GMC Hoops remembers former Carteret hoops standout, Aiden Ramirez, following through on a shot attempt against South Brunswick in the 2020 GMCT Quarterfinals. Ramirez passed away at the end of September 2022.
Former Carteret Hoops Standout Succumbed to Cancer
CARTERET, NJ – This past off-season was a particularly painful one for the Greater Middlesex Conference basketball community. Two former players passed away since the end of last season. One of them was former Carteret boys basketball standout, Aiden Ramirez, who died of cancer at the end of September.
Ramirez had not played the past two seasons due to his ailment (Ewing Sarcoma), but was still honored by the GMC, and the GMC Basketball Coaches association as a member of one of the Senior Boys All-Star teams for the 2022 GMCBCA Senior All-Star Game held at Woodbridge High School. Ramirez also managed to graduate from Carteret High School this past June and walked in the ceremony with his classmates.
Prior to the Ramblers season opener versus GMC Blue Division rival Spotswood on December 16th, Ramirez was honored by having his jersey retired. In the two seasons that he played varsity hoops at Carteret, Ramirez scored 261 career points on 92 total field goals including 37 three pointers according to stats compiled at NJ.com. Ramirez also tallied 78 rebounds, 54 assists, and 36 steals in 33 games.
Most of Ramirez’s numbers were accumulated during his sophomore season at Carteret two years ago. In 28 games for the Ramblers, Ramirez connected on 89 total field goals including all of his 37 career threes and made all 40 of his career free throws for a total of 255 points along with 77 rebounds, 52 assists, and 35 steals. Ramirez averaged 9.1 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.3 steals per game in 2019-20.
A key contributor to Carteret’s 20-8 season, Ramirez helped the Ramblers finish second to eventual GMCT champion, St. Thomas Aquinas in the GMC Blue, reach the GMCT and NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2 Group 3 Quarterfinals, and finish in the GMC Hoops Top Ten. Ramirez scored a career high 25 points on 8 total field goals including five three pointers in a 70-57 victory at Middlesex.
As a matter of fact, Ramirez scored in double figures 10 times in 2019-20. He was the Ramblers leading scorer with 18 points on 6 total field goals including three treys in a tough 47-39 loss to Colonia in the North Jersey Section 2 Group 3 Quarterfinals. But perhaps his most inspirational game of all was against North Brunswick on February 5, 2020 in Raiders Country.
In a 62-60 victory over the Raiders, Ramirez helped lead a shorthanded Carteret team to the win. With the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, Starrell Hearns (now at Bloomfield College) on the bench with an injured ankle, Ramirez stepped up by collecting his only double-double of that season and his career with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Ramirez also picked up 3 assists and 2 steals in the win.
Trailing 20-13 after one period, Carteret rallied by outscoring North Brunswick 34-25 over the middle two periods for the win. Ramirez was one of four different Rambler players to score in double figures that day. Another highlight from that season was a 16 point performance in a 56-45 victory over Manalapan in the semifinals of the Matawan Huskies Holiday Classic.
Ramirez connected on five total field goals including three treys and added three more from the line while also picking up 2 rebounds and 2 assists. The effort helped secure Carteret’s first berth in the Huskies Classic Championship since joining the tournament field back in the 2013-14 season. The Ramblers would lose to Union in the 2019 Huskies Classic Championship in a classic two overtime game, 64-60 as Ramirez finished with 7 points 3 assists, and 2 rebounds.
The fighting spirit of Ramirez in his courageous fight has been an inspiration to the athletic and academic community of Carteret High School. On March 11, 2022, the school raised $12,022 to assist Ramirez and his family through another round of chemotherapy. The Carteret athletics program took a hard hit during the pandemic when both the football and basketball seasons were cancelled.
However, after enduring difficult campaigns in 2021-22, Carteret’s football and basketball teams are on the comeback trail. In the fall, Carteret finished second to South Plainfield in the Big Central Conference’s United Silver Division with an overall record of 7-4, a division record of 3-1, and a conference record of 6-3. Ramblers football lost two of its four games by just one point.
The boys basketball season is still very young, but already Carteret is halfway to its entire season win total of a year ago. On Wednesday, Carteret defeated Wardlaw-Hartridge (67-29) in a GMC Blue matchup for its first win of 2022-23. Last season, the Ramblers didn’t win their first game until January 24th. Carteret’s resiliency in football and basketball is symbolic of the tenaciousness in which Ramirez fought against his evil opponent.