GMC Hoops Blogosphere

Que Magnifico Es Julio Rosario?

Younger Brother of McCarrick All Time Leading Scorer Vince Rosario
Making Case For Player Of The Year Honors

HILLSIDE, NJ–On Sunday night, GMC Hoops journeyed up Route 22 East into Hillside to watch action from the second night of the 2008 Joe Silver Tournament at Hillside High School. The site finally got its first look at Cardinal McCarrick, which it was going to see on opening night, but due to a winter storm that forced cancellations of the entire GMC schedule, it wasn’t able to.

Despite arriving late to the game, the site was able to take in the efforts of senior guard, Julio Rosario, in its entirety. The younger brother of all time McCarrick leading scorer, Vince Rosario, played splendidly. More importantly, this wasn’t against any run of the mill opponent either. It was against Mid-Atlantic Prep League member, the Hun School of Princeton, which has post graduates on its roster.

Last week on the first day of the 2008 Tip-Off Classic at Union High School, Hun defeated St. Joseph’s of Montvale by a score of 64-56. In the 71-61 victory over Hun, Rosario connected for 34 points including 17 in the fourth quarter alone. Compiling his points on three field goals, five three pointers, and 13 foul shots, Rosario knocked in 22 of his points in the second half. With Hun closing in at 48-44, Rosario, who looked more like his older brother at times out there, sank a three pointer for a 51-44 score at the 6:21 mark. Then, after a Raider score, the two time GMC Hoops Clutch Performance of the Year Award winner, knifed into traffic for a score, and a 53-46 lead with 5:10 to play.

Twenty-six seconds later, Rosario connected again from long range on a three pointer from the right side for a 56-46 McCarrick lead as Hun called a timeout at the 4:44 mark. Rosario then made 5 of 6 free throws in two trips to the line including a 4 of 4 effort that consisted of two technical foul shots at the 3:34 mark that essentially put the game away as Cardy Mac led 64-50. The Hun School would rally with a 9-3 run to close to within eight at 67-59, but couldn’t get any closer as the Eagles went on to win by 10.

Two nights later on Tuesday, Rosario registered a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds to help out Taylor Snider’s 21 point and five three pointer effort in a 57-41 win over Lincoln of Jersey City. Opening weekend versus South Plainfield, Rosario pumped in 25 points in a 64-60 overtime win, and then he registered 36 points in a 62-36 victory over Carteret. Through five games, Rosario is averaging about 25 points per contest. Following the game against Hun, GMC Hoops caught up with several former McCarrick players including Steve Liberty, Kevin Olivieri, and Vince Rosario, who did his best to promote his little brother.

Cardinal McCarrick has had three of the nine GMC Hoops Players of the Year Awards including Mika Wilson (2003), Vince Rosario (2007), and Mike Burwell (2008). If things keep going the way there going this season, it looks like Julio Rosario will keep the honor right where it is at McCarrick.

2008 GMC Holiday Tournament Champions

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–With the 2008 Holiday Tournaments now history, GMC Hoops takes a look at how the teams in the GMC did, and there were a number of holiday tourney champions from the conference this season including:

• Colonia Patriots–2008 John “Butch” Kowal Tournament
• St. Joseph’s Falcons–2008 Roselle Catholic Tournament
• Spotswood Chargers–2008 Bound Brook Crusader Classic
• Metuchen Bulldogs–2008 Roselle Park Tournament
• Middlesex Blue Jays–2008 Middlesex Tournament
• Perth Amboy Tech Patriots–2008 NJTAC Holiday Tournament
• South Amboy Governors–2008 South Amboy Tournament
• GMC White Division–2008 Ryan Walp Shootout

In addition, North Brunswick, Piscataway, Carteret, J.P. Stevens, Bishop Ahr, and Piscataway Tech all finished second in their tournaments while Cardinal McCarrick won all three of its contests in the Joe Silver Holiday Tournament Round Robin in Hillside.

Now That’s More Like It!

Greater Middlesex Conference Steps It Up Against Non-Conference Competition

Good afternoon again. In addition to the trends I’ve been noticing early on in the crossover games during the holidays around the Greater Middlesex Conference, I was pleasantly surprised to see the GMC as a whole step up its play in the various holiday tournaments against non-conference competition.

Prior to the holidays, I had posted an article in the blog concerning the rough start the conference had against foes from outside the GMC. Through the first several days of the 2008-09 season, the Greater Middlesex Conference had gone 4-8 in 12 contests versus teams from other conferences. However, over the last week or so, the GMC has turned things around dramatically.

