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Montclair's Jahi Whitney delivers pass to fellow senior Grayson Roper (13) in the semifinals vs. Caldwell, and junior La'Mear Singletary eyes the basket on his strong drive vs. Bloomfield in the championship game as the Mounties were on their way to a pair of victories Thursday night, July 25, in capturing Bloomfield Summer League playoff title. Montclair coach Cecil Stinson charts play and the Mounties gather for team photo after defeating Bloomfield for the crown. League director and Bengals coach Mike Passero urges on his team during timeout. Games were well officated all summer long, including in the semis and finals by, from left, veterans Jim Stoeckel, Jr., Frank DiTrani and Bobby Berk. (SC photos)
BLOOMFIELD- Montclair’s veteran guard Jahi Whitney was the only varsity regular in the rotation, but that didn’t matter for the young Mounties who demonstrated superb chemistry and productivity on the hardwood in winning back-to-back games on Thursday night to capture the 2024 Bloomfield Summer League championship. Montclair, which also won the Bloomfield College Summer League playoff semis and finals this past Tuesday evening and were putting together another pair of big playoff wins 48 hours later in the Bloomfield High School gym, defeating 3-time defending champion Caldwell, 44-37, in the semis, and then the host Bengals, 63-50 in a dominant performance in the final. The Mounties, who finished 15-11 last winter, know that they can rely on Whitney, a multi-talented 6-foot-3 senior who led the team in scoring for the second straight season in 2023-2024 averaging 15.2 points per game and is currently drawing interest from Division I colleges including Drexel and Brown. Montclair went into its busy June and July knowing that it had to deal with the graduation of two starters and another key member of last season’s rotation, plus the transfer of a rising junior who had also started last winter. And, two standout football players, who were also part of the rotation last winter- rising seniors Martin Quiroz and Jarious Davis – had their availability limited due to commitments with the gridiron squad. Enter key members of the Mounties’ rising junior class, a group that went undefeated as freshmen in winning the ninth-graders’ Essex County Tournament title, and then captured the county jayvee title this past winter season with a thrilling win over perennial power Seton Hall Prep. On Thursday night three of those juniors, guards La’Mear Singletary and Jayvon Rogers and forward Mason Determann, were all key contributors for their team in a hard-earned victory vs. Caldwell and in a resounding win over a Bloomfield team that had finished just above the Mounties in the regular season summer standings among 17 teams. Rising sophomore Kody Nesbitt provided strong minutes as well along with seniors Grayson Roper and Rayan Elghaly and Montclair had more than enough talent to go around to win two games in two hours of work. Other sophomores with the team Thursday night were Adam Bear and Amir Bembry along with rising freshman Josiah Brown. Rising junior forward Mez Okaro, who saw varsity action last winter, was in street clothes on the bench Thursday night after absorbing a deep cut to his face in a game earlier in the week. “It’s been a very productive summer, winning both the Bloomfield College League title and now this championship,” said Whitney. “The young guys on our team are used to winning, capturing their freshmen and jayvee championships, and now they’re showing that their ready to help us at the varsity level. “They’re all buying in and we’re having a good time which you can see as we enjoy sharing the ball, making a good pass to a teammate and having everyone contribute out there.” Against Caldwell, which was without two of its veteran guards, the Mounties found some tough going early on in a semifinal contest that was tied, 19-19, at the half. Montclair would then open up leads of 36-27 and then 40-31 with 3:30 remaining, and while the Chiefs cut the lead to 40-35 with 58.4 seconds still showing, Determann connected on two clutch free throws with 40 seconds showing to help seal the deal. In the final, the Mounties demonstrated pinpoint passing and persistent drives to the hoop by impressive players such as Singletary and Rogers, and took first half leads of 24-11 with 6:34 remaining in the first half and then 34-20 at the intermission. Bloomfield battled back in the second half and cut the lead to 57-50 in the final ninety seconds before Whitney connected on a pair of free throws to boost the lead back to nine and the Mounties closed it out from there. For Montclair coach Cecil Stinson, who has seen his younger players continue to develop together as a unit for the past two seasons, it’s been great to watch them mature this summer while playing more minutes with the varsity unit that has participated in both Bloomfield leagues along with also making appearances in Immaculate coach Jimmy Salmon’s league in Paterson. “Our rising juniors have been playing with each other a long time now with great success as freshmen and sophomores, and they also trust the process while showing great chemistry,” said the Mounties’ third-year head coach. “I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do for us next season. “We’re going to have great depth which is a good problem to have!” NOTES- Montclair is set to close out its summer work by participating in the 3-day-2-games-a-day Legacy Team Camp organized by IC coach Salmon running Sunday through Tuesday (July 28-30) at Weequahic High School in Newark…Newark Tech, which was the best regular season team in the Bloomfield Summer League, decided to forgo Thursday night’s playoff semifinals due to their commitment to playoff games the same night in Elizabeth…Bloomfield coach Mike Passero did another superb job directing the summer league in Bengal country, and the officiating by refs including Frank DiTrani, Bobby Berk and Jim Stoeckel, Jr., was outstanding and helped keep the games run smoothly…In capturing the Bloomfield College Summer League playoff championship on Tuesday night (July 23) Montclair defeated Newark Collegiate, 45-44, in the semis, and rival East Orange Campus, 54-42, in the final...One hot rumor circulating in Bloomfield High School gym on Thursday night was that rising junior Taquan Boyd, who is a dual football-basketball talent, was transferring to Arts High in Newark for basketball next winter and will play football this fall at Weequahic. Follow Steve Tober on 'X' (formerly Twitter) @Chattermeister
Caldwell demonstrates strong interior defense vs. Montclair in the semis and the Mounties' rising sophomore Kody Nesbitt is a bit shaken up for the moment as he is on his back on court while being attended to by his coach Cecil Stinson during game vs. Bloomfield where the Bengals were directed by coach Mike Passero and the homestanding squad met strong resistence from Mounties including the rising senior Rayan Elghaly (12). Copyright 2005 Sideline Chatter - comments - contact the webmaster
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