East Brunswick head coach Travis Retzlaff talks to his team during a timeout in a non-conference game at Hillsborough on January 22, 2026. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
Win a couple of championships, and people start talking about a dynasty. Win six in a row, and it’s a pretty good bet that’s what you’ve got.
Win seven?
That’s what the St. Thomas Aquinas girls’ basketball program will try and do Friday night down at Monroe Twp. High School when they play in the 40th Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament championship game.
As the top-seeded Trojans seek their ninth GMC title, and 10th county trophy overall, East Brunswick will be looking for its sixth GMC – and seventh overall as the second-seeded Bears return to the title game for the first time since 2016.
That year, the Bears beat Monroe for the title with Keith Lane at the helm, but the team they beat in the semifinals was Bishop Ahr, which now is St. Thomas (again – that was the school’s name originally). That’s also the last time they beat Ahr/Aquinas, with 14 losses in between.
You can hear Friday’s GMC Tournament championship doubleheader exclusively on Central Jersey Sports Radio Friday night, starting with the 6 pm girls’ opener, followed by the boys’ championship at 8:00 between top-seed St. Joseph-Metuchen and second-seed Piscataway. Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe will call all the action, with pregame starting at 5:45 for the girls’ game. Click here to listen.
Until Colonia’s 20-point loss to St. Thomas on Tuesday in the semifinals, East Brunswick had gotten the closest to STA in almost three years back on January 17th, within 21 points in a 76-54 loss. It was their narrowest margin of victory against a GMC opponent since the Patriots got within seven in a 49-42 loss to Aquinas in the 2023 GMC Tournament title game.
MORE ON THE GMC TOURNAMENT GIRLS’ FINAL:
(1) St. Thomas Aquinas (21-5) vs. (2) East Brunswick (21-4)
When: Friday, 6 pm
Where: Monroe Township High School
Broadcast Team: Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe (LISTEN HERE)
COACHES:
St. Thomas Aquinas: Tim Corrigan, 3rd season (66-20)
East Brunswick: Travis Retzlaff. 7th season (102-62)
PREVIEW INTERVIEWS:
HOW THEY GOT HERE:
St. Thomas Aquinas: The difference between the Trojans last year and this year in divisional play – the GMC’s top division, the Red American – is negligible; they won their ten games against East Brunswick, Piscataway, Monroe and North Plainfeld by an average 40.4 points per game. That’s down slightly from an even 45 last season, their highest in the last six seasons where they’ve won the GMC Tournament title. And in their first two games, they were not really tested. Not in an 83-39 win over 16-seed Sayreville in the round of 16, nor in a 79-41 win over 8-seed Middlesex in the quarterfinals. But in the semis, Colonia had some chances, but couldn’t get closer than 17 points in the second half after Aquinas built a sizeable lead, and Aquinas won by 20. That’s the closest anyone has gotten to STA in the GMC since the 2003 final, when the beat Colonia 49-42.
East Brunswick: The Bears cruised in their opening two games as well, 68-30 over 18th-seed North Brunswick in the first round, and 59-31 over seven-seed Monroe at home in the quarterfinals. The semis were a bit closer, but East Brunswick was able to control most of the way en route to a 52-38 win Wednesday night.
TOP SCORERS:
St. Thomas Aquinas: Jordan Barnes (senior, 16.9 ppg, 5 treys), Trista Whitney (senior, 11.8 ppg, 21 treys), Lauryn Downing (junior, 11.7 ppg, team-best 37 treys), Leah Kearney (junior, 10.8 ppg, 4 treys)
East Brunswick: Ava Catanho (sophomore, 18.1 ppg, team-best 50 treys), Zoey Alexio (junior, 10.1 ppg, 46 treys), Julianna DelosSantos-Branson (senior, 9.6 ppg, 15 treys)
TOP REBOUNDERS:
St. Thomas Aquinas: Leah Kearney (9.8), Jordan Barnes (5.5)
East Brunswick: Julianna DelosSantos-Branson (8.4), Sophia Tannura (junior, 4.4)
MISCELLANEOUS:
St. Thomas Aquinas: Lauryn Downing (143 assists), Leah Kearney (37 blocks), Trista Whitney (79 steals)
East Brunswick: Ava Krzywdzinski (133 assists, 59 steals), Ava Catancho (20 blocks)
RECENT MEETINGS: Aquinas has won 14 straight in the series, dating back to 2019 when they were still called Bishop Ahr, winning the first in that stretch under that moniker. Until the last few years, St. Thomas had been in the White Division, so the two didn’t play all that frequently. In fact, they only played four times – three times in the GMC Tournament – from 2014 to 2019. East Brunswick’s last win came in 2016, when they beat Ahr in the GMC Tournament semifinals, 44-0, en route to the title, which they won over Monroe. That was the Bears’ last trip to the title game.
