Tag: basketball

Former Hillsborough coach, Rutgers basketball walk-on Ian Progin passes away at age 47

In many ways, after receiving a brain cancer diagnosis in 2011, Ian Progin shouldn’t have lived as long as he did, and yet it wasn’t nearly long enough by any stretch of the imagination.

Through it all he kept coaching, took on new challenges, spent plenty of time with his family, and more. Sadly, he passed away Friday, at the age of 47. The news was first reported by Jerry Carino of Gannett New Jersey.

Progin was a 1996 graduate of Hillsborough High School, played college basketball at Widener, and later transferred to Rutgers as a walk-on. After his eligibility expired, he also became a member of the Sports department at the campus radio station, 88.7 FM WRSU, where he was an analyst on basketball broadcasts; he graduated with a degree in Journalism and Mass Media.

He went back to Rutgers to become a teacher, and earned his Master’s from Rider, then came back to Hillsborough as a guidance counselor, also becoming the school’s head basketball coach.

The cancer diagnosis came in the midst of that 12-year run as basketball coach, in 2011. It was a glioblastoma brain tumor – stage four – with a five-year survival rate. But it didn’t stop him, or his program. He coached all through his treatment. And it paid off with an upset of top-seed Gill St. Bernard’s to win the 2014 Somerset County Tournament, then an amazing run to the Central Jersey Group 4 title in 2015, before stepping down.

Two men standing together in a formal setting, one holding a certificate. They are in a room with flags and a seal in the background.
Hillsborough boys’ basketball coach Ian Progin is honored with a proclamation recognizing his coaching career by the Township Committee, here with Deputy Mayor Greg Burchette in May, 2015. (Source: Hillsborough Twp. website.)

Oh, and he even coached his son’s travel league.

It wasn’t long after his diagnosis that good friend Kris Grundy – who started at Montgomery around the same time as Progin at Hillsborough – began the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, which this year raised $20,000 for the Rutgers Cancer Institute, according to Carino’s story.

But even after stepping down, Ian couldn’t stay away long. After a year, he came back and coached the girls’ basketball team from 2016 to 2020 – predecessor to current coach Courtney Tierney – while also coaching gymnastics for three seasons.

Back in March, though he couldn’t attend, Progin was inducted into the Hillsborough Athletics Hall of Fame.

Ian leaves behind his wife of 20 years, Courtney, and two children. His daughter, Payton, will graduate from Hillsborough High School this June, before heading to the University of Vermont. His son, Jeffrey, is a sophomore at Hillsborough. You can find the full obituary here.

Click here to listen to Chris Fox, Progin’s longtime assistant boys’ basketball coach, talk about Ian with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko.

According to his obituary, a memorial service to celebrate Ian’s life will be held this Tuesday, May 6th, at Mary Mother of God Church in Hillsborough. Visitation will be from 9:30 to 11:30 am, with a mass immediately to follow. Burial and repast will be private.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Ian’s memory to Imagine, whose mission is to “support children and families coping with loss and to foster resiliency and emotional well-being for all those who grieve”

We’ll have additional comments from coaches and former players in a story that will be out Tuesday morning, including an interview following the 2015 Central Jersey Group 4 title win over Freehold Township.

2024 New Year’s Eve’s Central Jersey Sports Radio “Tournament of Champions” winners

In what we hope becomes an annual tradition on Central Jersey Sports Radio, we’re announcing our 2024 New Year’s Eve “Tournament of Champions” winners!

Last week, we put up for a vote the nine championship games we broadcast that were won by CJSR-area teams during the 2024 calendar year. The top five vote-getters will have those games rebroadcast today – New Year’s Eve – starting at noon and running right up through midnight when 2025 arrives.

Here are the winners and the approximate times those games are set to air!

#5: Boys’ Basketball – Central Jersey Group 4 Final: Montgomery vs. Monroe (airs at 12 noon): Back in the sectional final for the first time in ten years, Montgomery made it count. The Cougars fell behind early to Monroe in a Skyland-GMC battle, but prevailed for a 63-37 win. It was also the 300th coaching victory for Montgomery head coach Kris Grundy. Listen as Justin Sontupe and Chris Tsakonas call all the action.

