GMC Hoops Blogosphere

Warren Tech @ Amboy Tech–January 28, 2008

Patriots Down Knights 78-66

Sophomore Wilson Lopez scored 10 second period points to help Amboy Tech rally for a halftime 37-37 tie. The Knights led early as Jamie Peterson scored 13 1st half points.

Fellow sophomore, forward Anthony Rodriguez scored 6 of his 19 points in the third period as the Patriots opened a 3 point lead. The Pats added to their lead as point guard Alex Sanz scored 11 of his 15 points in the 4th quarter. Wilson Lopez scored 8 points as the Tech defense turned the Knights over to help put the game away.

Junior Joey Castro played a gutty all around game as he had a double-double (11 points & 10 rebounds) as well as dishing out 7 assists.

Anthony Rodriguez finished with career high totals in points (19), rebounds (16), and assists (6). It was also his first double-double.

Senior forward Ruben Plata grabbed 10 rebounds and tallied 7 points for Patriots.

Jamie Peterson finished with 19 for Warren Tech. Christian Hoefly led the Knights with a game high 22 points. With the victory, Amboy Tech improves to 10-6 overall on the season with victories in nine of its last 13 games. Against non-conference competition in 2007-08, the Patriots have compiled a record of 5-1.

South Amboy @ Perth Amboy Tech–January 25, 2008

South Amboy Survives Late Patriot Rally 80-67

PERTH AMBOY, NJ–The Guvs, led by Mark Simko’s 14 points, outscored Amboy Tech 27-9 in the 2nd period. South Amboy forged a 48-24 halftime lead.

The Patriots began the 2nd half with more intensity and tougher defense to slowly creep back into the game. Amboy Tech scored 14 3rd quarter points to cut the lead to 59-38. Tech was led by 8 Anthony Patterson points.

The Patriots turned up the pressure another notch and fought their way back to 67-61 on a basket by Joey Castro with 3:05 left in regulation. But the Patriots ran out of time as Mark Simko made two free throws and Larry Lenahan put back a missed shot to seal the win.

Anthony Patterson led Amboy Tech with 27 points, 12 boards, 3 steals, 2 assists and a block. It was his 9th double/double of the season. Patterson is now averaging doubles for the season. Joey Castro scored 10 of his 18 points in the 4 th period to aid the rally. Castro finished with 7 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists, 3 blocks and took 2 charges.

Junior point-guard Alex Sanz scored 9 points and tallied 6 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals.

South Amboy remains undefeated in the GMC Gold Division. Mark Simko scored a game high 34 points for the Guvs. Larry Lenahan chipped in with 13. With the loss, Amboy Tech drops to 9-6 overall, and 2-5 in divisional play.

2008 State Tourney Prospects For GMC Teams

J.P. Stevens Qualifies For First Time Since 1995 While Middlesex Gets First Bid In Six Seasons

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–The cutoff for the upcoming state tournaments later in February is rapidly approaching. The last date to qualify for the state tourney is Saturday, February 2nd. Potentially, the GMC could have 20 teams in the field if every team on the bubble does what they need to do to get in. Last season, a total of 18 conference teams made the field. Here are the teams that have qualified so far as of today (January 24, 2008):

• J.P. Stevens (14-2)–First time the school has qualified for the state tournament since the 1994-95 season. Team enjoying best season since the Tony Newsom era (1987-89).
• Bishop Ahr (12-1)–For the sixth straight year, the Trojans have qualified for the big dance. The only team to hand top ranked McCarrick its only conference loss, it still unbeaten in GMC play.
• Middlesex (12-2)–First time the school has entered a team in the big dance since former head coach, George Rauh, was in his last season at the school in 2001-02. Blue Jays currently running third in the GMC Blue.
• Piscataway (12-2)–The Chiefs are in for the second straight year, and are looking to break through in the very tough and competitive North Jersey Section 2 Group IV field.
• Cardinal McCarrick (12-3)–The newly crowned top ranked team in the latest GMC Hoops Top Ten, the Eagles have won ten straight, and are looking for their third sectional crown in the past six years.
• St. Joseph’s (12-3)–For the sixth straight year, and the third under current head coach, Dave Turco, the Falcons qualified for the state tournament. St. Joe’s is looking to break through for its fourth sectional championship after tough losses to CBA in the sectional semifinals in each of the past two years.
• South Amboy (11-4)–For the second straight year, the Guvs will be going to the state tournament, and hopefully have a memorable run. South Amboy, currently in first place in the GMC Gold has only two more games before the cutoff.
• Colonia (11-4)–Despite going through a rough patch recently with only a .500 mark since starting the season at 7-0, the Patriots qualify for the state tourney with hopes of defending its North Jersey Section 2 Group III title that it won last March over Union Hill.
• Carteret (10-4)–After not making the state tourney cut for four straight seasons, the Ramblers have made it to the big dance for the second straight year. The Ramblers, which defeated Raritan on the road in the first round last season before losing to eventual finalist Somerville in overtime in the Quarterfinals, are looking to go much farther this time around.
• Sayreville (10-5)–For the first time since the 2003-04 campaign, the Bombers have qualified for the state tournament. Despite losing four of its last six games, Sayreville has already equaled its win total for all of 2006-07.
• Perth Amboy Tech (9-5)–For the second straight season, Artie Wachtel and his Patriots have made the grade for the state tourney. Amboy Tech, which is 4-1 in non-conference games, also got two extra conference wins thanks to victories over E.B. Tech and Piscataway Tech over the holidays in the NJTAC Holiday Tournament.
• North Brunswick (8-5)–Despite the tough loss to Carteret on Tuesday, and the injury that has sidelined senior guard, Justin Morgan for the past couple of weeks, the Raiders have still managed to get a bid to the state tournament for the second straight year.

