St. Thomas Aquinas’ Nia Clemons puts up a shot midway through the third quarter for Team White in the 2023 GMC Girls Senior All-Star Game at Middlesex College in Edison. Clemons finished with a game high 13 points to lead Team White to a 76-50 victory.
Trio Leads Team White Past Team Black in 2023 GMC Senior Girls All-Star Game
EDISON, NJ – Last year’s Senior All-Star Game saw Team Black roll past Team White (82-59) thanks in part to the efforts of Toni Polvere of St. Thomas Aquinas. This year, another Aquinas player led the way for the winning team. Caldwell commit, Nia Clemons scored a game high 13 points on 5 field goals and 3 of 4 from the foul line to lead Team White to a 76-50 victory over Team Black.
Teammate and North Brunswick standout and 1,000 point scorer, Niyell McCargo added 10 points on 3 field goals and 4 of 6 from the charity stripe. Piscataway’s Autumn John chipped in with 9 points on three field goals and a three pointer. Colonia’s 1,000 point scorer, Matti Chiera also contributed in the win with 7 points on two field goals and a three. East Brunswick’s Tamea El scored 6 points on three field goals.
Metuchen forward, Aurelie Germain led Team Black in a losing cause with 10 points on 3 field goals and a perfect 4 of 4 from the line. Middlesex’s 1,000 point scorer, Neysa Aguilar put on a show en route to scoring 9 points on 4 total field goals including a three. North Plainfield’s Yasmen Zafar added 8 points on three two point field goals and 2 of 2 from the charity stripe. Woodbridge’s Izzy Reyes scored 8 points as well on three total field goals including a trey and 1 of 2 from the line.
All 12 of Team White’s players scored in the contest including eight that scored at least 6 points. Meanwhile, only 9 of Team Black’s 13 players got into the scorebook. Only one player scored in double figures for Team Black. Only five Team Black players scored 6 points or more. Team White outscored Team Black by a margin of 48-30 from within the arc. Team White also outscored Team Black from long distance (15-9) and from the foul line (13-11).
Team White also sank 81 percent of its 16 free throw attempts while Team Black only made 48 percent of its 23 foul shot attempts. Team White tallied 29 total field goals versus just 18 for Team Black. Team White jumped out to a 15-11 first quarter lead despite a last second basket by Germain off an assist by Reyes. Monroe’s Haley Higgins scored all 6 of her points in the contest on two threes while South Brunswick’s Katie Rausch (5 points) added a trey as well.
East Brunswick’s El, Perth Amboy Magnet’s Jalena Santiago (6 points), and Clemons all added two points in the first for Team White. Germain led Team Black with 4 points on two field goals while North Plainfield’s Zafar, Janiya Mitchell of Highland Park (6 points), and Somerset Tech’s Fiona Shanahan also added two points, and JFK’s Sidney deVoogd made one of two from the line. Team White increased its lead to a dozen at 36-24 going into the half after a 21-13 showing in the second.
McCargo (7 points) and John (6 points) combined for 13 of Team White’s 21 points in the second period. McCargo connected on two field goals and made 3 of 4 from the charity stripe while John clicked on three two pointers. Chiera, El, and the Old Bridge tandem of Gabby Walker (4 points) and Leena Tran (6 points) each chipped in with 2 points apiece. Six different players scored for Team Black in the frame led by Mitchell, who sank a three. Aguilar, Reyes, deVoogd, and Spotswood’s Meaghan Bicsko each chipped in with two.
After a free throw by Team White and a bucket by Team Black for a 16-13 score, McCargo dribbled in from the three point line on the left side to the left lane for a pull-up jumper to put Team White up by five at the 7:26 mark of the second. East Brunswick’s El then scored off a couple offensive rebounds later on in the period. Then, Piscataway’s John managed to get hold of a loose ball off a Team Black’s deflection and attempted steal in the closing seconds for a short jumper in the paint to beat the buzzer for the 12 point lead.
Aguilar did her best to keep Team Black within striking distance by driving baseline, spinning, and knocking down a turnaround jumper from the left low block for an and one. The third quarter was a bit closer as Team White only outscored Team Black by a margin of 18-16 to raise its advantage to 54-40. Clemons, who scored 11 of her points in the second half, began to assert herself in this frame for Team White with 5 points on two field goals and one of two from the line. Tran and Santiago each added 4 points while Chiera had 3 and Walker had 2.
Middlesex’s Aguilar led Team Black with 5 points in the third on a field goal and a three pointer while Woodbridge’s Reyes and North Plainfield’s Zafar each added 4. Santiago netted a pair of free throws and Chiera knocked down a three pointer from the left corner off an assist by McCargo in the closing seconds of the frame for the 14 point lead. The fourth and final period saw Team White continue to pull away with a 22-10 showing.
Eight different players scored for Team White with Clemons scoring 6 points on three field goals to lead the way. John and McCargo each added 3 while Chiera, El, and Rausch chipped in with two. Carteret’s Beauty Nwanzee (2 points) and East Brunswick Magnet’s Camila Garcia also got into the act with field goals for their only points for the winners. Six different players scored in the frame for Team Black as Germain, Aguilar, Reyes, and Zafar each had a field goal while Mitchell and Edison’s Keisha Ortiz made one of two from the line.
Highlighting the fourth quarter surge for Team White was Garcia’s putback at the 3:36 mark for a 68-47 lead. Chiera followed with a transition layup off an up court pass by McCargo. Chiera then payed it forward by dishing to El for a transition layup before McCargo got an offensive rebound off her own miss, and dribbled back around the key for a score. Clemons and Germain earned Player of the Game honors for their respective teams from GMC Hoops.