Greg Tartaglia / NorthJersey.com
WAYNE — Asim was awesome, as was his peer, Jahsair.
Paterson Charter captured the first Passaic County boys basketball championship in program history on Saturday, scoring a 54-49 victory over Kennedy at Wayne Valley.
Asim Jones led the Lions (24-1) with 20 points and hit a pair of free throws late to help keep his team ahead. Close friend Jahsair Rosa added 16 points and 7 rebounds, as Paterson Charter posted its 16th consecutive win.
The duo has been playing basketball together since sixth grade at The Haledon School. They started their varsity careers at Manchester before transferring to Paterson Charter two years ago.
Lions coach Jerry Wimberly said that their arrival was mutually beneficial.
“They helped our team a lot, and we helped them academically, and it all worked together,” Wimberly said. “They’re both great kids… Slim [Jones] could score 60 points a game if he was selfish, but he’s unselfish. He’s one of the best kids I’ve ever coached in my life
What it means
With its 16th straight win overall, Paterson Charter joined a small list of small schools that have captured the Passaic County trophy.
One of those was Paterson Catholic, which closed in 2010 – five years before the Lions first entered the county basketball tournament. Wimberly’s cousin, Benjie, was the football coach at the now-closed parochial school and was there to cheer on Jerry’s team.
I said, I’m trying to catch up to him” in the championship department, Jerry said. “He was PC with the burgundy and gold, we’re PC with the blue and gold. So, this is the gold at the end of the rainbow.”
Kennedy, which came in as the defending champion, fell to 19-6.
