GMC Hoops Player of the Week–Week One–December 19-23, 2014

Breein Tyree of St. Joseph’s Was Difference Maker in Opening Night Win Over South Brunswick

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–For the first 12 minutes of action between top ranked St. Joseph’s and fifth ranked South Brunswick at SBHS in Monmouth Junction on Friday night, the upstart Vikings gave the five time defending GMCT Champion, and last year’s T of C winner a battle as they only trailed 13-11 behind fine play by junior Eric Savage.  However, the Falcons still proved that they are the team to beat, and it may not be as close as some predict it will be in the GMC.  Much of the reason for that is standout junior guard, Breein Tyree, who is the GMC Hoops Player of the Week for the first week of the 2014-15 season.

In the 53-34 victory over South Brunswick in which his Falcons ended the game with 40 of the last 63 points, Tyree scored 17 points on four two point field goals including a monstrous dunk to open the second half scoring and spark a 15-2 tear that broke the game open, a three pointer that opened the scoring in the contest, and six foul shots.  He also collected 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals in the victory.  Tyree, who has received offers from USC, Richmond, Loyola, Army, St. Peter’s, and Monmouth among others for basketball, and interest from Rutgers, Michigan, Michigan State, Old Dominion, Syracuse, Temple, and Towson among others for football, turned the game on its head with an emphatic one handed dunk, where he elevated to the rim after driving to the hoop from the right side just inside the midcourt line.

The dunk not only transformed what had been a close game into a double digit win going away for the Falcons, but it also created a quite a stir online.  Moments after the dunk occurred, the clip of it was posted on the GMC Hoops facebook page.  Within a few hours, there were over 1,100 views, and within 24 hours, the clip generated 2,700 views.  As of the time of this posting, the clip of the dunk has had 5,788 views.  These spectacular dunks are not anything new for Tyree, who had a similar one handed throw down in the Tournament of Champions final against Newark East-Side.  The dunking is also not the only aspect of his game as his stat line from Joes opening night win depicts.  He can shoot the three, handle the ball, create, rebound, and defend.  His game has similarities to Marquis Jones, who played at South Plainfield from 2001-2005, and played college ball at the University of Rhode Island.

The two sport star, and younger brother of former South Brunswick football and basketball standout, Jevon Tyree, also played football the past two seasons at St. Joseph’s, where he quarterbacked the team to its first ever division crown in football last season, and a 9-1 overall record, and then moved to receiver earlier in the season to help the Falcons go 4-6.  He is the lone returning starter from the Fab Five squad that dominated the GMC and the rest of the state last season en route to a 30-2 overall record.  This year, Tyree is the leader of a group that appeared early on to be heading back toward the rest of the pack.  However, combining Tyree’s scoring and amazing athletic ability with the length provided by a frontline that includes last year reserve Marcus Ashamole, Bryan Carley, and Serbian import, Branislav Vujadinovic (13 points in the win over SB), the Falcons look like they will be tough to beat again this season.