McCarrick Looks to be Early Favorite, but Expect Carteret, Bishop Ahr, J.F. Kennedy, Metuchen, Middlesex, and Spotswood to Give a Good Fight
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–After two seasons of playing with 9 teams, the Greater Middlesex Conference Blue Division underwent some changes in this latest round of GMC realignment this past off-season. Â In addition, there were a lot of coaching changes within the division as well with four new head coaches. Â
There are now 7 teams in the GMC Blue with McCarrick moving down to the Blue after being in the White Division since the 2008-09 season. Â South Plainfield moved up to the GMC White while Highland Park and Piscataway Tech moved down to the GMC Gold. Â McCarrick has been making moves in the off-season, and have already enjoyed off-season success by winning the Playaz Fall League which was run in Paterson on Saturdays.
With a trio of players in Hodari Bazemore, Nyke McCombs, and Gilberto Cue leading the Eagles to the Playaz Fall League title over the likes of Newark Tech, North 13th Street Tech, Passaic Tech, DePaul Catholic, and Hackensack, McCarrick appears to be at least a contender if not a favorite to win the GMC Blue under first year head coach, Ben Gamble, but the rest of the teams in this division all have a lot coming back and will look to still be competitive.  Below is a brief breakdown of each team in the GMC Blue:
Bishop Ahr Trojans
The Trojans lost a couple key players in Owen McLeod, who is already seeing good minutes at Muhlenberg College and big man Corey Webster. Â Nevertheless, the BGA still has a good nucleus of veteran players returning including seniors Tom Weiler, Pat Astarita, Kevin Krolick, Harry Gelpke, Anthony Abano, and Eddie Hayes. Â Ahr also got a new addition in South Amboy transfer, Sean Kudelka, who contributed to last year’s Guvs squad that reached the 2014 GMCT Elite Eight as a 24th seed, the lowest seed ever to reach the quarterfinals. Â Freshmen and JV squads have always been good. Â Last year’s frosh lost in the Round of 16 in the Perth Amboy tourney while the JV reached the quarterfinals as the 6th seed before losing to eventual champion, East Brunswick. Â Over the summer, the Trojans played in the East Brunswick Team Camp, and had squads in the Raritan Bay Summer League in South River. Â At the EB Team Camp, the Trojans had a nice win over a Matawan team that has a good group back from last season’s CJ Group II Champions that defeated Spotswood in the final. Â Expect the BGA to be in the upper tier in this division. Â With this year’s realignment, the Trojans will be able to renew its fierce rivalry with McCarrick.
Cardinal McCarrick Eagles
Over the past two seasons in the GMC White, the Eagles struggled with a combined record of 13-37.  On top of that, McCarrick is seeing its fourth different coach in as many seasons as it has three new head coaches since Joe Lewis stepped down in the Summer of 2012.  Former St. Anthony’s assistant, Ben Gamble is hoping to change that.  He has already made some positive steps by starting a summer basketball camp for younger players in the area, and having a squad that has already enjoyed success with its title at the Saturday Playaz Fall League in Paterson.  The Eagles also played in the Hoop Group High School Summer Showcase in June.  Expect this year’s McCarrick’s team to be athletic, tough on defense, and play a more up-tempo style.  Basically a return to things that made McCarrick so successful during the Joe Lewis era.  The Eagles have not been in the GMC Blue for six seasons, but enjoyed its best success while a member of the division from 2002-2008.  During that stretch, McCarrick won at least a share of the division every year except one.  The Eagles also won the GMCT Championship twice during its tenure in the GMC Blue (2003 and 2008) and the Non-Public B South Championship twice (2003 and 2005).  Led by Hodari Bazemore, Nyke McCombs, and Gilberto Cue, the Eagles defeated Passaic Tech in the semifinals and two-time defending Group II Champion, Newark Tech in the Championship of the Saturday Playaz Fall League in Paterson.  Bazemore was the leading scorer for the Eagles in those two games while McCombs also scored in double figures in both games.  With all of the changes and off-season success, expect the Eagles to be in the running for division honors this season.  Joining Gamble’s coaching staff at McCarrick is former St. Joe’s and Piscataway assistant, Jayson Reid.
