Roselle Catholic had plenty to celebrate Saturday evening after both the Varsity Girls
and Varsity Boys Basketball teams took home some hardware for defeating Patrick
School in the UCT Finals to win the Union County Championship trophy. This marks
a 6 th UCT Championship for the Girls program, and the 1 st ever in Roselle Catholic
Boys Basketball history. The scene at Kean was electric, and a big thank you to all
students, parents, faculty, alumni, and friends who came out to show that Lions’
Pride.
In the first match-up of the day, the Lady Lions jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, and
controlled the game throughout. Despite surges from the Patrick School team, RC
held their composure and were able to hold on for the big victory. Sophomore
Taniya Hanner led all scorers with 15 points on her way to a double-double after
racking up 13 rebounds. Victoria Jacobs hit 2 critical 3 pointers in the contest on
her way to 11 points, with Tyara McQueen and Kayla Haywood each adding 10 and
Jenissa Encarnacion providing 9 points of her own. The balanced scoring helped
propel the Lady Lions past the NJ #18 Celtics in the contest. “We want to play where
we share the ball and everyone is a threat,” Coach Joe Skrec stated. Coach Skrec,
recently named as an inductee this year into NJSCA Hall of Fame, knows what it
takes to be a champion, having guided the Lions to all 6 of their Union County
Tournament Championships. The team now sets their sights on the NJSIAA State
Tournament, set to begin this Tuesday evening at 6PM in the Lions Den as the Lady
Lions face Doane Academy.
After the post-game honoring of the team with their championship trophy and
individual medals, it was the boys’ turn. The Lions fell behind in the first quarter,
but amped up their game in the 2 nd quarter and never looked back, outscoring
Patrick School 18-8 in that second quarter. Junior Kahlil Whitney led the way for
the Lions with his 19 points and Senior Ithiel Horton provided 18, with both of them
providing sparks to the team’s offense throughout the contest through multiple
thunderous dunks for Whitney and four 3-pointers from Horton. Alanzo Frink
netted 13 points and Jason Battle hit for 9, Josh Pierre-Louis added 5 and Naz Reid
scored 4 to go along with 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Ithiel Horton exclaimed, “There
are alumni from the ‘70s and ‘80s here who have never won this. We didn’t just do
this for us; we did it for them.” The long drought without a UCT Title is over. Now
the team is gearing up for a run in the NJSIAA State Tournament. Their first round
game vs Koinonia is Tuesday evening at 8PM in the Lions Den, following the girls.
The Boys game will air on Verizon Fios Tuesday at 7:30PM and the Girls will air Wednesday at 7:30PM