Eighth seeded St. Joseph’s takes on 2nd seeded Piscataway for Title
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–On Thursday afternoon, GMC Hoops will travel up to Perth Amboy High School to taken in both games of the final round of the 2017 Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament including the Championship Game between eighth seeded St. Joseph’s and second seeded Piscataway. Both teams are coming off hard fought victories in the semifinals.
St. Joseph’s rallied from a 48-41 deficit against 4th seeded North Brunswick in the first semifinal with a 16-4 tear to take a 57-52 lead, and held on to win 57-55. Adam Boucher led the way with 16 points while Demarcus Shepard scored 10. The Freshmen Falcons rebounded from a 19-4 North Brunswick surge to win the game. Piscataway defeated third seeded South Brunswick in the other semifinal.
GMC Hoops saw St. Joseph’s Freshmen team for the first time this past Friday in the Perth Amboy/GMC Tournament Quarterfinals, where they broke away from a 21-19 lead with an 11-0 run to end the first half for a 32-19 lead at the intermission, and stayed in control the rest of the way in a 70-54 victory. Andrew Olden led St. Joe’s with 22 points while Adam Boucher chipped in with 21. Meanwhile, Piscataway defeated New Brunswick in their quarterfinal, 71-61. Piscataway enters this game at 18-1 while St. Joseph’s comes in at 19-7.
How Did They Get Here?
No. 8 St. Joseph’s (20-7)
* Round of 16: Defeated 9th seeded Woodbridge, 69-50
* Quarterfinals: Defeated 17th seeded Perth Amboy, 70-54
* Semifinals: Defeated 4th seeded North Brunswick, 57-55
No. 2 Piscataway (18-1)
* Round of 16: Defeated 15th seeded J.F. Kennedy
* Quarterfinals: Defeated 7th seeded New Brunswick, 71-61
* Semifinals: Defeated 3rd seeded South Brunswick
Team Rosters
No. 2 St. Joseph’s (20-7)
Head Coach: Jim Grady
* #3 Caleb Carter
* #4 Eric Amponsah
* #5 Martin Greene
* #11 Tommy Fehl
* #12 Tommy Young
* #13 Adam Boucher
* #15 Demarcus Shepard
* #23 Henri Brignol
* #25 Justin Monahan
* #30 Samir Daoud
* #34 Andrew Olden
DID YOU KNOW? St. Joseph’s merged its St. Joseph’s-Green and St. Joseph’s-White team into one squad this season. In the history of the Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament, either a St. Joseph’s-Green or St. Joseph’s-White team was in 10 Final Fours since 1998. St. Joseph’s-Green won three titles while St. Joseph’s-White won two. All five titles have come since 2007.
No. 2 Piscataway (18-1)
Head Coach: Byron Martin
* #1 Kristan Hernandez
* #3 Keshawn Peterson
* #4 Bryan Shields
* #5 Daylin Robinson
* #11 Marcel Walker
* #12 James Summers
* #13 Demi Jenkins
* #14 Sherrod Cooper
* #15 Ruben Castellanos
* #22 Elijah Dowdy
* #23 Jordan Myers
* #24 Kristopher Hernandez
* #25 Tahj Bean
* #30 Evan Sonor
* #31 Johnathan Livingston
* #33 Elijah Vito
* #34 Azande Johnson
* #44 Khalief Walker
DID YOU KNOW? Piscataway is making its third Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament Finals appearance since winning it all in 2009 in one of the greatest freshmen finals of all time between the Freshmen Chiefs and St. Joseph’s-Green.
The contest featured two future professional players in Piscataway’s Tajae Sharpe, who is now playing football with the Tennessee Titans, and St. Joseph’s Quenton DeCosey, who went on to play D1 college hoops at Temple, and is now playing professionally in Italy.
Watch highlights from the 2009 Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tourney Championship.
Since the tournament’s inception in 1991, Piscataway has appeared in four prior Championship Games with three titles: 1992, 2003, and 2009. The Freshmen Chiefs have been runner’s-up once in 1997. P-Way also has two third place finishes in 2005 and 2016.
Recently, the Freshmen Chiefs have enjoyed considerable success with three Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tourney Final Four appearances in the past four years. The only year that they didn’t make the semifinals was in 2015 when they were actually the top seed, and were upset by 17th seeded Perth Amboy in the Round of 16.
The Game
OUTLOOK: Both of these teams played each other twice this season with the Freshmen Chiefs winning both times. The first contest was the closest with Piscataway defeating St. Joseph’s 58-54 in P-Way on December 20th. The rematch on December 19th was more one sided with the Chiefs winning 81-58.
The Falcons have played more games, and the likes of non-conference foes Hackensack (lost 66-54), Paterson Eastside (won 58-42), St. Benedict’s (lost 55-34), Bridgewater-Raritan (twice lost 58-41 and 63-57), St. Joseph’s by the Sea of Staten Island (won 41-28), Westfield (won 54-43), Neptune (won 53-21), and The Hun School (63-47). The Falcons were 5-4 against non-conference competition.
Piscataway, on the other hand, played a limited non-conference schedule with only two games against Lakewood of Ocean County and the Shore Conference and Bridgewater-Raritan of the Skyland Conference. The Freshmen Chiefs also played Bishop Ahr of the GMC Blue in a crossover clash.
Both teams have racked up a lot of wins during the season, but the Chiefs have been a bit more dominant and proficient including a regular season sweep of the Falcons. When the brackets came out two weeks ago, GMC Hoops picked Piscataway to win the title over Colonia. St. Joseph’s crashed that party, but we’re still sticking with the Freshmen Chiefs.
PREDICTION: Piscataway wins, 59-47.