Conference Wide Open for the First Time in Several Years
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–With the fall leagues finishing up this past week, and practices scheduled to start in the next couple weeks, it is time to start thinking about the upcoming GMC boys basketball season. Last year, St. Joseph’s became the first team ever to win five straight conference/county championships in Middlesex County history, surpassing the mark set by the Perth Amboy teams of the early 70s. However, the Falcons will have a tough task in front of them to defend the title for a sixth time. Graduated are the likes of Karl Towns (Kentucky), Wade Baldwin (Vanderbilt), Marques Townes (FDU), and Raven Owen (Canisius). In addition, there are a number of teams in the GMC that are returning a great deal of talent from last year in terms of varsity players as well as kids coming up from successful JV and Freshmen teams.
With that said, do not count out St. Joseph’s with respect to winning an unprecedented sixth straight GMCT title. The Falcons still have talent returning from last year in the athletic junior Breein Tyree and senior Marcus Ashamole, who has toiled in relative obscurity these past several seasons due to the presence of Towns. However, Ashamole, the younger brother of Jeff Ashamole, a former standout at North Brunswick, who played at Georgian Court University last year along with his younger brother Robbie Ashamole, a member of the 2010 GMCT Champion St. Joseph’s team, is perhaps the most talented of the three Ashamole brothers. He can attack the basket, shoot the three, gets to the line and shoots well there, run the floor well, and block shots. Tyree, who has been offered a scholarship from the likes of Division I schools such as USC, will be the star of this year’s team. The Falcons also have talent coming up from the JV and Freshmen levels where they finished second in the East Brunswick JV Tourney and won the Perth Amboy Freshmen Tourney last year.
Players such as Deladem Adadevoh, Connor Klementowicz and Mikey Granda, who played some varsity last year along with Xavier Townes, Bryce Layne, Bryan Carley, and Jose Medina Jr. teamed up to lead a 9th seeded Junior Falcons team through a tough field that included a semifinal victory over a solid North Brunswick team before losing to the host school, East Brunswick in the EB JV Tourney final. St. Joe’s also had a very good freshmen squad that defeated South Brunswick in the Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tourney Championship after defeating Woodbridge in the semifinals. Two players that stood out from that team last year were Dexter Jackson and Michael Farr. While the GMC field is pretty wide open this year, the Falcons should still be a slight favorite to win it all again thanks to its past success, and its current crop of returning veteran and underclassmen talent. It also doesn’t hurt to have one of the best coaches in New Jersey high school basketball in Dave Turco, especially when it comes to preparation.
Next comes East Brunswick, which has reached the GMCT Finals in each of the past two years. The Bears lost standout guard, Amir Bell (Princeton), sharpshooter Garry Baumer, and Carl Taylor (Utica) to graduation. However, EB still has Matt Ross, John McHenry, Tyler McNamara, Alex Fitzgerald and Addis Ralph returning. In addition, the Bears have a lot of good talent coming up from the JV and Freshmen. The EB Junior Varsity won the East Brunswick JV tourney for the second year in a row, and the third time in four years last season. East Brunswick’s JV consisted of the likes of Mike Vick, Justin Sewnarine, Nick Fudali, Matt Perel, Ryan Ward, Mike Brizuela, and Matt Salvent. Salvent looks much improved down low while Vick, who played varsity as a freshman at Cardinal McCarrick two seasons ago, will be another player to watch for the Bears. Fudali is another solid player, who is competitive, a leader, and can make the big shot.
EB’s freshmen team only reached the Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Quarterfinals before losing to semifinalist Piscataway. However, the Bears did have a nice win on the road against eventual champion, St. Joseph’s thanks to the efforts of Ezra Levitt. East Brunswick had a squad down at Monroe for the Spring and Fall seasons, and also competed in the Linden Summer League and Immaculata Fall League this past off-season. The Bears went undefeated at Immaculata with victories over the likes of Hillsborough, Ridge, Bridgewater-Raritan, Watchung Hills, and Immaculata. Expect the Bears to be in the mix again in both the GMCT and the Central Jersey Group IV State Tournament. Elsewhere in the GMC Red, there is South Brunswick. The Vikings had a more up and down year last season, but that was expected after losing the likes of Chris Bourne the previous summer. SBHS has several players returning from last season including Jack Engel, Eric Savage, Tyjuan Dugger, and Terrence Wong.
