GMC Hoops Blogosphere

Video Highlights–Carteret @ Bishop Ahr–Blue Division Showdown–January 28, 2011

Here are the video highlights from the Blue Division Showdown between Carteret and Bishop Ahr on Friday night in North Edison. The Ramblers jumped out to a 15-5 lead as Avery Carter scored six points while Devon Byrd added two threes, and Joey Nigro netted a trifecta as well. However, Bishop Ahr got solid efforts from Roger Kilgore, Pat Widdoss, Dillon Salva, Ryan Blakely, and Rashad Kilgore to overcome the early deficit, and break away from a 43-43 fourth quarter tie with a decisive 10-0 run to eventually win, 68-60.

More Winter Misery On The Way

Central Jersey Not Only Looking At Another Winter Storm On Wednesday, But Possibly On Saturday As Well

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–Over the past couple days, GMC Hoops has been tracking the weather since there have been reports on the internet and television about another major winter storm affecting our area by the middle of this week. Not only could we have a storm on or about Wednesday, but another one could affect Central Jersey this coming weekend as well.

We’ve been taking a look at the Area Forecast Discussion provided by the National Weather Service Office out of Mount Holly, New Jersey over the past two days. Both are indicating that a significant storm will move eastward through the middle of the country into the Ohio Valley, and is likely to bring snow and ice to the Northeast with the snowfall staying to the north in Upstate New York, interior Pennsylvania, and New England. Philadelphia, Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York City area are likely to receive a significant amount of ice since the models are indicating a more inland track by this storm, which will pull in warm air ahead of it.

There still could be some accumulating snow on Tuesday night, especially for the Northern portion of New Jersey. However, as we saw with this past storm, a lot can change before the storm finally arrives and impacts the area. In addition to the information on this upcoming mid-week storm, the Weather Channel indicated in its long range discussion, that another storm may form off the Southeast coast late Thursday into Friday, and bring more snow to our neck of the woods on Saturday. So far this season, we have had six storms that have affected the GMC boys basketball schedule in some shape or form including wiping out the entire schedule on Wednesday and Thursday of this past week.

J.F. Kennedy has been particularly hit hard as it just played its tenth game of the season on Saturday. Other teams in the conference such as St. Joseph’s, Perth Amboy, East Brunswick, and Woodbridge have played between 15 and 18 games. With the GMCT seeding meeting less than two weeks away, many teams are going to have to scramble to get as much of their division schedules in as possible. The primary cause of this usually large amount of snowfall and wintry weather has been a blocking high pressure ridge near Greenland, which has caused the jet stream to stay in a persistent pattern that is allowing storms to move over the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeastern United States.

Bishop Ahr Raising Its Play To Another Level

Trojans Have Won Seven Straight And 9 Of Last Ten With Victory Over Metuchen On Saturday

NORTH EDISON, NJ–Special things are starting to happen over at Bishop Ahr. A team that had started the season at 1-3 thanks to a tough non-conference schedule that included Union, Rutgers Prep, and Roselle Catholic, is now on the comeback trail. Since losing to Carteret earlier this month, the Trojans have won seven straight, and are now in the driver’s seat once again in the GMC Blue. BGA is looking for at least a share of its fourth straight division title.

Ahr, which has won 9 of its last 10 games, has defeated such teams as #8 Colonia (41-39) on January 3rd, previously ranked J.F. Kennedy (79-59) on Martin Luther King Day, #5 Cardinal McCarrick (72-66) on January 22nd, and previously ranked Carteret (68-60) this past Friday night. The Trojans have also solidly beaten Metuchen twice. BGA, which was unranked two weeks ago, has dramatically jumped into the fourth position in the latest GMC Hoops Top Ten. The Trojans are now 8-1 in conference play including a 6-1 mark in the Blue Division.

