GMC Hoops Blogosphere

Amir Bell, Timothy Christian, East Brunswick and St. Joseph’s Earn Opening Weekend Honors

Princeton Bound Guard Leads EB Past St. Joe’s In Showdown; Timothy Christian Only GMC Team To Go 2-0 On Opening Weekend

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–Opening weekend has come and gone, and it is time to issue our GMC Hoops honors for the first weekend of the 2012-13 season. The Player of the Week honor goes to Amir Bell of East Brunswick for his efforts against St. Joseph’s. Timothy Christian earned the GMC Hoops Profile of the Week for its fine start to the season, and of course, the Bears of EB and the Falcons of St. Joe’s earned Game of the Week honors for the great game they played on opening night.

GMC Hoops Player of the Week–Amir Bell, East Brunswick

Since the 2007-08 campaign when East Brunswick went 4-18, the Bears have been one of the top teams in the Greater Middlesex Conference. During that five year run, EB has had several players break into the varsity lineup as freshmen. Two of those players are on this year’s team with NJIT bound senior Rob Ukawuba and Princeton bound junior Amir Bell. Both Ukawuba and Bell have helped the Bears earn three straight GMCT Elite Eight berths, and a Final Four appearance last season. This year, the duo is hoping to go further in both the GMCT and the states.

On opening night, the two combined for 35 points including a team high 18 by Bell, who connected on three field goals including three treys in the win. In a game that lived up to the pre-season hype, the second ranked Bears overcame an early 15-6 deficit to defeat top ranked St. Joe’s on the road despite 24 points by Immaculata transfer Wade Baldwin and 18 points from Kentucky bound Karl Towns. In the off-season, Bell was also a key contributor to East Brunswick’s success in the East Coast Conditioning Fall League where the Bears defeated Rutgers Prep, Linden, and St. Patrick’s in the playoffs to win the league championship.

As a sophomore at East Brunswick, Bell played in 24 games, averaged 6.8 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game. He connected on 45 field goals including 16 three pointers while making 58 free throws as the Bears went 18-8 last season, reached the GMCT semifinals for the first time since the 2000-01 season, and reached the Central Jersey Group IV Quarterfinals. In his two plus years at EB, he has played in 52 games, scored 349 points on 109 field goals including 38 threes, and sank 90 foul shots. Bell has also collected 37 assists and 35 rebounds. Congratulations Amir, and best of luck this season.

GMC Profile–Timothy Christian Tigers

After losing two 1,000 point scorers in Dan Decker (Baptist Bible College) and Kristian Svendsen (Raritan Valley Community College), nobody gave Timothy Christian consideration for Gold Division honors entering into this season despite Piscataway Tech moving on to the Blue Division. However, the Tigers still have two solid returning players in Jeff Parker and Brandon Summers, and players up from a JV squad that did very well last season. Add to that the team philosophy, and family like atmosphere created by head coach, Chris Hobbs, and you have a team that may surprise some this season.

On opening day, the Tigers knocked off Gold Division contender, South River at home by the score of 41-39. The following day, TCS registered an impressive win over Lincoln of Jersey City in a non-conference matchup. The Tigers were the only team in the GMC to go 2-0 during the opening weekend. Parker led the way in the win over South River with a team high 14 points including the game winner with 30 seconds left while Matt DiLeo added 12 including a three point play to answer a 10-0 fourth quarter run by South River that gave the Rams the lead. In the surprising 49-32 victory over Lincoln less than 24 hours later, Summers recorded a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds while Jarrett Locke added 9, and Parker and DiLeo each chipped in with 8.

Other players expected to contribute to the 2012-13 edition of the TCS Tigers are Matt Ziegler, Evan Waldron, Zach Coyle, David Figueroa, and Josiah Vargas. Also on the roster are Brandon McDougal, Ben St. Jean, and Josh Decker. Congratulations to Chris Hobbs and the Timothy Christian Tigers for the fine start to the season, and best of luck the rest of the way.

