As his players celebrated another historic win for Paterson Charter on Sunday, coach Jerry Wimberly pumped his fists. Then, he raised his hands and pointed to the sky. This one was meant to be.
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3/13 - 6:00 PM Boys Basketball Final Burlington City 67 Paterson Charter 91
Six years ago, Wimberly said getting to a sectional final felt like a championship.
Paterson Charter has grown as a program since those days though and this group of Lions set the standard much higher for themselves coming into the winter. This weekend, there was only one way the team was leaving Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, and that was with a Group 1 state championship.
There was never any doubt either, especially after a six-point run to start the game.
Paterson Charter led from start to finish against Burlington City and secured the Passaic County school’s first-ever state title with an emphatic 91-67 win. The Lions, No. 20 in the NJ.com Top 20, also earned the No. 5 seed in the final Tournament of Champions and will play No. 15 Elizabeth on Tuesday in Toms River.
“That was the game plan from the jump. We wanted to put our foot on their neck early,” said senior Asim Jones, who scored a game-high 30 points in the championship game. “We told coach from the first practice this year that we were going to the TOC.”
Paterson Charter (31-1) came back ready to make history after an 11-0 season last winter.
There was a list of boxes that the Lions wanted to check off and one by one, this team made sure it happened, starting with an NJIC Tournament title win over Dwight-Englewood.
Then, Paterson Charter won its first-ever Passaic County championship, beating Paterson Kennedy and the program’s first head coach, Tommie Patterson, in the final. This basketball program has only been around since 2013, and Patterson was there for the first two years before Wimberly took over.
From there, the Lions went the distance in North 1, Group 1 and beat Midland Park to take home the program’s second sectional crown. A win over Glen Ridge a few days later in the group semifinals booked a trip to the championship game, marking Paterson Charter’s first group final appearance.
Paterson Charter should have made this ride two years ago, but then the season was shut down before the state finals were played due to COVID-19. That was heartbreaking for a team that earned the right to play for a state title. Senior Jamir Belfield held on to that what-if feeling for two years.
Now, he doesn’t have to wonder what holding a state title would be like anymore.
The senior found out first-hand after a lopsided win on the biggest stage.
Jones and Belfield are part of a group of five senior starters who have been nearly perfect this year. Paterson Charter has won 23 straight games now since a January loss to Newark Central, which played No. 1 Camden in the Group 2 final this weekend. Paterson Charter is 42-1 overall the last two years.
Seniors Moshe Wilson, Jashair Rosa and Marlon Harris also earned the start in the state championship game, while Adrian Mouzone and Ramir Frye played valuable minutes off the bench. Paterson Charter was also able to clear the rest of the bench late in the game and sub Mekhi Jones scored five points.
Rosa came to play from the opening tip and stepped up in the state final with 23 points. Wilson is known as a defensive ace, but he balled out on the offensive end as well and finished with 19 points.
Paterson Charter’s signature defense forced 14 turnovers.
“Everybody here has the same mission and the same goal,” said Wilson, who transferred in last year along with Jones and Rosa. “We all came together and we knew this was the big game. From quarter one to quarter four, we got the job done. We went through a lot to get to this point, so shout out to everybody for supporting us. We love you all.”
Paterson Charter opened its doors back in 2004 with less than 200 students.
By 2018, the school reported having more than 1,400.
The boys basketball program was created in 2012, but didn’t play on the varsity level yet. A year later, Paterson Charter tipped off in its first game, losing to American History. The Lions finished 11-16 that winter. It is the program’s only losing season. Patterson guided the team to a 14-11 record the next year.
Then, he took the job at Paterson Kennedy and Paterson Charter needed a coach.
Wimberly spent over a decade coaching women’s college basketball, with stops at Bloomfield College, Queens College and William Paterson. After his father passed away, Wimberly wanted to spend more taking care of his mother, and it was around that same time that the Paterson Charter job opened up.
It was a natural fit for Wimberly, who played high school ball at Paterson Eastside.
Paterson Charter made it to the sectional final just two years after Wimberly took over and he felt like getting to that game against Verona was a win. This program was hungry for more though and slowly began to become known as a basketball power. Paterson Charter made it back to the sectional final in 2019, and then the Lions won their first-ever North 1, Group 1 title in 2020.
The Lions liked that taste of championship success, and they wanted more of it.
Now, Paterson Charter is the Group 1 champion, and headed to the TOC.
“They said it was a school we needed to build up in the city and a program we needed to build up,” said Wimberly. “When I came out of the college ranks, I thought I would miss it, but I don’t miss it. These kids do an excellent job and they make me look good. This was another boxing match and we won this one. We won it.”
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Brandon Gould can be reached at bgould@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrandonGouldHS.