Knights Can Learn Good Lessons From 2003 OBHS, 2007 SB, 2008 P-Way, and 2013 EB Teams
Old Bridge’s Sean Williams soars for an offensive rebound in the second half of the top seeded Knights match-up against 9th seeded New Brunswick in the 2019 GMCT Quarterfinals at Middlesex County College in Edison on Sunday night. New Brunswick won a dramatic and controversial contest, 50-49.
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ—While a determined 9th seeded New Brunswick team has enjoyed the ecstasy and joy of winning a wild and thrilling GMCT Quarterfinal over the past 24 hours, top seeded Old Bridge has experienced the heartbreak and disappointment that has been magnified by the controversial ending of its game against the Zebras on Sunday evening at Middlesex County College in Edison.
Putting this game in more perspective, New Brunswick is not the only community involved in this memorable contest that has suffered in the past year. The Old Bridge community has experienced its share of tragedy in the last 9 months. Back in June 2018, former OBHS baseball standout, Zach Attianese, who also played in the boys basketball program as a freshman, sophomore, and senior, was killed along with his father Jude in a automobile accident in Michigan.
Attianese, who originally committed to North Carolina to play baseball, and was planning a return to NCAA Division I and ACC baseball by signing with Florida State University after playing a year of Junior College Baseball at State College of Florida, played a memorable and inspirational role in then 7th seeded Old Bridge’s come from behind 46-44 boys basketball victory over 10th seeded J.P. Stevens in the 2016 GMCT Round of 16 on February 18, 2016 in Old Bridge. While Attianese only scored 5 points in that come from behind win, his scrappy play inspired the Knights to rally.
Trailing 35-25 early in the fourth period, Old Bridge surged with a 21-9 finish that included one of a couple fourth quarter steals by Attianese that led to a huge three by teammate and classmate, Stephen Strom to cap an 11-0 spurt, and put the Knights on the path to victory. Attianese, Strom, and 1,000 point scorer Connor Romano, who now plays college hoops at Ramapo College in Mahwah, were on the 2012-13 Old Bridge Freshmen boys basketball team that defeated North Brunswick in the 2013 Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Boys Basketball Tourney Championship Game.
Old Bridge’s boys basketball program has come a long way under the direction of head coach, Jim Macomber, who was a 1,000 point scorer himself when he played at nearby Matawan High School. Prior to Macomber’s arrival, Old Bridge High School, which officially opened in September 1994 after the merger of the two township high schools, Cedar Ridge and Madison Central, never had a 1,000 point scorer. Since Macomber has taken the helm, the Knights have had three, Sultan Aminu (East Stroudsburg University and Ramapo), Tyler Drews (Caldwell University and Widener), and Romano.
In addition, Macomber has transformed the boys hoops program at a school more known for its football and wrestling historically dating back to the days of Madison Central and Cedar Ridge. During his seven years at Old Bridge, Macomber has guided the Knights to the GMCT Elite Eight five times including the last four consecutive seasons. Two of those quarterfinal berths have led to GMCT Final Four appearances including 2013 as an 11th seed, and last season as a 3rd seed. Old Bridge has also defeated St. Joseph’s twice, which it hadn’t been done previously since a 2007 GMCT Round of 16 upset, which was six seasons prior to Macomber’s arrival. The school also earned its first ever division title in boys basketball and top seed in this year’s GMCT.
While Old Bridge has to live with not only the heartbreak and frustration of Sunday evening’s controversial loss, but also the indignity of being the first top seed to lose in the quarterfinals in the now 34 year history of the GMCT, it can look back at past GMCT history, and find sources of comfort and inspiration to use this moment as motivation to make a memorable state tournament run. The last time Old Bridge played in a sectional final was in 2003 when current Roselle Catholic assistant coach, Eric Woroniecki played at the school along with the likes of Steve Barella, Shawn Williams, Spencer Corbett, and big man, Fichel Cuffy, who transferred into the school.