Teams On The Bubble

• Monroe (9-6)–All the Falcons need to do is win one of their next five contests before the cutoff, and they will make the tourney for the third straight year under the direction of Bob Turco, a.k.a. Captain Chaos.
• South Brunswick (8-5)–With five games left before the cutoff, the Vikings only need to win to contests to qualify for the eighth straight season.
• Metuchen (6-6)–Like South Brunswick, the Bulldogs have five games left before the cutoff, and have less room for error as they must win three games. Favorable home schedule should help. If the Dawgs qualify, it will mark the fourth straight year under current coach, Rich Stoner that they would have made it to the dance.
• Spotswood (7-7)–The Chargers have four games to go before the deadline on Feburary 2nd, and with a .500 mark, all they have to do is split the games to break even at 9-9. However, with McCarrick on the schedule as well as a road game at a Kennedy team that defeated them in overtime, and home against North Plainfield, it’s not going to be easy.
• Dunellen (8-8)–Despite the struggles the Destroyers have had earlier this season, a much tougher schedule, and not having Jim Schleppenbach at 100% as well as dealing with the recent losses to graduation over the past several years, they still have a good chance of qualifying. With three games to go before the cutoff, all DHS has to do is win two of the three, and they’ll be dancing for the sixth straight year.
• Piscataway Tech (5-5)–After winning five games all of last season, the Raiders have an opportunity to return to the state tournament for the fifth time in the last six years. What Karl Towns and his kids need to do is win two of their next three.
• J.F. Kennedy (6-8)–The Mustangs are looking to qualify for the first time since the 2001-02 season, but will have to put together a solid run. With six games to play before the cutoff, Kennedy has to play fellow bubble teams Metuchen and Spotswood at home, and playoff qualifiers Stevens, South Amboy, and Bishop Ahr before hosting Woodbridge the day of the cutoff.
• South Plainfield (6-9)–The Tigers are still hanging in there despite losing a plethora of close contests in the beginning of the season. With four games left before the deadline, SPHS must run the table, and win all four games. It doesn’t look good for my alma mater as it has three games on the road at Sayreville, North Brunswick, and Carteret before hosting Colonia on February 2nd.

Teams that are out: East Brunswick (3-11), East Brunswick Tech (4-10), Edison (2-12), Old Bridge (4-11), Perth Amboy (3-13), Woodbridge (3-11), New Brunswick (1-11), South River (4-11), and Highland Park (0-14).

Noor-Ul-Iman @ Perth Amboy Tech–January 22, 2008

Patriots Stop Stubborn NUI, 59-51

PERTH AMBOY, NJ–Junior Joey Castro led the attack with a game high 23 points for Amboy Tech. Castro also added 5 rebounds and 5 assists to the win. Sophomores Anthony Vidal and Anthony Rodriguez chipped in with 9 and 7 points respectively.  Rodriguez added 5 boards and 5 steals along with a block.

Junior Anthony Patterson had his seven game double-double streak halted as he was held to 5 points. Patterson still managed to haul in 12 rebounds to go along with 5 steals, 3 assists, and a blocked shot.

Wilson Lopez came off the bench to tally 8 points for the Patriots. Point Guard Alex Sanz scored six points while dishing out 4 assists and getting 2 steals. Leading by only seven at halftime, 33-26, the Patriots went on a decisive 15-7 third quarter spurt to take a 48-33 advantage going into the final period. With the victory, Amboy Tech has won eight of its last eleven games. The Patriots improved to 9-5 overall, and 4-1 against non-conference teams.

Noor-Ul-Iman was led by Y. Ezzyat with a team high 20 points.

Sayreville @ North Brunswick–January 17, 2008

Raiders Return to State Playoffs with 56-46 Triumph over Sayreville

It’s a special night for the North Brunswick Raiders, and not just because they have won 7 of their last 8 games.

