JFK’s Grant Lorentzen proves you can do it all, and be very good at it, too
Hitting a major milestone in any high school sport is a big deal. Often, the game will stop, the ball will come out of play, and there are balloons and photo ops, then the game goes on. For Grant Lorentzen, who’s just graduated from JFK in Iselin last week, he hit key milestones in not just one, nor two, but three high school sports. In an era where more and more student-athletes are specializing – playing just one sport, and then training the rest of the year in that sport – Lorentzen is a throwback, but also an example. Lorentzen…
Karl-Anthony Towns’ historic NBA title with Knicks brings us back to his last ultimate championship: St. Joe’s TOC win in 2014
Karl-Anthony Towns has had a fantastic basketball career, whether it’s been with the Knicks, the Timberwolves, Kentucky, or in high school at St. Joseph-Metuchen. The one-time Falcons star played in the Tournament of Champions all three years when he was in high school (he reclassified and graduated early) and won it all in 2014 with a core trio that also included Wade Baldwin (Memphis, Portland in the NBA, now in Europe) and Marques Townes (also now playing in Europe). After a year at Kentucky playing for John Calipari – where the Wildcats went 38-1, won the SEC Tournament, but lost…
Tremarco’s steady hand guides Watchung Hills to promised land in SCT final at TD Bank Park
“We’re built to play.” Those four words from Watchung Hills head coach Joseph Tremarco sum up perfectly his Hustlin’ Warriors. The certainly came to play Friday night, as the second seed in the Somerset County Tournament, with a tall task at hand: beating not only the top-seed and defending champion Immaculata, but doing it with Ryan Auten on the mound for the Spartans. Because, heck, all he’s doing next year is going to play in the ACC at Wake Forest. But a funny thing happened as he and Warriors’ starter Lucas Sheehan – just a sophomore by the way -…
Shot clock is coming to New Jersey high school basketball, as NJSIAA measure for HS basketball passes narrowly
A well-coordinated effort to bring the shot clock to high school basketball in New Jersey just barely made it to the finish line Monday, winning approval by a slim margin in a vote of the full NJSIAA membership during a meeting at the Pines Manor in Edison. The basketball proposal passed 170-166, and the shot clock will begin when the 2027-28 season tips off. Use of the shot clock will be mandatory for all varsity games, but optional for JV and freshman contests. A similar shot clock measure in lacrosse was defeated however, by a 166-149 margin, with 21 abstentions,…
Greater Middlesex Conference realigns basketball divisions for boys’, girls’ hoops in 2026-27
After its first year of breaking divisions into Red, White and Blue “American” and “National” groupings for girls’ and boys’ basketball, the Greater Middlesex Conference is staying with that format, but still making some adjustments to its alignments for the 2026-27 season. The changes were approved by the GMC’s athletic directors on April 23rd. Only six schools on the boys’ side will find new homes next season, while a dozen will move around on the girls’ side. In most cases, moves down are teams that finished in last place in their division, while some that finished first moved up. In…
Longtime East Brunswick boys’ hoops coach Mark Motusesky steps down after 13 years leading the Bears
Coming off one of the program’s most successful campaigns in over a decade, East Brunswick boys’ basketball coach Mark Motusesky has stepped down as head coach after 13 seasons at the helm. Motusesky made the announcement Friday afternoon. “It was a very difficult decision,” Motusesky wrote, “but ultimately it was the right one to be made. My daughter is going to be a freshman, and I know I would regret not being there.” That’s his daughter Ashley, who will be on the freshman team this coming school year. And, the girls’ program is somewhat of a family affair. Sophomore Ava…
No. 2 Middlesex uses big second inning to get past No. 5 Colonia, 4-0, in GMC White finale
One main characteristic of the more successful Middlesex baseball teams over the years has been how they can turn what seems like an innocuous couple of hits it into an inning that changes the game. Their hitters tend to feed off each other, a confirmation of the old adage that hitting is contagious. And when you couple that with someone like junior Dom Long on the mound, who entered the day with a microscopic 0.78 ERA, it’s a recipe for success. And that’s what it was on Thursday afternoon at Mountainview Park, as the No. 2 Blue Jays beat No.…
NJSIAA moving Colonia boys’ basketball up to Group 4 based on new success formula
With the prevalence of charter schools live Thrive Charter and College Achieve Asbury Park in basketball, as well as public schools that draw students from outside their traditional geographical boundaries, the NJSIAA created a success formula, that moves team up in Group size for playoff qualification. And now, Middlesex County has seen its first team be affected by the new rule, as the Colonia boys’ basketball program – which has won five straight sectional titles and six of the last seven – is moving up to Group 4. The news was announced Wednesday by the NJSIAA at its monthly meeting…
Montgomery’s Kris Grundy honored with John Wooden Legacy Award from state, national Basketball Coaches Associations
After a third straight sectional championship in Central Jersey Group 4, and a second straight trip to the Group 4 state finals, Montgomery boys’ basketball coach Kris Grundy has been honored with the John Wooden Legacy Award, given annually to one boys’ and girls’ coach in every state. It’s from the New Jersey and National High School Basketball Coaches association in conjunction with the John Wooden Family and the Wooden Foundation. The award goes to a “long-time, active basketball coach who also serves as an outstanding educator and who, through their excellence on the court, in the classroom and in…
Edison native, JP Stevens alum Dylan Brett gets call of a lifetime with Hofstra basketball’s run to the Big Dance
It all started for Dylan Brett when he was nine years old. Edison Pop Warner couldn’t find anyone to do the public address during a game. Someone asked him. He wound up calling every play, like it was on the radio, not just announcing who carried the ball or made the tackle. It wasn’t quite the assignment, but the parents loved it, and it stuck. Fast forward more than a decade, and the JP Stevens grad is at Hofstra University’s student radio station WRHU, one of the top college radio stations in the nation. How it started, and how it’s…
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