Rahway, under the direction of head coach Kevin Conroy, is undefeated at 8-0 and 5-0 in the Union County Conference-Mountain Division, following Friday night's hard-fought 62-56 win over a solid Scotch Plains team (5-4 overall, 3-2 in the UCC-Mountain). (Photos by JR Parachini)

Scotch Plains, under the guidance of coach Dan Doherty, continues to be a tough team to play

Unbeaten Rahway’s Next Test Thursday
As Powerful St. Patrick Visits Indians  

A LOOK AT UNION COUNTY BOYS’ BASKETBALL For the week of Jan. 9:

By JR Parachini
For sidelinechatter.com

As the second week of January is now in full swing, Union County Conference-Mountain Division leader Rahway is the only undefeated team remaining in Union County.

However, the Indians’ next game is at home against defending Watchung Division champion St. Patrick Thursday night at 7.

The Celtics lost Trenton Catholic, 81-73, in the SFIC Festival, Sunday at Kean, but are still considered one of the elite programs in the Garden State, even with the departure of longtime coach Kevin Boyle to the Montverde School in Florida and stars such as Derrick Gordon (Western Kentucky) and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Kentucky) having moved on to college ball.

Let’s just say, for argument’s sake, that Rahway will still be 8-0 at least until as late as Thursday.

Rahway defeated three Mountain Division teams this past week – Hillside on the road and Governor Livingston and Scotch Plains at home to improve to 5-0 in the Mountain.

The Indians begin this week with a two-game lead over 3-2 squads Union Catholic, Scotch Plains, Governor Livingston and St. Mary’s of Elizabeth.

The only two division teams Rahway has not faced yet are Union Catholic and Summit. Before facing those two squads, Rahway’s next three games are scheduled against non-division foes, starting with Thursday night's St. Patrick game.

Rahway is then next scheduled to host Valley Division leader Roselle Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Rahway Recreation Center. The Indians then have a game scheduled at Valley Division foe Roselle Park Jan. 17 at 4 p.m.

Rahway will resume play in the Mountain Division with games at Union Catholic, Thursday, Jan. 19, at 7 p.m. and at home vs. Summit, Friday, Jan. 20, at 7.

Scotch Plains, despite many attempts by Rahway to pull away, gave the home team Indians a real fight for the full 32 minutes Friday night. Rahway prevailed by a 62-56 count, but by no means was its eighth victory an easy one.

“We could have lost every single game we’ve played so far, that’s how close they’ve been,” said Rahway sixth-year head coach Kevin Conroy, who last year was named Union County Coach of the Year by The Star-Ledger’s Josh Rosenfeld.

Three of Rahway’s five division wins have come by single digits.

“Even though we beat Cranford on Opening Night (65-51), Cranford was coming off winning a football state championship. They have a heck of a player in (junior) Reggie Green.”

Overcoming the talents of Gov. Livingston senior guard Logan Kelley in a 59-50 win over the Highlanders Thursday night was not easy as well.

“The kid Kelley can play, he’s really good,” Conroy said. “Every game in our conference seems up for grabs, the teams are that close.”

Rahway senior point guard Hakeem Kornegay poured in a team-high 17 points in Friday night’s win over Scotch Plains. Conroy felt the Raiders did a good job of taking away his outside shot.

Kornegay adjusted his game by driving to the basket successfully eight times for layup field goals. His last one gave Rahway a three-point late in the third quarter after Scotch Plains pulled to within one.

“I thought our first complete team effort came in our win against Gov. Livingston,” said Kornegay, who is still being looked at by small colleges for football and basketball. “We had to step up and make plays in the second half against Scotch Plains.”

Kornegay follows the mantra of his coach and practically every other one.

“We know that 8-0 is one of our best starts in some time, but we’re just taking it one game at a time,” Kornegay said. “We have to play hard every quarter.”