    For the second straight year, the Raiders will be at the dance for the state playoffs, and they do it by avenging a loss to the Sayreville Bombers on the season’s opening night one month ago, as the Raiders prevail, 56-46 at NBTHS.

    According to the remaining schedule, North Brunswick has four games remaining before the February 2^nd cutoff date to be at .500 or better for the states. With the Raiders now at 8-4 on the season, that would put them in, no matter what happens in those 4 games.

    This game got off to a very streaky start, as Sayreville led 6-0 before the Raiders could blink. Then, North Brunswick roared back with 8 straight points to take an 8-6 lead, before the game was tied at eight. That was when the Bombers would go on a 12-6 run to close out the first quarter, despite early foul trouble for Chris Matagrano, who picked up two early ones. Sayreville would hold the fort, thanks to Ricardo Harding (19 points).

    However, back came the Raiders, behind the rebounding of center Jeff Ashamole (15 points, 10 rebounds, 6 blocks), some good play from Ricky Harris, and a crucial defensive effort from C.J. Brathwaite (21 points, 4 rebounds, 6 steals). With a total team effort behind them, North Brunswick was able to go into halftime tied with Sayreville at 29.

    An evenly matched second half saw the streakiness continue, as Brathwaite scored the first 4 points of the third, but then, back came Sayreville to tie it, before the Raiders went on a 6-1 run to jump out in front again, 39-34.

    In the fourth, the home team looked to finish off their opponents with some late game heroics. Brathwaite would close the door on Sayreville by being on the receiving end of a fast break pass from Harris to lay up and in with 2:08 remaining in the game to give North Brunswick a 49-40 lead. Senior forward Jordan Wright (10 points, 5-6 free throws) would then finish the job by going 4 for 4 from the foul line in the final minutes, including 2 big free throws with 1:17 left to give the Raiders a 51-44 lead that they would not relinquish.

High scores: Sayreville - Ricardo Harding (19 points)

North Brunswick - C.J. Brathwaite (21 points); Jeff Ashamole (15 points)

    One of the keys in this game for North Brunswick was shutting down the rest of the Sayreville offense. Yeah, Ricardo Harding got 19 points, but no other Sayreville player hit double digits. Nice job by the Raider “D”.

    As for C.J. Brathwaite and Jeff Ashamole, they have made a pretty good tandem. Also, solid performances from Ricky Harris and Jordan Wright. Justin Morgan has sat out the last 4 games with an injury, so if he does get back into the mix this season, perhaps the Raiders could step into the elite of the GMC, but for now, I’m sure they will be happy to step back into the state playoffs. Congratulations to head coach Ed Breheney, and company.

South Brunswick Hoops–Mid-Season Report

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ–Most people lookin at South Brunswick’s roster would think in their minds that the 2007-08 season would be a rebuilding year. In my mind, however, I knew going into the season what they were made of. So did the players, the parents, and some fans. After a Group IV State Championship apperance at The RAC behind 7,000 fans against Linden last year, in which the Vikings fell, eight of their first nine players were lost to graduation. Right after most schools let out in June, and summer started the Vikings lost their head coach Chris Balent, who left to take over the head coaching job in Elizabeth after compiling a 49-9 record as the Vikings coach in two seasons. While playing in the summer league at TBSA, South Brunswick searched for a coach all summer, and were missing two, sometimes three people out of there starting lineup. Missing Arman Wilson to AAU tournaments and Basketball Camps, Troy Confessore to soccer preparation for the fall season, and sometimes Mohammed Sanu to football, the Vikings only had two regulars Jordan Teicher and Sean Lease.

Compared to most GMC teams in the TBSA summer league, like Piscataway, JP Stevens, Monroe, and St.Joes that had their entire team for most of the summer, South Brunswick on the other hand, didn’t have their players or even a COACH. Being as the Vikings are 6-5 up to this pointon January 16th, 2008, I am very happy with that. Especially since they dropped a triple overtime game to Piscataway who hasn’t faced any trouble in GMC. Besides that there was that loss to Red Bank in the 2007 Buc Classic Finals by six, even though they were down by a point, and had the ball with 30 seconds left, and then another overtime loss on Tuesday night to J.P. Stevens. If you think about it the Vikings could be 9-2, and fighting for the top spot of the conference with Stevens and P-way. I believe the vikings aren’t getting the credit they deserve even though their record is only a game over 500.

Dating back 4 years ago, the seniors were apart of a cinderella freshmen story, being the 12 seed in the GMCT, and going all the way to the finals before losing to JFK. Five of those players from that team are the first 5 of 6 for the 2007-08 varsity team. Troy Confessore, Arman Wilson, Chris Weir, Jordan Teicher, and Sean Lease. It has been a great four years for this bunch, going to the Freshmen Championship, Winning the JV Championship sophmore year, Group IV runner ups as Juniors, and having a strong season in their senior years. Leading the team in scoring is Arman Wilson with around 17 a game, then producing a really strong year is Jordan Teicher with 9.5 points a game and 8 rebounds a game, also Junior Football Standout Mo Sanu is doing a great job defending each teams best player. Troy Confessore is picking up the load at point, and Sean Lease is doing a good job on the offensive end when the Vikes need it.