GMC TOURNAMENT HISTORY:
St. Thomas Aquinas (also previously known as Bishop Ahr) (9-5):
- 1984: (1) Bishop Ahr 52, (2) St. Peter 49 (MCT)
- 1985: (1) St. Peter 40, (2) Bishop Ahr 21 (MCT)
- 1986: (1) Hoffman 55, (2) Bishop Ahr 52
- 1987: (1) Hoffman 74, (2) Bishop Ahr 46
- 1994: (2) Bishop Ahr 51, (1) East Brunswick 36
- 1996: (2) East Brunswick 50, (5) Bishop Ahr 43
- 2001: (5) Bishop Ahr 55, (2) East Brunswick 43
- 2014: (2) Piscataway 50, (12) Bishop Ahr 45
- 2019: (1) Bishop Ahr 47, (2) Edison 32
- 2020: (1) St. Thomas Aquinas 64, (3) Monroe 41
- 2021: (3) Monroe 46, (2) St. Thomas Aquinas 40 (de facto championship: Somogyi Family Pod)
- 2022: (1) St. Thomas Aquinas 64, (7) South Brunswick 58
- 2023: (1) St. Thomas Aquinas 49, (3) Colonia 42
- 2024: (1) St. Thomas Aquinas 71, (2) Colonia 52
- 2025: (1) St. Thomas Aquinas 93, (2) Monroe 34
East Brunswick (5-7):
- 1992: (2) St. Peter 60, (1) East Brunswick 58 (OT)
- 1993: (3) JP Stevens 62, (1) East Brunswick 42
- 1994: (2) Bishop Ahr 51, (1) East Brunswick 36
- 1995: (1) Piscataway 44, (3) East Brunswick 37
- 1996: (2) East Brunswick 50, (5) Bishop Ahr 43
- 1997: (1) Piscataway 58, (2) East Brunswick 40
- 1998: (2) Piscataway 52, (1) East Brunswick 51
- 1999: (1) East Brunswick 62, (3) Piscataway 51
- 2000: (1) East Brunswick 68, (2) Edison 43
- 2001: (5) Bishop Ahr 55, (2) East Brunswick 43
- 2002: (1) East Brunswick 62, (2) Edison 51
- 2016: (2) East Brunswick 42, (1) Monroe 31
OTHER NOTES:
Postseason Awards: The GMC coaches unveiled their All-Conference and All-Division picks Tuesday, and two St. Thomas players made the list of ten all-GMC picks: seniors Jordan Barnes and Trista Whitney. Barnes committed to Rider back in July, while Trista Whitney will be heading to Maryland-Eastern Shore. Ava Catanho of East Brunswick was named All-GMC, and she’s just a sophomore. The only other 10th grader to make the list was Alyssa Iduh of Piscataway. Head coach Travis Retzlaff of East Brunswick was named Coach of the Year. As for All-Division, besides Barnes and Whitney, juniors Lauryn Downing and Leah Kearney were honored from St. Thomas, and senior Julianna DelosSantos-Branson also was named from East Brunswick.
Athletic Lineage: Speaking of Catanho, if that name sounds familiar, it is. The young East Brunswick star is the daughter of Kara Motusesky, an assistant under head coach Travis Retzlaff, and former Rutgers football standout and Elizabeth native Alcides Catanho. Motusesky’s brother, Mark, is the boys’ coach at East Brunswick, having succeeded longtime head coach Bo Henning, and she herself was a standout for he Bears (a 1993 alum), scoring 1,614 points in her career. She held the girls’ scoring record until Jess Olszewski topped it in the 1999-2000 season, finishing 42 points ahead with 1,656. The Motuseskys are also cousins of longtime Spotswood baseball coach Glenny Fredricks.
Injuries? Not a problem: Not much to speak of here. Lauryn Downing missed a handful of games heading into the GMC Tournament – including a big clash up at Gill St. Bernard’s, which they lost 67-62 as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio – with a slight ankle sprain. She probably could have played, but even a big game like that isn’t as important as having her healthy for the GMC Tournament run. Downing looked in fine form Tuesday night down in Monroe in the semifinal win over Colonia, draining a career-high six threes.
The names may change… The last four St. Thomas/Bishop Ahr girls’ coaches have all won championships for the Trojans. Current mentor Tim Corrigan has won the last two in his first two seasons as coach, following two titles under Joe Whalen. Before that, Britney Griffin won a pair of titles – in 2020 as Aquinas, and 2019 as Bishop Ahr. Her predecessor, longtime coach Kevin Harper – one of the winningest girls’ coaches in New Jersey history, with 722 victories at Piscataway Tech, Ahr and Middlesex – took them to four finals, winning in 1994 and 2001.
Second Win: Tim Corrigan is one of a dozen GMC girls’ coaches who have won multiple titles (also counting the MCT from 1975 through 1985), including two from his school – Kevin Harper and Brittney Griffin. The others are Reggie Carney of East Brunswick, who has the most titles at seven, followed by Ernie Vajda of now-defunct St. Peter’s-New Brunswick with five. Piscataway’s Pat Mayo won five in the 2000s at Piscataway. Andy Eng of JP Stevens and Bev Hall of Piscataway each won three times, while George Hosea (South Brunswick), Corey Floyd (Piscataway), Pat Daly (New Brunswick) and Paul Kumlin (Piscataway) all have won two. Four different Piscataway coaches have won multiple titles over the years.
Streaking: St. Thomas is third on the list of consecutive finals appearances, making their sixth in a row this year, winning all previous five. They also have won more consecutive games in the GMC Tournament than any other school in history, 27 and counting, four each in the past six tournaments, and three this year.
How the seeds fare: In 48 championship games, the top seed has won 31 times, while the second seed has won nine times. When it’s No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the title game, which has happened only 24 times, the top-seed is 19-5. When the top seed is in the final, it has won seven straight. The last team to knock off a No. 1 seed? East Brunswick in 2016.
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. It happened last year, with both No. 1 seeds winning: the St. Thomas Aquinas girls and the Colonia boys. They last time both games had the top two seeds before that? Again, 2016 keeps popping up. , when the top-seeded St. Joe’s boys beat South Brunswick, and the 2nd-seeded East Brunswick girls beat top-seed 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.
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