The 2024 Central Jersey Group 4 champion Montgomery. (Photo courtesy Heather Pino-Beattie)

GAME RECAP: Cougars are Champs! Montgomery overcomes early speed bump to top Monroe for CJ4 title before packed house

#4: Baseball – GMC Tournament Final: South Plainfield vs. Old Bridge (airs at 1:40 pm): The Knights jumped out to an early lead, and the Tigers clawed their way back. But in the end, Old Bridge hung on for a 6-5 win to win the GMC Tournament for the second time in five years, and third overall. Listen as Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe call all the play-by-play.

Old Bridge with its championship banner after winning the 2024 GMCT Tournament title at Ray Cipperly Field in East Brunswick on May 18, 2024. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

GAME RECAP: Top Knights! Old Bridge knocks off South Plainfield 6-5 to win GMC Tournament title

#3: Baseball – Somerset County Tournament Final: Bridgewater-Raritan vs. Ridge (airs at 4:50 pm): For the first time since 1996, Bridgewater-Raritan won the Somerset County Tournament, topping Ridge 10-7 at TD Bank Park in Bridgewater. Listen to Mike Pavlichko and Vin Ebenau call all the action.

Bridgewater-Raritan with its 2024 Somerset County Tournament championship trophy. (Photo: Vin Ebenau)

GAME RECAP: The long wait is over! Bridgewater-Raritan tops Ridge to win first SCT title in 28 years

#2: Baseball – State Group 4 Final: Bridgewater-Raritan vs. Eastern (airs at 7:40 pm): For the first time in program history, Bridgewater-Raritan brought home a state title, topping South Jersey Group 4 champion Eastern 6-4. The Panthers built an early 5-0 lead, but hung on as Cory Rible shut down the Vikings in the 19th to close out his 17th game in 17 appearances; Bridgewater never lost a game he pitched in all season, as the Panthers set a program record with their 30th win. Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko and Vin Ebenau on the call:

Bridgewater-Raritan with its Group 4 championship trophy after beating Eastern for its first ever state title, 6-4, at Bob DeMeo Field in Hamilton on June 8, 2024. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

GAME RECAP: Panthers are champs! Bridgewater-Raritan takes first ever state title with 6-4 win over Eastern

#1: Girls’ Basketball – GMC Tournament Final: St. Thomas Aquinas vs. Colonia (airs at 10 pm): The St. Thomas girls won their fifth straight GMC Tournament championship, dispatching of rival Colonia, 71-52. Sophomore Jordan Barnes was named MVP, as the Trojans claimed their eighth GMC tourney title overall. Mike Pavlichko and Dom Savino call all the action.

The St. Thomas Aquinas girls’ basketball team celebrates its 2024 GMC Tournament title, it’s fifth straight. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

GAME RECAP: Five-peat! St. Thomas Aquinas girls take out Colonia to win 5th straight GMCT title

Spotswood inducts third Athletics Hall of Fame Class, including its most decorated girls basketball player, its best baseball team ever, and Ron Mazzola

The most decorated girls basketball player and the most successful baseball team in school history – along with its star pitcher – were among several inductees into the Spotswood Athletics Hall of Fame this past weekend.

Beth Dickinson Cipot (then known as Beth Dickinson) is the school’s all-time leading scorer in girls’ or boys’ basketball, while the 2007 Charger baseball team won every possible title it could: GMC Blue Division, GMC Tournament, Central Jersey Group 2 and the statewide Group 2 title.

Dickinson scored 2,100 points in her career, and is the only player on either side to pass the 2,000-point mark, She captained the 19989-99 team that won the Central Jersey Group 1 title, and was a three-time all-county player in the Star-Ledger and Home News Tribune, ultimately making third-team All Group 1 by the Ledger and Associated Press.

She played collegiately at St. Peter’s and Fordham, where she was an All-Academic Atlantic Ten selection in 2004, and later coached at the Bronx school, as well as Georgetown from 2004 to 2007.

Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko talk with Spotswood Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2022 Inductee Beth Dickinson:

Editors’ Note: Beth Dickinson and Mike Pavlichko both attended Spotswood High School, where Mike was the PA announcer while in school, graduating in 1996, and continuing through Beth’s senior season in 1999. Mike was inducted into the SHS Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007, as a contributor.