Thursday January 24th the Vikings will host Piscataway, which might be the only time Piscataway faces a team their size and strength. Then two days later the Vikings will head to the Bird Cage and take on St.Joe’s which is always a tough game for both teams. 1st year coach Joe Hoehman has done a good job, and is trying to develop his younger players by giving them significant time this year like Cody McHugh, Brett Pinnix, and Vito Ross. The Vikings will sure be ready when it comes to the GMCT and the Central Jersey Group IV playoffs.

East Brunswick Tech @ Perth Amboy Tech–January 16, 2008

Patriots Tame Tigers 71-64

Junior Joey Castro led the Patriots with 22 Points 10 rebounds 3 assists and 3 steals, in this GMC Gold Division contest. Castro scored 8 2nd period points to help Amboy Tech gain a 31-31 halftime tie.

Perth Amboy Tech’s multiple defenses led the way in the 3rd quarter as sophomore Anthony Vidal had 3 of his 6 steals and 7 of his 11 points. The Patriots outscored the Tigers 24-16 in the period.

Junior Anthony Patterson tallied his 7th straight double/double with 19 points 10 boards 6 steals 2 assists and a block. Anthony Rodriguez grabbed a team high 11 rebounds along with his 5 points 4 assists 2 steals and a block. Guard Alex Sanz dished out 6 assists and had 6 steals.

E.B. Tech was led by Robert Brown with 24 points, Corey Ragland 15 and Kevin Powell 13. With the victory, Perth Amboy Tech improved to 8-4 overall, and 2-3 in the GMC Gold while E.B. Tech drops to 3-9 overall, and 0-5 in divisional play.

Monroe @ North Brunswick–January 15, 2008

Raiders Bounce Back Against Monroe, 55-50

NORTH BRUNSWICK, NJ–After their worst loss in 3 years to J.P. Stevens on Saturday night, the North Brunswick Raiders would not let it deter them from continuing their stretch run towards the state playoffs.

    Senior Jeff Ashamole finished with 16 points and C.J. Brathwaite totaled 11 en route to a 55-50 win over Monroe, giving the Raiders their sixth win in their last 7 games.

    Behind the strength of senior Michael Cole (9 points, 12 rebounds) and freshman Tait Pirkle (8 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals), North Brunswick took a 14-9 lead after one quarter, and then scored another 5 points - including a Pirkle three with 6:10 before half, and led, 19-9. That’s when the Falcons fought back, and went on an 8-2 run throughout the quarter, led by senior guard Ivan Barretto. At that point, the game started to take on a hectic pace, with teams fastbreaking at will. As a result, there were baskets traded back and forth, as well as turnovers on both sides. So, neither team would have a decisive edge for the remainder of the half, as North Brunswick held a 26-21 edge at halftime.

    Quarter number three saw Monroe outscore the home team, 18-12, as Steven Blish (10 points) would tie the game at 39 with 2 free throws late in the period, as that’s how the fourth would start. Once again, the fast pace would pick up with both teams, and while Monroe gained the lead temporarily, 47-46 on a long two-pointer from senior Justin Mitchell, the Raiders retook the lead for good, and with 15 seconds remaining, and a 53-50 lead, Brathwaite hoisted two free throws into the net, with both teams over the foul limit, for the game’s final points.

High scores: Monroe - Ivan Barretto (16 points); Steven Blish (10 points)

Norh Brunswick: Jeff Ashamole (16 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks); C.J. Brathwaite (11 points, 4 rebounds, 5 steals, 2 assists, and a block) 

   Nice job by Jeff Ashamole to come up with a big offensive game, after a slow start. He is the centerpiece in the paint, mainly defensively, but he can also put the ball in the net with a good short range jump shot.  

    A terrific all-around game from C.J. Brathwaite, as well as Michael Cole, Tait Pirkle, and Kunyepa Alley (8 points). Just a very solid team effort, enough said. Next up: 9-3 Sayreville at NBTHS.

Middlesex Blue Jays–2007-08 Mid-Season Report

Jays at the Halfway Point

Depleted, in-fighting, attitudes over aptitude.  Sounds like the beginning of a clichéd sports movie, but it is actually more like the obstacles that ever kept teams from Middlesex in recent years from ever truly shining.  No shortage of talent the past couple of years; with Jabree Sunkins, Ahmed Sunkins, Authnel Reid, Gary Brenner, Rob Tolomeo, Dave Earl and Phil Barnes are some of the names that have passed through the past four years.  All of them had good talent but they could never get a chemistry working between them and the supporting cast. This year’s varsity group has always had a nice camaraderie among them from the time they began to get thrown together as sophomores. Last season was one for change, for development. 

