GMC Tournament Boys’ Final Preview: Top-seed St. Joseph-Metuchen, two-seed Piscataway look to end title droughts Friday night in county final

Mark Taylor has won two GMC Tournament titles, Bob Turco three. Friday night, both will look to end title droughts for their boys’ basketball teams, droughts of varying degrees.

The Piscataway program – with Turco in his second year as head coach after winning three straight GMC titles for St. Thomas Aquinas in 2020, 2022 and 2023 – hasn’t won a title since 2009, when Guy Jensen’s top-seeded squad beat third-seed St. Joseph of Metuchen, which proceeded to win nine of the next ten championships.

The last of those came in 2019, the second year under head coach Mike Thompson after Dave Turco – who’d won five in a row, seven of eight, and each of his last two appearances – before he was replaced. After all that, six years without a title – or even an appearance in the finals, after having made a dozen in a row – is a long stretch.

For one of them, the drought will end Friday night.

You can hear the GMC Tournament championship doubleheader exclusively on Central Jersey Sports Radio Friday, starting with the 6 pm girls’ opener between six-time defending champ and top-seed St. Thomas Aquinas and second-seed East Brunswick, seeking its first title since 2016. The boys’ championship tips at 8:00. Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe will call all the action, with pregame starting around 7:45. Click here to listen.

Both coaches have been game changers for their respective programs, but both will tell you it’s about the players, not the coaches. That was the case Wednesday evening in the semifinals, where Piscataway found itself trailing Colonia 28-22 at halftime, and the locker room speech essentially boiled down to “We gave you the game plan, now just go execute.” The did in the second half, and here they are.

Turco came to Piscataway and breathed new life into the program, playing them in as many summer league games as they could get into, and learning defensive fundamentals that have paid off big-time: this will be their second straight trip to a county final, and Turco’s sixth. And in large part, it’s due to homegrown talent like seniors Donald Nwaigwe (team-bests 16.3 oints per game, 8.5 rebounds and 27 blocks), Isaiah Fowler (14.2 ppg), Josh Lima (12.8 ppg) and the like.

Mark Taylor did it a different way, being at a parochial school. If Turco left Aquinas to get out of that game, Mark Taylor at St. Joseph is playing it. He brought in three highly-touted transfers this year, and it’s paid immediate dividends.

Junior Imaad Johnson came in from Union and is averaging 11.3 points per game, with a team-best 33 treys. Junior Andrew Kretkowski, who made an impact as a freshman two years ago at Rutgers Prep and was key as a sophomore last year, came in from the Easton Ave. school and is scoring 17 points a game, hitting from down low, nailing jumpers, and connecting from beyond the arc 23 times already.

Neither had to sit like perhaps the biggest piece Taylor brought in: 6’7″ junior Aidan Carter, a lengthy guard who is leading the team with 18.9 points per game, 9.8 boards, 155 assists and 58 steals, while also hitting 21 treys.

MORE ON THE GMC TOURNAMENT BOYS’ FINAL:

(1) St. Joseph-Metuchen (25-1) vs. (2) Piscataway (20-6)
When: Friday, 8 pm
Where: Monroe Township High School
Broadcast Team: Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe (LISTEN HERE)

COACHES:

St. Joseph: Mark Taylor, 1st season, second stint (624-178 overall, including 172-69 in first run at St. Joe’s, as well as Ridge and St. Benedict’s Prep)
Piscataway: Bob Turco, 2nd season (417-133 overall, including St. Thomas Aquinas, Notre Dame, and Monroe)

PREVIEW INTERVIEWS:

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

St. Joseph: The first two games were a cruise for the Falcons, who got past 17th-seed Monroe in the first round, 86-49, then picked up an 85-30 win at nine-seed Metuchen. The semifinals were a different story. Though they held fifth-seed St. Thomas Aquinas off the board for nearly the first six minutes of the game Wednesday night, the Trojans were within six about midway through the fourth quarter, but that was about as close as they would get, as St. Joseph won 63-51.

