PERTH AMBOY, NJ–On Wednesday night, a unique feature was added to the annual GMCBCA Senior All-Star Showcase at Perth Amboy High School. In between the Girls Senior All-Star Game and the Boys Senior All-Star Game, some of the coaches suited up for a benefit game called Coaches Against Cancer. Featured in the game were several GMC Boys Basketball alumns including:
- Jose Rodriguez–Carteret Boys Head Coach (played at Carteret)
- Matt Gigliello–Monroe Boys JV and Assistant Coach (played at Monroe)
- Andrew Hill–Colonia Boys Freshmen and Assistant Coach (played at Carteret)
- Kevin Baptiste-Ousley–Cardinal McCarrick Assistant Boys Coach (played at McCarrick)
- Donnie Reid–Cardinal McCarrick Assistant Boys Coach (played at McCarrick)
- Steve Liberty–Cardinal McCarrick Assistant Girls Coach (played at McCarrick)
- John Wojcik–Sayreville Assistant Boys Coach (played at Sayreville)
- John Greco–South Plainfield Boys Freshmen and Assistant Coach (played at SPHS)
Prior to the game, former Sayreville boys head coach, Gus Jaworski, who had recently been coaching at Wall Township before stepping down last year, addressed the crowd. Jaworski, who was featured in an article in the Home News-Tribune, was recently diagnosed with cancer back in December. Jaworski, who spoke for a couple minutes, guided Sayreville to its only GMCT/MCT crown when it defeated Carteret in the Championship, 50-45. That particular year, the Bombers were seeded sixth. Only four GMCT/MCT teams have won as sixth seeds: Bishop Ahr (St. Thomas Aquinas) in 1982, Metuchen in 1988, Sayreville in 2000, and Piscataway in 2007. Jaworski, who ran the Bomber program for seven seasons, coached the likes of such players as Wojcik, Samir Sanu (another Sayreville boys coach), Dwayne Thomas, Bobby Brown, Steve Gitlin, Pat Ryan, Junior Jabbie, Brian Miklaszewski, Waclaw Dziadosz, Herbert Nieves, Tim Wojcik, Shaune Thomas, Kofi Genfi, Mark Simko, and LaVone Graham.
The game appeared to be over, and well on its way to a blowout as the White Team grabbed a 33-11 lead at one point. Liberty (7 points and 2 assists), Reid (team high 10 points along with 3 assists), Gigliello (8 points and 2 assists), and Hill (7 points and 3 assists) played pivotal roles. However, the Black Team rallied back behind the spirited play of Baptiste-Ousley (game high 12 points with 2 assists) and Greco (8 points and 3 assists), who joined forces with Wojcik (5 points) in leading a 15-2 charge that closed the gap to 35-26 with under two minutes remaining. Unfortunately the Black Team was unable to get any closer as Hill, Gigliello, and Liberty each added a bucket in a 6-0 run that made it 41-26. Greco and Baptiste-Ousley closed out the scoring with a field goal and a three pointer respectively for the 41-31 final.
While the game only was played for 20 minutes, there was a good deal of action and scoring (72 combined points with a running clock). According to the stats compiled in the video, there were a combined 10 three pointers in the game, and 27 field goals overall. The breakdown for the White Team was 17 field goals including 5 threes, and 2 free throws for their 41 points while the Black Team had 13 field goals including 5 treys for their 31 points. The GMC Hoops Boys Alumni looked in great shape and haven’t seemed to have lost much since their playing days.