Colonia, J.P. Stevens, Monroe, and South Brunswick Representing Conference in Coaches vs. Cancer Showcase at Montgomery HS in January.
SKILLMAN, NJ—On Saturday, January 8th, there will be a big day of hoops on tap all across Central Jersey. At Bound Brook High School there will be a GMC vs. Skyland Shootout involving four teams from the Greater Middlesex Conference and Skyland Conference. Simultaneously, at Montgomery High School, the annual Coaches vs. Cancer Shootout will be returning to action with four GMC schools taking part.
The 2021 Karl Anthony Towns-Jay Williams GMC Pod Champion, Colonia will lead the Greater Middlesex Conference gang of four schools to play in the Coaches vs. Cancer Shootout at Montgomery. The Patriots will also be joined by GMC Red Schools: J.P. Stevens, Monroe, and South Brunswick. The Vikings also played in the Karl Anthony Towns-Jay Williams Pod, and finished fourth.
The event will take place over two days starting with three games including two girls hoops contests on Friday evening, January 7th and continuing with a full slate of games starting at 9:00 AM on Saturday, January 8th. There will also be a JV contest between Montgomery and Somerville going on in the auxiliary gym while South Brunswick opens the action against Somerville’s varsity. The Vikings feature the likes of Yathin Vemula, Damien Downes, Shyheim Davis, Kalani Antoine, Saumit Kale, Harmehar Singh, and Brian Rawls.
Following the clash between the Vikings and the Pioneers, J.P. Stevens, one of the most improved teams in the GMC a year ago, will be in action during the 10:30 time slot versus Hillsborough. The Raiders look to be much improved this year with Manville transfer Zion Harrison along with football standouts Jay Mazuera and Will Dixon, who are coming off a South Jersey Group 5 Regional Football Championship.
The next GMC school to play in the event will be Monroe, winners of the 2021 Bound Brook Summer League after claiming the GMC Taylor Family Pod Championship last March. The Falcons led by the Okocha triplets of Jonathan, Josh, and Elijah as well as the likes of Ryan Zurawiecki, Riley Piscitelli, Vansh Parikh, and Myles Morabito. MTHS will be taking on Burlington Township, which reached the CJ Group 3 semifinals two years ago.
Finally, in the game prior to the marquee nightcap between West Morris Central and Montgomery at 8:30 PM, Colonia, which is likely to appear in the GMC Hoops Top 3 in its pre-season poll, will battle Lenape from South Jersey at 6:30 PM. The Patriots are led this year by Billy Anderson, Saivon Pressley, Noah Taylor, Mehki Johnson, Jaeden Jones, JT Kroner, Mike Howell, Matt Scherb, and Tyhmir Van Kline.
Schools from the Burlington County Scholastic League, Colonial Conference, Colonial Valley Conference, Greater Middlesex Conference, Olympic Conference, Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference, Shore Conference, and Skyland Conference are competing in the event. Eighteen boys varsity teams, 4 girls varsity teams, and 2 JV teams are participating in the showcase.
The match-up between West Morris Central and Montgomery will be the second time in the past four years that the Wolfpack and Cougars will be playing in the nightcap game of this event. The last time was in the 2018-19 season. West Morris Central looks to have another solid team this year after having a solid season a year ago despite COVID. Below is the full schedule over the two days at Montgomery High School (GMC games in bold):
Coaches vs. Cancer Shootout at Montgomery High School—Friday, January 7, 2021
- 5:00 PM—Raritan vs. Voorhees
- 6:30 PM—Raritan vs. Hillsborough (Girls)
- 8:00 PM—Hopewell Valley vs. Montgomery (Girls)
Coaches vs. Cancer Shootout at Montgomery High School—Saturday, January 8, 2021
- 9:00 AM—Somerville vs. Montgomery (JV Game in Auxiliary Gym)
- 9:00 AM—South Brunswick vs. Somerville
- 10:30 AM—J.P. Stevens vs. Hillsborough
- 12:00 PM—Haddon Township vs. Bridgewater-Raritan
- 2:00 PM—Hackettstown vs. North Hunterdon
- 3:30 PM—Burlington Township vs. Monroe
- 5:00 PM—Sparta vs. Watchung Hills
- 6:30 PM—Lenape vs. Colonia
- 8:30 PM—West Morris Central vs. Montgomery
Special thanks to Montgomery boys basketball coach and athletic director, Kris Grundy, for providing the info for this event.