Kentucky recruit Karl Towns Jr. and Syracuse-bound Tyler Roberson will square off Tuesday for the New Jersey Tournament of Champions title.
Despite battling foul trouble, the 7-foot-1 1/2 Towns Jr. went for 24 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots Friday night as St. Joe’s-Metuchen beat Atlantic City, 63-49, in the semifinals of the 25th Tournament of Champions at Monmouth University.
St. Joe’s, the No. 2 seed, will face off against Roberson and No. 1 seed Roselle Catholic in the final Tuesday at 8 p.m. at the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton.
“The big guy was the difference,’’ Atlantic City coach Gene Allen told The Star-Ledger. “He’s a 7-foot Kentucky recruit, he had 15 to 20 pounds and four inches on our guy and he always made plays to get them out of trouble. He was always an outlet.’’
“We have a trump card,’’ St. Joseph coach Dave Turco told the paper. “We have Karl and no one else does.’’
While Towns Jr., Kentucky’s lone recruit for 2014, sat with foul trouble, his teammates picked up the slack. Marques Townes and Wade Baldwin added 15 points apiece.
“When Karl is out, we just keep playing basketball,’’ Baldwin, who added eight rebounds, five assists and three steals, told the Ledger. “Everyone steps up, then when he returns, it’s boom.”
In Roselle Catholic’s 78-64 win over Newark Tech, the Syracuse-bound Roberson had 10 points and eight rebounds as his team put forth a balanced effort.
Sophomore wing Malachi Richardson, who holds offers from Indiana, Ohio State and Georgetown, among others, went for 21 points, including four 3-pointers, five rebounds and four steals.
Hakim Saintil (13 points), Kory Highsmith (11) and Asante Gist (10) all added double-figure scoring.
“We really moved the ball in the first half and were able to get open shots,” Roselle Catholic coach Dave Boff told the Ledger. “We kicked it out, and even after the kick we still swung it one more time for an open shot.”
Photo: Courierpostonline
