SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Jahvon Quinerly and Luther Muhammad made it 2-0 for the Jersey Boys on Saturday.
The 6-foot-1 Quinerly went for 25 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists en route to game MVP honors as Hudson Catholic beat Charles Bassey and St. Anthony (TX), 62-53, to help the New Jersey schools go 2-0 on the day at the Hoophall Classic. Earlier, Roselle (N.J.) Catholic beat Weaver (TX).
The 6-5 Muhammad also had a strong game in the win, going for 24 points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals.
“I feel like Jersey has the toughest basketball in the country, that’s just my opinion,” Quinerly said.
Jahvon Quinerly is our guy ?? @RealJahvonQ @Hudson_Bball @HoophallClassic #HHCLassic pic.twitter.com/VKe0ATk5gs
— Overtime (@overtime) January 14, 2017
Three other Garden State teams — Blair Academy, St. Anthony’s and The Patrick School — will also play at the Hoophall this weekend.
Arizona assistant Book Richardson was on hand for Quinerly, and he continues to list them among his most persistent suitors.
“I got to speak to him the other night, we chopped it up a little bit,” Quinerly said of Richardson, who will also watch 2017 Arizona commits Brandon Randolph and DeAndre Ayton, who play at 8 p.m. on ESPN.
Quinerly also lists Syracuse, Kansas, Stanford, Villanova, Virginia and Seton Hall among the others working hard.
“Actually Vanderbilt hit me up, they’re going to to start pushing a little harder,” he said.
As for Muhammad, he scored 20 of his 24 in the first half.
“We tried to get him the ball in the second half and it kind of opened it up a little more for me because they focused on him,” Quinerly said.
Muhammad said Syracuse is the newest school to enter his recruiting, along with Cincinnati, Xavier, Notre Dame, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Rutgers, Temple and Tulane.
“Yeah, Syracuse is new,” he said, adding that the Orange haven’t offered yet.
“I know Tyus Battle is up there now,” he said. “Malachi [Richardson] was up there. I like their offense, they run a three out, my kind of offense, except for defense. I like man, zone I’m really not… I like man.”
Both players are focused on the high school season now and have no visits planned.
“I’m just focusing on high school,” Muhammad said.
