St. Joseph’s Slight Favorite in Wide Open GMC Red Featuring Newcomer North Brunswick
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–In the second of the GMC Hoops four division season preview series, we take a look at the Greater Middlesex Conference’s Red Division, which has been dominated by St. Joseph’s in recent years. Â Coming into this year though, the GMC Red looks to be a wide open battle with all seven teams returning players from last year’s teams. Â North Brunswick moves up from the GMC White, where it had won the division title three out of the last four years. Â East Brunswick and South Brunswick lost some key players from last year’s squads, but still have some solid players returning as well as good talent coming up from the JV and freshmen levels. Â
Old Bridge has a talented junior class that played well in off-season leagues while Piscataway put in a lot of work during the off-season as well including a solid run at the Kean Spring League. Â Perth Amboy played in the Rahway Summer League and has several players back as well as others that will be having larger roles this season. Â Will St. Joseph’s still be the one left standing in the Red when the regular season ends? Â The Falcons are still a slight favorite to win the division with the likes of Breein Tyree and Marcus Ashamole returning along with talent coming up from solid JV and freshmen teams last year. Â Below is a team by team breakdown of the GMC Red:
East Brunswick Bears
After two straight seasons of getting to the GMCT Final, some would think that the Bears would level off this season.  With the likes of Amir Bell (Princeton), Garry Baumer, and Carl Taylor (Utica) graduating this past June, it would seem that EB would take a step back, but that won’t be the case.  The Bears still have the likes of Matt Ross, John McHenry, Alex Fitzgerald, Tyler McNamara, and Addis Ralph returning from last year’s squad.  In addition, the Bears had a solid squad at the JV level last year.  The 2013-14 Junior Bears, which won the EB/GMC JV Tournament for the third time in the last four years, consisted of a solid group of juniors including:  Mike Vick, Nick Fudali, Justin Sewnarine, Matt Perel, Ryan Ward, and Matt Salvent.  They are all seniors now, and will be joined by junior Mike Brizuela, who was also a contributor to last year’s JV team.  East Brunswick’s sophomore class led by Ezra Levitt, Gowtham Balaji, and Gil Wyman reached the quarterfinals of the 2014 Perth Amboy Freshmen Tournament before losing to Piscataway.  During the off-season, EB got a lot of work in with a squad in the Monroe Sports Center Spring and Fall Leagues while having the varsity compete in the Linden Summer League, EB Team Camp, and Immaculata Fall League.  The Bears went undefeated at Immaculata defeating the likes of Watchung Hills, Bridgewater-Raritan, Ridge, Somerville, Hillsborough, and Immaculata among others.  Expect the Bears right to be in the thick of things again in the GMC Red.  EB will join South Brunswick as the participants in the first annual Brunswick-Windsor Classic over the holidays.
North Brunswick Raiders
After dominating the White Division with three first place finishes and a second place finish over the last four seasons, the North Brunswick Raiders replace the Colonia Patriots in the GMC Red. Â Ironically, the Raiders, which were the fourth seeded team in last year’s GMCT lost to fifth seeded Colonia in the Elite Eight back in February. Â North Brunswick didn’t lose much, if anything from last year’s squad. Â The team has everyone back including Kishan Patel, Eric Slade Jr., L.J. Williams, Pranay Bhandare, Soloman Gayle, Francis Omowole, Joe Castellanos, B.J. Pryor, and Andrew Tsygan. Â NBTHS also has a talented group of juniors including Nate Facey, Bryjon Smith, Basit Khan, and Eric Reardon. Â The Raiders are reaping the rewards from several solid classes that had three straight East Brunswick/GMC JV Tournament Final Four appearances and two straight Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament Championship Game appearances in 2012 and 2013. Â Over the summer, North Brunswick played at the East Brunswick Team Camp, where it dominated the likes of EB and Sayreville, the Rutgers Team Camp, and the ultra competitive Hamilton Park Summer League in Jersey City, where it reached the quarterfinals. Â The Raiders will not be in awe of playing in the Red Division. Â This is a squad that can play with anyone. Â They have learned a lot from tough losses to East Brunswick, Sayreville and Colonia, and are eager to return the favor. Â The Raiders have a good combination of guard play, size, athleticism, and defense. Â Expect North Brunswick to go toe to toe with everyone in the Red, and perhaps be in the running for division honors.