The 2002-03 Knights, coached then by Rocky Knowles, were the 11th seed in the 2003 GMCT, and after a preliminary round win over St. Peter’s of New Brunswick (76-36), knocked off a solid 6th seeded Spotswood team led by the duo of Jean Georges and Jeff Curry in two overtimes (73-68), but then lost a heartbreaking chance to upset 3rd seeded St. Joseph’s led by Jonathan Dixon (NJIT) and Tom Scott (Muhlenberg) in the Quarterfinals (lost 51-47), but were able to rebound to make a memorable Central Jersey Group 4 State Tourney run. The ride to Hunterdon Central High School didn’t start out smoothly for the 2002-03 Knights, seeded 6th in the tournament, as they had to battle with a scrappy 11th seeded South Brunswick squad then coached by current Middlesex County College men’s coach, Dave Turco, and came away with a 44-40 victory.
Then, Old Bridge had to travel to play 3rd seeded Perth Amboy, which had come off a very difficult loss in the 2003 GMCT Quarterfinals as well to an up and coming program in South Plainfield back then. The Panthers had the likes of veterans like Brett Brown, Tyrone Burch, Jefferson Mwango, Jermaine Clark, and Marcus Carty, but the Knights managed to knock off Amboy (65-57) and advance to the sectional semifinals. In the semis, OBHS traveled down to Freehold Township, and take on a Patriots team that was the 2nd seed and led by Manny Ubilla, who eventually played NCAA Division 1 hoops with Sean Baptiste at FDU. The Knights found a way though to pull off a surprising upset, 44-34 to face Trenton in the CJ Group 4 Championship.
The Knights would come up short against Trenton (54-40), but the early part of the bracket that the 2002-03 team faced then in CJ Group 4 is kind of similar to what the Knights will be facing this year. Old Bridge, seeded 2nd in the 2019 Central Jersey Group 4 State Playoffs, hosts neighborhood arch rival, and 15th seeded East Brunswick in the opening round. If the Knights can get past the Bears, they would play either 7th seeded Monroe or 10th seeded South Brunswick. All three teams: EB, Monroe, and South Brunswick lost to Old Bridge twice during the regular season. Winning those first two rounds would give Old Bridge a semifinal game at its home court.
The 2002-03 Old Bridge Knights are not the only GMC team with GMCT heartbreak and disappointment that it managed to turn it into something positive and special in the state tournament. The 2006-07 South Brunswick VIkings, 2007-08 Piscataway Chiefs, and 2012-13 East Brunswick Bears had similar bouts of disappointment that were turned around into not only state tourney success, but also sectional championships. The 2006-07 SBHS Vikings were a special group several years in the making. Grown under the direction of Joe Hoehman as freshmen and Dave Turco and his varsity and JV staff at South Brunswick until 2005, were the 2007 GMCT top seed under then head coach Chris Balent.
En route to its top seed, the Vikings hosted Cardinal McCarrick with the likes of Vince Rosario, Mike Burwell, and Julio Rosario in a mid-season game in January 2007. In that contest, South Brunswick, which had the likes of Devon Young (Felician), Martin Soaries (Eastern), Malcolm Soaries, Ray Dasant, Vineesh Manchanda, Mike Sobers, Arman Wilson, defeated the then 2nd ranked Eagles, 63-41 as Young led the charge with a game high 15 points while the Vikings limited Vince Rosario to 12 points while Burwell equaled Young for game high with 15. McCarrick head coach, Joe Lewis and his troops learned their lessons well from that defeat and was able to turn the tables on the Vikes in the 2007 GMCT Semis.
In the nightcap semifinal game at Middlesex County College, fifth seed Cardinal McCarrick turned in a superb defensive effort to overcome a 33-16 deficit midway through the second quarter to put together a 51-31 surge over the final two and a half periods and hand South Brunswick its only GMC defeat that entire season, 67-64. Rather than feel sorry for themselves, the 2006-07 Vikings regrouped for the states and rebounded with an unforgettable state tourney run that included dominant performances in victories over solid teams in 2nd seeded Rancocas Valley (65-53) and a 27-1 top seeded Freehold Township team (88-72) to win the Central Jersey Group 4 Championship at Woodbridge High School, and then knocked off Cherokee (57-49) in the Group 4 State Semifinals at Atlantic City High School. The Vikings then gave powerhouse and defending state champ, Linden all it could handle before falling 63-54 in the Group 4 State Championship Game at Rutgers.
