#6 St Peters Stuns #2 Hudson Catholic at Buzzer

One of the great rivalries in New Jersey basketball makes its home amongst the final two survivors of the Hudson County Catholic School circuit, Saint Peter's Prep and Hudson Catholic. With the closures of Saint Anthony's, Saint Mary's of Jersey City, Saint Aloysius, Marist, Saint Joes of The Palisades and others over the years, parents electing to send their children to Catholic school now have just two options and they have benefitted on the hardwood. Wednesday night lived up to and surpassed the hype that this marquee rivalry produces.

From the opening tip, it was an intense battle with Auburn bound Tahaad Pettiford streaking up the floor for a layup off the opening tip. Saint Peter's answered a possession later with Nico Pena hitting one from beyond the arc. The teams traded baskets but Hudson Catholic found a run behind 6'7" sophomore Jayvon Rampersant and Penn bound senior guard Alex Massung to take a 21-13 lead after a quarter of play.

Pettiford started the second with a strip and a dunk on SPP sophomore Richie Rosa, extending the lead back to double digits for Hudson. After a bucket and an Omari Moore triple on the next possession, St Peters called time, down 26-11 with 6:30 to go in the 2nd.The Marauders came out of the timeout on a 10-3 run and brought themselves within punching distance as Hudson took a timeout up 29-21. Peyton Miller got a layup off the timeout and after a Rampersant missed dunk and technical, SPP hit both FT and was back in the game.

Saint Peters forced shots on three possessions and Pettiford turned each possession into a basket and restored the double digit lead at 37-25. SPP made a mini run but Hudson fired right back to lead 47-33 at halftime behind Massung and Pettiford, both of whom showcased their high level skillsets in the first half.

Saint Peter's took advantage of turnovers and started the third on a 5-0 run, bringing a Hudson timeout—Also noteworthy in the early going of the third quarter was Rampersant picking up his fourth foul and heading to the bench. Hudson held the lead at 9 midway through the third after Pettiford found a cutting Keith McKnight to put them up 52-43. Pena fired a run to make it 54-48 late in the third and continued his torrid pace to keep SPP within striking distance after 3 at 62-58, separated by a Massung half court heave that fell.

Pena kept right on going into the fourth with the first 5 SPP points to give them a 65-64 lead, igniting the home crowd. The heavyweight slugfest continued as the teams traded baskets and tough possessions through the middle of the quarter, with Hudson leading 68-67 after a pair of McKnight free throws. The see-saw battle continued with SPP clawing to stay within a possession with under a minute to go and after a Miller layup, trailed 74-73 with inside of 10 seconds to go. McKnight was fouled with 6 seconds left.

Then…CHAOS.

6'0" sophomore Richie Rosa hit the shot of a lifetime to give Saint Peter's a 76-74 win in one of the best basketball games Hudson County has ever seen.

Case Agency Player Of The Game

Nico Pena, Saint Peter's Prep

While Rosa hit the shot that made the news, it wouldn't have even been on the table without the play of Pena throughout the game, specifically in the third quarter. Pena finished with a game high 26.