Old Bridge Knights
With the departure of the likes of all time leading scorer Tyler Drews (Caldwell College), Kola Adeleye, Kasuan Figueroa, and Kyle Mapson, you wouldn’t think that a sub .500 Old Bridge squad from last season would be in line for improvement this year. Â However, the Knights will be better for two reasons: Â 1) They have a talented junior class including the likes of Connor Romano, Stephen Strom, Luis Cruz, and C.J. Santoro, and 2) Â They are bound to win some of the close games that they lost last season. Â In addition, Dante Whipple looked much improved over the summer at the East Brunswick Team Camp and fellow senior Sean Olsen also provides some scoring from the perimeter in addition to Romano, Strom, and Cruz. Â Two years ago, the OB junior class won the 2013 Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament over North Brunswick. Â OBHS also has a sophomore class that reached the quarterfinals of the 2014 Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament before losing to Woodbridge. Â A newcomer to watch for the Knights will be forward, Kyle Parris, who impressed during the fall at the 2014 Hoop Group Headquarters Fall League. Â During the off-season, Old Bridge competed not only at the EB Team Camp and the HGHQ Fall League, but also played in the Hamilton Park Summer League in Jersey City. Â The Knights were one of three teams (OB, North Brunswick, and Piscataway Tech) from the Greater Middlesex Conference that competed in the Hamilton Park Summer League this past summer. Â Expect the Knights to be better this season. Â While they don’t have a lot of size, they do have great shooting and work well together as a group.
Perth Amboy Panthers
Gone are the likes of Chris Morillo, Anthony Garcia, Augustin Enriquez, Dennis Gomez, Kevin Garcia and Jameson Hernandez.  In addition, talented point guard, Marquise Irizarry is academically ineligible.  However, Amboy still has a solid group returning led by the likes of Carlos Done, Nathanael Melendez, John Wahrmann, a trio that combines solid guard play with size upfront.  The Panthers also have a talented group that didn’t get much playing time last year, and will be looking to take on a more expanded role.  Eddie Griggs, Ethon Diaz, and Johnny Jones are all capable of starting while Jesus Garcia, Marquan White (football standout), Luis Rivera, Jairol Robles, and Anderson Jerez provide additional size, flexibility, and depth.  Quincy Hannah Victor Soto, Jeffrey Encarnacion also make up this deep roster.  Over the summer, the Panthers played at the East Brunswick Team Camp and the Rahway Summer League.  Amboy dominated Sayreville at the EB Team Camp, and rolled past A.L. Johnson at the Rahway Summer League.  The JV was only 11-11 last season while the freshman team was only 7-12.  GMC Hoops happened to see the Amboy JV early in the season last year against Edison, and the Junior Panthers lost that game in overtime.  Perth Amboy will be looking to take advantage of its size and length while using its press to apply ball pressure to force teams to turn the ball over, and create transition opportunities.  The Panthers won 14 games last season, and earned the 15th seed in the GMCT before being knocked out in the preliminary round to Piscataway.  PAHS should be able to get that many wins, and have back to back winning seasons for the first time in 10 years.  In addition to the rigors of a tough Red Division schedule, Amboy will be playing Union Catholic in the first round of the Anthony J. Cotoia Holiday Tournament in South Plainfield.Â
Piscataway Chiefs
For much of the 2013-14 season, the Piscataway Chiefs struggled under second year head coach Antoine Allen. Â There were good moments where they played competitive against the likes of St. Joseph’s early on in the season, and then there were rough losses to South Brunswick at home, and to Timothy Christian on the road, which was the first time a GMC Gold Division team defeated a GMC Red team since the 2007-08 season. Â However, the Chiefs finished on a positive note with four wins in the final week of the season including a victory at home over East Brunswick on GMCT seeding day, and a win on the road over 15th seeded Perth Amboy in the preliminary round of the 2014 GMCT. Â Allen used the momentum gained from the late season success to get back to work right after the season ended with appearances in off-season events such as the Kean Spring League, East Brunswick Team Camp, and the Kean Ironman Challenge. Â At the Kean Spring League, the Chiefs, led by the likes of returning varsity players Darius Gillon, Donzell Cunningham, and Dashaun Best-Crossen, reached the semifinals including a rematch win over Newark Westside in the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion, Newark Central. Â In addition to the losses to graduation from last year, Asaiah Avent transferred to Franklin Township. However, with talent coming up from solid JV and freshmen teams last year along with Best-Crossen, Gillon, and Cunningham, the Chiefs should have much better chemistry following a tumultuous two years that saw a lot of new faces join the program. Â The Chiefs freshmen team that earned the top seed in the 2014 Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament and reached the semifinals before losing to South Brunswick. Â Piscataway’s JV reached the Round of 16 in the 2014 East Brunswick/GMC JV Tournament. Â Expect the Chiefs to improve this season, and be more competitive. Â P-Way will be playing in the Joe Silver Holiday Tournament in Hillside this season.
