Kennedy outlasts Wayne Hills, Eastside holds off DePaul by Greg Mattura of The Record

PATERSON – Jamir Lattimore bumped into a teammate in the air as he strained to get his left hand on the missed shot and tip in the only basket in overtime.

Lattimore and host Kennedy were stretched to the limit by Wayne Hills in Saturday’s semifinals of the Passaic County boys basketball tournament before emerging with a 61-59 victory.

Lattimore’s tip-in helped lift Kennedy into next Saturday’s 47th annual final at Wayne Valley against three-time defending champion Eastside, while denying Wayne Hills its first trip to the title game.

“It’s been a long time,” said Kennedy coach Tommie Paterson, “and these guys are driving me bonkers.”

Previewing the semifinals of the Passaic County tournament

Eastside still in limbo as NJSIAA continues investigation

Kennedy (16-5) drove its way back from a 44-32 deficit and tied the score at 58 in the final minute of regulation after freshman reserve guard Deishon Harrison made the second of two foul shots.

The second-seeded Knights crashed the glass after intermission – and there was not a single over-the-back call the entire game – and were rewarded. They also forced No. 3 Wayne Hills (17-5) to commit six turnovers in the fourth quarter.

“I just want to know what took us so long to pick up that defensive intensity,” said Patterson. “As the game went on, I guess they decided they didn’t want to lose today and they picked it up.”

Kennedy senior forward Tamir Williams scored nine of his team-high 15 points after intermission, and junior guard Jaylen Colon scored nine of his 13 after the break.

“In the first half we were slow,” said Lattimore, whose Knights trailed at intermission, 32-29, “and in the second half we boxed out and did all the little things to win.”

Lattimore’s tip-in represented Kennedy’s third shot of the possession and provided a 60-58 lead. Trailing 44-32 with 2:18 left in the third quarter, the Knights created 11 of their final 29 points on second-chance opportunities.

Wayne Hills pulled within 60-59 when senior forward Justin Hodge made the second of two foul shots. Kennedy extended the lead to 61-59 after Harrison made the second of two free throws with 12 seconds left. After a Wayne Hills miss, freshman Jah-mahi Carnegie dove on the floor after the loose rebound, got a tie-up with Hodge, and Kennedy got possession with two seconds left.

Wayne Hills played well and had its chances. Junior guard Joey Belli scored 12 points and had several second-half assists off the drive-and-dish. Junior guard Justin Wills scored a team-high 14, including a three-pointer in the fourth to give the Patriots a 58-57 lead.

“I’m just really proud of the kids. I thought they played really hard,” said Wayne Hills coach Kevin Grimes, whose team missed a potential game-winning trey at the end of regulation. “I thought we competed for 36 minutes.”

Eastside 61, DePaul 51:  Ignoring off-the-court issues, Eastside (16-4) kept alive its run for a record-tying fourth consecutive Passaic title, as senior forward Junior Santiago worked the lane for 23 points and junior guard Lamar Johnson added 17.

Asked for her thoughts on the game, acting coach Shaniqua Bacote politely said, “No thank you.” Bacote is serving as coach after the Paterson school district suspended coach Juan Griles and an assistant while it looks into allegations that they allowed several of the overseas players to live with them. The NJSIAA also is investigating the eligibility of those players.

DePaul (11-12) capitalized on several runs to stay within striking distance and came as close as 52-48. Freshman guard Zion Bethea scored a team-high 15, and freshman center Elijah Hutchins-Everett added 11.

“Two things we had to do to be successful was rebound the basketball, and take care of the ball,” DePaul coach Ryan Hagen said, “and we didn’t do a very good job of either one of those. We had moments on the game where we started rebounding at both ends of the floor, but we needed to do a better job defensively on the glass for 32 minutes and we had to do a better job taking care of the ball.”