Muslim Community Center receives approval for mosque in South Edison
BASKETBALL

Basketball: St. Joseph tops Piscataway in Red Division matchup

Harry Frezza
@thefrez56

PISCATAWAY -  It didn’t take long for the St. Joseph (Met.) basketball team to show how much it wanted to avenge its only in-state loss of the season.

The Falcons jumped on Piscataway from the opening tip Thursday night and were never threatened in an 82-66 triumph. Both teams are 11-2 overall and 7-1 in the Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division.

BOYS BASKETBALL: THIS WEEK'S COURIER NEWS TOP 10

BOYS BASKETBALL: THIS WEEK'S HNT/GMC TOP 10

GIRLS BASKETBALL: SPOTSWOOD ROLLS TO VICTORY OVER SOUTH RIVER

Piscataway beat St. Joseph, 65-62, back on Dec. 19 in the second game of the season. St. Joseph lost to Christ the King (N.Y.) last Friday in Long Island.

“Today was our day,” St. Joseph coach Mike Thompson said. “I’d love to pay to get in to see the third matchup if there is one, but that’s looking way down the road. To get a road win in the Red Division is just gigantic.”

Piscataway, which had won seven straight since a loss to East Orange on Dec. 27, trailed 64-42 after three quarters. The Chiefs rallied to within 71-61 with 3:17 left, but sophomore guard Tyree Taganeca-Ford’s 3-pointer pushed the lead to 74-61.

“For some reason it felt like and looked like we were running in quicksand,” Griffin said. “They wanted it more than we did, that’s the bottom line.”

Taganeca-Ford scored 23 points and sophomore K-Shawn Schulters finished with 20 points for St. Joseph. Junior forward Howard McBurnie added 14 points and sophomore forward  Luke Fresco chipped in with 12 points.

“We just wanted to come back, get some revenge and get a win away,” Taganeca-Ford said. “We have more chemistry, we are working together, ball movement. It takes time.”

The Falcons didn’t shoot particularly well, Thompson said. In fact, they didn’t get a 3-pointer in the first half, but still led 39-26 at halftime.

“I told the kids that they could do everything perfectly, but they wouldn’t win unless they rebounded,” Thompson said. “With the running there’ll be a lot of missed shots, a lot of forced shots.”

St. Joseph continually kept loose balls alive off the board and usually won the race to pick them up.

“They came and they were ready to play, and I thought we were ready to play, but I thought we came out a little sluggish,” Griffin said.

Senior Mattias Arrindell led Piscataway with 26 points and senior Jordan Davidson netted 22 points, including 14 free throws. Six points came in the fourth quarter when the Chiefs outscored St Joseph, 24-18.

“If we played the other three quarters like we did the fourth, it might have been a different game,” Griffin said.