Malcolm X Shabazz

With its vaunted offense stuck in first gear, the Woodrow Wilson girls' basketball team turned to its defense yesterday. The Tigers overcame a slow start and rode the most-valuable-player efforts of Patrice Chambliss to rally past Malcolm X Shabazz, 48-43, for its first NJSIAA Group 3 championship. The game was played at Elizabeth High. Chambliss scored 16 of her game-high 21 points in the second half as the Tigers relied on a suffocating full-court press and clutch free-throw shooting in the fourth period.

Tournament of Champions 2012: Manasquan def. Gill St. Bernard's 2011: Trenton Catholic def. Neptune 2010: Neptune def. St. John Vianney 2009: St. John Vianney def. Colts Neck 2008: Shabazz def. Trenton Central 2007: University def. Trenton Central 2006: Shabazz def. Bloomfield Tech 2005: Woodrow Wilson def. St. John Vianney 2004: Shabazz def. Paterson-Eastside 2003: Shabazz def. Marlboro ...

For a short time yesterday, it looked as though the Ocean City girls' basketball team had a shot at the NJSIAA Group 3 state championship. But the Red Raiders, ranked No. 3 in South Jersey by The Inquirer, could only watch as Malcolm X Shabazz pulled away in the third period en route to a 56-38 win at the Ritacco Center. A perennial state power, Shabazz (28-2) was simply too physical and too quick, claiming its fourth state title this decade. Ocean City finished the season with a 26-5 record and the satisfaction of knowing that it had an opportunity to capture its first state title in program history.

Posing for pictures after earning Willingboro's most-valuable-player award yesterday, Crystal Langhorne's smile was not as bright - or sincere - as it might have been had she been holding the trophy she really wanted. The 6-foot-2 all-American forward completed her final game for Willingboro with a shiny memento, national acclaim and disappointment. Despite a game-high 34 points from Langhorne, Willingboro could do little to stop Malcolm X Shabazz from earning its second straight Group 3 NJSIAA state title yesterday in a 63-52 game at the Ritacco Center at Toms River North.

The only things the Willingboro girls' basketball team could muster were blank stares and bewilderment. Malcolm X Shabazz of Newark had done to the Chimeras yesterday what the Chimeras had done to opposing teams all season long - blow them out. The Bulldogs led by as many as 25 points late in the third quarter on their way to a surprisingly easy 77-67 victory over previously undefeated Willingboro in the state Group 3 title game at the...

Corey Fisher and Yves Mbala, two prep school sensations who plan to spend their college days playing in the Big Five, last night led St. Patrick to a 61-54 victory over Linden in the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions boys' basketball final. Fisher, a 6-foot-2 junior already committed to Villanova, helped the Celtics (29-4) to the win at the Continental Airlines Arena by scoring a team-high 17 points. The 6-7 Mbala, a senior who is headed to La Salle, was named MVP after he added 11 rebounds and four blocked shots to a 15 point-performance against Linden (27-7)

With 33.9 seconds remaining in the girls' basketball game last night at Southern Regional High, Haddonfield coach David Kosa called his starters off the floor and gave his senior point guard a hug. The Bulldogs trailed Malcolm X Shabazz, 46-34, in an NJSIAA state Group 2 semifinal, and playmaker Emily Grabiak and her teammates knew it was over. The score held, and highly favored Shabazz was on its way to compete for its seventh NJSIAA group title. The Newark school will play River Dell, the top seed in North 1 Group 2, or Chatham, the No. 3 seed in North 2 Group 2, in the final Sunday at the Ritacco Center in Toms River.

Downingtown East has the height, Archbishop Carroll has the depth, Malcolm X Shabazz (N.J.) has the quickness and Emmaus has the grit. All four teams are still alive in the Future Stars 11th Annual Christmas Classic, following yesterday's first-round action at West Chester University. The matchups for today's second round include Downingtown East (9-0) against Carroll (5-2) at 6 p.m. and Shabazz (3-0) facing Emmaus (7-4) at 7:30 p.m. The finals are scheduled for Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., following the third-place game at 6 p.m. "It will be interesting," Carroll coach Barry Kirsch said.

During her illustrious career, Krissy Rosario made a name for herself in the Absegami girls' basketball annals by scoring over 1,000 points and grabbing more than 1,000 rebounds. But those talents went largely unnoticed last night at the Ritacco Center, where the 6-foot-2 senior forward couldn't overcome early foul trouble - and the fourth-seeded Braves (25-6) couldn't come up with a clutch shot down the stretch in suffering a 55-47 loss to top-seeded Malcolm X Shabazz in a Tournament of Champions semifinal.

