PISCATAWAY, NEW JERSEY – The
Trenton Catholic Academy Iron Mikes (N.J.) clinched a spot in the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions final with a 63-46 victory over the University Phoenix (Newark, N.J.) on Friday night at Rutgers University’s Louis Brown Athletic Center.
“I grew up in Trenton and I lived around there my whole life,” Trenton Catholic Academy Head Coach Fred Falchi said. “[Playing in the championship game] is good for the area, we’ve had a lot of support, and it’s just great for the kids.”
Dondre Whitmore led the game in scoring.
Photo by Steve Goldberg
The game was tied at 14 after the first quarter, but the Iron Mikes pulled away in second, outscoring the Phoenix 15-3 in the quarter. University was not able to bounce back from the 12-point halftime deficit, and the Trenton Catholic Academy lead remained in double digits for the rest of the game.
“We started playing better defense in the second quarter,” guard
Dondre Whitmore said. “In the first quarter, we were kind of nervous because we had never been here before. Our coaches told us to calm down and we went out and played hard.”
Whitmore led the game in scoring with 21 points, but he was not the only player putting up big numbers for the Iron Mikes. Four Trenton Catholic Academy players finished with at least 10 points, and senior Frantz Massenat had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
“When we play as a team, we play better,” Whitmore said. “It’s harder to stop us when everyone on our team is scoring.”
Last Saturday, Trenton Catholic Academy pulled off arguably the biggest upset in the 2010 NJSIAA playoffs by beating St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.), ranked No. 20 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 at the time, 57-56 in triple-overtime to win the Non-Public B state title.
“That game raised our confidence a lot,” forward Markese Tucker said. “After beating St. Anthony, who is historically one of the best schools in high school history, we felt like we could beat anybody. That carried on to this game because we didn’t want to settle for just beating [St. Anthony]. We want to win the Tournament of Champions, too.”
The Iron Mikes will make their first appearance in a Tournament of Champions final when they play top-seeded Camden Catholic (Cherry Hill, N.J.) at the Izod Center on Tuesday night. They will also become the only team from Mercer County to ever play in the championship game.