Piscataway: After the round of 16, one might say the Chiefs have been a bit more tested. Following a 95-40 win over 18th-seed North Plainfield in the round of 16, they beat seventh-seed Sayreville 80-66. And in the semifinals, they erased a six-point halftime deficit against third-seed Colonia, and pulled out a 64-61 victory Wednesday night to get back down to Monroe Friday for a chance at the title.

TOP SCORERS:

St. Joseph: Aidan Carter (junior, 18.2 ppg, 21 treys), Andrew Kretkowski (junior, 17 ppg, 23 treys), Imaad Johnson (junior, 11.3 ppg, team-best 33 treys)
Piscataway: Donald Nwaigwe (senior, 16.3 ppg, 11 treys), Isaiah Fowler (senior, 14.2 ppg, 38 treys), Josh Lima (senior, 12.8 ppg, 38 treys), Landon Pernell (junior, 12.8 ppg, team-best 46 treys)

TOP REBOUNDERS:

St. Joseph: Aidan Carter (9.8), Joel Patrick (8.9), Andrew Kretkowski (7.8)
Piscataway: Donald Nwaigwe (8.5), Isaiah Fowler (4.1)

MISCELLANEOUS:

St. Joseph: Aidan Carter (155 assists, 58 steals), Joel Patrick (79 blocks)
Piscataway: Landon Pernell (114 assists, 83 steals), Donald Nwaigwe (27 blocks)

RECENT MEETINGS: St. Joseph has won eight of the last ten meetings, but they’ve split the last four. Piscataway won both matchups last year, 73-49 and 84-69, but the Falcons won both this year, by similar scores: 64-53 in overtime on January 3rd at home – a game win which the Chiefs were held to just one second half and one overtime field goal – and 64-57 on the road just 12 days later.

GMC TOURNAMENT HISTORY:

St. Joseph (12-9):

• 1991:  (3) Piscataway 33, (1) St. Joseph 29
• 1992:  (1) Bishop Ahr 61, (2) St. Joseph 47
• 1993:  (3) St. Joseph 57, (4) South Brunswick 54 (OT)
• 1997:  (5) North Brunswick 66, (2) St. Joseph 55*
• 1998:  (1) St. Joseph 66, (2) Sayreville 54*
• 1999:  (1) St. Joseph 55, (2) Colonia 47*
• 2001:  (2) Colonia 79, (1) St. Joseph 65
• 2003:  (1) Cardinal McCarrick 67, (3) St. Joseph 56
• 2005:  (3) South Plainfield 66, (4) St. Joseph 65
• 2008:  (1) Cardinal McCarrick 56, (6) St. Joseph 52
• 2009:  (1) Piscataway 63, (3) St. Joseph 56
• 2010:  (1) St. Joseph 65, (2) Monroe 48
• 2011:  (2) St. Joseph 51, (1) Piscataway 43
• 2012:  (1) St. Joseph 70, (2) North Brunswick 65
• 2013:  (2) St. Joseph 66, (1) East Brunswick 63 (2OT)
• 2014:  (1) St. Joseph 59, (2) East Brunswick 45
• 2015:  (2) Colonia 54, (1) St. Joseph 38
• 2016:  (1) St. Joseph 56, (2) South Brunswick 48
• 2017:  (1) St. Joseph 50, (3) Sayreville 44
• 2018:  (1) St. Joseph 46, (7) Colonia 43
• 2019:  (3) St. Joseph 49, (5) Piscataway 46

*coached by Mark Taylor

Piscataway (7-5):

• 1968:  (3) St. Peter’s 64, Piscataway 60 (MCT, only top four were “seeded”)
• 1976:  (2) Piscataway 85, (4) Perth Amboy 83
• 1977:  (1) Piscataway 77, (6) Carteret 74 
• 1991:  (3) Piscataway 33, (1) St. Joseph’s 29
• 1994:  (2) Piscataway 49, (1) St. Peter’s 44   
• 1995:  (1) Piscataway 61, (3) East Brunswick 46
• 1996:  (1) East Brunswick 51, (2) Piscataway 44
• 2007:  (6) Piscataway 59, (5) Cardinal McCarrick 50
• 2009:  (1) Piscataway 63, (3) St. Joseph 56             
• 2011:  (2) St. Joseph 51, (1) Piscataway 43     
• 2019:  (3) St. Joseph 49, (5) Piscataway 46
• 2025:  (1) Colonia 70, (2) Piscataway 63