With Class of ’07 senior Jimmy Miguel, not only a hard worker but a good all around person having to pull out for medical reasons it left last years squad without a single player graduating.  This gave coach Brian Feath ample amount of time to assemble his army for the upcoming two seasons while providing them some time to take their lumps and get adjusted.  Take their lumps they did, while the team of last year showed glimpses of greatness to come, their inconsistency was maddening to say the least.  Knocking off last year’s CJ Group II #1 seed DelVal in the pre-season and upsetting Bishop Ahr for their only non-McCarrick division loss were the highs, but the lows consisted of four losses. Two each to JFK-Iselin and Dunellen that were winnable games, the latter two were even harder to take because quite frankly… its Route 28 arch rival Dunellen. On top of that, Middlesex, which was within a game of the much needed .500 mark to qualify for the state tournament as of their win over North Warren on January 27th, finished the year with six straight losses including a resounding defeat at the hands of South Amboy in the 2007 GMCT Play-In Round.

With all that said, the Jays came into this season with dual high hopes and many skeptics.  But every game, whether preseason or regular was a test.  One by one they passed, from Del-Val to Northern Highlands to Metuchen all the way to a very exciting 9-2 start.  Fan interest has picked up accordingly, with the Middlesex faithful dubbing the team the “Middlesex Patriots” modeled after the juggernaut New England team and bringing in matching red white and blue memorabilia while shouting praise to the home team has made the Jays nest a virtual headache shall one enter their vote for the opposition.  By no means does the team itself not get credit; a 13 point and 7 rebound game is pretty much a nine to five effort for Sparky Stockton while Nick Fariella shaked off an injury to come back and provide the athletic firepower in the paint. 

John Stockton a three year starter has provided leadership; clutch ability and a maturity missing from even the grownest of men (remember Latrell can’t feed his family on 10 mil).  Even the guards, once considered a weak link in the Jays chain have stepped up its play.  Bill Lester has grown into the ultimate hard working blue collar success story, and Mike Perone has stepped his game up even when facing fierce competition.  The bench led by Ryan Farley who is as liquid as cash at the free throw line and a beast off the glass can burn the opposition at any time.  Mike Fincher is very fundamentally sound and a solid contributor.  Even Kyle Paul “Mammimals” Adams has preformed well in spelling the guards.

Take what was previously mentioned in the first two paragraphs; if you would have not known any better you would say there’s no way that that is the exact same school two years removed.  Much of the credit has to go to the man who was first introduced in the twilight of my freshman year.  Coach Feath brought in an idea of change, hard work and selflessness as well as fundamental basketball.  The players have bought into his ideas and the spoils have been shown this season.  And lest you think this is just one super-class and back to mediocrity, three of the six major minute holders are juniors with the potential for self improvement.  But no time to look forward while the present is so sweet. 

This is only half of the games the Jays will play and with a little luck their will be more beyond that.  With its 9-2 mark through eleven games, Middlesex has already clinched itself a playoff birth in the upcoming 2008 Central Jersey Group I State Tournament and appears destined for good things.  Clinching the berth meant for the first time in six seasons, the Blue Jays were going dancing in late February, and early March. I myself will be gone on vacation until either the Spotswood or North Warren game (hopefully the former).  The creator, webmaster and resident basketball expert Greg Machos will be at the game versus South Amboy on Saturday in a conference clash that will go a long way towards not only determining the seeding for the CJ Group I playoffs and beyond, but also the GMCT seeding, which is in a few weeks.  On top of that, there is the revenge factor for the Blue Jays, which are looking to make amends for last year’s tourney loss to the Guvs. The second half has in store a potentially special season, its time to reach out and grab it.

Twenty Years Ago Today…

Five Years Of Dedication Rewarded In Game Against Spotswood

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–Twenty years ago today was the basketball highlight of my life. On January 15, 1988, South Plainfield squared off against Spotswood in a crossover game that pitted a White Division school in SPHS against Spotswood, which was in the Gold Division at the time. In a contest that saw South Plainfield ultimately win by a score of 81-59, I got into my first game that year, and scored four points in the final minute of play much to the delight of the hometown fans. Now, it is a funny video to watch (my name is pronounced May-chose by the way!). As a matter of fact, I get a big kick out of it every time I see it. I always seem to pick up something new in the video, which I hadn’t watched in a very long time. Believe it or not, I thought that I had lost the video tape. However, I few months back, I began searching for it in anticipation of the twenty year anniversary, and found it in a closet with other videos.

