Raiders Win Division Title For First Time In Seven Years, And Could Be A Team To Reckon With In Upcoming GMCT
SOUTH RIVER, NJ–On Friday night, GMC Hoops saw Piscataway Tech take on South River in a GMC Gold Clash. One thing that would tell you right away that this is a different Raiders team than in recent years was the number of times head coach, Karl Towns yelled at his players. It was only once in the fourth quarter when his team turned the ball over off an inbounds play.
Could the entertaining Towns be mellowing? Perhaps. His assistant coach, Robert Freeney Jr., a former standout at Piscataway High a decade ago, has done most of the coaching during the two games that we’ve seen. However, this Raider team is good. Still yet to crack the GMC Hoops Top Ten, P-Way Tech is lacking that one breakthrough win outside the comfortable confines of the Gold Division, where it has dominated. The Raiders had a chance to get that win on Saturday, but a game that had been scheduled with New Brunswick was postponed because they had played games on Thursday (South Amboy) and Friday. Can’t play on three consecutive days.
The one chance so far this season that Piscataway Tech had for a quality win was when it took on Rutgers Prep, but the Raiders were soundly defeated by the Argonauts 75-48 on January 10th. Other than that, P-Way Tech has been perfect. The Raiders have amassed a 15-1 overall record including a 13-0 mark in the GMC Gold with an additional win over Amboy Tech in the NJTAC Holiday Tournament. Piscataway Tech leads the conference in point differential by outscoring its foes by an average margin of nearly 24 points per game. The Raiders also lead the GMC in scoring, and is second in points allowed per game as well.
This could very well be Karl Towns best squad ever. True he had a squad that won back to back GMC Gold titles back in 2003 and 2004 along with a Central Jersey Group I Championship over Manville in 2003. Marquise Perry, Charles Edwards (1,000 point scorer), Jayson Hamilton, and Darin James were key figures on that team, but they tended to drive Towns nuts sometimes, particularly Perry. Towns would miss his point guard though as the years passed. However, the trio of Turell McClendon, Khairi Mosely, and Galen Smith along with returning players Tafari Kerr and Raquil Pettis may help return the Raiders to glory.
McClendon, a transfer from University in Newark, scored 30 points in the victory over South River, and came up big in the fourth quarter of a recent 62-47 win over East Brunswick Tech with nine points. Mosely scored 16 points against the Rams, and had seven points in the final period against E.B. Tech. Meanwhile, Kerr has played solid down low, where he is more effective. He scored 21 points on Friday night against South River. Smith, a transfer from Cardinal McCarrick, was in the St. Patrick’s program a couple years ago, but now has found a home at P-Way Tech.
The trio of McClendon, Mosely, and Smith can all hit from the perimeter, but Smith is more of a playmaker among the three. McClendon can go to the basket, score in transition, go to the line, and put up big numbers. Mosely is more of a perimeter threat. He sank two big three pointers to help the Raiders overcome an early first quarter deficit against South River. The Raiders have not been in the GMCT since the 2004 season. As a matter of fact this could be the first time that all the teams are playing in the tourney. In 2003, the then eighth seeded Raiders gave Colonia all it could handle in the Round of 16 before falling 58-48. This year’s team could give teams in the Blue, White, and Red some trouble as the tourney gets underway later this week and next week.