St. Anthony a game away from record 25th state title

Rutgers signee Mike Rosario scored 19 points in leading St. Anthony to the New Jersey Non-Public North B title. AP

PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Where was Mike Rosario going?

St. Anthony's 6-foot-2 McDonald's All-American and Rutgers signee from Jersey City had just won a North Jersey Non-Public B title for the first time in his career, but now he couldn't stop. When the final buzzer sounded after the Friars' 64-52 win over archrival St. Patrick on Wednesday night, the game ball bounced high into the air and Rosario rushed to the sideline, leaping over the scorer's table. Once in the crowd, Rosario climbed a few more rows and met his mother, Joanne, for a long embrace. Making his way back down the steps and on the court, he stood still and did a TV interview. Once he was finished, he ran back to the Rutgers men's basketball locker, yelling, "Let's go! Let's go!"

Maneuvering his way past onlookers as he had the Celtics defense, Rosario found an opening to the locker room and ran right by his future coach, Fred Hill. "What? I don't get a hug?" the Rutgers coach said, jumping up and down in mock exasperation as his future player made a U-turn to hug him.

"Sorry, coach," Rosario said.

No longer do the members of St. Anthony's Class of 2008 need to apologize. In danger of becoming the first class in legendary coach Bob Hurley's banner-filled career to graduate without a state title, the group of six seniors with Division I futures avoided being eulogized as "The 0-4's".

"That would have been their legacy if they hadn't won this game," said Ed "The Faa" Ford, a Jersey City staple who has seen all of Hurley's St. Anthony teams. "They're on pace with the best that ever played here."

That they are still running down the road to perfection was not enough. No, the chance get revenge against St. Patrick had all the more meaning. For the last three years, the Friars, who had lost four straight to the Celtics, saw their season end on this stage. Last season, current Villanova freshman Corey Fisher and Memphis freshman Jeff Robinson led St. Patrick to a 62-46 win, heightening the anticipation for this year's game which pitted the Friars six pack of signees against a Celtics team than includes Kansas-bound forward Quintrell Thomas (6-8, 225) and North Carolina recruit Dexter Strickland (18 points). "This was about getting a giant Celtic off our backs," said Pitt signee Travon Woodall.

St. Patrick planned to neutralize the high-flying Friars depth with size in Thomas. From the start, they tried to establish him underneath, but short-range misses and three first-half fouls plagued the still-developing big man. "That hurt us because it opened the lane and weak side for their guards to get inside," St. Patrick coach Kevin Boyle said.

And so came the droves of dribble-drive motion plays, the white-haired Hurley's new-age offensive wrinkle. Time after time, Fordham-bound point guard Jio Fontan (6 points, 6 assists) came slashing from the diagonals, passing off to the likes of Marquette signee Tyshawn Taylor (10 points, 4 rebounds) and junior star Dominic Cheek (13 points, 8 rebounds) who filled in lanes and created ripple waves of offense from the wings. "We have to know that this is a watermark for us," said Hurley, who has a career record of 930-102 in 36 years. "We have three more games before we can claim to be the best in New Jersey."

By the end, the team that has been a study in perpetual motion slowed down to a four-corner crawl, holding onto the ball and allowing the flood of applause to cascade down from a crowd of 7,000. On Saturday, St. Anthony take on Trenton (N.J.) Catholic, a team they are favored to beat easily. With a victory they would win their 25th state title, putting them ahead of Central High of Cheyenne, Wyo. for the national record. "We know where we have to go," said Rosario, hugging his MVP trophy. "And what we have to do."