Carteret Ramblers
Expect Carteret to be in contention for the GMC Blue again this season with the likes of 1,000 point scorer Jaquan Robertson returning as well as soon to be 1,000 point scorer and football standout, Brandon Gilder coming back. Â The Ramblers took a bit of a hit with the graduation of the likes of Sean Kenney, Branden Benjamin, and Anthony Spinelli while one of its talented sophomores in Quran Robinson transferred to Woodbridge. Â However, they still have plenty of firepower with Robertson and Gilder as well as another football standout, Ra’Keem Bennett back. Â CHS didn’t have stellar teams at the freshmen and JV levels, but keep in mind that they had the likes of youngsters such as Jalen Harris up with the varsity. Â Two years ago, Carteret reached the quarterfinals for the first time since 2008 when Robert Jackson, Brian Williams, and Al Tampa were at the school. Â The Ramblers have become more and more athletic while remaining one of the tougher defensive teams in the Blue. Â Robertson broadened his game last season by adding more perimeter shooting to his play inside and around the rim. Â Both he and Gilder have been four year varsity players at Carteret. Â Since moving back down to the GMC Blue back in 2010-11 season, the Ramblers have had at least a share of the division crown twice. Â The other two seasons, the Ramblers were in contention. Â Over the past two seasons, the Ramblers have been playing in other holiday tournaments after a long commitment to the Gene Haley Tournament. Â Two years ago, Carteret played in the Hillsborough Holiday Tournament and last year, the Ramblers played in the Matawan Huskies Tourney.
J.F. Kennedy Mustangs
This past off-season was one of change at Kennedy over in Iselin. Â Chris Banos, who coached at the school for the past 7 seasons, stepped down. Â Replacing him was former Carteret standout and Colonia freshmen and varsity assistant coach, Drew Hill. Â Joining Hill on the staff is former Carteret and St. Joseph’s assistant John Dolan. Â JFK competed in the Kean Spring League during the off-season, and competed well with the likes of seniors Joe Duffy, Stepp Ozgiebe, Terrance Young, and Andrew Allen. Â Brandon Patterson, Rocky Prakiya, Josh Buchholz, Kush Patel, Giovanni Johnson, Lendell Parker, Nick Keane, and Nick Shirley. Â Two years ago, Kennedy’s current junior class consisting of Prakiya, Buchholz, Patel, Johnson, and Keane reached the Final Four of the 2013 Perth Amboy Freshmen Tournament and ended up defeating St. Joseph’s-Green in overtime for third place in the tourney. Â So, the Mustangs have a good deal of talent returning as well as coming up from the lower levels. Â Last year, JFK earned its highest seed in the GMCT tourney since winning it all in 1990. Â Kennedy has some great guard play with the likes of Ozgiebe, Young, and Allen as well as solid play at the forward spot from Duffy. Â Expect the Mustangs to be in the thick of things again in the Blue Division. Â This year, Kennedy will be competing in the Delbarton Holiday Tournament after playing in the Haley Tourney for many years.
