RAHWAY, NJ–On Friday evening, the inaugural Rahway Summer League came to an end with the Championship Game played between fourth seeded Piscataway and second seeded Rahway. The hometown Indians won the battle of Indians by defeating the Chiefs by the score of 49-38. Piscataway, which defeated top seeded Cardinal McCarrick in the semifinals (55-52), led by a score of 19-16 before Rahway closed out the half with an 8-2 run for a 24-21 lead at the intermission, and went on a 25-17 run in the second half for a 33-19 surge over the final 24:34 for an eleven point victory.
Rahway and Piscataway got first round byes along with Cardinal McCarrick and Perth Amboy as a reward for their fine efforts during the regular season. Both McCarrick and Rahway ended the regular season at 9-1 while Amboy lost to McCarrick in the regular season finale, and finished 8-2. P-Way ended up at 6-3 to earn the fourth seed. Rahway defeated JFK in the quarterfinals, and then shutdown Woodbridge in the semifinals while Piscataway defeated fifth seeded Roselle before upsetting Cardy Mac. The Chiefs and Eagles played in each in a regular season game that went to overtime before McCarrick won.
There were 13 teams in the league with tweleve qualifying for the playoffs. Dunellen, which was winless on the summer, didn’t make the post-season. Nine of the teams were from the Greater Middlesex Conference including: Cardinal McCarrick, Dunellen, Edison, J.F. Kennedy, Perth Amboy, Piscataway, South Plainfield, St. Joseph’s, Woodbridge. St. Joseph’s didn’t have its varsity squad in the league, but the youngsters including Jalen Gilmore, Jake Dadika, Greg Patton, Tom Cicalese, Brian Kirkpatrick, Salman Hasan, Mike Cintron gave a fine representation of themselves. McCarrick and Piscataway were the top GMC teams in the league with Woodbridge and Amboy not too far behind.
Both McCarrick and Piscataway didn’t have their full rosters at every game, but still looked to be contenders in the conference for this coming year. McCarrick has a solid nucleus returning despite the losses of Craig Thomas and Mo Isaac to graduation. Dana Raysor, who played seldomly at Rahway, leads a group that has the likes of Jeremy Cruz, Mohammed Ali, Jumanne McDaniel, Charlie Gorman, Will Thomas, John Appiah, Mike Lewis, and Robert Nunez among others along with newcomer Marques Townes. Gorman and Townes played key roles for McCarrick in come from behind wins over Piscataway and Perth Amboy as well as a quarterfinal round win over St. Joseph’s in the playoffs. The Eagles also played at Linden as well as the East Brunswick Team Camp.
P-Way has a talented junior class coming in led by the likes of Tajae Sharpe along with Tyjohn Young, Temi Adebayo, Jelani Jackson, Vik Singh, and Greg Davis. They also have incoming seniors such as Brian Wong along with players such as Donovan Kirkland, Devonte Smith, and Kendall Marks that were a part of a JV team that lost only two games, and reached the finals of the East Brunswick JV tournament this past season. The Chiefs also got a transfer in Galen Smith coming in from Cardinal McCarrick. Woodbridge did impress this summer with plenty of young talent coming back including incoming juniors such as Keith Hughes, Kyle Pearson, Kyle Anderson, and Anthony Nyers along with incoming sophomore Duquan Bailey.
The Barrons along with Edison are moving down to the GMC White this year so they will be tested against the likes of McCarrick, Monroe, Sayreville, North Brunswick, and New Brunswick. Meanwhile, Perth Amboy is staying in the Red, and with an incoming senior class that has always had a lot of potential, and an incoming sophomore class that has a lot of promise, the Panthers could make a step up in 2010-11. Victor Verdecia, Kearny Canela, Yoelbin Sanchez, and Chael Hernandez return along with Hamilton Capellan while Jonathan Rodriguez will be leading the rest of the solid group of sophomores. Amboy also played in the Colonia JV Summer League, East Brunswick Team Camp, and Kean Ironman Challenge.
J.F. Kennedy made a solid run in the playoffs with an upset victory over seventh seeded South Plainfield in the opening round, and a near upset against Rahway in the quarterfinals. The Mustangs have the likes of Daishon Robinson, Nick Spoganetz, Josh Kamenas, A.J. Pichalski, and Jordan Toczynski returning while the likes of Vik Pawar are coming up from the JV. Spoganetz has become more of a scoring threat this summer as he will need to take on some of the scoring load left behind by Rasheed Howard and Joe Marciano while Kamenas has become more confident and assertive offensively. JFK also competed in the E.B. Team Camp. Speaking of South Plainfield, the Tigers were 4-4 going into the finale of the regular season before losing to A.L. Johnson, and then falling to Kennedy in the first round of the playoffs.
SPHS does have some bright spots though including Denzel Mensah, Sharif Ross, Joe Skwiat, and Ray Perez. It will be tough in the White, but the Tigers have made some good steps to improve this summer by playing in this league. South Plainfield also participated in the Rutgers Team Camp. Edison will have to deal with the loss of another transfer as Greg Grippo is now with Rutgers Prep along with the loss of seniors such as Yamir Caroo. On top of that, the Eagles are moving into the more competitive White Division. Look for the likes of Kevin Luckenbach and Brian Cohen as well as others to step up. Dunellen lost two key veterans in Jonard Hall and Luke Francisco to graduation, but Sean Gibney, Jeff Puckett, and Dylan Hoski have learned a great deal from their tour with the DHS varsity last year. The Gold has changed a great deal in this offseason, but expect Dunellen to be among the contenders for division honors.