The Trojans have a good blend of athleticism and size with the likes of the Kilgore brothers: Rashad and Roger, who both also stood out during football season. In addition, there is seniors Ryan Blakely and Pat Widdoss, and two other football standouts in Kenny Virden and North Brunswick transfer, Dillon Salva. Salva just got into the lineup recently, and hasn’t waited long to make an impact with solid efforts against McCarrick and Carteret. Salva’s addition gives Ahr a good deal of depth down low, and allows head coach, Dennis O’Keefe to rest Rashad Kilgore and Widdoss more.

Blakely, who scored 11 against McCarrick last week, turned in a career high 16 points including three treys in the victory over Metuchen. He also had nine in the win over Carteret while Roger Kilgore, who scored 23 in the win over McCarrick, pumped in 18 against the Ramblers. Widdoss put together a double-double of 10 points and 17 boards against Carteret while Salva, who registered 10 off the bench against the Ramblers, scored 15 including a dunk and a three pointer against Metuchen. The Trojans, which have been averaging over two made threes per game, went 9 of 14 from beyond the arc in the win over Metuchen on Saturday.

Last year, the Trojans earned a third seed in the GMCT with quality crossover wins against East Brunswick and Cardinal McCarrick while winning the GMC Blue. However, their hopes of advancing past the GMCT Elite Eight for the first time since winning it all in 1992 were dashed by a surging 14th seeded North Brunswick. This year, BGA is hoping for a better run in the tourney this year.

GMC Hoops Top Ten–Through Week Six–January 30, 2011

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–Here was the latest GMC Hoops Top Ten through play that concluded on Saturday night. There are some changes with Bishop Ahr moving into the fourth slot in the poll while Colonia makes its first appearance since the pre-season. St. Joe’s stayed in the top spot followed by East Brunswick. North Brunswick moved up to third while Cardinal McCarrick dropped to fifth. Piscataway, South Brunswick, and New Brunswick all moved down. Records are as of the end of play on Saturday.

GMC Hoops Top Ten–Through The First Six Weeks–January 30, 2011

1. St. Joseph’s (14-2)
2. East Brunswick (12-3)
3. North Brunswick (12-2)
4. Bishop Ahr (10-4)
5. Cardinal McCarrick (11-3)
6. Piscataway (11-6)
7. South Brunswick (8-6)
8. Perth Amboy (10-8)
9. Colonia (8-8)
10. New Brunswick (9-6)

Other teams getting consideration: J.F. Kennedy, Carteret, Piscataway Tech, Woodbridge, Metuchen, Middlesex, Dunellen, Timothy Christian, and South River.

South Plainfield Schedule Changes

Postponed Monroe Game Moved To Monday Night While Timothy Christian Game Rescheduled To Friday

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–Late last week, GMC Hoops received scheduling information from South Plainfield boys basketball coach, Bob Conway. The Tigers like most of the teams in the Greater Middlesex Conference, have been dealing with postponements as a result of all the snowstorms that we’ve had this season. This past Monday, SPHS made up a game with New Brunswick that was originally cancelled due to the snow. The Tigers lost to a shorthanded Zebras team (played without Jaquan Cook) by the score of 54-48. Now, a game against Monroe that was recently snowed out, is being rescheduled for Monday night, January 31st at 7:00 PM in the Anthony J. Cotoia Gymnasium. To accommodate for this GMC White game, South Plainfield rescheduled the original game for Monday night against GMC Gold foe, Timothy Christian, to Friday night.

Colonia Wins Woodbridge Mayor’s Trophy

Victory Over Kennedy On Saturday Gives Patriots Woodbridge Township Bragging Rights As Well As Six Straight Wins

WOODBRIDGE, NJ–On Saturday, the Colonia Patriots defeated the J.F. Kennedy Mustangs by a score of 58-39. Senior guard, C.J. Gray led the way for Colonia with a game high 21 points on six field goals including three treys along with six foul shots. He also collected seven rebounds in the win while fellow senior guard, Matt Wagner chipped in with 10 points on four field goals including two threes.

