Spotswood Looking to Return to Form While Kennedy, Ahr, and Carteret Are in Pursuit
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ—Last season, Cardinal McCarrick moved down from the GMC Blue and brought in a ton of new talent and a new coach with a proven track record to go undefeated through the division schedule. Then, in June, McCarrick closed. Couple that with a good deal of changes for the remaining six teams, and you have a Blue Division in transition. Despite losing two key players from last year’s roster, Spotswood appears to be the favorite, and is looking to return to top form while J.F. Kennedy, Bishop Ahr, and Carteret will look to contend. Here is a look at the division in 2015-16:
2015-16 GMC Blue Division—Predicted Order of Finish
Last year’s record in parenthesis
- Spotswood (15-10)
- J.F. Kennedy (11-15)
- Bishop Ahr (10-12)
- Carteret (18-8)
- Middlesex (4-19)
- Metuchen (7-17)
Some thoughts: Spotswood lost a returning starter and reserve that would have made a big impact. However, the Chargers have enough coming back with its remaining three starters and several reserves to be the team to beat in the Blue Division this year. Over the summer and fall, Spotswood performed well in leagues at the Monroe Sports Center.
J.F. Kennedy took a big hit from graduation as it lost 80 percent of its starting lineup from last season as well as some reserves, but with a solid front court returning as well as a solid playmaker, and some talented newcomers, the Mustangs still have enough to contend. JFK also took a big step up in terms of improving its program by competing in the Linden Summer League.
Bishop Ahr lost its entire starting five from last season as well as a key reserve, but several reserves return, and with all the changes occurring around the Trojans in the division, they still have a chance to contend. Carteret lost its entire starting five as well as a reserve. Only several reserves return from last season, but the Ramblers did well at the Rahway Summer League, and they may have enough athleticism and defense to stay in the hunt.
Finally, there are the two smaller schools in the division, Middlesex and Metuchen, which both lost several key players. Nevertheless, the Blue Jays and the Bulldogs have one or two pieces to build around, and some new faces that are looking to contribute. Metuchen defeated Middlesex all three times last season. Both teams played in the Bound Brook Summer League with Middlesex qualifying for the playoffs there.
2015-16 GMC Blue Division—A Detailed Look
Here is a more detailed look at each team in the Greater Middlesex Conference’s Blue Division for the upcoming 2015-16 season:
Spotswood Chargers
Team: Spotswood
Coach: Steve Mate
Year: 21st
Career Coaching Record: 313-246
Coaching Record At School: 273-214
Last Year’s Overall Record: 15-10
Last Year’s Division Record: 6-6, 4th in GMC Blue Division
Last Year’s Conference Record: 10-8
Last Year’s Accomplishments: Won Bound Brook Holiday Tournament (Defeated Bound Brook in the Championship. View highlights, photos, and slideshow from the action.) Reached Quarterfinals of Central Jersey Group 2 State Tournament.
Last Year’s JV Team: Seeded 18th in the 2015 East Brunswick/GMC JV Tournament. Lost to South Plainfield in the Preliminary Round.
Last Year’s Freshman Team: No Freshmen Team.
Off-Season Leagues/Team Camps: Montgomery Team Camp, Monroe Sports Center Summer League, Monroe Sports Center Fall League.
Returning Starters: Eric Dadika (5’11” Sr. G), Marlon Hart (5’11” Sr. G), and Andrew Fuzesi (5’9” Jr. G).
Returning Reserves: J.T. Vento (6’2” Jr. F), Shawn O’Connor (6’0” Sr. G), Abdullah Nieskens (5’9” So. G), Eric Labella (5’10” Sr. F), and Dan Newton (5’10” Sr. G).
Key Losses From Last Season: Eugene Anderson (6’1”, G), Oliver Jimenez (5’10” F), Kevin Aquino (6’0” F), Matt Ciaccio (6’7” Jr. C, not playing this year) and Chris Pina (6’2” So. F, transferred to Point Pleasant Beach).
Key Newcomers: Thomas Shapter (5’8” Jr. G), Derek Buhl (5’6” So. G), Justen Dekovics (5’9” So. G), Nate Carone (6’1” So. F), Vinnie Guardiola (5’9” So. G), and Andy Madsen (5’9” Sr. G).
View Spotswood Holiday Tourney Schedule
Outlook: Spotswood put in a solid off-season, and have a good nucleus coming back including Eric Dadika, Marlon Hart, J.T. Vento, Andrew Fuzesi, and Abdullah Nieskens. Shawn O’Connor is another reserve coming up from last year, who was the quarterback on the football team that won its 2nd straight GMC Blue title. Eric Labella and Dan Newton will also be looked upon to contribute.
