The game was everything it was supposed to be. A sellout crowd of more than 8,000 fans and hundreds of media members packed into the RAC to see the top two teams in the country – No. 1 St. Patrick and No. 2 St. Anthony – crown the USA Today mythical national championship.
The only thing unexpected? The victor.
“Everybody had us losing today,” legendary Friars coach Bob Hurley said.
But it was St. Anthony unexpectedly getting the better of a loaded St. Patrick squad, 62-45, to win the North Jersey, Non-Public B championship last night at Rutgers University in Piscataway.
In the same season in which he won his 1,000th game, Hurley guided his team to yet another signature victory – and his fourth national title if the Friars (29-0) take care of business the rest of the way. They play Saturday against Cardinal McCarrick for the state Non-Public B title.
“I think it turned out to be everything it was supposed to be,” Hurley said. … “The best team tonight won this game. We’re excited it’s us.”
The top two teams in the country meeting in a state playoff game is a rarity. More than 2,500 tickets were sold before it was official they would even make it here. The RAC sold out yesterday morning and fans without tickets were turned away in droves.
Rutgers-bound guard Myles Mack had 19 points on his future home floor, Lucious Jones had 12 points and Kyle Anderson, one of the top juniors in the country, added 11 points and five assists for St. Anthony. Western Kentucky-bound guard Derrick Gordon had 26 points and Chris Martin added 10 for St. Patrick (26-1). Kentucky-bound star Michael Gilchrist, one of the top seniors in the nation, was held to just seven points on 2-of-11 shooting.
“I liked our teams chances coming in as the underdog,” Anderson said. “That made us want to play harder and just have to fight more.”
Gordon gave St. Patrick its final lead on a free throw with 34.7 seconds left in the third quarter. St. Anthony exploded for an 8-0 run to start the fourth, capped by a tough inside basket from Jerome Frink that put the Friars ahead 47-40 with 5:25 left in the game.
The rout was on from there. St. Patrick would score just five more points the rest of the way.
“That separation was monumental,” Hurley said.
To match a monumental victory.
