Seton Hall Prep basketball team moves to 9-1 record

WEST ORANGE – The Seton Hall Prep varsity basketball team defeated Newark Central, Newark East Side and St. Peter’s Prep last week to extend its winning streak to four games and improve to a 9-1 record.

Senior guard TJ Gibbs had 19 points and four steals; junior guard Austin Williams scored 11 points; and senior guard Stephen Ferraro had 10 points, five rebounds, and five assists to lead the Pirates to a 74-51 win at Newark Central on Jan. 5.

Gibbs, bound for Notre Dame University, scored a career-high 41 points with five rebounds and three steals to lead the Pirates to a 66-50 come-from-behind home win over Essex County power Newark East Side on Jan. 7.

Trailing 27-22 at halftime, the Pirates came out red-out in the third quarter and outscored East Side, 33-4, to take a 55-31 lead entering the fourth quarter. Gibbs, who scored nine points in the first and second quarters, had a whopping 23 points in the third quarter.

Ferraro finished with eight points and senior forward Zach Keller had six points for the Pirates.

The Pirates participated in the 13th annual Scholarship Fund for Inner City Children Basketball Festival at Kean University’s Harwood Arena on Saturday, Jan. 9, defeating St. Peter’s Prep of Jersey City, 63-39. Gibbs scored 18 points; Keller had 13 points and five rebounds; and sophomore forward Alex Imegwu scored 10 points in the win.

NOTES: At halftime of the St. Peter’s Prep game, SHP senior forward Ryan Toohers received an Academic Excellence Award from Seton Hall Prep President Msgr. Michael E. Kelly on behalf of the SFIC Board of Trustees. Toohers will be attending Villanova University to play baseball. TJ Gibbs is the only Gibbs brother to score 40 or more points in a game for Seton Hall Prep. He is also No. 4 on the SHP all-time scoring list with 1,553 points. Sterling Gibbs (2007-11) is No. 1 all-time with 1,984 points and Ashton Gibbs (2004-08) is No. 2 with 1,882 points. Keven McDonald (1970-74) is No. 3 with 1,774 points.