NEW YORK – Jabarie Hinds and Myles Mack seem destined for a Big East rivalry for years to come.
With Hinds headed to West Virginia and Mack to Rutgers, the two point guards are slated for annual showdowns for the next several years.
But on Friday night, Mack got the best of Hinds when unbeaten St. Anthony, No. 2 in the USA Today Super 25, beat Mount Vernon, 60-47, at LIU-Brooklyn to advance to the championship game of the SNY Invitational.
“It was a matchup we had built for a lot of years,” said the 5-foot-9 Mack, who scored 12 points and dished 2 assists in the win. “He played very good the second half; he got his shots off. But we won the game so that’s all that matters.”
Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley picked up career victory No. 997 and the Friars (13-0) advanced to play No. 22 Boys & Girls (18-3) for the title on Saturday (4 p.m., SNY).
Mount Vernon (9-4) will meet Rice (10-7) in the consolation game at 2.
In a remarkable performance, Hinds scored a game-high 22 points on 10 of 18 shooting but came up on the losing end.
“[Mack] is a good player,” said Hinds, who added 2 assists and 4 turnovers. “He made big-time plays for his team and they came out with the win.”
While Hinds wowed the crowd, no other Mount Vernon player scored more than five points.
“We needed more help,” Hinds said. “St. Anthony is really loaded with a lot of big kids. They have a lot of players who made plays besides Myles. Overall, it was a good game.”
“[Hinds] had to have a performance to keep them in the game because he doesn’t have the other weapons around him,” Hurley said. “Whereas Myles is not trying to take on Mount Vernon by himself because we have other weapons.’
One of those weapons was 6-8 junior point guard Kyle Anderson, who finished with a team-best 16 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal.
Anderson, the No. 1 point guard in the Class of 2012 according to Rivals, helped the much taller Friars dominate on the boards, 39-22. Jerome Frink added 15 points on 7 of 12 shooting and 6 rebounds.
“He got a lot of big rebounds, a lot of big and-ones,” Mack said of Anderson. “He played very great in this game, so we needed it.”
The Friars wore specially-designed gold and maroon Reebok shoes inscribed with all of Hurley’s many accomplishments. He has won 23 New Jersey state titles and 10 New Jersey Tournament of Champions crowns.
“I’m not really in line with the whole thing but the kids like them,” Hurley said.
Anderson wore three pairs of socks under his size 17 sneakers because he normally wears size 16.
“Yeah, they are comfortable,” he said.
After trailing 31-20 at the break, Mount Vernon closed to within 6 points several times in the third period.
The Knights outscored the Friars 18-15 in the third, when Hinds hit his only two 3-pointers
But Hinds failed to score in the final period and St. Anthony outscored the Knights 14-9 in the fourth.
“Beating a good New York City team, I think it was a good win for us,” Anderson said.
(Photo courtesy Daily News)