In addition, South Brunswick has a lot of solid underclassmen talent including sophomores Mike Ugarte and Jaier Garrett. Ugarte and Garrett led the Junior Vikings to a Final Four appearance in the 2014 East Brunswick/GMC JV Tournament before losing to eventual champion, East Brunswick. Also starring on that team was Sean Nally, Danesh Thirukmaran, Isaiah Franklin, and Jaren Almonte. The SB freshmen team also had a solid season last year. Led by the likes of Greg Lee and Tavian Alford, the Little Vikings rallied in the final minute to defeat Monroe in a thrilling quarterfinal, and then advanced to the championship of the Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament for the first time since 2005 before losing to St. Joseph’s. During the off-season, the Vikings played in the Monroe Sports Center Summer League and MSC Fall League. In addition, South Brunswick played in team camps such as the Montgomery Team Camp and summer showcases like the Summer Prime Time Shootout.
Moving up to the GMC Red this season is North Brunswick, which had won the GMC White Division three years in a row before finishing second to Sayreville. The Raiders still managed to earn the fourth seed in last season’s GMCT, but lost to Colonia in the quarterfinals. The good thing is though that despite moving up, the Raiders should still contend for both division and conference honors. North Brunswick has everyone back including: Kishan Patel, Pranay Bhandare, Eric Slade, L.J. Williams, Soloman Gayle, Joe Castellanos, Francis Omowole, Andrew Tsygan, B.J. Pryor, Dante Anderson, Bryjon Smith, and Nate Facey. NBTHS also had a solid JV team last year led by the likes of Basit Ali-Khan. The Junior Raiders reached the semifinals of the 2014 East Brunswick/GMC JV Tournament before losing to St. Joseph’s. It was North Brunswick’s third straight semifinals appearance.
Over the summer, North Brunswick played in the East Brunswick Team Camp and Rutgers Team Camp, and also played in the Hamilton Park Summer League in Jersey City, where the Raiders reached the quarterfinals of the playoffs before bowing out. Another GMC Red team that played at the Hamilton Park Summer League this past off-season was the Old Bridge Knights. OBHS lost all time leading scorer, Tyler Drews (Caldwell University) to graduation, but has a solid junior class that includes the likes of Connor Romano, Stephen Strom, C.J. Santoro, and Luis Cruz. The Knights also have a solid newcomer in Kyle Parris, who is athletic, jumps well, and runs the floor. Two years ago, this junior class won the Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament over North Brunswick. In addition to playing at Hamilton Park during the summer, the Knights also played down at the Hoop Group Headquarters Fall League, where they went 6-2.
Piscataway took its share of lumps last season, but managed to finish the season on a positive note with four wins in the last two weeks including a victory over East Brunswick. The Chiefs have the likes of Darius Gillon, Donzell Cunningham, Dashaun Best-Crossen and Asiah Avent returning. In addition, they had a freshmen team that reached the semifinals of the Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament, and a JV team that reached the Round of 16 in the East Brunswick/GMC JV Tournament. P-Way also played some ball in the off-season including an appearance in the Kean Spring League, where they reached the semifinals before losing to Newark Central. The Chiefs also competed in the Kean Ironman Challenge as well. Over in the White Division, Colonia is one of two new, but old faces in the division this year. The Patriots reached the semifinals of the GMCT for the first time since 2008, and also reached the semifinals of the North Jersey Section 2 Group III state tournament before losing to Summit.
Like North Brunswick, the Patriots have just about everyone returning this year. The only player from last year’s squad not returning this season is Charlie Caver, who is playing post-graduate ball at Coastal Academy in Belmar. Colonia will be tough with the likes of Chase Barneys, Bryce Barneys, J.J. Corbett, Jodrell Thompson, Brandon Haines, Dez Jackson, Patrick Naguib, and Chris Siletti. The Patriots varsity played in the Linden Summer League while the JV and freshmen played in the Colonia JV Summer League. The only thing that may complicate the Patriots season is the success of the football team, where the two Barneys, Corbett, Thompson, and Haines are playing. Colonia’s football team is playing in the North Jersey Section 2 Group IV playoffs, and have advanced to the semifinals against arch rival, J.F. Kennedy. So, an appearance in the championship is not out of the question, which would put many of its top players out of practice until after December 5th or 6th.