GMC Hoops Game of the Week–East Brunswick @ St. Joseph’s–Opening Night

It was a no brainer for the GMC Hoops Game of the Week on opening weekend. The highly anticipated showdown between the second ranked Bears of East Brunswick, and the top ranked Falcons of St. Joe’s lived up to the hype. EB jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the contest only to have the Falcons respond with a 15-2 tear including 10 points from Karl Towns.

The Bears wouldn’t go away though, led by the tandem of Player of the Week Amir Bell (18 points) and Rob Ukawuba (17 points), and timely three pointers from Gary Baumer and Carl Taylor, the Bears pulled to within seven at the break, and put together a 22-11 surge in the fourth quarter for the win. East Brunswick connected on eight treys including three by Bell and two by Ukawuba.

Ukawuba came up with a traditional three point play with three minutes left for a 47-45 lead, and then hit a three pointer a minute later for a 47-45 lead. Scrappy guard, Dan Leung netted two free throws with 2.8 seconds left to seal the win, and ended up with 6 points while senior big man, Jake Krantz and Taylor each added 7 for the winners. Immaculata transfer Wade Baldwin led all scorers with 24 points while Towns ended up with 18, but no other St. Joe’s player had more than five points in the contest.

Congratulations to both the Bears and the Falcons for a great opening night contest, and hopes for more to come the rest of the season.

2010 GMC Hoops Summer League Season Honors

DeCosey Of St. Joe’s Earns Player Of The Week Honors While Piscataway And McCarrick Get Game Of The Week Honors, And J.P. Stevens Gets Recognized In GMC Profile

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–On Friday, GMC Hoops put together his summer league season honors for 2010. This includes Player of the Week, Game of the Week, and GMC Profile (Team of the Week). The site has decided to award the Player of the Week honor to Quenton DeCosey of St. Joseph’s while giving the Game of the Week award to both Piscataway and Cardinal McCarrick, and the GMC Profile recognition to J.P. Stevens.

DeCosey earned Player of the Week Honors for St. Joseph’s by averaging a double-double in seven games covered by the site. Despite only making 43 of 109 shots (39 percent) in those seven games, DeCosey connected on 14 of 37 from three point range (38 percent), and connected on 28 of 41 from the line for 68 percent. He averaged 14.3 points per game, 10.3 rebounds per game, 1.9 assists per game, 1.6 blocks per game, and 1.1 steals per game over the seven contests against tough competition including: Hillsborough, Theodore Roosevelt (DC), Cumberland Valley (PA), Bloomfield Tech, Point Pleasant Beach, Linden, and St. Patrick’s. St. Joe’s was 4-3 in those games. He also helped the Falcons defeat Monsignor Farrell of Staten Island at Elizabeth, and Cherry Hill West at the Summer Prime Time Shootout. DeCosey is no stranger to Player of the Week Honors. During the 2009-10 season, he earned the honor in Week Five thanks to a spectacular performance against Piscataway. Congratulations Quenton on receiving this honor.

Our Game of the Week award went to Piscataway and Cardinal McCarrick for their battle in the semifinals of the Rahway Summer League played on July 29th. McCarrick had jumped out to a 21-7 lead only to have Piscataway roar back to take a 50-45 lead late in the second half. The Eagles rallied to tie things up again though as Charlie Gorman connected on a three pointer, and Dana Raysor scored on a layup. However, Tajae Sharpe gave P-Way the lead for good by coming right back down for a score, and a 52-50 lead with under a minute to play. The Chiefs got another score to go up by four, and hung on to win by three, 55-52. These two teams also played another thrilling game earlier in the summer at Rahway that McCarrick won in overtime on July 2nd. Piscataway eventually lost in the Championship to Rahway while McCarrick, the top seed at Rahway, also played in the Linden Summer League. Congratulations to both teams for putting on such a fine show this summer.