OTHER NOTES:

Championship Coaches: Of the four coaches in this year’s semifinals, three have won GMC titles, but those are the only three. That’s right, only three current Greater Middlesex boys’ coaches have ever won the event. Jose Rodriguez of Colonia – this year’s GMC Coach of the Year – won the last two with the Patriots. Before that, Bob Turco won three straight when he was at St. Thomas Aquinas, in 2020, 2022, and 2023. And Mark Taylor won two titles in his first run at St. Joseph, in 1998 and 1999.

Championship Coaches, Part Two: When Piscataway made the finals last season, Bob Turco became the first coach in GMC history to bring three different schools to the championship game. Until this year, he was one of three to bring two different schools to the GMC title game, and two share the same last name. Ken Pace brought JFK in 1990 and won it over top-seed Perth Amboy, then he took Colonia several times in the 90s, winning in 2001 over top-seed St. Joseph. Speaking of the Falcons, Bob’s brother Dave brought Carteret to two finals, winning in 2002 over a Pace-coached Colonia club. Then, of course, he went to – and won – a slew of titles with St. Joseph. Bob has been to the GMCT’s ultimate game as the head coach of Monroe – losing his only trip there in 2010 to his brother Dave and the Falcons – then and went to four straight as head coach at St. Thomas Aquinas, winning the first three.

Piscataway Doubles: The Chiefs have won seven titles, and every coach who’s won it has brought back multiple trophies. Windy McGriff’s P’way teams won back-to-back MCT titles in 1976 and 1977. Paul Schoeb – who later became the school’s athletic director, is now retired, but took in the semifinals this week at Monroe – won three in a span of five years, taking the GMC crown in 1991, as well as 1994 and 1995. Guy Jensen then won championships in 2007 and 2009. Turco is looking to be the fourth coach in Piscataway history to win the county title, gunning for his first when the play St. Joe’s Friday night. Should the Chiefs win Friday night, he’ll get a chance to go for two next season.

Repeat, Repeat: With Colonia out in the semifinals, Friday night’s winner may very well begin a streak. In fact, the Patriots were the last one-off champion, back in 2015. That snapped a string of five straight titles by the Falcons, who won nine of ten in a stretch from 2010 through 2019. They won the next four after that loss. Following that, St. Thomas Aquinas won three straight titles from 2020 through 2023, then Colonia’s two-year streak, which officially was snapped Wednesday night when they got knocked out in the semifinals.

How have the seeds fared? There have been 59 MCT/GMCT championship games, and the top seed has won 28 times. The second seed has won 16 times. When it’s the No. 1 vs. the No. 2, The top seed is just 16-11 overall, and 10-6 in the GMC era. Overall, the top seed is 28-16 in the championship game.

No Double Vision, Again: Colonia’s win over St. Thomas Aquinas two years ago snapped a two-season run of clean sweeps by the Trojans on the girls’ and boys’ side. There have been eight double champions in the GMC era – there were three in the MCT – but it didn’t happen last year and won’t again this year, with the St. Thomas Aquinas and East Brunswick girls in the final, along with St. Joe’s and the Piscataway boys. That’s good for attendance, since there will four sets of fans attending, rather than just two.

1-2, 1-2: Since the dawn of the GMC in 1986, this is the ninth time both the girls’ and boys’ title games have featured the 1 vs. the 2 seeds. And this will be the second straight year. Last year, top-seed Colonia beat second-seed Piscataway for the boys’ title, while top-seed St. Thomas Aquinas beat second-seed Monroe for the girls’ championship. The last time it happened before that was in 2016, when the top-seeded St. Joe’s boys beat South Brunswick, and the 2nd-seeded East Brunswick girls beat Monroe. It also happened the year before, in 2015, when the second-seeded Colonia boys beat St. Joseph, and top-seed Piscataway topped Monroe on the girls’ side. Other double 1 vs. 2 years include 2010, 1998, 1994, 1992 and 1989.