Background

Let’s face it everyone, I wasn’t a good player by the time I was a senior in high school. So, to all the Burwells, Millers, Vince Rosarios, and Corey Franciscos of the world, your scoring marks would be safe. I had potential when I was a freshman, but it was only my second year in organized basketball, and frankly, I wasn’t ready to play in close games. I was too nervous. My first year of basketball on any level was at South Plainfield Middle School in Eighth Grade. The team that I played on was coached by long time Middle School coach, Terry Allen, who retired a few years ago. Mr. Allen was also my 6th Grade math teacher, and president of the SPEA. As a matter of fact, he presented me with a scholarship at the end of my senior year a couple weeks before graduation. In 1983-84, the SPMS boys basketball team was 17-4 overall on the year with all four losses coming at the hands of two teams: Somerville and Highland Park. We actually beat Somerville twice as well. Our team won the 1984 Dunellen March of Times Tournament by defeating Readington of Hunterdon County by a score of 44-39 in the Championship at what is now the Mike Shello Gymnasium in Dunellen High School.

However, by 9th Grade many of the key players on that 8th Grade team were no longer on the roster. Dave Koenig attended St. Joseph’s in the fall of that year, and ended up playing three years of basketball there as well as being a baseball standout. Koenig went on to attend the University of Scranton, and is doing fine these days working with autistic children somewhere in Morris County. Tommy Weimer and his family moved to Ohio. Lamar Hall, who went on to be a standout football player at SPHS by my senior year, was academically ineligible. Consequently, we were 5-14 on the season. Guys like myself, who were used to coming into games with 15, 20, and 25 point leads as eighth graders, weren’t quite ready to play in the close ones. If I had been as mentally ready as I was my senior year, I would have been a better player not only that year, but probably in my entire career. Another thing that hurt as well was the fact that boys basketball at SPHS was in a period of transition. During the first three years in high school, there were three different varsity coaches: Willie Leonardi, who also served as the Athletic Director, Norm Mopsick, who I believe had two daughters that grew to be standout players at Manalapan a few years back, and then Jeff Lubreski. Leonardi actually went on to coach at Scotch Plains-Fanwood and Voorhees, and also had coached at the college ranks at places such as Moravian.

While there were several coaching changes during my four year tenure at the school, one thing was constant my first three years, and that was Joe Thompson. For those of you, who may not be aware, Thompson, who scored 1,314 in his four years at SPHS, was the all time leading scorer at SPHS before Marquis Jones broke the mark back in the 2004-05 season. Thompson was a competitor, who didn’t back down from anyone, and I was witness to it on several occasions my sophomore year, which was his senior year. One instance in particular was in January, 1986 in a game against Perth Amboy. This was the Perth Amboy team that reached the GMCT Semifinals before losing to New Brunswick, and was led by Andre Heard and William Pennyfeather, who played minor league baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and recently was on the Newark Bears if I’m not mistaken. Well, in this game, Amboy was leading by about ten in the late third, or early fourth quarter when South Plainfield, which ran a deliberate offense the whole game, rallied to pull within one late. With a chance to win, South Plainfield had the ball in the closing seconds, and got it to senior guard John Thievon for a shot from the left wing that he missed. In the fight for the rebound, Thompson and Heard locked horns, and moments later, a brawl ensued. The fight was broken up, and Amboy escaped with a 48-47 win. Thompson would become the school’s all time scorer on February 22, 1986 on the road against St. Mary’s of South Amboy, which we all know today as Cardinal McCarrick. He surpassed the previous record holder, Wally Cirafesi (1,304 points) in a basket in the first quarter.

Following the 1985-86 season, Thompson graduated as well as the likes of Thievon, Jeff Missimer, Ryan Jones, John Kudrick, and Jeff Cantamessa. Add to that the losses to graduation the previous June of Chris Smith, Shawn Cisson, and Malcolm Hammond, and Tiger basketball was looking to rebuild. During the summer of 1986, South Plainfield Basketball would hit a low point in the Old Bridge Summer League run by the late Len Sepanak, who was the coach at Cedar Ridge at the time. In a game against Piscataway, which was still a member of the Mid-State Conference at the time, the woeful Tigers couldn’t break double digits. The Chiefs routed their neighborhood rival, 68-9. A standout player on that Piscataway team at the time, Tyrone Brewer, who went on to play at what is now today The College of New Jersey with Greg Grant, recalled that P-Way legendary coach, Paul Schoeb actually told the team in a timeout that if they held SPHS under ten, he would buy them all sodas. By the way, I never confirmed that with Schoeb himself. To give you an idea of how bad things had gotten for our program at that point, I scored two points in this debacle on a layup underneath with about 20 seconds to go in the first half. It was the only time in my ill-fated basketball career that I had accounted for 20 percent or more of our offense in a game (22.2 percent). However, things would gradually begin to change when a 26 year old assistant coach from Immaculata arrived into town that summer.

