St. Joseph’s and St. Thomas Aquinas Competing in Annual South Amboy Showcase
SOUTH AMBOY, NJ – There will be wall-to-wall games at the 2023 FOSA Showcase. On Saturday afternoon, GMC Hoops will travel to South Amboy Middle-High School to take in the 2023 Friends of South Amboy Showcase. For the 11th time in the past 12 years, Tom Reilly and David Kales along with many others in the proud town known as the Gateway to the Shore have come together to schedule some high school basketball games to raise money for fellow residents of South Amboy that are in need.
Initially, the event began as a response to the devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy in late October 2012. South Amboy was one of many communities along the Raritan Bay portion of New Jersey that were hard hit by the historic storm surge that Sandy generated. The first few years only held games between arch-rivals South Amboy and Cardinal McCarrick. After McCarrick closed in June 2015, the event began to take in other schools including nearby Calvary Christian, Sayreville, South River, and St. Thomas Aquinas.
The current format took shape in 2021. After having no event in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic, the Friends of South Amboy came back with a bang. Originally scheduled to have four games, one contest was postponed due to one of the teams having players with COVID. The event still went on and was highlighted by the 13th match-up between St. Joseph’s and St. Thomas Aquinas since 1981. Aquinas defeated St. Joe’s (64-57) for the first time since 1994 in a very competitive and entertaining game.
Last year’s showcase was the best yet with the most games played ever at five. Six GMC schools participated including Calvary Christian, East Brunswick Magnet, Sayreville, South Amboy, South River, Spotswood, St. Joseph’s, and St. Thomas Aquinas. This year plans to be even better with an additional game added for a slate of six contests starting at 10:00 AM sharp with South Amboy’s girls basketball team taking on New Brunswick.
The highlight of the day will be in the evening when St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Joseph’s take the floor in back-to-back games. The 2nd ranked Trojans, who have won the last three Greater Middlesex Conference Tournaments played (2020, 2022, and 2023), will be facing off against St. Joseph’s by the Sea of Staten Island at 6:00 PM. Then, 3rd-ranked St. Joseph’s will battle a very solid Monsignor Farrell team from Staten Island in the nightcap at 8:00 PM.
Seven schools from the GMC: Calvary Christian, New Brunswick, Sayreville, South Amboy, South River, St. Joseph’s, and St. Thomas Aquinas are all participating. In addition, teams from the Shore Conference (Keyport), Skyland Conference (Belvidere), and New York City Catholic League, i.e. CHSAA (St. Joe’s by the Sea and Monsignor Farrell) are also taking part. This event has grown into one of the biggest hoops events in Middlesex County. Take a look at the full 2023 schedule of games below.
2023 Friends of South Amboy Games
- 10:00 AM – South Amboy vs. New Brunswick (Girls)
- 12:00 PM – Calvary Christian vs. Keyport
- 2:00 PM – Sayreville vs. South River
- 4:00 PM – South Amboy vs. Belvidere
- 6:00 PM – St. Thomas Aquinas vs. St. Joseph’s by the Sea (Staten Island)
- 8:00 PM – St. Joseph’s vs. Monsignor Farrell (Staten Island)
GMC Hoops plans to be there to cover at least a portion of all six games on the schedule.