Miller has scored 68 points over his previous two games.
Neptune lost its 11-game winning streak on Saturday night in a 59-57 overtime loss to Linden at the Battle on the Boardwalk in Asbury Park. Gary Foster led Neptune (11-3) with 19 points.
Danny Wild is a MaxPreps.com writer and photographer. He can be reached at danny@danny-wild.com