Metuchen Bulldogs
Like Kennedy and a couple other teams in the division, Metuchen underwent a coaching change with former Piscataway head coach, Guy Jensen returning to coaching after a couple years absence to replace Jon Korellis. Â Last year, Metuchen had its best season under Korellis with 14 victories including an upset win over GMCT Quarterfinalist, Spotswood on the road. Â The Bulldogs fell to arch rival Middlesex in the opening round of the Central Jersey Group I State Tournament. Â MHS has several key players returning from that team including the likes of Artie Flaherty Jr., Evan Collier, and Thomas Chalker. Â The Dawgs did lose some key players and some leadership from last year’s team including Hunter Clarke, Brian Eustace, and Frank McGuire. Â However, Flaherty Jr. and Collier were the two top scorers from last year’s team and Chalker has continued to improve as a playmaker at the point guard position since first coming on the scene as a freshman several years ago. Â The Bulldogs also have a talented sophomore class that enjoyed a great deal of success two years ago at the middle school level. Â So, expect Metuchen to be even more improved on the defensive end under the direction of Jensen, and competitive in every game. Â For the third straight year, Metuchen will be hosting its own Bulldogs Holiday Tournament at MHS with a new addition in GMC White member New Brunswick competing after the Zebras have played in the Brunswick Classic the past five seasons. Â Metuchen won the tourney last year by defeating Bernards.Â
Middlesex Blue Jays
Like three other teams in this division, Middlesex underwent a coaching change  this past off-season with Jared Goldstein taking over for Art Tooles, who filled the coaching vacancy at New Brunswick.  Middlesex advanced to the quarterfinals of the Central Jersey Group I state playoffs before losing to powerhouse program, Point Pleasant Beach, which went on to win the section for the second straight year.  During the off-season, the Jays weren’t able to compete in a summer league due to the coaching change occurring so late, but they still managed to play in the Bloomfield Team Camp and Kean Ironman Challenge before competing in the Immaculata Fall League this past fall.  Middlesex played competitively at Immaculata despite having a number of players playing football and soccer including top varsity returner Kayshawn Wilson.  The Jays have the likes of Wilson, Stew Lester, Vince Chiera, and Marcus Evans-Little returning.  Evans-Little, who dealt with injuries last season, played very well at Immaculata.  He was scoring from both inside and outside, hitting threes and dunking.  Lester and Chiera looked very well at times, and the younger Blue Jays impressed, especially in a blowout win over Bound Brook.  The Jays did have stretches though where the offense struggled.  If it can sustain the offense for 32 minutes, keep getting good play from Evans-Little, and get more production from Lester, Adam Wick, Chiera, and Wilson, Middlesex will be tough.  The Blue Jays lost 1,000 point scorer, Jarrett Bogus, to graduation and Montclair State University while Emilio Gonzalez and role players Sean Sarnoski and Andrew Galida also graduated.  Expect Middlesex to be like Metuchen and be very competitive night in and night out in the GMC Blue.
Spotswood Chargers
After winning a division for the first time since being in the GMC, Spotswood took a hit with the graduation of all time leading scorer, Jake Dadika, who is now a walk-on at Rutgers. Â The Chargers also lost the likes of a key contributor from last year in Kevin Fox, but they still have a good group coming back in juniors Marlon Hart and Eric Dadika, sophomore big man, Matt Ciaccio and newcomers J.T. Vento, Andrew Fuzesi, and freshman Chris Pina. Â Spotswood competed in the summer and fall leagues at the Monroe Sports Center as well as participated in the Summer Primetime Shootout at West Windsor-Plainsboro South HS. Â This past fall at MSC, the Chargers got off to a tough start, but finished strong with wins in 4 of their last 6 games. Â One of those two losses was a hard fought defeat at the hands of South Brunswick, which is expected to be among the elite teams in the GMC Red. Â Spotswood may be a bit more inexperienced than they have been the past several years, but it still has a great deal of talent, athletic ability with the likes of Hart and Vento, shooting with Dadika, and even size with the likes of Ciaccio and Pina. Â Eugene Anderson also returns as a key role player, who will bring defense and hustle as well as some scoring. Â Spotswood opens the season with a tough test right off the bat against Cardinal McCarrick, and then plays in the Bound Brook Tournament over the holidays. Â The Chargers may get off to a slow start, but expect this squad to improve a great deal by the end of the season.
The GMC Blue division will be a very competitive division again this year. Â With the addition of Cardinal McCarrick as well as good nucleus’ returning at all the other teams in the league, the battle for the division title could be a very good one. Â Looks like there will be no easy nights in the Blue this year.