Senior forward Anthony Williams goes up for a score in the second half of St. Joseph’s 74-61 victory over Pingry in the opening round of the 2023 NJSIAA Non-Public A South State Tournament. Williams recorded a double-double of 27 points and 14 rebounds along with 3 steals and a block.
Senior Forward Notches Career High 27 Points to Lift Joes into NPA South Quarterfinals
METUCHEN, NJ – Following our coverage of the first round 2023 NJSIAA Non-Public B North contest between Timothy Christian and Eastern Christian, GMC Hoops traveled down New Durham Road into Metuchen and eventually to Maglio Gymnasium, where 6th seeded St. Joseph’s was hosting 11th seeded Pingry in the opening round of the Non-Public A South State Tournament. For the second straight year, the Falcons matched up against the Big Blue in the NPA South first round.
A year ago, the two teams met at Maglio Gymnasium as well with the then 4th seeded Falcons defeating the 13th seeded Big Blue, 66-56 to advance to the quarterfinals. St. Joseph’s eventually reached the sectional semifinals where it fell to Red Bank Catholic.
In last year’s game, then junior, Anthony Williams played a key role by scoring 15 points in the win. This year, Williams, who recently scored 22 in a Falcons 60-42 victory over South Plainfield in the GMCT Elite Eight, was looking to do bigger things.
Williams turned in a monster double-double performance of 27 points and 14 rebounds while adding 3 steals to lead the Falcons to a 74-61 victory. St. Joseph’s jumped out to a 13-2 first quarter lead, and led by as many as 20 in the fourth quarter en route to the win. Junior guard, Dave Caruso added 18 points while senior Josh Ingram, who recently scored his 1,000th career point, played the role of playmaker while still scoring 16.
Rounding out the Falcons scoring was sophomore Dante Regan (5 points), junior Owen Griffin (5 points), and junior Jeremy DeCaro (3 points). Leading the way in defeat for Pingry was 6’3” junior Trey Maultsby with a team high 20 points.
Teammates Josh Woodford and Donnie Gregory added 12 in a losing cause as well. Stevens Graham chipped in with 6 points while Jaymin Bhat (3 points), Stefan Fahmy (3 points), Caleb Polanco (3 points) and Mike Hollomon (2 points) rounded out the scoring for the Big Blue.
Eight different players scored in the game for Pingry while only six did for Joes. However, three of those Falcon players had at least 16 points. St. Joseph’s outscored Pingry in each of the first three periods as it carried a 55-39 lead advantage into the final period. The Falcons then pushed its edge to 20 in the fourth before the Big Blue put together a run to end the game, and win the final frame by a 22-19 margin.
Highlighting the Falcons fast start was Griffin, who converted an and one for three of his points. Caruso and Ingram also sank threes during the game opening spurt as well. After St. Joe’s scored 13 of the first 15 points of the contest, Pingry rallied with a 10-8 run to finish the first, but still trailed 21-12. The Falcons led by 11 with 4:04 to go in the first before Pingry rallied to close within single digits to begin the second.
Williams began to assert himself more in the second as he and Ingram attacked the glass, which resulted in numerous second chance scoring opportunities for the Falcons. Williams converted quite a few of those opportunities with 8 points including 6 of 6 from the foul line.
Ingram added a putback of his own following several offensive rebounds on one sequence. Caruso, who scored 10 of his points in the first half, sank another three and a jumper while Regan added a floater as St. Joe’s took a 40-25 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Both teams played more evenly in the third with the Falcons still getting a 15-14 edge in the period. Ingram drove to the hoop for a score to open the second half scoring. The senior then added 4 of 5 from the line, and on the missed foul shot, Williams sneaked in for the rebound, and put it back in. Caruso sank two jumpers for 4 points, and Williams a couple scores and a made free throw to help the Falcons take a 55-39 lead into the fourth.
Williams added 8 more points in the four period on three field goals and 2 of 2 from the line while also blocking a shot. Caruso hit a jumper and got a layup off a dish from Ingram while Ingram himself scored on an and one early on in the period.
Williams finished with 9 field goals and 9 of 10 from the line. Caruso had 8 total field goals including two threes. Ingram added 5 total field goals including a three while netting 5 of 6 from the charity stripe. With the victory, St. Joseph’s advances to the Non-Public A South Quarterfinals against Immaculata in Somerville on Friday night at 6:00 PM. The third seeded Spartans received a first round bye in the tourney.
Also on the same side of the bracket is Rutgers Prep, a team that the Falcons defeated 73-61 in Somerset on February 2nd. The Argonauts are the 7th seed in the section, and if both they and the Falcons win out, St. Joseph’s would host a sectional semifinal clash at Maglio Gymnasium in Metuchen on Monday night.
The Falcons improve to 16-10 overall on the season. St. Joseph’s has managed to battle its way to this point in the season despite injuries to Williams and Jeremy Clayville. Clayville has not played since the second regular season match-up versus St. Thomas Aquinas on January 24th.
In addition, Joes has played a tough schedule, which has included non-conference foes such as St. Benedict’s, Roselle, Seton Hall Prep, Union Catholic, Newark Central, Linden, Rutgers Prep, Lawrenceville Prep, and Morristown. Pingry, which had defeated another GMC school, Timothy Christian earlier in the year, finished its season at 13-10.