Third Quarter Start Propels Aquinas into GMCT Boys Final

Trojans Break Open Close Game with an 11-0 Spurt to Start 2nd Half to Defeat Monroe in Semis, 62-41

MONROE, NJ—For 16 minutes, David took on Goliath, in the nightcap game of the 2022 GMCT Boys Semifinals at Monroe Township High School.  Buoyed by its home crowd, which helped produced a sellout, and brought a great deal of enthusiasm, fourth seeded Monroe went toe to toe with top seeded St. Thomas Aquinas for an entire first half, and only trailed 25-22 at the intermission.

However, David’s slingshot wasn’t good enough to take Goliath down this time.  Instead, the Trojans, which have only lost one game to date all season, broke open the game at the outset of the second half with an 11-0 spurt to open the third quarter to take a 36-22 lead, and didn’t let the Falcons get any closer than 10 points after that en route to a 62-41 victory to punch a ticket to the 2022 GMCT Boys Championship on Friday night.

Once again, senior guard, Adam Silas led the way for Aquinas.  Silas, who received an offer from Manhattan following his performance in the come from behind win over Gill St. Bernards at the 2022 Hearts to Hands Showcase at Roselle Catholic High School on February 12th, tallied a game high 18 points along with 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals.

Chipping in was sophomore Jaden Kelly, who connected on two first quarter threes, and finished with 15 points while also picking up 4 rebounds, an assist, and a steal.  Senior guard, Samar Abdullah added 12 points including two threes along with 2 assists, a rebound, and a steal.  Junior forward, Jalen Pichardo put in a solid effort as well for the winners with 8 points, a game high 11 boards, and 3 assists.

Rounding out the Aquinas scoring in the contest were junior forward Sherief Guinyard (4 points, 4 rebounds, and a steal), big man Chris Santner (3 points including a dunk to close out 2nd period, a rebound, a block, and a steal), and junior guard, Kamal Lee (2 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, a block, and a steal).  Senior Tyler Kadi also saw action and picked up a steal.

For Monroe, the Okocha triplets led the way with a combined 32 of the Falcons 41 points in the contest.  Senior forward, Josh Okocha led Monroe with a team high 13 points including the first six of the game.  Eli Okocha, who scored 30 points versus Old Bridge in the first round, and 15 in the win over 5th seeded South Brunswick in the GMCT Elite Eight on Sunday, chipped in with 10.

Jonathan Okocha, who entered the contest leading the Falcons in scoring with a 15.7 points per game average, finished with 9.  Sophomore guard Myles Marabuto scored on a nifty move from the left side and later hit a three to score all 5 of his points in the fourth quarter while senior forward, Ryan Zurawiecki rounded out Monroe’s scoring with 4 points.  Vansh Parikh and Anish Shah also saw action in the contest for Monroe.

Aquinas only outscored Monroe by a margin of 32-30 from inside the arc, but had a 15-6 advantage from long distance, and a 15-5 edge from the foul line.  The top seeded Trojans also collected 34 rebounds, 13 assists, 9 steals, and two blocks as a team in the contest.  There were 8 lead changes and 2 ties while neither team had a lead bigger than 8 points as Aquinas led 25-22 in a very entertaining first half.

In the end though, Aquinas would end up outscoring Monroe in each period of the game including a 32-19 showing in the final two periods highlighted by a pivotal 24-10 third quarter surge.  The Falcons made a statement at the start of the game when Parikh lobbed an alleyoop pass over the Trojan defense to Josh Okocha for a bucket and a 2-0 lead.

St. Thomas Aquinas responded with a 10-0 spurt that included Kelly’s two threes and two free throws from Silas following a flagrant foul on Monroe for an eight point lead.  Tested early, the Falcons courageously fought back with 9 unanswered points that included two more scores from Josh Okocha, a three from Jonathan Okocha, and a bucket from Eli Okocha to take an 11-10 lead.

The Trojans promptly replied with the next four points including a score in transition from Guinyard at the 1:30 mark for a 14-11 Aquinas lead.  Then, Monroe battled back with the next four as Jonathan Okocha ended the first with a layup from the right low block to pull the Falcons within one at 14-13, and then another bucket to go up 15-14 early in the second.

The lead changed hands several more times as Monroe took a 19-18 edge on a floater from Eli Okocha at the 3:53 mark.  St. Thomas Aquinas then outscored the Falcons 7-3 the rest of the way as Santner made two huge plays including a two handed breakaway dunk off a steal followed up by a blocked shot in the closing seconds to preserve Aquinas’ three point lead at the intermission.

Top seeded Aquinas then made it an 18-3 tear by scoring the first 11 points of the third including threes from Kelly and Abdullah to give the Trojans a 36-22 advantage with 5:30 remaining in the third.  The Falcons then got the next four points including two free throws and a layup off a steal by Jon Okocha to pull Monroe within ten again at 36-26, but Aquinas would not let the hometown team get any closer after that.

Instead, the Trojans scored 13 of the final 19 points of the third including two scores down the stretch on pull-up jumpers by Silas to take a commanding 49-32 lead into the fourth.  Pichardo got into the act with a couple scores off offensive rebounds while Silas added a score in transition before Zurawiecki got a bucket that closed the gap to 58-39 in favor of Aquinas with 2:45 to play.

The Trojans then wrapped up the victory by scoring 4 of the last 6 points for the 62-41 win.  With the victory, St. Thomas Aquinas improves to 25-1 overall on the season including an 18-0 mark in conference play.  Aquinas advanced to its second final in the last three years to play 3rd seeded Colonia in the GMCT Boys Championship on Friday night at 8:00 PM at Monroe High School.

The Championship Game will be the third meeting between Aquinas and Colonia this year with the Trojans winning the previous two match-ups on January 11th (64-52) and February 3rd (68-54).  Monroe dropped to 21-4 with the loss including a 16-4 mark in the GMC.  The Falcons now prepare for its first round game versus rival Old Bridge, in the opening round of the 2022 NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 4 playoffs on Monday.  It will be the fourth meeting this year between the Falcons and the Knights.