Here is the story by Brandon Gould of NJ.com –
It was almost one of the biggest upsets in state tournament history; until it wasn’t.
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3/3 – 7:00 PM Boys Basketball Final St. Rose 59 Roselle Catholic 68
The final score won’t reflect how close it was, but after the first 24 minutes on Friday night, St. Rose created a sense of belief at Rutgers that it could do the unthinkable against the state’s top team, Roselle Catholic.
St. Rose, No. 11 in the NJ.com Top 20, had a one-point lead going into the fourth quarter of the Non-Public B final and a chance to pull off an epic shocker against a team loaded with some of the best players in the state. Then, No. 1 Roselle Catholic proved why it has been unstoppable in New Jersey the last two years.
Duke commit Mackenzie Mgbako stepped up late and started a nine-point run to start the fourth quarter that put Roselle Catholic ahead for good. This was the game Mgbako dreamed about after transferring in to the Union County basketball powerhouse from Gill St. Bernard’s in the offseason, and he made it count just a few games after coming back from an ankle injury that cost him half the season.
Arizona State commit Akil Watson was unbelievable and capped off his two-year run at Roselle Catholic with a 23-point performance. Mgbako and Elizabeth transfer Sebastian Robinson each added 13 for the Lions, who outscored St. Rose by 10 points in the fourth quarter of a 68-59 comeback victory.
Roselle Catholic has now won six state championships since 2013, and UNC commit Simeon Wilcher, last year’s NJ.com Player of the Year, ends his high school career having never lost a postseason game.
“At times, it was a bit of a roller coaster ride this season and we dealt with some things that we did not expect going into the year,” said Roselle Catholic coach Dave Boff, whose team started the year with three straight losses to some of the country’s best teams in national showcase games. “There were some difficult times, but I’m proud of this group because they stayed together whether things were going well or if they weren’t going well. We rode that wave. These guys did an unbelievable job sticking together and it’s an incredible run that we’ve had over the last two years.”
Roselle Catholic (22-5) came into the final with a perfect record against New Jersey competition this winter, and the Lions were the heavy favorites against St. Rose, which was looking to win its first state title in 46 years with a lineup that was filled with first-year players.
At first, Roselle Catholic jumped out to a 7-2 lead and looked like it would cruise like it did when it beat St. Rose, 77-56, on Jan. 21. St. Rose chipped away at that lead though and only trailed by three after the first quarter. The Purple Roses briefly tied it up in the second, but by halftime, they were looking up at Roselle Catholic again. An early bucket in the third didn’t help either.
If you got up to leave when St. Rose went down 10 thinking it was over, no one would have blamed you.
But you would have missed a third quarter that saw the Purple Roses make Roselle Catholic sweat.
St. Rose did not back down at all and went on a 12-0 run. Gill St. Bernard’s transfer Peter Mauro was one of six transfers to join the St. Rose program this year and he did it to have a chance to play for a title.
Mauro normally wears No. 2, but got blood on that jersey in the first half and switched to 34.
The jersey swap was followed by a seven-point third quarter that saw Mauro hit a 3-pointer to tie it with 4:45 left in that period and score on a layup shortly after to give St. Rose the lead. Roselle Catholic tied it back up with a Wilcher layup and went ahead later in the quarter on a Mgbako score.
St. Rose got the ball in the final seconds of the third though and after a missed deep ball, Red Bank Catholic transfer Gio Panzini got the rebound and hit a shot to put St. Rose up 44-43.
That lead didn’t last, but St. Rose was right there with Roselle Catholic.
Mauro, Panzini and Holmdel transfer Evan Romano all came to St. Rose this season from different schools within the state and sat out the first month before they joined international transfers Matthew Hodge, Jayden Hodge and Bryan Ebeling in the lineup. Add in rookie Tyler Cameron and you had a seven-man rotation that had not played together before this winter.
That entire group will be back next year and will be ready to compete again like they did in the state final.
“I’m proud of these guys,” said second-year St. Rose coach Brian Lynch. “We had an interesting season with all these new guys coming in and then we had to integrate guys in halfway through the year. We had to find chemistry quick and it was really hard. There were difficult moments this year, but at the end of the season, I thought we were playing our best basketball.”
Roselle Catholic is so deep and so talented though that it was just a matter of time before it pulled away.
Mgbako, a McDonald’s All-American, had a slow start, but when it mattered the most late, he stepped up and started the fourth quarter run. He ended the game with 13 points and nine rebounds. Wilcher had his moments late in the game as well and finished with eight points and seven assists.
Robinson did his job and sank a few key free throws in the final minutes to extend the lead.
Senior Christian Pierre-Louis and junior Rich Brisco stepped up as well in the title game.
Watson was the guy who carried the Lions from start to finish though and it was a great way end to his high school career. The 6-foot-8 forward played his first two years at Don Bosco Prep, but transferred to Roselle Catholic last year with his brother, Tarik – who had a scary moment earlier this season when he passed out during a game. Roselle Catholic won the Tournament of Champions with the Watsons playing major roles.
The Lions lost some pieces from that TOC title team, but added to its lineup when Mgbako and Robinson came in during the offseason. It was hard at times to make all those pieces fit, but Roselle Catholic made it work and won another title. Even if it had to sweat it out until the fourth quarter.
“This is just great. It’s my last season playing in New Jersey and I had to leave it all on the floor,” said Akil Watson. “You have to have the right mindset for these games and these atmospheres and just go out there and play hard. This was difficult with new players and a new team this year, but you just have to work around it and figure out what’s best. Tonight, we brought it home.”
