Former SPHS Freshmen Teammates Help Lift White Team To Victory
WOODBRIDGE, NJ–Former teammates Lackey and Mathis reunite for a common cause. For the first time in three years, Jordan Lackey and Chris Mathis were on the same side. Reunited, both Mathis and Lackey helped the White Team defeat the Black Team in a 107-94 victory in the 2014 GMCBCA Senior All-Star Game at Woodbridge High School on Monday night. The last time these two South Plainfield residents played on the same team in a game of any meaning was in the 2011 Perth Amboy Freshmen Tournament Championship Game.
Once Freshmen at South Plainfield
Playing against St. Joseph’s-Green in the 2011 Perth Amboy Freshmen Tournament Final, the duo of Lackey and Mathis came up short. Lackey, who was South Plainfield’s top freshman at the time, scored 12 in the first half, and 7 more in the second half for a game high 19 points.
Unfortunately for the Tiger frosh duo, it wasn’t enough as St. Joe’s-Green had a balanced attack to go on and win the title. Mathis, who had scored in the semifinal win over East Brunswick, didn’t get on the board in that contest. At that time, Mathis was only a reserve, who just played some minutes, and didn’t score as much.
Going Their Separate Ways
During the ensuing off-season, Lackey transferred to Piscataway Tech, where he came off the bench to help the Raiders win a second straight Gold Division title in 2012. Benefitting from Lackey’s departure, Mathis began to develop as a player over the next two years at SPHS. Now, both players were stars leading their respective teams.
After struggling the previous two seasons, Mathis took flight during his senior campaign at South Plainfield. On opening night versus Spotswood, his 23 points and 7 rebounds including 11 points down the stretch helped the Tigers produce a surprising upset. Mathis followed that up with a 20 point performance in a loss at Union Catholic. Mathis finished the 2013-14 season as South Plainfield’s leading scorer with 11.6 points per game. SPHS did not qualify for the state tournament.
Meanwhile, Lackey led Piscataway Tech this season with 16.3 points per game and 7.6 rebounds per game. After finishing in third in the GMC Blue standings in 2012-13, P-Way Tech took a hit to graduation. Consequently, the Raiders got off to a slow start with 6 straight losses before finishing the season strong. P-Way Tech (8-16) was defeated by Florence in the opening round of the Central Jersey Group I state playoffs. With both of their teams competing in the GMC Blue, Lackey and Mathis played each other twice. The Raiders and Tigers competed in two division contests with P-Way Tech winning both times.
Playing Head to Head
Both games took place over a span of just a week. In the first encounter, Piscataway Tech won at home, 49-42 on January 25th. Lackey had a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Raiders to victory while Mathis scored a team high 10 points in defeat for the Tigers. Nearly a week later, the teams played again with the Raiders winning 47-43 at South Plainfield on January 31st. This time, the head to head matchup was more one sided with Lackey collecting 18 points and 9 boards while Mathis was limited to just 2 points and 3 boards. The series sweep of the Tigers highlighted a stretch where P-Way Tech won 5 of 6 games.
Reuniting for the White Team
On Monday night, the Lackey and Mathis reunited to help the White Team All-Stars. Both South Plainfield residents helped the White Team not only rally in the first half, but also pull away in the second half. Mathis scored 7 in the first half, and 5 more in the second half to end up with 12 points and 5 rebounds. Lackey chipped in with 6 points on three emphatic dunks, and 4 rebounds. Mathis wound up being one of three players to score in double figures for the White Team.
Seeing former teammates Lackey and Mathis reunite brought back memories of that 2010-11 SPHS freshmen boys basketball team. Coached by Al Czech, the team made a superb run to the 2011 Freshmen Tourney Final. In the semifinals, South Plainfield rolled past a solid East Brunswick squad to reach the Championship Game. The following year, Czech became the Tigers’ Athletic Director for a second time. Czech previously served as SPHS AD from the mid-80s to early 90s, and ran the program during the early years of the GMC.
Coaching varsity football at SPHS and varsity girls basketball at Bishop Ahr, Czech found ways to be successful. In 1986, he hired Jeff Lubreski to run the Tiger boys hoops program, and Lubreski would later lead South Plainfield to back to back GMCT Championships. Czech was also no stranger to success with South Plainfield’s freshmen boys basketball team.
Prior to the 2010-11 season, Czech previously coached SPHS freshmen hoops teams to the Final Four of the 2004 and 2005 Perth Amboy Tournaments. In 2004, the Freshmen Tigers won the title by defeating Piscataway in the semifinals and Sayreville in the championship. The following year, South Plainfield reached the Frosh Final Four again, but was defeated by eventual champion, J.F. Kennedy in the semis.