Silas Leads Balanced Attack while Guinyard and Pichardo Dominate the Boards
EDISON, NJ—For much of the first quarter, 9th seeded Piscataway went toe to toe with top seeded St. Thomas Aquinas. However, towards the end of that opening period, and the entire second and third quarters, the Trojans pulled away. Balance propelled Aquinas into the GMCT Boys Semis for the second time in three years with a 67-39 victory.
Senior guard Adam Silas led three different scorers in double figures with 12 points while Sherief Guinyard 8 points and 12 rebounds) and Jalen Pichardo (8 points and 11 rebounds) led the Trojans with double digit rebounds. After scoring the last three points of the opening stanza, St. Thomas Aquinas broke open the game with an 18-5 tear in the second to take a 35-16 halftime lead. The Trojans then extended the lead to 27 heading into the fourth with a 15-7 showing in the third.
Sophomore Jaden Kelly collected 11 points including two treys, 5 rebounds, 5 steals, and an assist. Reserve big man, Chris Santner, made the most of the extra playing time with 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a steal. Senior Samar Abdullah chipped in with 7 points, 2 assists, and a rebound. Jonathan Carman was a bright spot for Piscataway with a game high 13 points along with 7 boards, 4 blocks, and a steal.
Balance Keys Aquinas Surge in the Middle Periods
Aquinas scored in double figures in each quarter, and outscored P-Way by a margin of 33-12 over the middle two frames. The Trojans outscored the Chiefs by a 38-16 margin within the arc. In addition, St. Thomas Aquinas enjoyed an 18-15 edge from long distance, and an 11-6 advantage from the charity stripe. Aquinas outrebounded Piscataway by a margin of 37-18 while handing out 18 assists versus only four by the Chiefs.
The Trojans fueled their mid-game explosion with a 13-4 advantage in steals. The only major statistical category where Piscataway had an edge was in blocked shots (5-4). St. Thomas Aquinas had 8 different players score in the contest. Seven of those Trojans scored at least 7 points including three in double figures. P-Way had 7 different players score, but only three with 6 points or more including one in double digits.
St. Thomas Aquinas jumped out to a 14-6 lead over the first 5:38 of the 2022 GMCT Quarterfinal contest. Highlighting the early Trojans’ run was a three pointer by Silas, and a two handed jam by Guinyard with 2:22 left in the first. Piscataway rallied with five straight points including a three from the left corner by Carman. In addition, Carman blocked shots at the other end to keep the Chiefs in contention.
Leading 14-11, the Trojans scored the last three points of the first for a 17-11 lead, and then scored 33 of the 45 points tallied by both teams in the middle two quarters. Capping the 36-12 Trojans’ surge over a span of 17 minutes was a score from Santner and a putback by Pichardo for a 50-23 lead heading into the fourth. Aquinas scored 13 of the first 16 points of the final frame to extend its surge to 49-15 for a 63-26 advantage.
Balance Leads Aquinas Back to the Semis
Highlighting Aquinas’ fourth quarter spurt were dunks by Guinyard and Silas as the Trojans’ lead grew to 37 points. The reserves then came into the contest to round out the final 4:28 of the contest. Piscataway made the contest a bit more respectable with a 13-4 tear to end the game. Senior Kasir Hart led the charge for the Chiefs with two threes. Jadyn Defense got a late score to get into the books for Aquinas.
With the victory, St. Thomas Aquinas returned to the GMCT Boys Final Four after there was no tourney due to COVID in 2021. The Trojans improved their overall record to 24-1 on the season including a 17-0 mark in the GMC. Aquinas will now faced 4th seeded Monroe, a 40-36 winner over 5th seeded South Brunswick in another quarterfinal. Piscataway dropped to 11-10 overall, and will travel to Somerville on Thursday night for a non-conference game against Immaculata.