Jordan McDaniel added 8 points on three field goals including two threes while Greg Jones contributed with a solid all around performance of 6 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists. Seven players scored for the Pats including two that registered double figures. Meanwhile, Kennedy also had seven players score including two with double digit points. Daishon Robinson led the way in defeat for the Mustangs with 14 points on two threes and eight free throws while A.J. Pichalski chipped in with four field goals and four foul shots. Robinson also had five rebounds, three assists, and three steals while Pichalski collected eight boards.

The significance of this win was that it was the sixth straight for Colonia, which began the season at 1-6 including four straight losses, has now evened its record at 8-8, and won the Woodbridge Mayor’s Trophy by defeating both Kennedy and Woodbridge (61-52). The Mustangs finished second with a win over Woodbridge (51-46). Below were the records of each Woodbridge Township school against the other two:

• Colonia (2-0)
• J.F. Kennedy (1-1)
• Woodbridge (0-2)

With the loss, Kennedy, which was just playing its 10th game of the season, dropped to 6-4 overall. Meanwhile, Woodbridge, which lost to Dickinson of Jersey City on Saturday, fell to 7-9 after having its two game winning streak snapped.

Video Highlights–St. John Vianney vs. Cardinal McCarrick–Colt Classic–January 29, 2011

Here are the video highlights from the last quarter and a half of the game between St. John Vianney and Cardinal McCarrick in the Colt Classic on Saturday. The Eagles jumped out to a 50-31 lead midway through the third quarter before the Lancers responded with a 22-8 run over the next eight minutes or so to draw within five at 58-53. However, Vianney was unable to get any closer as McCarrick won by the score of 68-60. The Eagles were led by Ahmid Williams, who scored a team high 23 points including 19 points in the first half. Michael Balkovich led Vianney with a game high 27 points including his 1,000th career point. Enjoy.

GMC Hoops–Play-By-Play–Carteret @ Bishop Ahr–Blue Division Showdown–January 28, 2011

NORTH EDISON–On Friday night, GMC Hoops traveled over to nearby Bishop Ahr to take in the game between the Trojans and the Carteret Ramblers for first place in the GMC Blue. The Ramblers got off to a fast start with a 12-3 lead as Joey Nigro and Devon Byrd sank three pointers to lead CHS. However, Ahr rallied back with a 27-14 surge the over the final 12:45 of the half to take a 30-26 lead. Ahr maintained the lead until early in the fourth quarter when Tanveer Dosanjh connected on a three pointer to take the score at 43-43. However, the Trojans scored ten unanswered points over a span of about two minutes for a 53-43 lead, and went on to win by a final score of 60-51. Here’s a play by play of the action. I will have an article as well as video highlights from this game as well.

First Quarter

7:54–BGA–Rashad Kilgore makes one of two from the foul line for a 1-0 lead.

6:56–CHS–pull-up jumper for 2-1 lead.

6:40–CHS–Avery Carter layin and the foul, but missed  bonus free throw for a 4-1 lead.

6:10–CHS–Joey Nigro hits a three pointer from the right wing for a 7-1 lead.

5:35–BGA–Roger Kilgore nets a baseline jumper from the right side for a 7-3 lead.

5:15–CHS–Devon Byrd hits a three pointer for a 10-3 lead.

4:45–BGA–calls timeout with Carteret leading 12-3.

Ahr ends the first quarter with a 12-6 run including the following:

2:35–BGA–Three pointer by Roger Kilgore from the right wing for a 15-8 score

1:54–BGA–Three pointer from right side by Ryan Blakely for a 15-11 lead

1:14–BGA–Roger Kilgore with a pull-up jumper from about the foul line for a 16-13 lead.

Layup by Pat Widdoss before score by Ramblers for an 18-15 CHS lead after one.  Devon Byrd had another three pointer that made the score 15-5.

Second Quarter

6:26–Carteret calls timeout after Bishop Ahr opens second with a 5-2 run including one of two from the line by Dillon Salva and a putback by Widdoss to tie the game at 20-20.

5:37–30 second timeout by Carteret after Dillon Salva scored on a layup for a 22-20 Ahr lead.

