EDISON, NJ–On Thursday afternoon, GMC Hoops traveled over to the Eagles Nest on the campus of Edison High School to see the Eagles take on the Vikings of Union Catholic in a scrimmage. Â The Eagles, which finished seventh in the nine team GMC Red last season, moved down to the last year’s squad including: Â Kevin Luckenbach, Brian Cohen, Julius Collier, Kevin Darway, and Adeboye Akinsiku. Â In 2009-10, EHS started the season with six straight losses, but improved as the season progressed by winning 9 of its last 18 games to finish at 9-15. Â The Eagles were also 6-10 in division, and 9-14 in conference. Â Edison won its 2010 GMCT Play-In Round game by defeating South Plainfield with a come from behind effort in the second half, and it also qualified for the North Jersey Section 2 Group IV state tournament, where it lost to Hillsborough in the first round.
Over the summer, Edison competed in the Rahway Summer League, and earned the ninth seed in the playoffs with a 3-6 mark during the regular season before losing to St. Joe’s in the first round. Grippo is the latest in a recent line of talented players to transfer from Edison. Â Others include Will Thomas and Mohammed Ali, who play both football and basketball for Cardinal McCarrick. Looking at the lower levels of the Eagle program, the JV was 1-21 and the Freshmen were 10-12 last season. This year’s Eagles team has only three seniors, and has four juniors and four sophomores on this year’s roster. Head coach Charlie Mohr’s hope is that this year’s squad will overcome its lack of experience with its athletic ability. Some newcomers to keep an eye on this season are sophomores Markell Barnes, Qaasim Bass-Ali, and Marcus Cudjoe.
There was six ten minute quarters of action in this one, and Union Catholic had the edge for the majority of the time. The Vikings won three of the six quarters played while the Eagles won one, and the other two ended in a tie. UCHS outscored EHS by a margin of 58-44 over the six periods of play. The Scotch Plains based school put in a solid team effort that overcame the lack of scoring from Jamaad Nash and John Marciano. The Vikings had 50 of their 58 points come from players other than Nash or Marciano. Union Catholic shot 24 of 53 from the floor for 45 percent including 5 of 16 from long distance for 31 percent. On the other side of the ledger, Edison was only 19 of 49 from the field for 39 percent including 3 of 13 from beyond the arc for just 23 percent.
Outside of Nash (4 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, and an assist) and Marciano (4 points, 9 rebounds, and a block), Union Catholic shot 20 of 39 from the floor. Both teams struggled from the foul line though as the Eagles were just 3 of 9 from the charity stripe while the Vikes were only 5 of 14. Edison won the turnover battle (23-26), but the Vikings won the battle on the boards with a 41-25 advantage including a 20-12 edge on the offensive glass. In other statistical areas, the Vikings had more assists (13-11) and blocks (3-1) while the Eagles had more steals (9-7). The first period ended in a 7-7 tie, and then UC won the next three quarters by margins of 15-11, 15-6, and 13-8. The fifth period ended in a 6-6 tie, and then Edison won the last quarter by a 6-2 score.
In the first period, neither team got on the board until the 7:45 mark when the Vikings drew first blood with a three pointer for a 3-0 lead. The Eagles were scoreless until the 5:20 mark when Kevin Luckenbach (2 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds, and a steal) got his only points of the scrimmage on a layup to close the gap to 3-2. Union Catholic made two foul shots at the 4:12 mark, and a little more than two mnutes to go in the quarter to take a five point lead at 7-2. EHS would rally though with the final five points including a three pointer by Brian Cohen (5 points, 3 assists, and a rebound) with 29 seconds to go in the period for the 7-7 tie. The second quarter saw UC take control of the scrimmage by scoring the first four points over the initial 2:33, and having an 8-4 edge with 4:30 to go in the period before both teams scored seven points each to end the period with the Vikings getting a 15-11 edge.
The third quarter saw the Vikings jump out to an 11-2 lead en route to a 15-6 edge in the frame. Then, in the fourth, Union Catholic scored the first seven points including a three pointer in the first minute, and withstood an 8-6 run by the Eagles to win the period by a 13-8 score. The fifth frame saw Edison show some fight as it scored the first three points of the period, but UCHS outscored the home team by a 6-3 margin the rest of the way for a 6-6 tie. Finally, in the sixth and last period of action, the Eagles took control with a 6-0 lead prior to a Viking timeout at the 3:13 mark, and won the stanza by a 6-2 score. Edison has some young and athletic talent. Luckenbach is the only returning starter from last year’s team with Cohen, Akinsiku, and Collier reserves on last year’s squad. Sophomore Markell Barnes has a good combination of size at 6’5″, athletic ability, and shooting range.
The Eagles may need to whether another tough start, but if they do, they could end up similar to last season’s finish. Edison will need to work on taking better care of the basketball, and boxing out. Outside of Akinsinku (6’3) and Barnes, EHS has a squad with five players that are either 5’9″ or 5’10”. So taking care of the boards will be crucial. Someone will have to step up and fill the offensive void left behind by Yamir Caroo and Grippo. While there is the immediate focus on this coming season, the key will be what happens when the season ends and we go into next season. Keeping this current group of juniors and sophomores together, and having some form of continuity for next year will determine how much Edison basketball will improve.