vs. 
On Friday night, the 2022 Greater Middlesex Conference Boys Basketball Tournament Championship will be played between top seeded St. Thomas Aquinas (25-1) and 3rd seeded Colonia (21-3). This will be the third time this season that the two schools have met with Aquinas winning the previous two meetings on January 11th (64-52) in Colonia and February 3rd (68-54) in North Edison.
No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas (25-1)–Coaching Staff
| Bob Turco | St. Thomas Aquinas Head Coach |
| Matt Gigliello | St. Thomas Aquinas Varsity Assistant Coach |
| Ryan Turco | St. Thomas Aquinas Varsity Assistant/Junior Varsity Coach |
| Chris Young | St. Thomas Aquinas Varsity Assistant/Freshmen Coach |
No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas (25-1)–Team Roster
| Player Name | Jersey No. | Position | Height/Weight | Year | High School | College | Hometown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terrell Pitts | 0 | Guard/Forward | 6'4/190 | Junior | |||
| Adam Silas | 1 | Guard/Forward | 6'3/185 | Senior | |||
| Kamal Lee | 2 | Guard | 6'0/165 | Junior | |||
| Jaquan Harris | 3 | Guard | 6'4/185 | Senior | |||
| Samar Abdullah | 4 | Guard | 6'0/180 | Senior | |||
| Jaden Kelly | 5 | Guard | 6'3/175 | Sophomore | |||
| Sherief Guinyard | 10 | Forward | 6'6/180 | Junior | |||
| Jayden Young | 11 | Guard/Forward | 6'3/170 | Junior | |||
| Jadyn Defense | 12 | Guard | 5'9"/160 | Junior | |||
| Davon Grant | 20 | Guard | 6'1"/210 | Sophomore | |||
| Chris Santner | 21 | Center/Forward | 6'9/200 | Junior | |||
| Phillip Unangast | 22 | Forward | 6'6/185 | Sophomore | |||
| Jalen Pichardo | 23 | Guard/Forward | 6'6/195 | Junior | |||
| Tyler Kadi | 24 | Guard/Forward | 6'1"/185 | Senior |
No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas (25-1)–Season Schedule
No. 3 Colonia (21-3)–Coaching Staff
| Jose Rodriguez | Colonia Head Coach |
| Edwin Santana | Colonia Varsity Assistant/JV Head Coach |
| Brian O’Lone | Colonia Freshmen Coach |
| Danny Brix | Colonia Varsity Assistant |
| Eric Lemberakis | Colonia JV and Varsity Assistant |
No. 3 Colonia (21-3)–Team Roster
| Player Name | Jersey No. | Position | Height/Weight | Year | High School | College | Hometown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saivon Pressley | 2 | Guard | 5'11/165 | Senior | |||
| Demond Nelson | 3 | Guard/Forward | 6'0/180 | Senior | |||
| Jaeden Jones | 4 | Guard | 5'11/165 | Sophomore | |||
| Anthony Gooden | 5 | Guard | 6'1/170 | Junior | |||
| Jeffrey White | 10 | Guard | 5'8/145 | Sophomore | |||
| Tymihr Van Kline | 12 | Guard | 6'0/170 | Senior | |||
| Matt Scherb | 13 | Guard | 5'10/165 | Senior | |||
| Noah Taylor | 15 | Forward | 6'5/190 | Junior | |||
| Meet Desai | 20 | Forward | 6'2/175 | Senior | |||
| Billy Anderson | 21 | Forward | 6'7/200 | Senior | |||
| Charles Hommel | 23 | Guard | 6'2/170 | Sophomore | |||
| Justin Gordon | 24 | Guard/Forward | 6'1/170 | Senior | |||
| Dylan Conklin | 30 | Forward | 6'3/175 | Junior | |||
| Michael Howell | 32 | Forward | 6'5/190 | Senior | |||
| Matthew McSorley | 35 | Guard/Forward | 6'2/170 | Sophomore |
No. 3 Colonia (21-3)–Season Schedule
No. 1 St. Thomas (25-1) vs. No. 3 Colonia (21-3)–Head to Head
| Matchup | Time/Score | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|
 North Brunswick |
 Carteret |
GMC White 64-27 |
North Brunswick HS Gym (North Brunswick, NJ) |
 Woodbridge |
 J.F. Kennedy |
GMC White 62-48 |
Woodbridge HS Gym (Woodbridge, NJ) |
| Colonia |
St. Thomas Aquinas |
GMC White 52-64 |
Colonia HS Gym (Colonia, NJ) |
 Sayreville |
 Edison |
GMC White 51-74 |
Sayreville HS Gym (Parlin, NJ) |
| Matchup | Time/Score | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodbridge |
North Brunswick |
GMC White 57-38 |
Woodbridge HS Gym (Woodbridge, NJ) |
| St. Thomas Aquinas |
Colonia |
GMC White 68-54 |
St. Thomas Aquinas HS Gym (Edison, NJ) |
| Edison |
Sayreville |
GMC White 59-41 |
Frank Cangelosi Gym @ Edison HS (Edison, NJ) |
No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas (25-1) vs. No. 3 Colonia (21-3)–Recent History
Long time rivals from the early days of the Greater Middlesex Conference, the two teams did not play each other twice a year since the 2001-02 season until this year. St. Thomas Aquinas, formerly Bishop Ahr, had been in the GMC Blue from the 2002-03 season to the 2019-20 season. Since February 2020, the two schools have met five times including twice this year with the Trojans winning 4 of the 5 contests.
