LINDEN, NJ – With a 6-7 record at the close of January, Linden High School’s basketball team could have just gone through the motions once February’s competition commenced.
Instead, the Tigers put together a five-game winning streak before falling to eventual Union County Conference–Watchung Division champion Roselle Catholic High School, one of the top-ranked teams in the state.
Then came a 62-30 loss at home to Elizabeth High School in division play, with Elizabeth sweeping Linden in the regular season, including a 51-45 overtime triumph at the Thomas G. Dunn Sports Center in Elizabeth on Tuesday, Jan. 25.
From that point on, Linden would win five of six, the only setback in that span to Roselle Catholic High School in the Union County Tournament, and take a four-game winning streak into the North 2, Group 4, sectional state championship game at home against Elizabeth on Monday, March 7.
Although Elizabeth had a better record at the cutoff and had swept Linden in UCC–Watchung Division play, Linden received a higher seed based on a relatively new points system the state now uses to fill out 16-team brackets.
Elizabeth was the ninth seed, and Linden was the third seed. Linden defeated 14th-seeded Phillipsburg High School, 65-54, at home; sixth-seeded Ridge High School, 69-58, at home; and then won at second-seeded Westfield High School, 45-43, on Friday, March 4, to advance to the North 2, Group 4, final for the first time in four years.
In order to win the section for the first time in five years, Linden had to get past Elizabeth, coached by Phil Colicchio, the coach for whom the Linden gym is now named.
Linden came out strong on Monday, March 7, and led 14-5 at the end of the first quarter, in large part due to three 3-point baskets made by junior Jaylan Hodge, who would lead all Linden scorers with 15 points on five 3-point shots.
Linden led 20-18 at intermission, the game was tied 33-33 going into the fourth quarter and senior Nigel Merville scored what turned out to be his final points on an inside basket with 3:40 to go, to put Linden ahead by 5 at 44-39.
Elizabeth came back, however, and had a lead of 49-47 when Merville took the game’s final shot. His 3-point attempt at the buzzer, a good look from the left side that was just beyond the 3-point line, just missed. The ball bounced off the front of the rim.
Had it gone in, the Linden gym would have stormed the court in utter jubilation.
Instead, Elizabeth held on for a hard-fought 49-47 triumph to advance to the Group 4 semifinal at the Dunn Sports Center in Elizabeth against North 1, Group 4, champion Ridgewood on Wednesday, March 9, after press time. The winner of that game advances to the Group 4 state championship game at Rutgers on Sunday, March 13.
A gutsy effort by Linden saw the Tigers fall just short of capturing their first sectional state championship since 2017.
Linden led nine times, there were 10 ties and the Tigers had the biggest leads of the game at 9 points twice, both coming in the first quarter at 12-3 and 14-5.
Linden rebounded nicely from a 6-7 season start to finish with another winning season, of 16-11. The Tigers won twice at Westfield this year, which were huge wins. Westfield, which beat Elizabeth early in the season, finished 19-8.
Also scoring in double digits for the Linden Tigers in the game against Elizabeth on Monday, March 7, was Merville, finishing with 12 points. Nasir Robinson, a sophomore, netted 9 points on three 2-point baskets and one 3-pointer.
Linden has much to be proud of for producing a winning season that included the two wins against Westfield, two very close losses to Elizabeth and a 65-64 win at Newark Central on Wednesday, Feb. 9. Central won the North 2, Group 2, sectional state championship at Caldwell on Monday, March 7, by a score of 59-55, clinching the contest in the game’s final minute.
Linden was 10-3 in its previous 13 games before facing Elizabeth on Monday, March 7.
In last year’s COVID-19–abbreviated campaign, Linden won only four of 15 games. The Tigers came back to being one of the top teams again in Union County this season.
With players such as Hodge and Robinson and junior Elijah Motley back next year, the Tigers figure to continue to be a big-time player during the 2022-2023 campaign.
Photos by JR Parachini