The Lubreski Era Begins At SPHS

During the middle of that dreadful summer at the Old Bridge Summer League held at what was then Madison Central High School, Jeff Lubreski came in, and within a couple weeks had transformed a poorly organized team into a much more competitive one. Norm Mopsick, who coached South Plainfield through the inaugural season of the Greater Middlesex Conference, stepped down to take a teaching position closer to home in Howell. South Plainfield won its first round playoff game at the Old Bridge Summer League, which set the stage for a rematch with Piscataway. While the Chiefs would win again this time around, we certainly let them know that we weren’t going as quietly as we did a few weeks earlier. The final score was 46-24, and yes, I did score two points in that game too on a jumper from the right wing late in the game. While Lubreski had already made an impact, he still had plenty of work to do. That was because the following winter would be as bitter cold as the temperatures were outside. Lubreski’s inaugural campaign at SPHS was a difficult one to say the least. The Tigers started out 0-14. As a matter of fact, in his first three years at South Plainfield, Lubreski amassed a record of only 22-48. Breaking that down by season, it went: 4-18 in 1986-87, 11-13 in 1987-88, and 7-17 in 1988-89. After losing nine straight, Dr. Leroy Seitz, the principal at the time, who eventually became Superintendent in the Woodbridge School system for a while, arranged for a pep rally the day of the Perth Amboy game. Well, what might have been in good intentions, didn’t work, SPHS trailed Ray Stewart led Amboy 45-14 at the half, and while making things much more respectable in the second half, lost 77-61.

The team, which had some notable players such as Joe Ranno, Lance Brown, and even Jimmy Kohl, who would go on to pitch at Rutgers, and even have a minor league career with the Mets and Twins, would finally break through on a Friday night late in the season by defeating Madison Central. Capping things off, Joel Endick, who went on to be the manager for the Rutgers Football team during the Doug Graber era, scored four points in the final minutes as the crowd went wild by banging on the bleachers. This part of the story is very important for what I will tell you later. South Plainfield would split four of its final eight games that year including victories over St. Mary’s of South Amboy, Sayreville, and Bishop Ahr. Trying to build a foundation for a program at South Plainfield, Lubreski got the team into the very competitive Westfield Summer League with the likes of St. Peter’s, St. Joseph’s, Westfield, Scotch Plains, and West Windsor South among others. On top of that, the team also played in a summer league against Adult League teams in South Plainfield at either the High School or the PAL, and went to a camp at what is now The College of New Jersey. In the fall, there was open gym like always. Going into this year, I had played JV in both my sophomore and junior seasons. So this was my last shot at varsity, or playing any kind of organized basketball. I went to the summer leagues religiously, but unfortunately, didn’t have the money to go to camp.

The 1987-88 Season

Not playing much during the summer leagues, and with the program going with sophomores such as Jimmy Smith and Joey Campagna as well as newcomers such as John Tupponce, I wasn’t exactly surprised that I got cut the week after Thanksgiving. I was disappointed though at the time since I wanted to at least play one year of varsity ball, wear the school uniform, and get a varsity letter at the end of the season. Fortunately, I would get another chance although it didn’t sound appealing at first. What happened was that a couple kids on the freshmen team quit, and two freshmen on the JV squad, Quinn Johnson and Corey Czech, the son of former Athletic Director, Al Czech, had to practice with the freshmen. Consequently, players were needed to practice with the JV. Johnny Oranchak and I were the guinea pigs. Let’s put it this way, if it weren’t for Oranchak, there might not only been no varsity ball for me, but also no GMC Hoops! While Oranchak was willing to take the deal without any hesitation, I had deliberated on the deal. I thought about it so much that I was up until 3:00 AM on that fateful Friday morning. It was December 4, 1987.

Coming in late to school that day, I had still not made up my mind. It wouldn’t be made up until right after school when I sat down with Coach Lubreski. After some discussion, I decided to go to practice. I was going to at least play my senior year. Make no bones about it though, it wasn’t easy. First of all, I started the year practicing with the JV. However, about a week after I began practicing again, I was thrown into a full court scrimmage between the first and second string varsity squads. In that scrimmage, I had proven my worth. From that practice on, I practiced with the varsity. Playing time would be an entirely different matter though. Even in lopsided losses, I didn’t get in the game. I guess you could say I was what you hear politicians often say, “The Nuclear Option!” On opening day, Lubreski handed out copies of John Haley’s Top 20 back when he was writing for the News Tribune years before his father’s death and the merger with The Home News. In that pre-season Top 25, Colonia and South River were ranked, and those two teams would be our first two opponents of the 1987-88 campaign. Opening night, we traveled up to Colonia High School, which has not been kind to Tiger hoops over the years despite the successes of the teams from the Marquis Jones and Darren Smith era.