In 35 games played in various holiday tournaments, the GMC went a stunning 24-11. And for those, who may be skeptical the type of wins these were take a look at the list I’ve compiled off the top of my head:

• Colonia 58–Rahway 51–John “Butch” Kowal Tournament
• Colonia 54–Westfield 42–John “Butch” Kowal Tournament
• J.P. Stevens 55–Scotch Plains 52 OT–John “Butch” Kowal Tournament
• Cardinal McCarrick 71–Hun 61–Joe Silver Tournament
• Cardinal McCarrick 57–Lincoln 41–Joe Silver Tournament
• Cardinal McCarrick 54–Hillside 50–Joe Silver Tournament
• Middlesex 50–Cranford 39–Middlesex Tournament
• Piscataway 48–Watchung Hills 43–Len Sepanak Memorial Tournament
• Spotswood 82–North Plainfield 80–Bound Brook Crusader Classic
• Spotswood 69–Bound Brook 67–Bound Brook Crusader Classic
• North Brunswick 55–Hamilton 47–North-West Classic
• East Brunswick 56–Hamilton 45–North-West Classic

Let’s also not forget that Colonia defeated Scotch Plains on December 22nd in Colonia, 41-39. Furthermore, the GMC is holding its own against conferences that have always given it trouble in the past such as the Watchung, Skyland, and Shore. Against these three, the GMC is so far a combined 12-5. Overall, the conference is now 28-19 against foes from outside the GMC. Below are some teams that have stood out against non-conference competition thus far this season:

• Cardinal McCarrick (3-0)
• Colonia (3-0)
• East Brunswick Tech (2-0)
• J.P. Stevens (2-0)
• Metuchen (2-0)
• Middlesex (2-0)
• Spotswood (2-0)
• St. Joseph’s (2-0)
• North Brunswick (2-1)

Breaking down the 28-19 record by division you have the following: Blue Division (8-4), Red Division (7-4), White Division (8-6), and Gold Division (5-4). So, all four divisions in the GMC are over .500 against non-conference opponents.

GMC White Proving So Far That It Is The Toughest Division In The GMC

Winning Walp Shootout As Well As Other Key Wins Driving Strong Start In Crossovers

Good afternoon everyone. First and foremost, I hoped everyone enjoyed their Christmas holiday, and offer best wishes in the upcoming year. Outside of Greater Middlesex Conference Boys Baksetball, 2008 has been a very tough year for a lot of people including myself. Thankfully, some things began happening toward the end of 2008 that will provide some hope for the future.

Anyway, I wanted to spend some time talking about what has transpired so far throughout the conference this season. One thing is that the teams in the White Division have already gone a long way to supporting the feeling I have that their division is the toughest top to bottom in the entire GMC league.

It is one thing to have four teams in the Pre-Season Top Ten, and a couple others in the Top 15. However, it is completely different when you go out on to the floor, and prove it in competition like this division has already this season. According to the stats compiled by this web site, the GMC White, which is made up of mostly Group III schools, has played in 12 games against other divisions in the GMC, and has gone 9-3. Meanwhile, the GMC Red, which is made up almost exclusively of Group IV schools, has played 14 games, and has gone 5-9.

Included in those contests were the nine games of the 2008 Ryan Walp Shootout, where the GMC White went a combined 6-3 overall versus the GMC Red. In addition, Colonia handed J.P. Stevens a triple overtime defeat (76-73) during the holidays at the 2008 John “Butch” Kowal Tournament. Sayreville also defeated Perth Amboy in regular season competition on December 23rd (63-45) while Carteret downed Edison (43-30) in the 2008 Gene Haley Memorial Tournament.

This start marks the third straight season that the GMC White has jumped out to a big lead in the GMC Hoops Conference Cup Standings. In 2007, the White Division got off to a fast start only to fizzle at the end as the GMC Red caught up, and won that year’s cup. Last year, however, the White got out of the gates quickly again, but this time maintained its lead, and won. In head to head competition with the White, the Red Division is 3-9 with its only two other victories coming against the GMC Blue with St. Joseph’s defeating Bishop Ahr (51-37) in the Roselle Catholic Tournament, and Edison defeating Kennedy (49-42) in the Consolation Game of the Haley Tournament.

Twelve Games Already For GMC Hoops In 2008-09

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–Despite some obstacles, the GMC Hoops web site still managed to cover 12 games already this season. In those 12 contests, the web site has covered 16 different teams in the Greater Middlesex Conference. Each team has been covered only once to provide an opportunity to see as many teams as possible so far this season. Coverage has also included games from five different holiday tournaments including the following:

• 2008 Roselle Park Tournament
• 2008 Ryan Walp Holiday Shootout
• 2008 John “Butch” Kowal Tournament
• 2008 South Amboy Tournament
• 2008 Bound Brook Crusader Classic
• 2008 Joe Silver Holiday Tournament

This is the ninth season that GMC Hoops has been covering Boys Basketball in the Greater Middlesex Conference, and the site has seen and covered over 600 games including over 100 last season.

