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New Jersey's Flashback Countdown: No. 3
In a new editorial series to be published daily, MSG Varsity will count down the top 10 stories of the 2009-10 school year in New Jersey and celebrate the student-athletes that made the past months unforgettable.
No. 3: TRENTON CATHOLIC EMERGES AS NATIONAL POWER
Five high school basketball teams from New Jersey finished among the top 18 in USA Today’s national poll. The state’s broad representation in the highly regarded newspaper’s rankings was well documented, but only one team quietly became the true winner of the winter season.
Make no mistake, St. Patrick, St. Benedict’s Prep, Paterson Catholic and St. Anthony all provided us with memories – some good, some exhilarating, some puzzling, some downright shocking – to last us through the summer and into the 2010-11 campaign.
Trenton Catholic, however, gave us the best story of all – a good, old-fashioned basketball Cinderella story.
The Iron Mikes, dubbed as a talented team poised to make a run in the state playoffs but not good enough to shove the other four Garden State powers out of the spotlight, played the role of the last team standing.
They didn’t just capture the Tournament of Champions title by defeating Camden Catholic in convincing fashion at the IZOD Center one March night. They ousted the Fearsome Four from the headlines.
St. Patrick, which started the season as the No. 1 program in the nation, was as good as advertised thanks to Duke-bound senior point guard Kyrie Irving and all-world junior small forward Michael Gilchrist. The Fighting Celtics only lost three games – all by one point to three other nationally known teams – but ended up losing a whole season when the NJSIAA banned them from the state tournament in the wake of discovering coach Kevin Boyle held illegal preseason practices.
St. Benedict’s Prep did not compete for any state title despite finishing fourth in the country, and Paterson Catholic coughed up its chance at a perfect season when it flopped in a loss to St. Anthony in the Non-Public, North B title game.
Meanwhile, St. Anthony – the program that never ceases to impress, under the watch of legendary head coach Bob Hurley – failed to grasp that momentum and ended up falling to, who else, Trenton Catholic in a triple-overtime affair in the overall Non-Public B championship.
How much did that victory mean to the Iron Mikes, the sleeper of all sleepers?
“St. Anthony, they’re the best program in the nation, day in and day out, so just to get one win against them, I think it’s the first time in Iron Mike history that we ever beat them,’’ Trenton Catholic coach Fred Falchi had said. “I’m sure they’ll regroup and be back here next year and be in the top in the nation again, so you’re speechless right now, you know?’’
Next year is next year. We’re here to celebrate this year, when Trenton Catholic took us on the ride of our lives and ended up as the No. 12 team in the nation.
The Iron Mikes also became the first team to defeat the Friars in a state final since 1979 and only the third team besides St. Anthony or St. Patrick to win the Non-Public B crown since 1980.
A rare occurrence in sports, midnight never came for Cinderella.
NJ Features
Tri-State Basketball Top 20 (1/31/12)
MSG Varsity unveils its Tri-State Top 20 boys and girls basketball teams for the week of January 31, 2012.
Sunday Spotlight: Garden State features
In this edition of New Jersey's Sunday Spotlight features package, we take a look at more high school sports figures with unique stories.
Player profiles: 2011 All-Metro Football
Watch video profiles of each member of our 2011 All-Metro Football First Team.
New Jersey power rankings: Winter sports
MSG Varsity ranks the top 15 teams for all sports. New polls are released Tuesdays at 3 p.m.