- February 3, 2022—St. Thomas Aquinas 68—Colonia 54—Regular Season—Trojans clinched GMC White
- January 11, 2022—St. Thomas Aquinas 64—Colonia 52—Regular Season
- March 5, 2021—Colonia 80—St. Thomas Aquinas 64—Championship of Karl Anthony Towns-Jay Williams Pod
- February 13, 2021—St. Thomas Aquinas 75—Colonia 63—Only Regular Season Meeting in 2021
- February 23, 2020—St. Thomas Aquinas 53—Colonia 43—GMCT Quarterfinals—Aquinas went on to win first title since 1992.
Key Players
St. Thomas Aquinas
- Adam Silas: 6’3″ Sr. G/F with 754 career points, and averaging 19.2 ppg this season.
- Jaquan Harris: 6’4″ Sr. G/F with 561 career points, and scored 11 points in his only game versus Sayreville this year on February 8th.
- Terrell Pitts: 6’4″ Jr. G/F with 443 career points, and averaging 13.9 ppg this season.
- Jalen Pichardo: 6’6″ Jr. G/F with 517 career points, and averaging 10.2 ppg this season.
- Kamal Lee: 6’0″ Jr. G with 211 career points, and averaging 8.4 ppg this season.
- Sherief Guinyard: 6’6″ Jr. F with 449 career points, and averaging 6.0 ppg this season.
- Jaden Kelly: 6’3″ So. G with 222 career points, and averaging 9.5 ppg this season.
- Samar Abdullah: 6’0″ Sr. G with 527 career points, and averaging 8.0 ppg this season.
- Chris Santner: 6’9″ Sr. F with 78 career points, and averaging 5.0 ppg this season.
Colonia
- Saivon Pressley: 5’10” Sr. G with 1,356 career points, and averaging 19.0 ppg this season.
- Billy Anderson: 6’7″ Sr. F with 313 career points, and averaging 13.2 ppg this season.
- Noah Taylor: 6’5″ Jr. F
- Jaeden Jones: 5’10” So. G
- Demond Nelson: 6’3″ Sr. G
- Mike Howell: 6’6″ Sr. F
- Matt Scherb: 5’11” Sr. G
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS vs. COLONIA DID YOU KNOW?
Colonia’s top scorer, Saivon Pressley actually played for Bob Turco and St. Thomas Aquinas during his freshman year in 2018-19. He, Samar Abdullah, and St. Joseph’s Ethan Simmon were teammates on Turco’s first year squad in North Edison that finished 21-7, lost to Piscataway in the 2019 GMCT Quarterfinals, and actually won their first NJSIAA state tournament game since 1981 when it defeated Donovan Catholic (75-48) in the 2019 NJSIAA Non-Public A State Playoffs.
In addition, Colonia’s head coach, Jose Rodriguez is no stranger to Turco and his assistant head coach, Matt Gilgliello. Rodriguez played for Turco and his younger brother Dave at Carteret and helped lead the Ramblers to the 2000 GMCT Boys Championship Game, where they lost to Sayreville (50-45). Carteret went on to win the Central Jersey Group 2 title that year.
Then, the following year, Rodriguez, who finished his career at Carteret with 1,227 points, teamed up with Omar Alston to lead the Ramblers to the GMCT Semifinals, where they lost to top seeded St. Joseph’s. During the course of that 2000-01 season, the first year of GMC Hoops, Rodriguez played against Gigliello, who was a junior at Monroe at the time.
In one of the two meetings versus Monroe on January 12, 2001, Rodriguez scored 50 points to break the school record held by Joe “Ducky” Medwick to defeat Monroe, and earn GMC Hoops Player of the Week honors. Rodriguez and Gigliello would eventually team up on the St. Joseph’s coaching staff under the direction of Dave Turco.
Prediction:
The Trojans and Patriots are no strangers to one another. The two teams have played each other five previous times over the last three seasons including twice this season as part of their GMC White schedule. The Patriots have played the Trojans tough four of those five previous times. Colonia has played Aquinas the toughest of any team in the GMC this season.
So far in the tournament, Saivon Pressley has averaged 28.7 points per game in the three games played by Colonia. In the two meetings against Aquinas this year, Pressley, who played for the Trojans as a freshman three years ago, has averaged just 12.5 points per game including only 8 in the first meeting on January 11th in Colonia. Pressley will have to do better than that in order for the Pats to have a chance.
Meanwhile, Adam Silas, who compiled a triple double of 19 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists in Aquinas’ first round win over Perth Amboy (94-47) on February 17th, has averaged a more modest 16.3 points per game in the tourney. However, Silas has plenty of help and rested a good deal in the Trojans 67-39 win over 9th seeded Piscataway in the GMCT Elite Eight on Sunday.
Keep in mind also that Terrell Pitts did not play in Aquinas’ semifinal win over Monroe on Wednesday night. The Trojans have so many weapons in both the backcourt and frontcourt. For example, in the 68-54 victory over the Patriots on February 3rd in North Edison, Kamal Lee, who is averaging just 6.3 points per game in the GMCT, had almost double that with 12 including two threes.
One quality that many tend to overlook with this Trojans’ team is their ability to forget about their mistakes, get back on defense at the other end, and make plays. It happened about 4 or 5 times in the win over Colonia on February 3rd, and it also happened a number of times in the past two rounds. The team does have talent, but it doesn’t take it for granted.
Final Score: St. Thomas Aquinas 66—Colonia 53