Members of the Seton Hall Prep basketball team gather after winning the Essex County Tournament championship on Saturday, Feb. 22, at Essex County College in Newark.
WEST ORANGE/NEWARK, NJ — The top-seeded Seton Hall Prep basketball team defeated third-seeded Payne Tech, 65-61, on Saturday, Feb. 22, at Essex County College in Newark, capturing its 20th Essex County Tournament title in the 78 years of the tournament.
The Pirates were led by sophomore Anthony Gonzalez, who scored 20 points and added four assists before fouling out with 4:43 left in the fourth quarter. Junior Alex Ante, a Maplewood resident, scored 12 points with 11 rebounds, including six points in the fourth quarter.
The Pirates moved to a 20-6 record on the season, while Payne Tech moved to 18-7.
Senior Dylan Guzzardo (10 points) and Gonzalez (nine points) helped Seton Hall build a 24-18 lead after the first quarter. In the second quarter, Gonzalez and senior Primo Delgado each scored five points, as the Pirates led, 36-31, at halftime.
In the third quarter, junior Michael Klimas scored seven points, Gonzalez scored six points and Guzzardo scored five points, as Seton Hall led, 56-46, entering the fourth quarter.
Following the game, Gonzalez, a Belleville resident, said, “It was really crazy watching the end of the game on
the bench because I wanted to be out there so bad. I also knew that I could count on my teammates to finish the job and they did.”
Guzzardo added, “It was important that the offense transitioned into defense. With three of our guys fouling out (Ante, Gonzalez and senior Cole Jordan), it was harder than it had to be for us, but we held on.”
Ante said, “Coach (Sterling Gibbs) told me I had to step up when we lost Gonzalez and Jordan and that is what I did before I fouled out.”
Gibbs said, “This was a great team effort. We have been fighting through adversity and blocking out outside noise from any doubters all season long. We needed to have people in our locker room believe in each other. We have the best coaching staff in the state and to prepare them to win a championship with the fact they were hungry to go out and win one is just great to see.”
ECT notes – Seton Hall’s ECT record is 156-54 (.743 winning percentage), which is No. 1 all-time in the tournament. This was their 31st appearance in the final.
Gibbs is only the second person to play and coach a team to an ECT title. The other was Lou Grimsley, who played at Weequahic and Shabazz and coached at Shabazz.
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