Entering that opening night contest, the Patriots, then coached by the legendary Bob Tisdale, who passed away back in March 2006 the day Colonia lost to Newark Westside in the North Jersey Section 2 Group III semifinals, had won 56 straight games at home led by the likes of 1,000 point scorer Gary Battle and Fred Herzog. However, they had graduated, Bob Timinski was still at St. Joseph’s, and the Pats were a rebuilding team. Although Colonia would go up 12-4 in the first quarter, South Plainfield regrouped, and eventually came out on top, 60-50. The following game, we defeated South River, which had a freshman by the name of Deon Jackson, the nephew of Penn State football great, and Philadelphia Eagle wide receiver, Kenny Jackson. Deon Jackson would go on to become the school’s all time leading scorer with 2,332 points by the time he graduated in 1991.

Led by senior Billy Cochrane and junior Pete Leonardis, we won two more games after that to not only start the year 4-0, but also win the 1987 Bound Brook Crusader Classic, and was ranked tenth in the Middlesex County Top Ten in the Star-Ledger. However, the team didn’t keep the momentum going losing 13 of its last 20 games to finish 11-13, but it was still good enough to qualify for both the Central Jersey Group II Tournament, and the GMC Tournament, which was still only a 16 team field back then. It didn’t become an open tournament until the 1993-94 season. The Tigers would lost to top ranked St. Peter’s in the first round of the GMCT held at Middlesex County College. Led by the likes of Mike Doctor, and coached by Wayne Fiorino, the Cardinals, the only top seeded team to reach that year’s Final Four, jumped out to a 39-26 halftime lead, and led by as much as 58-38 in the second half before ultimately winning, 76-65. In the first round of the CJ Group II Tourney, South Plainfield, the eleventh seed defeated sixth seeded Piscataway Tech by a score of 67-66 on a last second shot by junior Kazzie Taylor, who was academically ineligible his sophomore year, but practiced that entire season with the JV. He ended up being one of the team co-captains.

What They Were Doing Then…

Below you will see some of key figures in not only GMC Boys Basketball history, but also at South Plainfield, and in the Greater Middlesex Conference altogether as they were then and now.

The Spotswood Game–January 15, 1988

After starting the season at 4-0, South Plainfield began to come back down to earth with a blowout loss on the road at J.F. Kennedy (71-48), a loss in overtime at South Brunswick (65-58), and a disappointing defeat to Bishop Ahr (65-61), the Tigers entered the game against Spotswood needing a victory to stay above .500, and give it a fighting chance to get into the state tournament. Spotswood was still fighting somewhat for respectability just as much as South Plainfield was at that time. The Chargers, which now compete in the Blue Division, back then competed in the GMC Gold. Here is roughly how the divisions were shaped back then.

GMC Red Division

• East Brunswick
• Edison
• J.P. Stevens
• Madison Central
• Perth Amboy
• Sayreville
• St. Joseph’s
• Woodbridge

GMC White Division

• Bishop Ahr
• Cedar Ridge
• Colonia
• J.F. Kennedy
• North Brunswick
• South Brunswick
• South Plainfield

GMC Blue Division

• Carteret
• Highland Park
• Metuchen
• Monroe
• South River
• St. Peter’s

GMC Gold Division

• Hoffman*
• East Brunswick Tech
• New Brunswick Tech
• Perth Amboy Tech
• Piscataway Tech
• Spotswood
• St. Mary’s
• St. Pius

South Plainfield got off to a fast start, and never really looked back. Prior to the game, my friends and teammates felt pretty certain that I was going to get in. I had not played a minute of varsity ball up to this point in the season. By the second half, it was apparent that I was going to get into this game. We were comfortably ahead, and the reserves were already seeing considerable playing time by the fourth quarter. The question was, when was I going to get in? That question was answered at about the 5:00 mark when I came in for Leonardis, who had just finished up going one of two at the foul line. To be honest, I should have scored at least eight points in this game. Although I could have gotten more chances (Kazzie Taylor took advantage of the garbage time with some jumpers to pad his scoring on the night), I saw in this tape that I could have gotten two other baskets, but didn’t follow through on the step I had on my defender. Eventually though, as you will see below, I did break through, and National Guard Troops were almost put on alert!

The box score in the News Tribune showed that I had four points on two field goals. Actually, I was 2 of 3 from the floor for my 4 points with 2 steals, a block, and a foul. Most importantly, though, what I had learned that season from persistence, dedication, and determination, were things that would last me a lifetime. A couple years after school ended, I went through some tough times dealing with anxiety and depression. However, my persistence helped me overcome those problems for the most part, and kept me continuing toward getting not only my Associates Degree in Computer Science from Middlesex County College, but also my Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from Rutgers last May. It also has helped me a great deal in building up this site. In addition to reading all the great stuff in the News Tribune back in my high school days thanks to not only John Haley, but his brother Rich, my dedication to high school hoops, and my persistence to head out to games during the late spring, summer, and fall in addition to those days during the season like the holiday tournaments, where I’ll see up to seven in one day, was built during this season. The lesson here is that some of us may not be talented or gifted enough to play basketball in the NBA, but we can still get enough out of playing the sport, or other sports in high school to learn things that help us in real life.