Justin Minaya soars high in Old Tappan win by Sean Farrell of The Record
FORT LEE — The golden sneakers glided high over the hardwood court.
They were the only shoes of any color anywhere close to the basket.
They belonged to Justin Minaya, who just before had stepped in front of a handoff near midcourt and found himself alone on the way to the hoop. Then he launched himself off the ground, pulled the ball behind his left shoulder and dunked with power.
The sensational senior guard from NV/Old Tappan showed off his full range of skills in a 68-35 win over Paramus Catholic on Monday at the Jack Reilly Tournament at Fort Lee.
But no other play wowed the crowd quite like that one.
“He’s a freak of nature,” senior forward Erik Slater said. “He’s 6-foot-6 with crazy long arms and throws it down a few times a game. He’s an unbelievable player and, more importantly, just a great teammate.”
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The Golden Knights (4-0), who were No. 11 in The Record preseason rankings, have the makings of another strong team.
They have size. They have experience. And they have depth. All but two players have returned from a team that went 18-8 last season and reached the North, 1 Group 3 semifinal.
“We all just got bigger and stronger and improved as players,” Slater said. “We got a lot of experience last year. Now we come in and in situations at the end of the game when it’s tight, we’ll be poised and ready to keep composed and execute our game.”
Slater utilized his speed and strength to do an admirable job in a new role. He started for only the second time this season with Chris Baker out for “a couple of weeks” with a broken thumb.
“[Slater] is skilled for a big kid,” coach Craig Ferraro said. “He can handle the ball pretty well, and that throws people for a wrench matchup-wise. You put a small kid on him, and he will post them up. He’s also quick enough to take a bigger kid on. He’s like an in-between player.”
The offense came easily for the Golden Knights, who had four scorers in double figures — Minaya with 16, Slater with 12, Kevin Eifert with 15 and Joseph D’Amico with 13.
They started the game on a 13-2 run and never looked back. Minaya opened the scoring on a put-back about 10 seconds in, and was relentless on the offensive glass. He grabbed two offensive rebounds on one possession, then followed up his own missed jumper on another to set up an easy basket for Eifert during the run.
“It helps me get into my game,” Minaya said. “If I’m not shooting well, I know I can just crash the glass and set up easy buckets.”
There wasn’t much Minaya couldn’t do against Paramus Catholic.
His shot was smooth, his passes were crisp and his hands were disruptive on defense.
It’s why the Golden Knights have allowed fewer than 40 points per game through their first four contests. It’s also why Minaya and his bright sneakers took a rest on the bench with 3:14 left in the game. The lead was safe and another win was on its way.
“He’s one of our hardest-working players,” Ferraro said of Minaya, who has drawn interest from several schools, including Iona and Fairfield.
“He doesn’t take a play off in the game, in practice and every single day. He’s on all the time. When you have your captain and your leader doing that type of stuff, everybody else seems to follow.”