Finally, but most importantly, J.P. Stevens earned our GMC Profile honor. The Hawks made a step in the right direction this summer by winning the Middlesex County College Summer League. The Hawks went 6-3 in the regular season to earn the fifth seed, and then defeated Perth Amboy Tech in the quarterfinals, South River in the semifinals, and Keyport in the championship. JPS averaged 38.4 points per game while yielding only 31.3 points per game during the summer at MCC. Mike Reuben, the younger brother of standout, Myles Reuben, earned MVP honors from the league while Victor Quan, Brandon Ahmed, Marvin Crawford, and Kenny Arias also contributed. The Hawks were 1-21 last season, but played mostly with a young and relatively inexperienced squad. Between the work done here, and the effort put in at the East Brunswick Team Camp, and the JV playing at the Colonia JV Summer League, Stevens is hoping to have a better 2010-11 season. Congratulations to the J.P. Stevens Hawks for making strides to improve this summer.

Tyler Osofsky of Spotswood, Monroe Falcons, and South Brunswick and Spotswood earn the GMC Hoops Fall League Season Honors

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–On Thursday, GMC Hoops announced its 2008 Fall League Season Honors including GMC Hoops Player of the Week, GMC Profile, and GMC Hoops Game of the Week. Player of the Week Honors went to junior Tyler Osofsky of Spotswood while the GMC Profile focus was given to the Monroe Falcons, and the GMC Hops Game of the Week Award went to both South Brunswick and Spotswood.

Osofsky, the younger brother of former Spotswood graduates Bryan and Nick Osofsky, helped spearhead the Chargers to a 6-2 mark in the recent Rebounds Fall League in Neptune including four straight to end the fall, and quality wins over Asbury Park, Marlboro, Ocean Township, and West Windsor-Plainsboro South. In eight contests at Rebounds, Osofsky connected on at least 15 three pointers including four in the first half of a 50-42 victory over Ocean Township to put the Chargers back on track after losing two straight to the AAU Shore Sharks and South Brunswick. Other players that got consideration were Osofsky’s teammate, Ross Gerhart, Kenny Bland and Myles Reuben of J.P. Stevens, Nnamdi Usuwa, Matt Wagner, and Dave Cole of Colonia, Evan Carberry of Metuchen, Mike Perone, Mike Colacci, and Ryan Farley of Middlesex, Thomas Bennett and Jeff Atkins of Piscataway, and Steve Blish of Monroe.

Speaking of South Brunswick, the Vikings and Chargers combined to put together the GMC Hoops Game of the Week for the fall. This is an honor given to two teams in the Greater Middlesex Conference that compete in a very exciting game. Many of the winners are determined because of the kind of matchup, the significance of the game, or something special that happened in the game itself. In this contest, South Brunswick trailed by 15 points late in the first half, 26-11, but rallied to tie and force overtime, where they won by four, 55-51. The win put both teams at .500 after the Vikes were 0-2 on the fall, and Spotswood had been 2-0. Key players in the Viking victory were Andrew Buckner, Jean Paul Isaacs, and Cody McHugh.

Finally, the Monroe Falcons earned team of the week honors for their efforts at the TBSA Fall League. Entering their final game against Weequahic of Newark, the Falcons had amassed a 6-1 overall record including wins over Bridgewater, Trenton, and Hunterdon Central. The Purple Birds have a good blend of youth and experience with newcomers such as Danny Brix as well as veterans such as Steve Blish, Tim Brix Jr., and Ken Pace Jr. Over the summer, Monroe played in the Elizabeth Summer League, East Brunswick Team Camp, the Eastern Team Camp at TCNJ, the Kean University Ironman Challenge, and the Summer Prime Time Shootout. One of the goals that fourth year head coach Bob Turco has is have all his teams compete in a lot of games during the offseason so that the players can get familiar with other players, and with what is expected.