Jan Cocozziello knows his St. Joseph-Metuchen team this year is a little undersized. Nick Mariniello knows his Hudson Catholic ballclub this year is on the young and inexperienced side.
The two will clash Saturday night at Roselle Catholic when the Falcons (17-4) face the Hawks (15-2) in the third of four games at the Hearts 2 Hands Invitational. Central Jersey Sports Radio will broadcast the game, the first of a doubleheader on CJSR that also includes St. Thomas Aquinas and Gill St. Bernard’s as the headliner.
You can listen to both games starting with the pregame show at 6:00, by clicking here. Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe have the call.
St. Joe’s – the Greater Middlesex Conference Red Division champion for a third straight year – came out of Thursday morning’s GMC seeding meeting with the No. 2 seed, behind St. Thomas Aquinas, and will begin play in the first round next week. Senior Ethan Simmon leads the way with 19.1 points per game, while junior Josh Ingram scoring at a 15.3 clip.
Hudson Catholic, meanwhile, would be HCIAL American Division co-champs with St. Peter’s Prep – which they split with this year – if they can win Friday night’s game against Union City. Sophomore Tahaa Pettiford leads a balanced scoring attack with 17.8 points per game.
Click below for audio previews of the St. Joe’s-Hudson Catholic matchup: