Basketball practice was supposed to end after two hours this past Saturday morning, but Armoni Sexton would not let it happen.

The lanky 15-year-old who already had been dubbed by many in the community as the next star from Paterson wanted to keep working out, to keep lofting jump shots at Public School 30. He barked at his seven teammates from the Playaz Basketball Club 15-and-under AAU team and coach Keila Brevard to stick around.

“He was like, ‘Let’s stay. Let’s keep working. Let’s keep working,’” Brevard recalled Monday. “And everybody stayed and we kept working.”

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Sexton and his teammates practiced for another hour. When the session finally ended, Brevard went home and later bragged to another coach about how hard Sexton was working, how seriously he was taking his future.

Within hours, Sexton was dead. He was killed early Saturday night during a drive-by shooting outside of a liquor store on the 200 block of Rosa Parks Boulevard in Paterson’s Fourth Ward, according to police. Three others — two males and a female — were shot, but are expected to survive.

A freshman starter this past season at Paterson Charter School for Science and Technology, the 6-6 Sexton was one of the top-rated basketball players in New Jersey and on his way to being the latest in a long-line of hoops stars from Paterson, coaches and teammates said.

“He was the next great one,” Paterson Kennedy boys basketball coach Jim Ring said.

“You’re talking about somebody who was on track to play major college basketball,” added Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly (D-Paterson), who’s also the city’s recreation director.

“The city lost their future NBA player,” Paterson Charter teammate Jahki Clarke said.

Paterson Mayor Joey Torres said Monday the shooting apparently was an act of retribution for another recent gun attack and part of an ongoing feud between groups of young men from Paterson’s First and Fourth Wards. City officials are offering a $1,000 reward to anyone who provides information.

Meanwhile, the basketball community is left grieving and contemplating what could have been. At 6-6, Sexton already was a deft shooter and strong dribbler, able to score from the perimeter or paint. Just 10 days ago, he helped his AAU team capture the nationally renowned Boo Williams tournament in Virginia.

Paterson Charter boys basketball coach Tommie Patterson said in his 15 years of coaching, he had a rule where freshmen were never allowed to speak up in the huddle or at practice. The idea was that freshmen needed to earn their place in the program before talking.

Patterson waived the rule this season for the first time and for one player: Sexton.

“Because he was repeating a lot of what I was saying,” Patterson said. “So I was like, ‘It’s probably better coming from him because these are his peers.’ He would interrupt me, which I didn’t care for, but I would just shut up and let him talk and then ask, ‘Are you done?’ Then I would piggyback off of what he said.”

Clarke said the team looked to Sexton in huddles and when they needed a big basket.

“He was our voice,” Clarke said. “He’ll draw up a play or he’ll tell us what to do. We looked at Moni as our leader. When we needed a quick bucket, we gave the ball to Moni. He knows how to get it done, even as a freshman.”

There was no telling how good Sexton may have become with three more years of high school development, coaches said. He already showed flashes of greatness and often drew comparisons to former Seton Hall standout Fuquan Edwin and Tim Thomas, the former Paterson Catholic and NBA star who many consider to be the best player to hail from the city.

"What’s so difficult to deal with is knowing Armoni was one of the up-and-coming, big-time basketball players to come out of the city of Paterson," Ring said. "But unfortunately you can’t stay in the gym 24 hours. You have to go home."

Patterson said he was sickened to see the city swallow one of its own bright young stars. According to police, Sexton was shot around 8:37 p.m. as he made his way home to meet his 9 p.m. curfew.

“We’ve had some things go on in the city of Paterson, but the basketball players are left alone,” Patterson said. “The basketball players were allowed to make it out. The city was not supposed to hold them back.”

Patterson said he knew Sexton was too talented to be playing long-term for his recently established high school program. Patterson and a couple of Sexton's other coaches tried to persuade him last summer to get out of Paterson and go to a prep school. But Sexton insisted on staying at the school, Patterson said.

Monday afternoon, guilt leveled the coach.

“We should have sent him,” Patterson said, fighting tears. “We should have gotten him out of here early. It’s not what you want, but it’s what’s best for you. And now this happened. I just can’t believe it.”

Matthew Stanmyre may be reached at mstanmyre@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattStanmyre. Find NJ.com on Facebook.