The Chargers did take some hits with big man Matt Ciaccio focusing on baseball and sophomore Chris Pina transferring to Point Pleasant Beach. Spotswood should still be at least a contender, and even perhaps a favorite in the GMC Blue with McCarrick closing while Carteret, Ahr, JFK, Middlesex, and Metuchen all took hits from graduation.
The Chargers played at the Montgomery Team Camp, Monroe Sports Center Summer League, and the Monroe Sports Center Fall League. The Chargers finished in first place during the regular season at the MSC Summer League, and advanced to the Championship Game by defeating Monroe in the semifinals. Spotswood then lost to Notre Dame in the Championship Game.
During the fall at MSC, the Chargers finished at 6-2 with losses to the first place team in the league in Hightstown and Perth Amboy. Spotswood ended up in a four-way tie for 2nd place in the MSC Fall League with Amboy, Monroe, and Hopewell Valley. The Chargers were among the top teams in the MSC Fall League in terms of points per game and point differential. Spotswood opened the fall season with an overtime win over Steinert. Read the article as well as view highlights from the action.
Spotswood has an quick and athletic group with the likes of Dadika, Hart, and Vento. Hart managed to play and star in football and still play at the MSC Fall League for the Chargers. Spotswood started off last season with 7 wins in their first 8 games including victories over Carteret and Bound Brook to climb into the Top 10. Then, the Chargers lost to Bishop Ahr on January 16th, and went 8-9 over its last 17 games. Spotswood will be looking to erase the bad memories of last season and return to the GMCT Elite Eight, where it had paid a visit in 3 of the last 6 years.
J.F. Kennedy Mustangs
Team: J.F. Kennedy
Coach: Drew Hill
Year: 2nd
Career Coaching Record: 11-15
Coaching Record At School: 11-15
Last Year’s Overall Record: 11-15
Last Year’s Division Record: 4-8, 5th in GMC Blue Division
Last Year’s Conference Record: 10-8
Last Year’s Accomplishments: Qualified for Central Jersey Group 3 State Playoffs. Won 6 of last 8 games to finish the season. View game notes, highlights, photos, and slideshow from one of those wins over New Brunswick in 2015 GMCT Play-In round. Went 4-4 against non-conference foes. All four wins were against playoff teams.
Last Year’s JV Team: Seeded 14th in the 2015 East Brunswick/GMC JV Tournament. Defeated Middlesex in Preliminary Round. Lost to East Brunswick in the Round of 16.
Last Year’s Freshman Team: Seeded 15th in the 2015 Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament. Lost to Edison in Preliminary Round.
Off-Season Leagues/Team Camps: Linden Summer League.
Returning Starters: Kush Patel (6’4” Sr. F) and Pete Obertan (6’6” Jr. F).
Returning Reserves: Kobie Wells (6’0” Jr. G).
Key Losses From Last Season: Joe Duffy (6’3” F), Stepp Ozigebe (6’1” G), Andrew Allen (5’10” G), Terence Young (6’0” G), Lendell Parker (5’9” G), and Nick Shirley (5’11” G).
Key Newcomers: Christian Pincon (6’0, Sr. G), Jaspreet Hari (6’1” Sr. F), Tamaj Coleman (5’8” Jr. G), Elijah Calvert (5’10” Jr. G), Kyle Heaney (6’2”, Jr. G), Carlton Sears (6’0”, Jr. G), Rishi Patel (6’3” So. F), Randy Diaz (5’11” So. G), and Bendji Pierre (6’4” Fr. F).
View the J.F. Kennedy Schedule
View J.F. Kennedy Holiday Tourney Schedule
J.F. Kennedy Playing in Eric LeGrande Classic at Kean University
Outlook: Despite losing a large portion of its starting line-up to graduation and being more inexperienced, expect the Mustangs to still be in the hunt in the GMC Blue because of their front court combination of Kush Patel and Pete Obertan. J.F. Kennedy had some ups and downs last year, but was one of the better performing teams against non-conference competition with quality wins over Morris Catholic, Watchung Hills, Vorhees, and Howell before losing a tough one to Wall Township in the opening round of the Central Jersey Group 3 Tourney last March.
All four of those wins were over teams that qualified for the state tournament with Morris Catholic reaching the Elite Eight round of the Non-Public B North bracket and Howell reaching the Quarterfinals of CJ Group 4. After starting last season at 5-13, Kennedy finished the season with 6 wins in its last 8 games. The only two losses were to East Brunswick in the GMCT and Wall in the states. Gone are the likes of Joe Duffy, Stepp Ozgiebe, Terrance Young, but the Mustangs return a good group of players led by Patel, Obertan, and Kobie Wells along with some talented newcomers.
