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A Garden (State) party for Bishop Loughlin, Pinkston
By Dylan Butler December 30, 2008
PATERSON, N.J. – When the Jingle Bells Jubilee tipped off Saturday, Jayvaughn Pinkston was targeted, both by Paterson Eastside (N.J.), which bloodied his nose, and by the capacity crowd, which didn’t want to believe the hype that the Bishop Loughlin forward was considered the top junior in New York City.
But on Tuesday, when the Lions rolled over Plainfield (N.J.), 77-59, to win the inaugural tournament title, Pinkston not only took home tournament MVP honors, but earned the respect from the cynical New Jersey crowd, which simply referred to him as “man-child.”
That’s just what the polished 6-foot-6 forward was against undersized Plainfield on Tuesday. Pinkston, who is being recruited by a bevy of Big East schools, including St. John’s and Rutgers (Scarlet Knights coach Fred Hill was in attendance) finished with a game-high 30 points and scored at will in the paint. It was his most complete and dominant performance of the season.
“I just tried to work hard and play along with my team and get the job done,” Pinkston said.
He did that and more. The same was true of Trevon Hamlet, a 6-foot-6 forward who added 17 for Loughlin, which led 15-13 after the first quarter but outscored Plainfield, 24-15, in the second quarter. The Cardinals never recovered.
“We worked on a lot of plays for me and Jayvaughn and the other kid Rasi (Jenkins),” Hamlet said. “They couldn’t really handle us down low. We knew once we got inside that would be the game.”
It was evident that the Lions would have the mismatch inside, especially with three players 6-feet-6 and taller – Plainfield has just one player listed at 6-feet-6. But the Cardinals were supposed to have the edge in the backcourt, led by highly touted junior Isaiah Epps, who has received offers from Pittsburgh, Maryland, Seton Hall and Rutgers and has also drawn interest from Kansas and Marquette.
Well, Loughlin dominated there, too. Led by Anthony Hamer, the Lions pressured all over the court, forcing numerous turnovers. Epps scored just eight points on two field goals. Anthony Baskerville and Tyrone Johnson led Plainfield with 16 points apiece.
“I like playing against people like that to show that they’re really not that good,” Loughlin junior guard Brandon Frazier said. “We have guards on our team that can handle them and we came out with the win.”
Bishop Loughlin (6-2) was going to be the top contender for the CHSAA Class AA intersectional title. The Lions were supposed to be one of the teams to watch on the East. But then guard Doron Lamb left for Oak Hill Academy (Va.) and so, too, did the lofty expectations for the Lions.
Perhaps that might explain why Loughlin was ranked fourth of the eight teams in the Jingle Bells Jubilee at Paterson Catholic HS this week.
No matter, first-year coach Rudy King used that seeding as motivation this week.
“We looked at it as a challenge,” King said. “We put fours in the locker room and talked about fours on the bus. We said we were going to play hard and come in and prove everybody wrong and do what is it that we did today.”
After overcoming a slow start against fifth-seeded Paterson Eastside, Loughlin defeated top-seeded Linden (N.J.) and No. 2 Plainfield to capture the tournament title. It’s a perfect tune-up for the heart of the league schedule, which begins this weekend against All Hallows for the Lions.
“Now that we won three straight games against three good Jersey teams, it shows that we’re ready for league play,” Hamlet said. “And we learned from our mistakes, losing to Thomas Jefferson and St. Dominic’s and our guards have improved.”
dbutler@fiveborosports.com
That’s just what the polished 6-foot-6 forward was against undersized Plainfield on Tuesday. Pinkston, who is being recruited by a bevy of Big East schools, including St. John’s and Rutgers (Scarlet Knights coach Fred Hill was in attendance) finished with a game-high 30 points and scored at will in the paint. It was his most complete and dominant performance of the season.
“I just tried to work hard and play along with my team and get the job done,” Pinkston said.
He did that and more. The same was true of Trevon Hamlet, a 6-foot-6 forward who added 17 for Loughlin, which led 15-13 after the first quarter but outscored Plainfield, 24-15, in the second quarter. The Cardinals never recovered.
“We worked on a lot of plays for me and Jayvaughn and the other kid Rasi (Jenkins),” Hamlet said. “They couldn’t really handle us down low. We knew once we got inside that would be the game.”
It was evident that the Lions would have the mismatch inside, especially with three players 6-feet-6 and taller – Plainfield has just one player listed at 6-feet-6. But the Cardinals were supposed to have the edge in the backcourt, led by highly touted junior Isaiah Epps, who has received offers from Pittsburgh, Maryland, Seton Hall and Rutgers and has also drawn interest from Kansas and Marquette.
Well, Loughlin dominated there, too. Led by Anthony Hamer, the Lions pressured all over the court, forcing numerous turnovers. Epps scored just eight points on two field goals. Anthony Baskerville and Tyrone Johnson led Plainfield with 16 points apiece.
“I like playing against people like that to show that they’re really not that good,” Loughlin junior guard Brandon Frazier said. “We have guards on our team that can handle them and we came out with the win.”
Bishop Loughlin (6-2) was going to be the top contender for the CHSAA Class AA intersectional title. The Lions were supposed to be one of the teams to watch on the East. But then guard Doron Lamb left for Oak Hill Academy (Va.) and so, too, did the lofty expectations for the Lions.
Perhaps that might explain why Loughlin was ranked fourth of the eight teams in the Jingle Bells Jubilee at Paterson Catholic HS this week.
No matter, first-year coach Rudy King used that seeding as motivation this week.
“We looked at it as a challenge,” King said. “We put fours in the locker room and talked about fours on the bus. We said we were going to play hard and come in and prove everybody wrong and do what is it that we did today.”
After overcoming a slow start against fifth-seeded Paterson Eastside, Loughlin defeated top-seeded Linden (N.J.) and No. 2 Plainfield to capture the tournament title. It’s a perfect tune-up for the heart of the league schedule, which begins this weekend against All Hallows for the Lions.
“Now that we won three straight games against three good Jersey teams, it shows that we’re ready for league play,” Hamlet said. “And we learned from our mistakes, losing to Thomas Jefferson and St. Dominic’s and our guards have improved.”
dbutler@fiveborosports.com