That’s exactly what Rahway needed to do Friday night as the Indians had their hands full with emerging Scotch Plains 6-5 junior center Thomas Bonacum, who produced game-highs of 25 points and 17 rebounds and also blocked two shots.

“We had nobody that could stop him,” Conroy said.

Rahway will need to do a better job when the teams clash again in division play Feb. 2 in Scotch Plains.

“Thomas has become our go-to guy,” Scotch Plains head coach Dan Doherty said.

With senior Matt Jegede out for the season with a torn ACL from football, there’s no doubt that Bonacum, who also started last year, has stepped up his play so far this season.

“He’s a tough guy for us to take off the court,” Doherty said.

Last year Scotch Plains was the final Mountain Division team to lose a division game. Then at the end of the season it was Roselle Catholic defeating Gov. Livingston to win the division title.

“I think the division is just as competitive as it was last year,” said Doherty, who guided Scotch Plains to the 2008 Group 3 state championship and is now in his third season of his second stint as the head coach of the Raiders. “It seems to be getting better.”  

UNION COUNTY CONFERENCE

2011-2012 BOYS’ BASKETBALL

STANDINGS THROUGH

GAMES PLAYED JAN. 7:

WATCHUNG DIVISION:

Plainfield (3-0)

St. Patrick (2-0)

Elizabeth (2-1)

Roselle Catholic (1-1)

Linden (1-2)

Westfield (0-2)

Union (0-3)

MOUNTAIN DIVISION:

Rahway (5-0)

Union Catholic (3-2)

Scotch Plains (3-2)

Gov. Livingston (3-2)

St. Mary’s, Elizabeth (3-2)

Hillside (2-3)

Cranford (1-4)

Summit (0-5)

VALLEY DIVISION:

Roselle (3-0)

Roselle Park (2-1)

Johnson (2-1)

Oratory Prep (2-1)

New Providence (2-3)

Dayton (1-2)

Brearley (0-4)

OVERALL RECORDS:

Rahway (7-0)

Plainfield (7-1)

Elizabeth (6-1)

Roselle (6-1)

Union Catholic (5-3)

Oratory Prep (5-3)

Scotch Plains (5-4)

St. Patrick (4-2)

Gov. Livingston (4-3)

Roselle Catholic (4-4)

Cranford (4-4)

St. Mary’s, Elizabeth (4-4)

Roselle Park (3-2)

Linden (3-3)

Dayton (3-4)

New Providence (3-5)

Hillside (2-4)

Johnson (2-4)

Westfield (2-5)

Summit (1-6)

Brearley (0-5)

Union (0-6)

JR’S TOP 10

THROUGH JAN. 7:

1-Plainfield (7-1)

2-St. Patrick (4-2)

3-Roselle Catholic (4-4)

4-Elizabeth (6-1)

5-Linden (3-3)

6-Rahway (8-0)

7-Scotch Plains (5-4)

8-Roselle (6-1)

9-St. Mary’s, Elizabeth (4-4)

10-Union Catholic (5-3)

DIVISION GAMES OF NOTE THIS WEEK:

Watchung – Westfield at Linden, Tuesday (Jan. 10) night at 7.

First-year Blue Devils head coach Daryl Palmieri was the junior

varsity coach at Linden a few years ago. This will be Linden’s

first game in a week as the Tigers seek to snap a two-game slide.

Mountain – Summit at Scotch Plains Tuesday (Jan. 10) night at 7.

The visiting Hilltoppers are still seeking their first division win.

Summit has lost three division games by single digits, including

a 61-57 double-overtime decision at home to Scotch Plains Dec. 20.

Valley – Dayton at New Providence, Tuesday (Jan. 10) night at 7.

New Providence (3-5) is on a rare-four game losing streak after

starting the season 3-1. Head coach Art Cattano is still six wins shy

of reaching 400. Dayton also begins the week under .500 at 3-4. New

Providence and Dayton, along with Roselle, shared last year’s Valley

Division championship.

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