Jordan Barnes of St. Thomas Aquinas with her MVP trophy as a sophomore after winning the GMCT title over Colonia on February 16, 2024. As a senior, she’s been named All-GMC Conference by the league’s coaches. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
On the eve of Championship week, the 34 girls’ basketball coaches in the Greater Middlesex Conference met to pick their All-Division teams, with ten student-athletes ultimately earning All-GMC Honors.
With the league tournament’s semifinals tonight, three of those teams are represented on the All-Conference list, including Jordan Barnes and Trista Whitney of St. Thomas Aquinas, Ava Catanho of East Brunswick and Alyssa Iduh of Piscataway.
For All-Division, slots for honorees by team typically – but not always – depend on the order of finish; where division champs generally are afforded the most representation.
East Brunswick’s Travis Retzlaff – whose second-seeded Lady Bears face third-seed Piscataway tonight at 5 pm in the first of two semifinal matchups – was named Coach of the Year. East Brunswick finished second to STA in the Red American Division this season and is 20-4 on the year, their first-20-win season under Retzlaff and first as a program since 2018.
Here’s the full list of GMC girls’ basketball honorees.
ALL-CONFERENCE
- Jordan Barnes, St. Thomas Aquinas
- Ava Catanho, East Brunswick
- Layla Gutierrez, North Plainfield
- Angel Smith, Woodbridge
- Trista Whitney, St. Thomas Aquinas
- Izabella Pardo, Perth Amboy
- Gabrielle Hill, Spotswood
- Kiera Longo, Monroe
- Alyssa Iduh, Piscataway
- Aliyah Manley, JP Stevens
Coach of the Year: Travis Retzlaff, East Brunswick
ALL-RED AMERICAN DIVISION
- St. Thomas Aquinas: Jordan Barnes, Trista Whitney, Lauren Downing, Leah Kearney
- East Brunswick: Ava Catanho, Julianna DelosSantos-Branson
- Piscataway: Alyssa Iduh
- Monroe: Kiera Longo
- North Plainfield: Layla Gutierrez
- South Brunswick: Madison Rorie
Coach of the Year: Travis Retzlaff, East Brunswick
Sportsmanship Award: South Brunswick
ALL-RED NATIONAL DIVISION
- Colonia: Nashaelah Hooker, Ariana Sosa, Samantha Howell
- Old Bridge: Marilyn Togun
- Spotswood: Gabrielle Hill, Cat Caro, Kayla Lewandowski
- Middlesex: Avery Iskra, Taylor Lawrence
- Edison: Kayley Smith
Coach of the Year: Jill Bachonski, Colonia
Sportsmanship Award: Middlesex
ALL-WHITE AMERICAN DIVISION
- Woodbridge: Angel Smith, Laila Stanford, Bobbi Jo Timinski
- JP Stevens: Aliyah Manley, Siddhangana Nelluri
- North Brunswick: Shahd Elshamma, Shiloh Connage
- South Plainfield: Jiselle Lennon, Samantha Moench, MaKenzie Harris
Coach of the Year: Bobby Timinski, Woodbridge
Sportsmanship Award: North Brunswick
ALL-WHITE NATIONAL DIVISION
- Sayreville: Natalia Glazewski, Weronika Glazewski
- Metuchen: Victoria Zaniecki, Grace Van Leeuwen
- Carteret: Anilah Diggs, Samantha Woode
- JFK: Sanai Trotman
- Highland Park: Ava Kohler
- Perth Amboy: Izabella Pardo, Heilyn Cruz
Coach of the Year: Janet Cook, Sayreville
Sportsmanship Award: JFK
ALL-BLUE AMERICAN DIVISION
- South River: Gianna Castelhano, Arianna Perez, Gabriella Castelhano
- Calvary Christian: Sophia Hernandez, Meghan Mecke, Ella Vegnelis
- Mother Seton: Mia Pumarada, Ava Barber
- Wardlaw-Hartridge: Cydney Strauss
- Dunellen: Madison Fuller
Coach of the Year: Nicole Curran, South River
Sportsmanship Award: Calvary Christian
ALL-BLUE NATIONAL DIVISION
- Piscataway Magnet: Eva Hernandez, Alivia Tucker, Alaina Tucker
- Woodbridge Academy: Diya Sudhini
- South Amboy: Gabby Evancki, Valerie Figueroa
- East Brunswick Magnet: Leila Hagins, Victoria Harmon
- Piscataway Magnet: Cyrae Brooks, Joanna Ajay
Coach of the Year: Rob Gardella, Piscataway Magnet
Sportsmanship Award: Woodbridge Academy
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