GMC Hoops Coverage In 2008-09

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–On Wednesday, GMC Hoops announced that coverage of Boys Basketball in Middlesex County this season will be somewhat different. Due to a work schedule that has Greg Machos working four days a week, Saturday through Tuesday, from 9:00 AM to 7:30 PM, there is not going to be as much time to devote to the site as has been in the past.

“We’ll try to squeeze in action from games after work on Monday and Tuesday, and if there is one on Saturday night such as Dunellen’s contest versus Union Catholic on opening weekend,” said Machos, “but basically, I’m limited to seeing action on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.” On top of that, the site has to be updated regularly, which may also hamper the ability to see games. There may also be delays in getting information posted to the site. “I don’t have the time like I used to,” said Machos, “Last year, I was out of work for a stretch, and had the time available to do a more thorough job.”

Despite all the conflicts with work, the site has still seen action from 12 games already this season that involved 16 different teams from the Greater Middlesex Conference. Machos stated, “My goal is to try to do everything I can to keep the site going as I best as I can, but I can only do so much. I’m only one person trying to do all of this.”

NJTAC All Tournament Team–December 30, 2008

PERTH AMBOY, NJ–On Wednesday afternoon, GMC Hoops received the All Tournament Team for the 2008 NJTAC Holiday Tournament from Amboy Tech head coach, Artie Wachtel. Players from three schools in the Greater Middlesex Conference made the team. View the list of players below.

• Joey Castro–Perth Amboy Tech
• Anthony Vidal–Perth Amboy Tech
• Louis Mota–Piscataway Tech
• James Petterson–Warren Tech
• Homer James–East Brunswick Tech
• Kevin Powell–East Brunswick Tech
• Wayne Smith–Piscataway Tech
• A. J. Lintos–Morris County Tech
• Kevin Simon–West Caldwell Tech

Perth Amboy Tech Takes NJTAC Championship–December 30, 2008

Patriots Swarm Piscataway Tech 50-37 in Tourney Final

PERTH AMBOY, NJ–Senior Joey Castro scored 10 of his game high 14 points in the 2nd period as the Patriots outscored the Raiders 19-5. The Patriots applied pressure defense through out the contest and converted baskets off the turnovers. Anthony Vidal chipped in with 11 points 4 steals and 3 deflections. Amboy Tech got 7 points 7 rebounds 5 assists and 2 charges from Senior Jon Aquije. Wilson Lopez, Jordan Cardenas, and Kurt Grothusen pressured the Raiders end to end. Lopez nailed a long corner 3 to end  any thoughts of Piscataway coming back, in the 4 th period. Rashad Adams tallied 7 points 7 boards 2 assists and 3 steals. Malcolm Batts knocked down 8 points in the win.

2008 Brearley Bear Holiday Tournament Schedule

KENILWORTH, NJ–On Monday morning, GMC Hoops learned in the Star-Ledger the opening round matchups in the 2008 Brearley Bear Tournament in Kenilworth. One team from the GMC, Highland Park, will be competing in this tournament against two teams from the Mountain Valley Conference, and a team from the Colonial Hills Conference. Below is the schedule for the opening and final rounds:

Brearley Bear Holiday Tournament–Opening Round–December 29th

• Highland Park vs. Governor Livingston 6:00 PM
• David Brearley vs. Pingry, 7:30 PM

Brearley Bear Holiday Tournament–Final Round–December 30th

• Highland Park vs. Pingry, 3:00 PM–Consolation
• Governor Livingston vs. David Brearley, 7:30 PM–Championship

GMC Hoops will not be able to see any of the action in this tournament due to his work schedule.

Patriots Host E.B. Tech In NJTAC Semi-Final

Perth Amboy Tech Tames Tigers 72-56

PERTH AMBOY, NJ–Senior Joey Castro keyed a second half rally scoring 14 of his game high 18 points. The Patriots trailed E.B. Tech 26-24 at the half. The Pat’s defense pressured the Tigers into turnovers that Amboy Tech converted into baskets. Junior Anthony Vidal contributed 16 points along with 3 steals and 3 assists. Senior Jon Aquije battled underneath for 7 points and 7 rebounds along with 4 assists 2 blocks and a big charge. Junior Wilson Lopez ignited the defense with his agressive play while also scoring 5 points. Freshman Rashad Adams tallied 13 points while grabbing 7 boards. Finally, Freshman Malcolm Batts scored 11 to go along with 3 steals.

Amboy Tech will play Piscataway Tech at 3:00 on 12/30 for championship.

Warren Tech will face East Brunswick Tech at 1:30 in the 3rd place game.