Five Hudson County Tournament Quarterfinal Takeaways

Tournament season is well upon us in New Jersey and many have been decided in recent weekends. On Monday, the quarterfinals of the Hudson County Tournament were held and some great basketball was played. Here are five takeaways from Monday’s action as we look forward to the semis in that tournament. <strong>1. The top four seeds advanced quite easily into the semis</strong> While not every tournament can be dictated with the top seeds advancing the furthest, that’s been the case for the Hudson County Tournament. After automatic berths in the quarters, the top four seeds in the tournament advanced, winning by an average margin of 32 points. Three of the four games were 30+ point wins for the victors, while the closest game was the 4-5 matchup, Hudson Catholic v Kearny, which the Hawks won, 31-17. <strong>2. Union City had a balanced scoring attack in its blowout victory</strong> In a 40-point win, you would expect at least one player to have a major offensive outburst. That wasn’t the case for Union City on Monday, who had three players score in double-figures, as Elainy Pichardo led all scorers with a season-high 14 points. Union City knocked down five three-pointers on the day and eight different players got in the scoring column, with six scoring five points or more. That kind of production is what earned this program the No. 1 seed in the tourney and they’re steamrolling into the semis. <strong>3. Kearny played great defensively in its loss against Hudson Catholic</strong> Looking purely at the top of the box score, Kearny looked out-matched against Hudson Catholic. Those stats only tell you so much as Kearny came alive in the fourth quarter, unfortunately far too late to stage a comeback. What was most impressive about this performance is that they recorded 31 rebounds in the game, including a game-high 13 from Ava Hyams. If they can’t score, they can rebound to get more scoring opportunities. This team is still 15-9, so they’re plenty good to make a postseason run. <strong>4. Bayonne put on a shooting performance on Monday</strong> Bayonne has a number of capable scorers within this program and in the quarters against North Bergen, that shooting ran the Bruins off the floor. The Bees knocked down 10 three-pointers in the game, scoring 55 points off 16 assists. Over 54 percent of Monday’s scoring came from beyond the arc, led by Christina Centeno’s four made threes and Giselle Davis’s 3 threes. Davis, who hasn’t been shooting much from three in her freshman year, really impressed on the day. For a team that’s averaging nearly six made three-pointers a game, the Bees just put the rest of the county on watch. <strong>5. Snyder’s best dazzled in a blowout victory</strong> Snyder needed just its starting lineup to take down Weehawken in an impressive win, and two big-time players showed out for this team on Monday. The duo of [player_tooltip player_id="321565" first="Jah’Nel" last="Lewis"] and Kyra Rose balled out, combining to score 46 points and record seven steals in the win. Lewis had her second-best scoring output of the season, a 28-point performance including 3 three-pointers. Those 3 threes tie a season-high for the junior while Rose had her 14th game of 17+ points. The two have propelled Snyder into a contender in the HCIAL.