BOYS' BASKETBALL STATE GROUP 1 CHAMPIONSHIP Point Pleasant Beach 43, Dayton 39 STATE GROUP 2 CHAMPIONSHIP Newark Tech 56, Medford Tech 44 STATE GROUP 3 CHAMPIONSHIP Newark East Side 60, Camden 54 STATE GROUP 4 CHAMPIONSHIP Atlantic City 60, Linden 54 (OT) GIRLS' BASKETBALL STATE GROUP 1 CHAMPIONSHIP Point Pleasant Beach 56, Bloomfield Tech 54 STATE GROUP 2 CHAMPIONSHIP Malcolm X Shabazz 71, Willingboro 44 STATE GROUP 3 CHAMPIONSHIP Ocean City 50, Jefferson Township 37 STATE GROUP 4 CHAMPIONSHIP Rancocas Valley 64, Patterson Eastside 45 Girls' State Group 1 Championship Point Pleasant Beach 12 12 10 22 - 56 Bloomfield Tech 11 5 16 22 - 54 PPB: Katelynn Flaherty 30, Marina Mabrey 26. BT: Javee Artis 6, Yasmin Dorrielan 7, Ashunae Durant 25, Ra-Janee Fuller 9, Breanna Prince 2, Kyla Ramseur 5. State Group 1 Championship Point Pleasant Beach 10 10 6 17 - 43 Dayton 10 7 8 14 - 39 PPB: Jeff Bryant 2, Riley Calzonetti 18, Matt Farrell 2, P.J.Kinneavy 9, Dominique Uhl 7, Noah Yates 5.D: Elijah Brown 10, Anthony Cioffi 7, Jared Clayton 4, Jonathan Medina 2, Isaiah Rogers 2, Joe Rogers 12, Yousef Zaki 2.

With 33.9 seconds remaining in the girls' basketball game last night at Southern Regional High, Haddonfield coach David Kosa called his starters off the floor and gave his senior point guard a hug. The Bulldogs trailed Malcolm X Shabazz, 46-34, in an NJSIAA state Group 2 semifinal, and playmaker Emily Grabiak and her teammates knew it was over. The score held, and highly favored Shabazz was on its way to compete for its seventh NJSIAA group title. The Newark school will play River Dell, the top seed in North 1 Group 2, or Chatham, the No. 3 seed in North 2 Group 2, in the final Sunday at the Ritacco Center in Toms River.

For a short time yesterday, it looked as though the Ocean City girls' basketball team had a shot at the NJSIAA Group 3 state championship. But the Red Raiders, ranked No. 3 in South Jersey by The Inquirer, could only watch as Malcolm X Shabazz pulled away in the third period en route to a 56-38 win at the Ritacco Center. A perennial state power, Shabazz (28-2) was simply too physical and too quick, claiming its fourth state title this decade. Ocean City finished the season with a 26-5 record and the satisfaction of knowing that it had an opportunity to capture its first state title in program history.

Corey Fisher and Yves Mbala, two prep school sensations who plan to spend their college days playing in the Big Five, last night led St. Patrick to a 61-54 victory over Linden in the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions boys' basketball final. Fisher, a 6-foot-2 junior already committed to Villanova, helped the Celtics (29-4) to the win at the Continental Airlines Arena by scoring a team-high 17 points. The 6-7 Mbala, a senior who is headed to La Salle, was named MVP after he added 11 rebounds and four blocked shots to a 15 point-performance against Linden (27-7)

During her illustrious career, Krissy Rosario made a name for herself in the Absegami girls' basketball annals by scoring over 1,000 points and grabbing more than 1,000 rebounds. But those talents went largely unnoticed last night at the Ritacco Center, where the 6-foot-2 senior forward couldn't overcome early foul trouble - and the fourth-seeded Braves (25-6) couldn't come up with a clutch shot down the stretch in suffering a 55-47 loss to top-seeded Malcolm X Shabazz in a Tournament of Champions semifinal.

Absegami girls' basketball coach Greg Goodwin calls Connie James "the best basketball player you never heard of. " Maybe that's why, even though the Braves had just expanded their lead to 19 points on James' layup, Goodwin swallowed hard when the senior guard crumpled to the Ritacco Center floor with 5 minutes, 30 seconds remaining in the third quarter of last night's Tournament of Champions quarterfinal. In tweaking a right ankle that she sprained near the end of the regular season - which forced her to miss two games - James spent more than a quarter on the bench getting the joint re-taped.

Posing for pictures after earning Willingboro's most-valuable-player award yesterday, Crystal Langhorne's smile was not as bright - or sincere - as it might have been had she been holding the trophy she really wanted. The 6-foot-2 all-American forward completed her final game for Willingboro with a shiny memento, national acclaim and disappointment. Despite a game-high 34 points from Langhorne, Willingboro could do little to stop Malcolm X Shabazz from earning its second straight Group 3 NJSIAA state title yesterday in a 63-52 game at the Ritacco Center at Toms River North.

Downingtown East has the height, Archbishop Carroll has the depth, Malcolm X Shabazz (N.J.) has the quickness and Emmaus has the grit. All four teams are still alive in the Future Stars 11th Annual Christmas Classic, following yesterday's first-round action at West Chester University. The matchups for today's second round include Downingtown East (9-0) against Carroll (5-2) at 6 p.m. and Shabazz (3-0) facing Emmaus (7-4) at 7:30 p.m. The finals are scheduled for Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., following the third-place game at 6 p.m. "It will be interesting," Carroll coach Barry Kirsch said.

The only things the Willingboro girls' basketball team could muster were blank stares and bewilderment. Malcolm X Shabazz of Newark had done to the Chimeras yesterday what the Chimeras had done to opposing teams all season long - blow them out. The Bulldogs led by as many as 25 points late in the third quarter on their way to a surprisingly easy 77-67 victory over previously undefeated Willingboro in the state Group 3 title game at the...