New Frontier: Late Game Heroics Earn Henry Hudson Shot at Best in Group I

HIGHLANDS — Two seasons ago, the Henry Hudson boys basketball team went from a program in the NJSIAA Group I wilderness to a No. 1 seed in the Central Jersey Group I playoffs. It was a huge leap for a team that still played a schedule that reflected a team trying to rack up wins rather than prepare to make a playoff run.

Two years later, the Admirals sport the battle scars of playing past the first round of the NJSIAA Tournament while graduating to tougher non-division games and higher expectations. On Friday, those scars proved valuable with the game in the balance and after looking more like a contender than any team Henry Hudson has had in decades, the Admirals are eager to show they can play like champions.

Junior dynamo JoJo Newell recorded his 25th double-double in 26 games to lead the way and senior Billy Quinn delivered four crucial plays in the final 90 seconds to help Henry Hudson — the No. 8 seed in the Central Group I section — close out No. 9 Bound Brook, 54-47, to earn a trip to play top seed and defending Group I champion Thrive Charter of Trenton Monday in the sectional quarterfinals.

“These guys have been playing with each other for the last three or four years and we have been battle-tested this year,” Henry Hudson coach Brian Kelly said. “Losing close games sucks, but you turn that into a positive. One thing I’ll say about our group is they never got down, even after some of those losses. That kept showing up and getting better and we kept saying to them, ‘This is going to pay dividends when it matters in the state tournament.’ It paid dividends today.”

Henry Hudson stormed out to an 11-0 lead and held the advantage all the way until the final two minutes, when Bound Brook guard Titus Gordon hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 1:40 to go that gave the Crusaders a 47-46 lead. Quinn came right back with a three-pointer from the corner off a kick-out from Jaxsen Schmiedel, which thrust Henry Hudson back in front, 49-47.

“I gave (Gordon) a step and he hit a good shot,” Quinn said. “I know coach (Kelly) has faith in me. We have been together for four years. We came back down and got it back. I was wide open and I knew it was good.”

On the other end of the floor, Quinn stole the ball and drew a foul, prompting him to bury two free throws to push the lead to four. The senior guard then came through on a fourth straight position by knocking the ball loose, off the leg of a Bound Brook player and out of bounds to give Henry Hudson the ball once again. On the offensive end, Schmiedel forced up a shot, but Newell gathered the rebound and put it back up and in for a 53-47 lead.

Schmiedel then capped the win by making 1-of-4 free throws to officially make it an 8-0 Henry Hudson run to close out the game after Bound Brook had taken its only lead and held it for under 20 seconds. Quinn finished with 12 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals — a clutch performance now that every game could be Quinn’s last.

“It’s all about staying composed,” Quinn said. “I’m at the free-throw line on the home side, I’ve got all my guys in the stands cheering me on. I didn’t feel any pressure. It was like I was in practice: knock them down and win the game.”

“We told our seniors before the game, ‘Tonight is probably your last home game, so leave it all on the court,'” Kelly said. “Billy has been doing that his whole career. He got on the court his sophomore year because of his tenacity on defense, doing all those little things. He came up with a couple loose balls and a couple scrambles late were fifty-fifty and we came up with them.”

The same can be said for fellow senior guard Blakely Smith, who finished with 10 points on three three-pointers. Smith hit threes on each of Henry Hudson’s first two possessions of the game to ignite the 11-0 start.

“For him to start the game like that for us was huge,” Kelly said of Smith. “He is a great leader, he does all the little things and I’m glad he got to have a moment tonight.”

While the seniors came up big in supporting roles, it was once again Newell starring in all facets for Henry Hudson. The 6-foot-4 junior entered play Friday averaging 26.5 points and 13.7 rebounds — both tops in the Shore Conference — and while he came up 10 points shy of his scoring average, he easily cleared the bar for his 25th double-double of the season in 26 games. Newell posted 16 points, 20 rebounds, three assists and six blocked shots despite sitting for a the final 2:20 of the first quarter and half the second with two fouls — both of which were issued on player-control offensive fouls.

“Early in my freshman year, I wasn’t starting, but I just wanted to do whatever I could to stay on the court and that was always by getting rebounds,” Newell said. “I wanted to bring energy and grab rebounds — that’s all I want to do. From there, I started bringing the defense and the offense. But from the very beginning, I want to be the most vocal guy, the hardest-working guy. When I walk in the building, I want people to know my name.”

“The fact that he only has one game this year that he didn’t have a double-double and he had thirty (points) that game, is hard to put into words,” Kelly said. “He doesn’t let leading the state in scoring stop him from doing the little things we need him to do to win games. He is still relentless on the boards, still blocking shots, still all over the place defensively. He is just a joy to coach and we’re really lucky to have him.”

Even with with Newell limited by foul trouble in the first half and tied to the bench for a five-minute stretch, Henry Hudson maintained the lead. The Admirals still had enough size to keep the Crusaders honest, with 6-foot-5 junior Masio Tucker scoring all seven of his points in the first half while also grabbing nine rebounds.

“The referee called two fouls and they were the right calls,” Newell said. “I just had to answer back. Instead of driving in, I settled for jump shots, I settled for floaters, I took some threes and I gave them some pump-fakes. Instead of just trying to go through them, I adapted to the playing style.”

“He was begging me to get back in the game,” Kelly said of Newell. “I thought our bench did a great job. They allowed me to extend that sequence with JoJo on the bench. Marshall Colangelo came in and hit a big three. The role players top-to-bottom were very tight-knit tonight and that paid dividends. (Newell) was hounding us to get back in the game and he is a smart player, so he handled himself well.”

Friday’s win was a dose of retribution for returning players from last year, who endured a last-second loss to Point Pleasant Beach in the sectional quarterfinals after rallying from a double-digit deficit in the second half. A year earlier, the Admirals ended their 21-win season with a home loss to Manville in the Central Group I semifinals.

“Beach has been a tough rival for us,” said Quinn, whose team is 0-4 vs. Point Beach over the last three seasons. “We have always wanted to get one on them, so hopefully we can keep going in the postseason and maybe see them again. That was a tough loss last year, but it’s all about bouncing back and just staying true to ourselves. It’s just us in here.”

The presence of Thrive last season and College Achieve of Asbury Park in 2024 might have lessened the sting of those losses considering no teams came close to stopping either squad from winning the last two Group I championships. This time around, however, Henry Hudson’s players are convinced they are ready for a trip to the grounds of the former Trenton Catholic Academy to face a team that has spent time in the state Top 20 this season — and for the first time, they earned a chance to test their belief against the group favorite by winning the game to get to the game.

“To be playing a top 25 team in the state in March, that’s what you work for,” Kelly said. “That’s the situation you want to be in. Seeding is seeding — you let the chips fall where they lie and then you take it one step at a time. These guys have played good competition this year: Freehold Township, Point Beach, Ocean. They are not going to be intimidated. We have size and we’re going to do everything we can to get ready for them.”

“It feels amazing,” Newell said. “We don’t want to duck anybody. We want to play every Group One team. We’re not skipping anybody. That’s the way we practice, that’s the way we walk in the building. We’re consistent. That’s how we are as a program. I walk into every place knowing my brothers have my back and my coaches have my back. That’s how we’re going to compete with Thrive.”