Trying to build off the strong finish to the season last year, JFK, which is coached by former Carteret standout, Drew Hill, who is in his second season after serving as freshmen head coach and varsity assistant at Colonia, took a step up by competing in the Monday/Wednesday Division of the Linden Summer League with St. Joseph’s. In the playoffs, the Mustangs gave Don Bosco Prep all it could handle before the Ironmen pulled away late in the second half to advance. View game notes, photos, and slideshow from the action.
Kennedy has a good deal of talent in its senior class. Three years ago as freshmen, JFK reached the Final Four of the 2013 Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament, and ended up finishing third after an overtime win over St. Joseph’s-Green in the consolation game. Kennedy will be playing in a round robin with Colonia, Franklin, and Woodbridge at the LeGrand-Haley Holiday Tournament in Colonia, and then take on Cranford at the Eric LeGrand Classic at Kean University on January 17th.
Bishop Ahr Trojans
Team: Bishop Ahr
Coach: Dennis O’Keefe
Year: 24th
Career Coaching Record: 389-368
Coaching Record At School: 260-241
Last Year’s Overall Record: 10-12
Last Year’s Division Record: 7-5, 3rd in GMC Blue Division
Last Year’s Conference Record: 9-9
Last Year’s Accomplishments: Reached the Round of 16 in the 2015 GMCT. Qualified for the Non-Public A South State Tournament. Won 8 of 12 after 2-6 start. Defeated Spotswood twice.
Last Year’s JV Team: Seeded 23rd in the 2015 East Brunswick/GMC JV Tournament. Lost to Woodbridge in the Preliminary Round.
Last Year’s Freshman Team: Reached the Quarterfinals of the 2015 Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament (Lost to Perth Amboy, 62-50).
Off-Season Leagues/Team Camps: East Brunswick Team Camp and Raritan Bay Summer League.
Returning Starters: None.
Returning Reserves: Corey Ciszek (5’5” Sr. G), Donald Fackina (6’1” Sr. F), Robert Golden (5’8” Sr. G), Dane Lupton (6’0” Sr. G), and Sean Kudelka (6’3” Jr. F/C).
Key Losses From Last Season: Tom Weiler (6’3” F, now playing at Centenary College), Pat Astarita (5’10” G), Kevin Krolick (6’3” F), Eddie Hayes (6’0” F), Anthony Abano (5’9” G), and Harry Gelpke (5’10” G).
Key Newcomers: Alex Santiago (5’9” So. G), Jordan Wells (5’11” So. G), Ryan O’Leary (5’9” So. G), Dudley Engram (5’10”, Jr. G), Andrew Weiler (6’3” Jr. F), Billy Taylor (6’3” Jr. C), Kieran Hodder (6’2” Jr. F), Abe Koppal (5’9” Sr. G), and Eric O’Keefe (5’8” Sr. G).
View Bishop Ahr Holiday Tourney Schedule
Outlook: Last year, Bishop Ahr finished below .500 for the first time in 12 years. However, the Trojans did finish the season strong with two victories over Spotswood (view game notes, article, analysis, highlights, photos, and slideshow from Ahr’s win over Spotswood on January 16th), and a win at J.P. Stevens in the preliminary round of the 2015 GMCT (view game notes, highlights, photos, and slideshow). After starting the season at 2-6, Ahr went 8 of its next 12 games to even its record at .500 before finishing at 10-12. BGA took a big hit to graduation losing the likes of Tom Weiler (Centenary College), Kevin Krolick, Pat Astarita, Anthony Abano, Eddie Hayes, and Harry Gelpke.
South Amboy native, Sean Kudelka returns for the Trojans along with a fellow reserves from last season Corey Ciszek, Donald Fackina, Dane Lupton, and Robert Golden. The BGA also has a promising sophomore class led by Alex Santiago, Jordan Wells, and Ryan O’Leary. With McCarrick closing this past June, and Carteret, Kennedy, Metuchen, and Middlesex took hits from graduation while Spotswood had two key players from last season not on the roster this year. Ahr is a bit more of a contender.
Spotswood and J.F. Kennedy appear to be the pre-season favorites to win the division with Carteret and Ahr more toward the middle of the pack, but the Trojans have more experience returning that the Ramblers, which gives them a better chance to compete with the Chargers and Mustangs. Looking ahead, the future does look bright at BGA with Santiago, Wells, and O’Leary, which led Ahr’s freshmen to a quarterfinal appearance in the 2015 Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament before bowing out against Perth Amboy.