South Brunswick Vikings
After reaching the quarterfinals of the 2011 and 2012 GMC Tournaments, South Brunswick has been unceremoniously knocked out of the last two conference tourneys in the Round of 16 at home to Old Bridge (2013) and Spotswood (2014).  The Vikes had a bit more of a rebuilding year last year after the departure of talented players from the year before such as Chris Bourne.  However, while the varsity was rebuilding, SBHS was building a very solid foundation at the lower levels.  Both the JV and freshmen squads had superb seasons.  It was the first time that the freshmen team reached the Final Four at Perth Amboy since losing to J.F. Kennedy in the 2005 Amboy Frosh Tourney Championship.  Meanwhile, the JV reached the Final Four of the East Brunswick/GMC JV Tourney for the first time since 2007 when the Junior Vikings lost to Bishop Ahr in the semifinals.  The 2014 Junior Vikings lost to eventual champion, East Brunswick in the JV Tourney while the Little Vikes lost to St. Joseph’s-White.  These two teams produced a bumper crop of talent including sophomores Mike Ugarte and Jaier Garrett, who saw some varsity minutes last year, Isaiah Franklin, Danesh Thirukmaran, Nick Perel, Jaren Almonte, Sean Nally, Tavian Alford, and Greg Lee among others.  They will join the likes of returning players such as senior Jack Engel, junior Eric Savage, Tyjuan Dugger, Terrance Wong, and Andrew Avots.  During the off-season, South Brunswick played in the Montgomery Team Camp, the Monroe Sports Center Summer League, Summer Primetime Shootout, and the MSC Fall League.  The Vikes have built a solid foundation and have put in a great deal of offseason work.  They have a good mix of veteran and youthful talent, and should be in contention for division honors this year.  SBHS opens the season against defending GMCT and NJSIAA T of C Champion, St. Joseph’s, and then plays in the first annual Brunswick-Windsor Classic at SBHS over the holidays.
St. Joseph’s Falcons
With the graduation of its fab four including Karl Anthony Towns (Kentucky), Wade Baldwin (Vanderbilt), Marques Townes (FDU), and Raven Owen (Canisius), much is not expected of the Falcons in terms of the states and even the GMC, but St. Joe’s is still a viable contender for a sixth straight GMCT Championship. Â The lone returning starter, Breein Tyree, who is already receiving scholarship offers from Division I colleges such as USC, is back along with reserve Marcus Ashamole, who will finally get his chance to shine. Â In addition, the Falcons will have the likes of Connor Klementowicz, Mike Granda, Bryce Layne, Xavier Townes, Deladem Adadevoh, Bryan Carley, and Jose Medina Jr. coming up from a JV squad that reached the Championship of the 2014 EB/GMC JV Tournament as a ninth seed before losing to the host school, and third seeded East Brunswick. Â In addition, St. Joseph’s-White won the title at the 2014 Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament by defeating Woodbridge in the semifinals and South Brunswick in the Championship. Â Dexter Jackson and Michael Farr were among the contributors to that solid team. Â During the summer, the Falcons played in the Linden Summer League while the freshmen played in the Colonia JV Summer League. Â Then, in the fall, the Falcons played in the Immaculata Fall League, where they finished up at 5-3. Â Joes is still the team to beat in the GMCT although the gap has closed significantly from last year. Â The GMC is probably the most wide open that it has been in four seasons, but the Falcons are still a slight favorite to not only win the GMC Red, but also to repeat as GMCT Champions for a sixth straight year. Â The Falcons will be playing a number of notable non-conference games including the Hun School on January 22nd, St. Mary’s of Elizabeth on January 31st, Point Pleasant Beach on February 8th at the 2014 Primetime Shootout at Roselle Catholic, and Union Catholic at Feburary 14th at Kean University.
There are usually no easy nights in the GMC Red. Â This year will be no different, and actually be even tougher with all seven teams more evenly balanced this season. Â St. Joseph’s is the slight favorite, but will get challenged by North Brunswick, East Brunswick, and South Brunswick while the likes of Old Bridge, Piscataway, and Perth Amboy will be better than last year.