Four games between GMC and Skyland Conference Schools on January 8th to Benefit COVID Relief
BOUND BROOK, NJ—After last year’s Coaches vs. Coronavirus Shootout was cancelled due to the abbreviated schedule resulting from COVID in 2020-21, Bound Brook High School head coach, Anthony Melesurgo has brought it back for this year with a new twist: This year’s games will be a GMC vs. Skyland Conference Challenge.
On Saturday, January 8th, while the Coaches vs. Cancer Shootout will be taking place at Montgomery High School, Bound Brook High School will be hosting a boys basketball hoops showcase with four games between schools from the Greater Middlesex Conference and schools from the Skyland Conference. All proceeds will benefit COVID relief while honoring those heroes such as the doctors, nurses, teachers, and first responders, who stood bravely on the front lines during the course of the pandemic, which greatly impacted Central Jersey since March 2020.
The day will get underway at 12:00 at BBHS when Dunellen of the GMC’s Blue Division will be taking on South Hunterdon. Afterwards, South Plainfield, another GMC Blue squad, and a likely pre-season GMC Hoops Top 10 team, will be taking on Pingry at 2:00 PM. The third game of the day will feature Timothy Christian, one of the contenders for the GMC Gold Division, will battle Franklin at 4:00 PM. Finally, in the nightcap, a renewal of a Route 28 rivalry takes place as Bound Brook hosts Middlesex at 6:00 PM.
A year ago, Bound Brook went 14-0 on won the Skyland Conference’s Gold Division Pod over Immaculata (75-68) after defeating Bernards in the semifinals (47-42), and Bridgewater-Raritan (66-54) in the opening round. The Crusaders reached the semifinals of the 2021 Bound Brook Summer League before losing to eventual champion, Monroe. Bound Brook is led by Quadir Harrell and Jordan Summers.
The Dunellen Destroyers is led by football and hoops standout, Nasir Tippett while Timothy Christian is led by Gian Wagner and Brandon Johnson. South Plainfield lost a great deal of talent from a team that finished in the GMC Hoops Top 10 a year ago, but still has last year’s leading scorer in Brandon Dean along with football, hoops, and track standout, Jalen Russell, track and hoops standout Joe Oduro, and Anthony Nigro.
The Tigers defeated a very talented Edison team twice, and won the 2021 Rahway Summer League. Middlesex graduated 1,000 point scorer Mark Brower among others, but still has Mike Salvatore back as well as Avery West and football standout, Stephen Young. The Blue Jays, which also have solid talent at the JV level is looking to compete with South Plainfield, South River, and Spotswood for the Blue Division title.
GMC Hoops plans to stop by after being at Montgomery covering the Coaches vs. Cancer Shootout, and cover most if not all the action from this event. Below again, is the schedule for the day at Bound Brook HS:
GMC vs. Skyland Hoops Challenge (Coaches vs. Coronavirus 2022) at Bound Brook High School on January 8, 2022
- Dunellen vs. South Hunterdon, 12:00 PM
- South Plainfield vs. Pingry, 2:00 PM
- Timothy Christian vs. Franklin, 4:00 PM
- Middlesex vs. Bound Brook, 6:00 PM
Special thanks to Bound Brook boys basketball head coach, Anthony Melesurgo for providing the info on this event.