Recently, GMC Hoops saw Bishop Ahr play in a scrimmage against Perth Amboy. The Trojans had some difficulties, but senior guard Corey Ciszek was a bright spot with a couple threes in a 16-12 Trojans fourth quarter. The Trojans open the season at Metuchen and then play Union Catholic in its home opener on December 21st before competing in the Glen Ridge Holiday Tournament during Christmas break.
Carteret Ramblers
Team: Carteret
Coach: Herman White
Year: 7th
Career Coaching Record: 101-57
Coaching Record At School: 101-57
Last Year’s Overall Record: 18-8
Last Year’s Division Record: 9-3, 2nd in GMC Blue Division
Last Year’s Conference Record: 17-6
Last Year’s Accomplishments: Reached Quarterfinals of 2015 GMCT. Qualified for the North Jersey Section 2 Group 3 State Playoffs.
Last Year’s JV Team: Seeded 21st in the 2015 East Brunswick/GMC JV Tournament. Lost to Perth Amboy in the Preliminary Round.
Last Year’s Freshman Team: No Freshmen Team.
Off-Season Leagues/Team Camps: Rahway Summer League.
Returning Starters: None.
Returning Reserves: Jemar Jordan (6’3” Jr. SF), Victor Spencer (6’2” Sr. SF) , Jalen Harris (5’9” Jr. G), Kahir Raymond (5’9” Jr. PG).
Key Losses From Last Season: Jaquan Robertson (6’3” SG, now playing at St. Peter’s), Brandon Gilder (6’1”, SF) now playing football at Garden City Community College in Kansas), Ra’Keem Bennett (5’11” G), Amir Alford (5’10” PG), Vincent Montgomery (6’4” PF), and Ahmad Kennedy (6’8” Sr. C).
Key Newcomers: Naafi Powell (5’9” So. G), Nasseir Moore (6’1” So. G), Angelo Golino (6’0” Jr. F), Humberto Jimenez (6’2” Jr. F), Isiah Danelis-Porter (6’3” So. F).
View Carteret Holiday Tourney Schedule
Outlook: Carteret will be one of the teams still contending in the GMC Blue this year. With McCarrick no longer in existence, the Ramblers will have one less obstacle in its way. However, CHS did take some hits to graduation with the losses of its entire starting five: Jaquan Robertson (St. Peter’s), Brandon Gilder, Ra’Keem Bennett, Amir Alford, and Vince Montgomery.
Robertson and Gilder ended up being 1,000 point scorers with Robertson finishing 2nd on the all time list behind the late Keith Hughes Sr. Read the game notes and article as well as view highlights, photos, and slideshow from Carteret’s battle against Cardinal McCarrick at CHS on January 21st of last season. The Ramblers do have the likes of Jemar Jordan, Victor Spencer, Kahir Raymond, and Jalen Harris returning this year, and turned in a solid summer at the Rahway Summer League.
Carteret was one of the four teams that qualified for the playoffs at Rahway, and appeared to be poised to reach the Championship Game, but the hometown team Indians rallied late in the second half to knock off the Ramblers (View game notes, highlights, photos, and slideshow). Rahway went on to lose to J.P. Stevens in the Championship.
More recently, GMC Hoops saw the Ramblers in action in a pre-season scrimmage against Piscataway Tech. The Raiders gave Carteret a battle, and rallied from a 38-32 deficit with under 4 minutes to play to end the scrimmage in a 41-41 tie. The JV fared a bit better with a 23-19 edge over the JV Raiders in two quarters of exhibition action. Carteret opens the season with games against two of the pre-season GMC Blue favorites J.F. Kennedy at home and Spotswood on the road. Then, the Ramblers face Manalapan in the opening round of the Matawan Huskies Holiday Tournament.
Middlesex Blue Jays
Team: Middlesex
Coach: Jared Goldstein
Year: 2nd
Career Coaching Record: 4-19
Coaching Record At School: 4-19
Last Year’s Overall Record: 4-19
Last Year’s Division Record: 1-11, 7th in GMC Blue Division
Last Year’s Conference Record: 3-14
Last Year’s Accomplishments: Won Shello-Santy Holiday Tournament. Upset J.F. Kennedy.
Last Year’s JV Team: Seeded 19th in the 2015 East Brunswick/GMC JV Tournament. Lost to J.F. Kennedy in the Preliminary Round.
Last Year’s Freshman Team: Seeded 10th in the 2015 Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament Lost to J.P. Stevens in the Round of 16.
