Good morning, and Merry Christmas to everyone in GMC Country. This abbreviated regular season week was highlighted by a couple key early season games from the GMC Blue and the GMC White. On Monday, GMC Hoops ventured over to Bishop Ahr High School after work to see the sixth ranked Trojans matchup against the eighth ranked Blue Jays from Middlesex.
Despite Middlesex getting to within two points on a couple of occasions in the third, and within four on three occasions in the fourth period, Ahr was in control for the most part as it registered a 57-51 victory to gain an early upper hand in the Blue Division Standings. The Trojans went 13 of 17 at the foul line, and converted five Blue Jay turnovers into 9 points over the final 14 plus minutes of play while Middlesex went 8 of 15 at the charity stripe including two 0 of 2 showings in the final 2:35. It is true that Bishop Ahr lost its entire starting five from last year’s 17-6 season, and 13-1 record in the Blue to share the division title with arch rival Cardinal McCarrick. However, BGA still is loaded!
Take a look at Bishop Ahr’s senior class for instance. Did you know that as Freshmen, these Trojans reached the final of the 2006 Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament before losing to a J.P. Stevens team (60-36) that had the likes of Kenny Bland, Myles Reuben, Nick Pol, Tahir Swinton, and Herb Smith? In addition, this senior class reached the finals of the East Brunswick/GMC JV Tournament each of the past two seasons. Last year’s JV and Freshmen team? Went a combined 40-7 with the Little Trojans reaching the Final Four of the 2008 Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament.
Many around the area felt the same way last season after Corey Francisco, who is now playing at Philadelphia University, graduated. However, BGA proved those people wrong with its strongest season yet since GMC Hoops began covering the conference in 2000-01. Then, the Trojans defeated McCarrick in South Amboy, 72-68 in the opening week of the season to make its early statement. Keep in mind though that as freshmen, that class of Trojans did earn the top seed in the 2005 Perth Amboy/GMC Frosh Tourney, but lost in the Round of 16 to J.P. Stevens. Point is that BGA could be even better this year!
Meanwhile, in Monroe on Tuesday, Steve Blish hit the game winning shot to down Colonia, 52-50. It was the second nailbiting game in two days for the Patriots, which were coming off a last second victory over Scotch Plains (41-39) thanks to a C.J. Gray layup as time expired. Colonia’s victory avenged a loss to the Raiders in last year’s North Jersey Section 2 Group III State Tournament Championship Game. Like Ahr’s victory, the Falcons’ win over the Patriots should not be surprising since the GMC White has been a downybrook for going on the past three seasons.
Projected to finish third in the division, Monroe has a good blend of veteran talent with the likes of Blish, Timmy Brix, and Kenny Pace along with youngsters such as freshmen Ahmid Williams and Danny Brix. Reserves from last year such as Travis Dufner have also made progress during the offseason. Like Ahr, MTHS has been developing good talent at the lower levels for the past several years. For instance, this year’s sophomore class at Monroe that consists of varsity players Alex Vizcaino and Mike Mahmoud, reached the Elite Eight round at the Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament while its JV was seeded sixth and was upset in the Round of 16 by Sayreville in the 2008 East Brunswick/GMC JV Tournament.
As freshmen, the highly touted junior class at Monroe with the likes of Brix, Pace, Dufner, Blake Bascom, Matt Stolte, and Zach Batchelor, earned the top seed in the 2007 Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament, but were upset in the Quarterfinals, and that was with Brix, Pace, and Bascom seeing time at the JV level. Considering the emotional roller coaster ride that the Falcons have been on in the last month after Ryan Walp’s passing, the Falcons are staying strong and using Walp’s example as a motivating factor. Both BGA and Monroe made it perfectly clear this past week that it is going to be another interesting and exciting season of GMC Boys Basketball.