A year later a similar thing happened with the 2007-08 Piscataway Chiefs. After winning the 2007 GMCT as the 6th seed by knocking off 3rd seeded Colonia in the Quarterfinals, holding off a pesky charge from 7th seeded South Plainfield in the Semifinals, and defeating fifth seeded McCarrick in the Championship, P-Way came into the 2007-08 season as the GMC Hoops Pre-Season No. 1 team. Led by the likes of football and basketball standouts, James White (Southern Connecticut State and Salisbury University), J.D. Griggs (Iowa and Akron), Omar Smith (Shaw and Raritan Valley Community College), Tristan Benjamin, Aaron Hush (Temple), Jeff Adkins Jr. (New Haven), and with a talented sophomore in Wayne Newsome (Lincoln University), the Chiefs dominated early on by winning 11 of its first 12 games including victories over Immaculata (47-32), Seton Hall Prep (53-43), J.P. Stevens (51-30), and St. Joseph’s (61-28).
However, the Chiefs suffered a tough overtime loss at Cardinal McCarrick thanks to a monster performance by Mike Burwell (70-65) on January 19th. After losing to national powerhouse Oak Hill Academy in the 2008 Primetime Shootout at the RAC despite the solid effort of Hush, who led the way in defeat with 9 points including seven in the second alone, P-Way entered the 2008 GMCT as the 2nd seed thanks to a 50-32 victory over then 3rd seeded Bishop Ahr on February 2nd. Piscataway defeated 15th seeded Dunellen (78-55) in the Round of 16 and then held off a tough 7th seeded Carteret squad (49-41) in the Quarterfinals to reach the Final Four at South Brunswick to face 6th seeded St. Joseph’s led by sophomore Steve Rennard and junior Nikko Vastola along with the Falcons swat patrol of forwards Gerard Lewis and Robbie Ashamole.
Led by the solid coaching of Dave Turco, who was in his 3rd year at St. Joseph’s, the Falcons, which lost both regular season meetings versus Piscataway including a 61-28 loss at P-Way on January 8th, and a 49-38 defeat at home on January 29th, turned in a dominant effort, especially on the defensive end by limiting the Chiefs fast break opportunities and forcing them into a halfcourt game and a jump shooting team. The result was a stunning 56-42 defeat to the Falcons, which ended up losing to McCarrick in the 2008 GMCT Championship Game at South Brunswick. Like the 2007 South Brunswick Vikings, the Chiefs refused to let the disappointment be the story of their season. Instead, P-Way rebounded to go through a very tough North Jersey Section 2 Group 4 bracket to win the title at the Dunn Center. Along the way, the Chiefs avenged an opening round state tourney loss in 2007 to Watchung Hills (70-58), fought off a fierce challenge by a Union Township (54-51) team led by Travis Taylor (Monmouth and Xavier) and coached by former P-Way coach, Tony DiGiovanni, and knocked off two time defending Group 4 State Champion, Linden in the sectional final on March 3rd (58-47).
The story didn’t end there. Piscataway, which had won the Group 4 State Title in 1994 over Teaneck led by the likes of John Celestand and Justin Bailey, was looking to get a state title for themselves. Returning to the Dunn Center two nights later, the Chiefs battled a Paterson Eastside team that won the North Jersey Section 1 Group 4 title in the 2008 Group 4 State Semifinal. Led by the solid effort of Griggs at both ends of the floor, Piscataway earned its first state title game appearance in 13 years right in its own backyard against Rancocas Valley at the RAC. However, the Devils from Burlington County, the Central Jersey Group 4 champions, which had lost to South Brunswick in the 2007 sectional semifinals, showed resilience with a second half rally that resulted in a 55-43 defeat of the Chiefs. Piscataway finished its season at 24-5, and won its first of back to back GMC Hoops Trophies.