Off-Season Leagues/Team Camps: Montgomery Team Camp and the Bound Brook Summer League.
Returning Starters: None.
Returning Reserves: Kyle Bogus (6’1” Sr. F), Ryan Coke (6’0” Sr. G), Mike Lavenia (5’10” Sr. F)
Key Losses From Last Season: Stew Lester (6’0” G, now playing at Centenary College), Marcus Evans-Little (6’6” F, now playing at Raritan Valley Community College), and Vince Chiera (5’9” Jr. G, not playing this season), Kayshawn Wilson (6’2” F, playing football at University of Maine), David Spencer (6’3″ F) Adam Wick (6’3” F), Nick DiNizo (5’9” G), and Zack Cerebe (6’3” G).
Key Newcomers: Chris Spencer (5’10” Jr. G), Tyler Ha (5’9” So. G), Jake Robel (6’5” So. F/C), Darian Noel (6’1”, Sr. G/F), Noah Mendel (5’7” Sr. G), Mario Minetti (5’7” Sr. G), and Chris Hendricks (5’10” Jr. G).
Outlook: Second year head coach, Jared Goldstein is looking to improve on last season’s 4-19 overall mark. The Jays started out the season on a positive note with wins over Highland Park (view highlights, photos, and slideshow) and Dunellen at the 2014 Shello-Santy Tournament at the Faber in Dunellen, but didn’t have much success after that despite getting a late season win over Kennedy and coming close to knocking off Carteret and Spotswood. The Blue Jays also lost three times to Metuchen.
Last June, Middlesex lost point guard, Stew Lester (Centenary) and Marcus Evans-Little (Raritan Valley Community College) to graduation. In addition, junior guard, Vince Chiera is not playing this year. The Jays still have Ryan Coke coming back along with the likes of Kyle Bogus, Tyler Ha, Chris Spencer, and Mike Lavenia. Over the summer, Middlesex competed in the Montgomery Team Camp and the Bound Brook Summer League. At Bound Brook, the Blue Jays managed to qualify for the playoffs after winning a play-in game before losing to Somerville (view game notes, photos, and slideshow).
Metuchen Bulldogs
Team: Metuchen
Coach: Guy Jensen
Year: 2nd
Career Coaching Record: 137-102
Coaching Record At School: 7-17
Last Year’s Overall Record: 7-17
Last Year’s Division Record: 3-9, 6th in GMC Blue Division
Last Year’s Conference Record: 5-11
Last Year’s Accomplishments: Qualified for the Central Jersey Group 1 State Playoffs.
Last Year’s JV Team: Didn’t play in the 2015 East Brunswick/GMC JV Tournament.
Last Year’s Freshman Team: Didn’t play in the 2015 Perth Amboy/GMC Freshmen Tournament.
Off-Season Leagues/Team Camps: Bound Brook Summer League
Returning Starters: Danny Flaherty (6’1” Jr. G)
Returning Reserves: Justin Briggs (6’3” Jr. F)
Key Losses From Last Season: Artie Flaherty Jr. (6’0” G), Tom Chalker (5’10” PG), Shae Norris (6’2” G/F), and Evan Collier (6’2” Sr. G/F).
Key Newcomers: Danny Russell (6’0” So. G), Sohan Ullel (6’3” So. F), Danny Petto (6’3” So. G/F), David Weiss (6’3” Jr. F), Nate Walters (5’10” Sr. G), Riley Watkins (6’0” So. G), Ethan Leibovitz (5’9” Fr. G), Jamie Sims (5’9” Sr. G), and Thomas Christian (6’0” Jr. G).
View the Metuchen Holiday Tournament Schedule
Outlook: Metuchen not only took a hit to graduation by losing the likes of 1,000 point scorer Artie Flaherty, Jr., Tom Chalker, and Shae Norris, but also lost Evan Collier, who transferred to David Brearley in Kenilworth. Returning for the Bulldogs and 2nd year head coach, Guy Jensen, will be juniors Danny Flaherty and Justin Briggs.
The Bulldogs will be more inexperienced, but have good talent coming up from a middle school program that was very successful several years ago. Having legendary coach, Ray Newman on the staff is also a very big plus. Over the summer, the Bulldogs competed in a summer league for the first time in several years at Bound Brook. Metuchen just missed qualifying for the playoffs there.
The Bulldogs, which are one of only two Group I schools still in the Blue Division, had moments where they showed tremendous fight last season. Several times during 2014-15, Metuchen faced huge deficits, and battled back to pull within single digits before ultimately losing. See some of that fight on display against J.F. Kennedy and Spotswood.