Minutemen Can't Stack Up with Shabazz

LIVINGSTON, N.J. - Chalk it up as a nice prep for what Newark Academy boys basketball will see at the start of the playoffs in March.

The undersized Minutemen just could not stay with the bigger Shabazz team, a team that was 16-2 coming into Tuesday afternoon's match in Livingston.

While Shabazz had the game in control for the most part, Newark Academy made a respectable showing before falling 74-57 in a Super Essex Conference contest that was part of Senior Night at Newark Academy.

"I think we played hard, but we could not compete with their size," said Newark Academy head coach Jim Stoeckel, whose team dropped to 16-7 on the season.

In addition, it did not help that the Minutemen were playing without point guard Zaire Williams, who is still out with an injury. Senior forward Matt Gravesande is also injured, hampered by a left-hand injury which he suffered last month.

The Minutemen, though, did well from beyond the three-point arc with nine three pointers including four from guard Jordan Jett, who has picked-up a lot of Williams duties.

Another positive that came out of the loss was the play of sophomore post-up player Griffin Glatt, who scored in double figures in the second half against Shabazz.

"He's (Glatt) been playing out of his mind lately," said Stoeckel.

But Newark Academy was hurt from the opening tip with the Bulldogs play inside from their big men including Daveon  Boardingham, Tyre Lockhart and Raymond Williams, all who scored in double figures. The Minutemen countered with a big game from Glatt, who had 16 points, and Gravesande and Jordan Jett, who both contributed a dozen points each.

In the first half, the Bulldogs took a lead of 22-6 in the first quarter and 34-14 in the second quarter.

But Jett hit one of three three-pointers in the first half —with seven seconds on the clock— to cut into the Bulldogs' lead to 36-21 at halftime.

The Minutemen came back a couple of times in the second half to trim the Shabazz lead to 10 points. Brian McHugh hit a bucket to cut the Bulldogs' lead to 10,  at 36-26 at the start of the second half. Glatt then got a hard-earned basket a couple of minutes later to trim the Shabazz lead again to 10, this time to 40-30.

But every time that Newark Academy got on a run, Shabazz came back strong. 

With the loss to Shabazz behind them, the Minutemen are looking to prepare for the state playoffs. The Minutemen are the sixth seed in the Non-Public North B sectional and will host 11th-seeded St. Mary's of Elizabeth on March 2. If Newark Academy wins, they will most likely travel to third-seeded Montclair Kimberly who hosts 14th-seeded Oratory Prep in the first round.

"Our goal is to make it to the semi-finals of the states," said Stoeckel.

The Non-Public B North could possibly be the toughest sectional in the state with state and national powerhouses St. Anthony and Paterson Catholic in the section.

"We at least will miss Saint Anthony's and Paterson Catholic until later in the section, but we can't look past anybody," said Stoeckel about playing St. Mary's in the first round.

The section is a little easier this season, though, now that the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association has ruled St. Patrick's ineligible for the state playoffs after they were found to be holding practices before the official start for the season. St. Patrick's was considered one of the best teams in the United States.

Before the start of the state playoffs, the Minutemen travel to Newark Central on Thursday and travel to Montclair Kimberly on Feb. 26 in a regular season game.