Another Big Night on Tap at South Amboy MS/HS
SOUTH AMBOY, NJ—Earlier, GMC Hoops learned from Tom Reilly, that the 8th annual Friends of South Amboy Benefit Showcase will take place on opening weekend at South Amboy High School.
Proceeds from this year’s edition of the event will go to benefit the family of Pat Leonard, who was diagnosed with T-Cell Lymphoma in May of 2015, and passed away a little more than two months ago on October 12, 2019 at only 51 years old after a long and valiant battle against the disease. The showcase began in December 2012 in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, which devastated much of South Amboy as well as other coastal communities that make up the Jersey Shore.
The games, which will take place today, Saturday, December 21st, will all involve 5 schools from the Greater Middlesex Conference. The schedule for the day includes four games starting at 2:00 PM.
There will be one girls game followed by three boys games. Schools participating include: Mater Dei Prep, Piscataway Tech, Sayreville, South Amboy, South River, and St. Thomas Aquinas. Below is the schedule for the showcase:
2019 Friends of South Amboy Benefit Showcase—Schedule
- 2:00 PM—Piscataway Tech vs. South Amboy (Girls)
- 4:00 PM—Piscataway Tech vs. South Amboy (Boys)
- 6:00 PM—South River vs. Sayreville (Boys)
- 8:00 PM—St. Thomas Aquinas vs. Mater Dei Prep (Boys)
A Word About Each of the Games:
Piscataway Tech vs. South Amboy (Girls) @ 2:00 PM—A year ago, these two teams squared off in their GMC Gold Division opener with Piscataway Tech pulling away in the 4th quarter for a 47-36 victory. Eumani Hollins led the way for the Lady Raiders with a huge double-double of 14 points and 19 rebounds while June Olivieri led South Amboy with 12 points.
Last season, the Lady Guvs ended up finishing 5-16 overall including a 4-12 mark in the GMC Gold while Piscataway Tech finished 19-8 overall including a 13-3 mark in the Gold Division to finish behind last year’s division champion, Timothy Christian. Both teams already had their season openers on Thursday with South Amboy losing to Somerset Tech, 64-39 and Piscataway Tech falling to Woodbridge Academy, 41-35.
Piscataway Tech vs. South Amboy (Boys) @ 4:00 PM—A year ago, these two teams dueled it out before the Raiders, coached by Lenny Reyes, who enjoyed a successful stint with the Guvs as head coach including a 2013-14 birth in the GMCT Elite Eight as the 24th seed, pulled away for a 61-55 win behind 1,000 point scorer, Sergio Rodriguez 25 points, Sean Deuffi (15 points), and Abdul Momah (10 points), who is now at Timothy Christian. Kyle Gasiewski, another 1,000 point scorer, led South Amboy with a game high 23 points while Louie Martinez chipped in with 18.
The Raiders went on to finish 17-10 overall including a 13-3 mark in the GMC Gold to finish behind Dunellen in the division. Meanwhile, South Amboy, coached by Matt Wiater, improved significantly from a 2-20 finish two years ago to go 11-14 overall including a 7-9 mark in the GMC Gold. The Guvs, which had their season opener on Thursday night, a 62-60 win at Somerset Tech, is looking to improve even more this season. Piscataway Tech is playing their season opener today before competing in the Roselle Park Holiday Tournament next week.
South River vs. Sayreville (Boys) @ 6:00 PM—This is a rematch of last year’s nightcap game that was won by South River in come from behind fashion, 56-52. Jayvon Taylor, who transferred to New Brunswick this past offseason, led the way for the Rams with a game high 22 points while Silvio Cruz chipped in with 13. Jay Macklin led Sayreville in a losing cause with 12 points while junior Luca Ventricelli chipped in with 11
South River went on to finish 17-10 overall to earn the 13th seed in the 2019 GMCT, and finish third in the GMC Blue behind Carteret and St. Thomas Aquinas. Sayreville ended up 6-18 overall including a 4-8 mark in the GMC White, but finished strong by getting to the GMCT Round of 16 as the 22nd seed with wins over Highland Park and Edison in the Play-In and Preliminary Rounds.
Both teams are rebuilding this year with Sayreville perhaps a bit further along. Each team now has a new coach with Brandon Walsh taking over for Rodney Harris last summer and Tom Passafaro taking the helm in Bomber Country after John Wojcik stepped down this spring to become an assistant coach at Ramapo College. Both teams lost their season openers with South River falling to top ranked St. Thomas Aquinas (81-26) on Thursday night, and Sayreville slipping to Edison on Friday night (52-40).
Mater Dei Prep vs. St. Thomas Aquinas @ 8:00 PM—This game is the main event featuring the top ranked Trojans coming off a Thursday night season opening win over South River in a GMC Blue Clash in South River while Mater Dei Prep began its season with a 74-27 victory over Henry Hudson.
St. Thomas Aquinas comes in also ranked 9th in New Jersey by Jay Gomes of NJ Hoops and ranked 12th by NJ.com. The Trojans feature Wake Forest Commit, Quadry Adams, who signed a letter of intent to play basketball for the Demon Deacons in November, and Derrick Grant, who also signed with NCAA D2 Southern New Hampshire.
Aquinas has junior Jalen Jones and sophomore Samar Abdullah returning and added newcomers such as Jaquan Harris (Patrick School), Kyree Henry (Woodbridge), Tristian Jeffries (Gill), Mehki Johnson (St. Benedict’s) and, Jonathan Wyatt (Central Jersey College Prep). Mater Dei Prep features a hometown product in senior Pete Gorman.
Gorman, a South Amboy native, is the younger brother of Charlie Gorman, a former sharpshooting standout that played for Joe Lewis at Cardinal McCarrick. Last season, Gorman averaged 13.9 points per game in 22 games for the Seraphs, which finished, 13-10 overall, and looking to do better this year. Meanwhile, St. Thomas Aquinas, coached by Bob Turco, went 21-7 last year to win the GMC Blue, reach the GMCT Elite Eight, and win its first state playoff game in 38 years.
For more details on this game, check out the GMC Hoops blog article from July 16, 2019 at https://gmchoops.com/blog/st-thomas-aquinas-to-play-mater-dei-at-2019-friends-of-south-amboy/.
GMC Hoops plans to cover all four games in this year’s showcase. Follow along at https://www.facebook.com/GMCHoops, Instagram @gmchoops, or on twitter @gmchoops.