St. Thomas Aquinas had opportunities, but St. Joseph-Metuchen prevails, 63-51, in GMC Tournament semis, as Taylor leads alma mater back to finals

Mark Taylor won two GMC Tournament championships in his first go-round as the head coach at his alma mater. But right now he’s a win away from what may be his masterpiece.

St. Joseph-Metuchen hasn’t been to the league’s championship game since 2019 the last of a ten-year stretch in which they appeared every year, and won nine of ten titles, the first eight under Dave Turco, the second eight under Mike Thompson, a teammate of Taylor’s with the Falcons in their playing days.

But now, they are back, in Taylor’s first year in his second stint at the Metuchen school, after a 63-51 win over St. Thomas Aquinas in the GMC Tournament semifinals, as heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

It wasn’t the most convincing win, but considering they’ve been knocked off once this year, 55-54 by South Plainfield on January 27th, Taylor will take it.

The turning point of the game might actually have been the first six minutes of the ball game. If not, it was certainly the most consequential moment. While top-seeded St. Joe’s built an eleven-point lead, they held the Trojans off the ball until the 2:08 mark of the first. Had they hit just a couple of buckets, the second half – and the final result – might have been different.

Joe’s (25-1) led by 13 at the half, 38-25. But fifth-seed Aquinas (11-14) got it to nine with six minutes left in the third, and 43-25 with 3:25 to go. But the Falcons went on a 10-1 run and led again by 13 heading into the fourth.

And still, St. Thomas was back for more. And and-one opportunity with a missed free-throw by Albion Ahmetaj cut it to eight with 4:38 left in the game. But with Dan Jennings and his brother, Jared, in foul trouble, that was as close as they would get.

Meanwhile, Aquinas transfer Aidan Carter had another monster game with 22 points, going 11-of-13 from the foul line. He led all scorers in the game, as he did at the half when he had 17 points. Big man Andrew Kretkwoski, the transfer in from Rutgers Prep, scored 18.

St. Thomas was led by Dan Jennings’ 15, including two triples, the first of which got Aquinas on the board late in the first quarter.

St. Joseph will go for its 13th GMC title Friday night at 8 pm when the Falcons take on second-seed Piscataway, which is back in the final for a second year in a row after a 64-59 win over third-seed Colonia Wednesday night. That will follow the girls’ final at 6 pm at Monroe Twp. High School, which features top-seed and six-time defending champion St. Thomas Aquinas taking on second-seed East Brunswick. Central Jersey Sports Radio will have live coverage of both games.

Click below for postgame reaction with St. Joseph of Metuchen junior Aidan Carter and head coach Mark Taylor, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen: