Grade tampering allegations haunt Lincoln in New Jersey

Little more than a month ago, Lincoln emerged as one of the feel-good stories of the NJSIAA playoffs, providing fresh hope for the future of Jersey City public-school football even while falling to New Providence in one of its athletic program's finest hours at New Meadowlands Stadium.

But now, breaking news from the pages of The Jersey Journal might rewrite the Lions' tale and shroud the school in shame.

Pending further investigation, allegations of student-athlete grade tampering prompted the Jersey City School District to remove Lincoln principal Jeanette McRae Braswell, athletic director Artie Williams and Snyder vice principal John Gonzalez - a former Lincoln teacher until taking his new job - and reassign them to the district office. Three other Lincoln staff members could also be removed from the positions upon completion of the investigation.

Although the number of student-athletes who saw their grades bolstered is unknown, the beneficiaries were alleged to be football and basketball players.

Irregardless, news of academic tampering never ends well.

Lincoln will surely get sacked for a public-relations loss regardless of the investigation's findings, reversing the good feelings generated by December's sprint to the North 2, Group 1 football title game.

Furthermore, if the allegations become facts, Lincoln would likely see its storybook run evaporate from the record book pages.

GETTING ON TRACK: JONES, CBA BOYS STAR
Summit's 6-7 senior Mark Jones cleared 7 feet at the NJSIAA M-F Athletic Group 2 Relays on Saturday in Toms River, which not only made him the ninth boy in New Jersey history to soar over that height, but also helped him join his father, former East Brunswick star Bob, as the first father-son pair in U.S. history to achieve this impressive feat.

While Jones provided the individual highlight of the state group relays, the Christian Brothers Academy (Lincroft) boys team achieved perfection at the Non-Public Relays last Saturday a week after a near-perfect performance at the Monmouth County relays.

No, that is not hyperbole. Indeed, the Colts won all nine events to score the maximum 90 points - a first in state relays history and a victory that extended the program's stronghold on the state relay title record to 21.

While CBA clinched its perfect day by winning the 1,600-meter relay, its distance medley relay shattered the meet standard with a clocking of 10 minutes, 27.68 seconds. Six different Colts captured a pair of gold medals: John Engels (pole vault, hurdles), Phil Reid (high jump, hurdles), John Turi (4x200 relay, 4x400), Cody Barron (4x200, 4x400), Nick Raguseo (sprint medley relay, 4x200) and George Kelly (distance medley relay, 4x800).

Also capturing team group state relay crowns were Bernards (Bernardsville) (Group 1 girls), East Brunswick (Group 4 boys), Delsea (Franklinville) (Group 2 boys and girls), Hasbrouck Heights (Group 1 boys), Mount St. Dominic Academy (Caldwell) (Non-Public A girls), Oakcrest (Mays Landing) (Group 3 boys) and Winslow Township (Atco) (Group 3 girls).

SOUTH PLAINFIELD PINS DOWN BIG WIN
As we get closer to drawing up the state sectional wrestling brackets, it is clear that the state's two strongest squads reside in Group 3. Especially after last weekend's events, where we have begun to anticipate a rematch of last winter's team title match between High Point (Sussex) and South Plainfield.

While High Point showed off its superiority with an impressive win over Southern Regional at Rutgers University, South Plainfield scored the most impressive dual meet victory of this season, edging Jackson Memorial by a 32-31 margin thanks to Criterion A - most individual bouts won.

William Whitefleet's 5-1 decision victory at 215 pounds helped South Plainfield overcome a 31-28 deficit heading into the final bout - and hinted that it just might be ready to hold off High Point again.

ARE ST. PATRICK AND ST. ANTHONY AMERICA'S TOP 2 TEAMS?
A valid question, but one the Celtics, now ranked first in the Xcellent 25, answered emphatically this past weekend after Oak Hill Academy lost for the first time last Saturday.

In a pair of nationally televised performances, Kevin Boyle's St. Patrick (Elizabeth) squad tamed Winter Park and the country's top recruit, Duke-bound Austin Rivers and Winter Park by a 75-66 score Friday night.

Little more than 48 hours later, the Celtics stymied Bishop Gorman, 79-63, at the Spalding Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass., on Monday.

Neither game was as close as the final score would have one believe, as Kentucky-bound swingman Michael Gilchrist averaged 25.5 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting guard and Western Kentucky-recruit Derrick Gordon tallied 43 points in the two victories.

However, if St. Patrick ascends to the top spot in the Xcellent 25, we offer another question: is St. Anthony (Jersey City) second best?

After arguably the most impressive performance of the 2010-11 season, St. Anthony could prove to eventually be the nation's best - better than Miller Grove (Ga.) and, pending their inevitable matchup in the North Non-Public B final this March, also better than St. Patrick.

The Friars' 75-25 dismantling of DeMatha at the Spalding Hoophall Classic appeared to be a typo when the score came across Saturday night. After a few double takes, we started thinking that beating the 20th-best team in our Xcellent 25 by 50 points just might give the Garden State the two top prep powers in our 50 states.

More than just the exploits of Rutgers-bound floor general Myles Mack (28 points), the Friars dominated with defense, holding Georgetown-bound Mikael Hopkins scoreless and the opposition to 10-for-32 shooting.

TOP PERFORMERS
* Dilespo Blanco, Bloomfield Tech boys basketball: Drained the game-winning, buzzer-beating 3-pointer in overtime of a 58-55 triumph over University.

* Rondell Gilmore-lane, Kingsway boys basketball: The senior scored a game-high 25 points and hit four of his six 3-point attempts during a decisive 21-8 run in a 69-50 victory over Tri-County Conference rival Pitman on Friday.

* Dominic Hoffman and Jaren Sina, Gill St. Bernard boys basketball: Hoffman's 20-20 showing (25 points, 21 boards) and Sina's 32-point, seven-assist, five-rebound effort powered this budding prep power to a 74-66 win over North Hunterdon last Friday.

* Isaiah Morton, St. Augustine Prep boys basketball: The senior and Marist recruit contributed 20 points and seven assists in a 66-36 triumph over rival Absegami.

* Chris Santo, Cherry Hill East boys basketball: In addition to the senior scoring 30 points and becoming the 33rd south Jersey player to reach the 2,000-plateau during a win over Triton on Jan. 12, he also set a school record with nine steals.

UPCOMING EVENTS
* St. John-Vianney (Holmdel) at St. Rose (Belmar) girls basketball, Thursday: The best in-state girls basketball matchup to date, although St. Rose recently won a classic encounter with Red Bank Catholic. St. John Vianney might be the state's deepest team, but junior forward Samantha Clark is hard to handle down low.

* Life Center Academy (Burlington) at St. Anthony boys basketball, Thursday: A solid in-state test for the Friars against a Life Center squad that has yet to lose to a New Jersey opponent. Ohio State signee Laquinton Ross, a member of the MaxPreps Class of 2011 Top Players to Watch, is the top-ranked player in this game although St. Anthony 6-8 junior guard Kyle Anderson might be its best player.