Good afternoon everyone. Well, I have been thinking about writing an entry in the blog, or a column on this for the past several weeks. Especially since, Piscataway’s senior guard, James White had been quoted in the paper stating how much this group of Chiefs also wanted to be remembered. Yes, the legend of not only John Celestand, but also Justin Bailey, Dewey Ferguson, John Yurkovich (Group IV State Final MVP), Patrick Foyah, Sean White (Shumate), Delvon McMillan, and Eddie Simmons, has casted a large shadow on this proud sports town in Middlesex County for nearly 15 years since winning the school’s only state title in Boys Basketball back in the winter of 1993-94.
Unfortunately, the fact that this year’s edition of the Chiefs fell short of winning the school’s second state title, left the debate rather moot. However, a comparison of these two squads is still intriguing since there are some similarities as well as differences. Now, before I go any further, I will say in all fairness to the 1993-94 Piscataway squad that I didn’t see them as much as I did see this year’s Chiefs. As a matter of fact, I didn’t see them at all that winter. Only heard their games on the radio via WCTC. I was actually in my second year of coaching as a volunteer assistant on the staff for Jeff Lubreski at South Plainfield at the time. As a matter of fact, the only time I ever saw a John Celestand led P-Way team was in the 1995 GMCT Final Four at the RAC against St. Peter’s. In that game, the Chiefs started on fire with the game’s first 19 points, and led by as much as 25-3 before the Cardinals rallied to make things interesting in a close P-Way win, 65-60.
First and foremost, both the 1994 and 2008 teams were built on defense. All teams coached by Paul Schoeb during his illustrious tenure at P-Way from the days of Tyrone Brewer in the Mid-State Conference back in the mid to late 1980s all the way through until the Chiefs were dethroned as two time defending champions to East Brunswick in the 1996 GMCT Final always were defense first. Secondly, both teams were very deep. In my first year helping out as a volunteer at SPHS in the 1992-93 season, which was John Celestand’s sophomore year, and Corey Lowrey’s senior year, the talk among many coaches around the GMC that season was how loaded Piscataway was. Another similarity was the fact that both squads had grown from mediocrity a year or two earlier. Much to the disbelief of many, the 1992-93 Piscataway Chiefs did not make the state tournament. However, they did win many more games and accomplished far greater things than the 2005-06 Chiefs did.
The 1992-93 season was actually the last year the GMCT had the old 16 team format before the Open Tournament format was introduced in 1993-94. The 1993 GMCT saw Piscataway seeded seventh with an opening round game against 10th seeded Cedar Ridge at South Plainfield High School. I remember that because I was there with SPHS getting ready to board the bus for our little journey to the Battle of Little Bighorn, I mean Middlesex County College, where we took on top seeded and eventual finalist, Perth Amboy, and were routed, 76-32. The Chiefs easily defeated the Cougars, then coached by recently retired Old Bridge head coach, Rocky Knowles. P-Way advanced to the Quarterfinals at MCC to take on second seeded St. Peter’s, which had defeated East Brunswick in the opening round. In one of the surprises of that year’s tourney, the Chiefs knocked off the Cardinals by a score of 49-42 (I think). While the run would end in the semifinals against eventual champion, St. Joseph’s, the foundation had been built for the magical season to come.
With that said about the 1992-93 Chiefs, you will see that it is not hard to understand why they, like this year’s squad, felt disrespected somewhat. Over the course of the 1993-94 season, St. Peter’s, which now had a freshman from Perth Amboy named Tony Lee to join the likes of Dave Capers, Marcus Wilson, and Kenya Merritt, were the top team in the GMC for most of that season. When the seeds came out, St. Peter’s was seeded first while P-Way was seeded second. Piscataway would emerge as champion though with a 49-44 victory over St. Peter’s in the Championship Game although Capers was hobbled with a foot injury. Piscataway had defeated Woodbridge in the Round of 16 after the Barrons, seeded 18th, overcame a 12-0 early deficit, and disposed of South Plainfield thanks to a 1-3-1 zone that exploited the weakness of that year’s Tigers from the perimeter. The Chiefs then defeated a Colonia team led by current Patriot head coach, Chris Chiera, and 1,000 point scorer, Gene Derkack in the semifinals before defeating St. Peter’s for the Championship.
