Aquinas and Joes Standouts to Represent GMC in NJSCA Senior All-Star Game at Rider on Saturday
LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ—On Saturday, March 19th, the NJSCA will hold its first Senior Boys and Girls North-South All-Star Games in two years at Alumni Hall on the campus of Rider University. Two standouts from the Greater Middlesex Conference: Adam Silas of St. Thomas Aquinas and Ethan Simmon of St. Joseph’s will be competing in the boys game scheduled to start at 2:30 PM.
The girls game will open the festivities at 12:00 PM. In previous years, there have also been three point shooting and slam dunk competitions. Back in 2016, Bree Tyree of St. Joseph’s participated in the slam dunk competition. Other former GMC standouts that have played in this event recently include Chad Baker of Colonia, who now plays at San Diego State, and was just selected the Mountain West Conference’s Sixth Man of the Year.
This past season both Silas and Simmon led their teams to great seasons. Simmon led St. Joseph’s to a GMC Red Division title and Final Four appearances in the GMCT and the NJSIAA Non-Public A South State Tourney. Meanwhile, Silas powered Aquinas to its best season in school history at 27-2, a GMC White Division crown, GMCT Boys Championship, and a berth in the Non-Public A South Semifinals.
In addition, Silas and Simmon were selected to the 2022 All GMCT Team while Silas was also honored as the GMCT MVP. Both were also selected to the GMC’s All Conference Team and their respective All Division Teams. Simmon was named to the GMC’s All Red Division Team while Silas was named to the GMC’s All White Division Team.
Playing in 28 of Aquinas’ 29 games this past season, Silas tallied 532 points on 192 field goals including 53 threes and 95 free throws. The Trojans’ senior guard also compiled 143 assists, 106 rebounds, 65 steals and 5 blocked shots according to stats posted at NJ.com. Breaking that down further, Silas averaged 19.0 points, 5.1 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per contests.
Meanwhile, Simmon compiled 540 points in 27 games played for an average of 20.0 points per game. Simmon, who has received offers from schools such as Adelphi, Fairfield, Central Connecticut, and Chestnut Hill, scored double figures in 26 of the 28 games he played this season. Of those 26 double figure games, Simmon scored at least 20 in 14 of those games including two games with at least 30 points.
Silas, who has received scholarship offers from Manhattan and Hofstra, scored in double figures in all 28 games he played in this season. Of those 28 games, Silas scored at least 20 in 9 of those contests including three with 30 points or more. One of those 30 plus point performances was in the 2022 GMCT Championship, where he scored the fourth highest points in a Middlesex County Final with 37 against Colonia.
Simmon, who played a couple varsity games during his freshman year at Aquinas, finished his career at St. Joseph’s with 816 points. He had a career high of 36 points in a 91-52 win over Old Bridge on January 11, 2022. Silas, who played at St. Benedict’s as a freshman, and then at Marist as a sophomore, finished with 845 points in his career.
Both Silas and Simmon will be playing for the South All-Stars. Both the North and South Squads feature a ton of superb talent from all over the state of New Jersey. For example, the North All-Stars include the likes of Will Richardson of Bergen Catholic, Mark Armstrong of St. Peter’s Prep, and Denver Anglin of Gill St. Bernard’s.
Meanwhile, the South All-Stars include: Rasheer Fleming and Elijah Perkins of Camden, Derek Simpson of Lenape, and Ben Roy of Manasquan. Other local area players selected to play in the contest include Quadir Harrell of Bound Brook, Ryan Curry of Montgomery, Ryan Petit of Rutgers Prep, and Elijah Lewis of Watchung Hills. View the complete list of players below as per an article from NJ.com:
2022 NJSCA North Senior Boys All-Stars
- Denver Anglin, Gill St. Bernard’s
- Mark Armstrong, St. Peter’s Prep
- Chase Clarke, Newark Academy
- Chris Corbo, West Essex
- Nick Dunneman, Seton Hall Prep
- Tristian Harcourt, University
- Quadir Harrell, Bound Brook
- Asim Jones, Paterson Charter
- Jamarques Lawrence, Roselle Catholic
- Elijah Lewis, Watchung Hills
- Sean Logan, Westfield
- David Luberoff, Midland Park
- David Mager, Dwight-Englewood
- Noah Pit, Mendham
- Will Richardson, Bergen Catholic
- Patrick Rogers, Rutherford
- Nick Schroeder, Nutley
- Andrew Stack, Madison
- Cristian Talavera, Caldwell
- Logan Wejnert, Waldwick
- Brian Whitney, Passaic Valley
2022 NJSCA South Senior Boys All-Stars
- Andrew Ball, Shawnee
- TJ Braswell, Ranney
- Ryan Curry, Montgomery
- Rasheer Fleming, Camden
- Drew Greene, Cherry Hill East
- Scott Gymiesi, Rumson-Fair Haven
- Brian Herbert, Robbinsville
- Ayden Hogan, Hightstown
- Zoe Holman, Woodrow Wilson
- Carlos Lopez, Egg Harbor Township
- Jamaal Morris, Trenton Catholic
- Elijah Perkins, Camden
- Ryan Pettit, Rutgers Prep
- Ben Roy, Manasquan (injured)
- Keyshun Sanders, Paulsboro
- Jack Seidler, Marlboro
- Adam Silas, St. Thomas Aquinas
- Ethan Simmon, St. Joseph (Metuchen)
- Derek Simpson, Lenape
- Maurice Williams, Hamilton West
- Nate Williams, St. John Vianney