3:56–Widdoss scores on a follow for a 26-22 lead

2:35–Roger Kilgore sinks a baseline jumper from the right side for a 28-22 lead.

2:00–CHS–Byrd converts a three point play for a 29-25 Ahr lead.

0:59–CHS–Lamont Crews nets one of two from the line for a 29-26 Ahr lead.

0:35–BGA–Kevin Douyan makes one of two for a 30-26 lead at the half

Since trailing 15-5, Ahr has outscored Carteret by a 26-11 margin.

Third Quarter

5:04–BGA–Roger Kilgore steal for layup from left baseline for a 32-26 lead.

4:51–CHS–Carter drives in for layin for a 32-28 Ahr lead.

4:35–BGA–Blakely sinks three from right wing for a 35-28 lead.

3:44–CHS–Joey Nigro sinks two free throws for a 35-30 Ahr lead.

3:22–CHS–Crews puts in follow for a 35-32 Ahr lead.

2:03–CHS–Junior Rodriguez scores on floater to tie game at 35-35

1:55–BGA–Salva scores on breakaway layup off 3/4 court pass by either Kilgore or Blakely for a 37-35 lead.

1:01–BGA–Salva scores on drive through middle for layin and a 39-35 lead.

Fourth Quarter

7:02–CHS–Nigro opens fourth with three pointer from right corner for a 39-38 BGA lead.

6:30–BGA–Widdoss pulls up for jumper inside the arc for a 41-38 lead.

6:15–CHS–Crews missed two free throws.

5:24–CHS–Rodriguez gets offensive rebound off block by Roger Kilgore and drives in for layin, and a 41-40 BGA lead.

4:28–Official timeout after Widdoss has to leave game with hand injury.

4:07–BGA–Rashad Kilgore scores on putback for a 43-40 lead.

3:54–CHS–Tanveer Dosanjh–his triple from the right wing for a 43-43 tie.

3:41–BGA–Blakely connects for three pointer from the right side for a 46-43 lead.

3:07–CHS timeout after Roger Kilgore jumper from right side for a 48-43 lead.

2:37–BGA–Roger Kilgore alley oops to Salva for layup and 50-43 lead.

2:07–BGA–Salva makes one of two from the line after being fouled on a putback attempt.

1:50–BGA–Rashad Kilgore makes both free throws for 53-43 lead.

1:26–CHS–timeout follows three from right side by Devon Byrd off kickout by Nigro for a 53-46 Ahr lead.  Ended 10-0 BGA spurt.

1:12–BGA–Carter fouls out for CHS, and Virden makes two free throws for a 55-46 lead.

0:55–CHS–Devon Byrd is fouled on the drive, and makes two free throws for a 55-48 BGA lead.

0:28–BGA–Roger Kilgore drives in for layup, and a 59-48 lead.

0:20–CHS–timeout after three pointer by Joey Nigro for a 59-51 Ahr lead.

0:18–BGA–Roger Kilgore makes one of two from the line for a 60-51 Ahr victory.

Again, I plan to have an article and video highlights from this game as well.

Video Highlights–East Brunswick @ St. Joseph’s–January 25, 2011

Here are the video highlights from the second half of the GMC Red Division Showdown between East Brunswick and St. Joseph’s at the Bird Cage in Metuchen. Quenton DeCosey (29 points) and Danny Brix (23 points) combined for 52 of St. Joe’s 60 points in the 60-50 victory that gave the Falcons sole possession of first place for the time being in the Red. Mike Summerer, Mike Ukawuba, and Abu Bestawros stood out in defeat for EB. Enjoy.

Video Highlights–South River @ Spotswood–January 24, 2011

Here are the video highlights from the last 12 minutes of action between South River and Spotswood on Monday night. The Chargers scored 35 points in the first quarter, and led 50-31 with six minutes to go in the third en route to a 76-55 victory. South River drew within 57-42 at the end of the third quarter, but Dalonte Grant hit a three to start the fourth, and Tommy Soulias added a trey of his own to squash any remote possibilities for the Rams to come back in this one.