Monroe is another team that may cause trouble in the GMC this year. The Falcons have a solid senior class led by the likes of Tyler Salzer and Matt Cocorikis. Monroe also has a talented junior in Eddie Pinto and a very good sophomore class that reached the quarterfinals of the Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament before losing to South Brunswick. Over the summer, the Purple Birds played in the MSC Summer League, and then also played in the MSC Fall League, where they went 6-2. The only two losses by the Falcons this fall were to solid teams from Allentown (46-43) and Pennington (44-25). Defending GMC White champion, Sayreville still has Holy Cross bound big man, Jehvye Floyd returning along with reserve Mike Valentin. Newcomers such as Zach Alessi, Dan Gomes, Justin Santos, and Mitchell Strandberg provide some energy, scrappy play, and some perimeter scoring.
The Bombers had a very busy off-season playing in the Kean Spring League, where they reached the quarterfinals, the Rahway Summer League, and the Hoop Group Headquarters Fall League. So, while this year’s Bombers squad may be somewhat inexperienced outside of Floyd and Valentin, they have put in plenty of work, and that may help them gel much sooner this coming season. Elsewhere in the White Division, there is Woodbridge. The Barrons have some talented seniors including: Zahneer Shuler, Zaire Robinson, and Tyler Smith, but they also have a great crop of sophomores led by the likes of Quassim Glover and Keshaun Henry. Woodbridge’s JV and freshmen also experienced a great deal of success this past season. The Junior Barrons reached the quarterfinals of the EB/GMC JV Tournament before bowing out against North Brunswick while the freshmen reached the Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tourney Final Four before losing to eventual champion, St. Joseph’s. Like Colonia, Woodbridge has a football team making a big run in the states with the likes of Shuler, Robinson, Smith, Glover, and Henry.
Over in the GMC Blue Division, Cardinal McCarrick returns for the first time in six seasons after being up in the White Division. The Eagles have a new coach in former St. Anthony’s assistant, Ben Gamble, and they have made some noise up in a Fall League in Paterson. McCarrick went 7-1 in the fall at the Paterson Fall League run on Saturday’s, and won the league title over two time Group II State Champion, Newark Tech. The Eagles played the likes of Newark Tech, DePaul, Hackensack, Passaic Tech, and North 13th Street Tech. Leading the charge for Cardy Mac this season is Hodari Bazemore, Nyke McCombs, and Gilberto Cue. McCarrick also competed in the Hoop Group Summer Showcase. Carteret will be a factor in the division as well with two 1,000 point scorers in Jaquan Robertson and Brandon Gilder. Talented underclassmen such as Jalen Harris will make up a solid Ramblers bench, and football standout Ra’Keem Bennett may return as well.
Metuchen and Middlesex will have new coaches also this season, but have veteran talent returning to help make the transition smooth. Former Piscataway coach, Guy Jensen is back coaching the Bulldogs and he will try to take the likes of point guard Thomas Chalker, Artie Flaherty Jr., and Evan Collier to newer heights this coming season. The Blue Jays will have the likes of Stewart Lester, Kayshawn Wilson, Marcus Evans-Little, and Vince Chiera returning to help new coach, Jared Goldstein. Bishop Ahr lost Owen McLeod to graduation, but still have the likes of Tom Weiler, Kevin Krolick, Harry Gelpke, and Pat Astarita. BGA also has South Amboy standout Sean Kudelka transferring in this season. The Trojans played in the East Brunswick Team Camp, where they had a nice win over CJ Group II champion, Matawan. Spotswood lost a good deal from graduation including its all time leading scorer in Jake Dadika (walk-on at Rutgers), but the Chargers still have some nice talent retuning in the form of Eric Dadika, Marlon Hart, Matt Ciaccio, J.T. Vento, Eugene Anderson, Andrew Fuzesi, and freshman Chris Pina. Spotswood competed in the MSC Summer and Fall Leagues as well as the Summer Prime Time Shootout.
The Gold Division will have Perth Amboy Tech, Piscataway Tech, and Dunellen fighting it out. Players to watch in the Gold are: Amboy Tech’s Jordan Little, Noel Garay, and Kyrie Byers, P-Way Tech’s Aziz Austin and Kyle Wider, Dunellen’s Dave Johnson, and South River’s Sean Darrar.