Finally, we have the last public school to win the GMC Red Division, the 2012-13 East Brunswick Bears. Led by the likes of NCAA Division I talents, Amir Bell (Princeton) and Rob Ukawuba (NJIT) as well as sharpshooters Gary Baumer and Danny Leung, and big man Jake Krantz (Stevens), the Bears, then coached by the legendary Bo Henning, who was in his final season at EB, shocked the Middlesex County basketball world on opening night of the 2012-13 season by going into St. Joseph’s and upsetting the pre-season number one Falcons (58-54) led by future NBA talents, Karl Anthony Towns (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Wade Baldwin (Memphis Grizzlies, Portland Trailblazers, and Cleveland Cavaliers), and Marques Townes, who has made a name for himself by helping to guide Loyola of Chicago to the NCAA Final Four in 2018.
Riding the momentum and confidence from that hard fought opening night victory against its arch rival, EB went on to win 15 straight games including a 2nd win over St. Joe’s in front of a packed sold out house and MSG Varsity at East Brunswick HS on January 17th (52-45) to essentially clinch the GMC Red. The Bears first loss was a hard fought defeat on the road at historic St. Anthony’s of Jersey City (46-37) on January 29th. EB would lose a 2nd game to Roselle Catholic (60-49) on Feburary 10th before going through its first three rounds of 2013 GMCT easily with wins over Perth Amboy (80-34), Sayreville (69-37), and an upstart Woodbridge program making its first ever GMCT Final Four appearance (76-31). However, St. Joseph’s would get EB on the third time around in a memorable GMCT Championship that was the only title game to go two overtimes before the Falcons won, 66-63 despite Towns fouling out of the game.
Once again, like the 2002-03 Old Bridge Knights, 2006-07 South Brunswick Vikings, and 2007-08 Piscataway Chiefs before them, the East Brunswick Bears of 2012-13 did not dwell on its failure, disappointment, and heartbreak. Instead they used all of that to fuel themselves to a solid state tourney run that resulted in the school’s first sectional title since 1986. Earning the top seed in Central Jersey Group 4, East Brunswick dispatched 16th seeded Monroe in the opening round (83-55), rolled past 9th seeded Hunterdon Central (68-38) in the quarterfinals, and had a sound semifinal victory over a talented North Brunswick team (60-37) that had a memorable run of its own in the state tourney with a dramatic double overtime win over Old Bridge (72-67) in the opening round after the Knights defeated the Raiders in the GMCT Quarterfinals, and Jackson Memorial (50-43).
On March 4th, East Brunswick hosted 7th seeded Trenton in the CJ Group 4 Championship Game at EBHS. The Tornadoes had a magical run that included victories over Somerset County and Skyland Conference powers in 10th seeded Montgomery (49-44) and Hillsborough (58-52) before edging CVC rival, and 6th seeded West Windsor Plainsboro-South in the other semifinal. Leading 35-30 late in the third period, the Bears embarked on a decisive 19-6 tear over nearly an eight minute span to take a commanding 54-36 lead. Highlighting the run was a bucket by Ukawuba (game high 22 points) at the 2:44 mark, a putback by Leung (15 points) with 47 seconds left in the third, and threes by Leung and Baumer in the fourth. The win gave EB the opportunity to take on Atlantic City in the Group 4 State Semifinals at Egg Harbor Township High School on March 6th.
In the 2013 Group 4 State Semifinal, East Brunswick opened the game with a 20-10 first quarter showing, led 33-23 at the half, and despite being outscored 10-4 in the third, still led 37-33 heading into the final period. Unfortunately, Atlantic City added an 18-12 showing in the final frame for a 28-16 surge in the second half for the 51-49 win. The Vikings of Atlantic City, which defeated Linden (60-54) in the Group 4 State Championship at Rutgers, would eventually lose ironically to St. Joseph’s (63-49) in the TOC Semifinals at Monmouth University before the Falcons lost to Roselle Catholic (65-49) in the 2013 TOC Final at Sun National Bank Center in Trenton. These are four great examples of past GMC teams putting behind the heartbreak and disappointment in previous GMCTs to have great state tourney runs and even sectional championships. Lessons that Old Bridge can learn from and use to inspire its team to rebound and make similar history itself.