Offensively, the 1994 Chiefs were better with Celestand and Bailey, two Division I players including one that played in the Big East for Villanova, and eventually went on to become Piscataway’s all time leading scorer before Rodney Freeney came along. Bailey actually was a Division I player in his own right playing at the University of Hartford. In addition, guys like McMillan, who would torch South Brunswick two years later in the 1996 GMCT Semifinals with 6 three pointers, could shoot the ball well also. However, this year’s Chiefs were very balanced with no one player dominating the offense. Now we move to the intangibles. And, this is where things get a bit interesting. Let’s start by asking a simple question. Does anyone remember where the 1993-94 edition of the Piscataway Chiefs played their Group IV State Semifinal Game against defending state champion, Shawnee led by Penn State bound Danny Earl? Atlantic City…No….Toms River…No…Rutgers Athletic Center….No. The game was actually played at Piscataway High School. One may wonder how this happened. Simple. For those, who don’t remember, the Winter of 1993-94 was one of the worst winter’s around Central Jersey as well as much of the Northeast over the past 25 years. There were a seemingly endless series of ice storms and mixed bag precipitation events that created havoc for many motorists around the Garden State.
Then, came the big storm of the season. The President’s Day Storm of 1994 was the biggest snowfall of the year for much of the region. As a matter of fact, things got so bad that the roof caved in at the Physical Education Center at Middlesex County College, which forced all four GMCT Elite Eight games to be played at East Brunswick High School instead. A subsequent storm played havoc with the state tourney schedule, and as a result, the Chiefs got some unexpected home cooking for their clash with the Renegades with the winner playing that following Sunday at noon against what would eventually be Teaneck. P-Way was also in Central Jersey Group IV at the time rather than the usually tougher North Jersey Section 2 Group IV. Moreover, Perennial public powers such as Elizabeth, Trenton, and Atlantic City were in transition. However, there are those who will also argue that the 2008 edition of the North Jersey Section 2 Group IV bracket was down in the sense that teams such as Plainfield, Linden, and Irvington had lost much from the past couple seasons.
Sadly for this year’s Chiefs, they were unable to add a state title to their legacy, and enhance their chances in an argument or debate comparing themselves with the 1994 squad. A loss in the 2008 Group IV State Title Game to Rancocas Valley of Burlington County, denied the 2008 edition of the Piscataway Boys Basketball team, a chance of even more greatness. Neverthless, one cannot take away the fact that P-Way went through perhaps the toughest public bracket in New Jersey this season with wins over Watchung Hills, Union, and Linden before rallying to defeat a game Paterson Eastside squad in the state semifinals.
The 1993-94 Chiefs didn’t stop there at winning the Group IV State Title. Several days later, P-Way returned to the now friendly confines of the RAC for the opening round of the 1994 Tournament of Champions, and defeated the Group II State Champion, Middle Township, led by the South Jersey phenom, Lamar Grier, who went on to play at Florida State. Unfortunately, Piscataway’s ride would end with a loss to Tim Thomas and Paterson Catholic in the semifinal round. Thomas would eventually be teammates with Celestand at Villanova for one season before going pro in the NBA. The Cougars would also falter in the Championship game that was played at Jadwin Gym in Princeton. Paterson Catholic would lose to Orange, the Group III State Champion in the T of C final.
As a fan of Middlesex County basketball listening to those games on WCTC during that winter of ’94, you couldn’t deny feeling a sense of pride for the conference when the Chiefs made their run that season. It’s something that doesn’t happen that often around here, which makes it important to emphasize that folks need to savor the moment when it happens again.