The 2007 Spotswood baseball team – coached then, as now, by Glenny Fredricks – went 26-4 and remains, by far, the best the school has ever had. It set school records for wins, batting average (.369), runs scored (239) and RBI (196). The Chargers finished the season ranked No. 1 in Middlesex County, and No. 7 statewide. And they are one of only two Greater Middlesex Conference teams to win the conference tournament and a state group championship in the same year. (Edison did it first, in 1993.)

Inducted were Fredricks, along with his assistants – his brother, Danny, Chris Ferrone, Matt Ardizzone, Mike Bruschini and Mike Feaster – and the following players: Anthony Addone, John Michael Berner III, Michael Collins, Brian Curci, Daniel Hohman, Richard Kuhn Jr., Jonathan Martin, Cody Pace, Joseph Reid, Timothy Snook, Vincent Vizzi, William Beard, Nicholas Brown, Jamie Cullen, Patrick Dwyer, Mike Hohman, David Lynch, Christopher Mooney, Joseph Petosa, Brian Scott, and Phil Spina.

Inducted separately was William Beard, who set single-season pitching records in 2007 for victories, strikeouts and complete games. He threw three no-hitters for the Chargers, including a perfect game. He’s the winningest pitcher in Middlesex County history with 27 victories and holds nearly all of Spotswood’s single-season and career pitching records. Beard later pitched at Rutgers, where he was a team captain and three-time Academic All-Big East pick.

Two other athletes, a coach and a contributor also were inducted.

The contributor was the late Ron Mazzola. Known as “Mr. Old Bridge,” he was also “The Voice of the Chargers,” providing the public address announcements for football for many years. Ron has been honored by so many of the schools and organizations he worked with before his untimely passing last Spring. Last month, Old Bridge renamed its press box after him.

READ MORE: A fitting tribute for Mr. Old Bridge, as Knights’ football press box is named for the late Ron Mazzola

READ MORE: Remembering Ron Mazzola, Mr. Old Bridge

The coach was Kevin Brady, who’s currently the girls’ soccer and softball mentor at East Brunswick, but who began his career with the Chargers in 1995, taking that very first team to the GMC Blue Division title with a record of 15-5-1. His teams won four Division title – in 1995, 2001, 2003 and 2005 and went 139-65-14 during his tenure. The 2001 team set a school record for victories with 16 – surpassed with 17 by his final team in Spotswood – and won the Chargers’ first-ever sectional championship: a penalty-kick victory over arch-rival South River. Brady also was an assistant on the girls’ basketball team when Dickinson starred on the hardwood.

Tim Logan, class of 2005, was a multi-sport athlete who is one of the few Chargers to be named first-team All-GMC in more than one endeavor. A four-year varsity letterwinner in basketball, he scored nearly 20 points a game and was fourth in scoring in the area, which he led in three-point shooting. In soccer, he was a two-time Captain, an all-section pick by the Soccer Coaches Association of New Jersey, and was the 2004-05 Spotswood High School Athlete of the Year. He played basketball for a year, but soccer for four seasons at the University of Scranton, where he ranks ninth all-time in school history in both career goals and career points.

Jason Pope, class of 1999, was a four-year first-singles varsity tennis player, who to this day holds the school record for career victories with 72. He was an All-GMC pick three times, and an All-Blue Division selection all four years with the Chargers, leading them to a division title in 1996. He competed collegiately at Niagara University, where in four years, he set school records for most season and career wins, and achieved an NCAA ranking in singles in 2002, as well as being named to the MAAC All-Academic team three times. He set that precedent in high school when he was president of the Spotswood chapter of the National Honor Society, and was presented with the SHS Booster Club’s Scholar-Athlete award in 1999.

AUDIO: Bound Brook’s Melesurgo says shorter season takes opportunity away from hoops players

The 2021 basketball season was an unusually short season, but it was an anomaly as New Jersey worked its way out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2023, things could look very different again, but intentionally so, and Bound Brook boys’ basketball head coach Anthony Melesurgo isn’t a fan.

He’s been among the more vocal coaches on social media opposed to an NJSIAA proposal that’s halfway to the finish line, one that aims to have consistency among seasons, equity for all sports and student-athletes, and allow schools greater scheduling flexibility.

And while football wouldn’t be affected – since that’s getting its own overhaul – it would slash the basketball season from 26 to 22 games – not counting the state tournament and TOC – and shorten the length of the season overall to make it uniform with the fall and spring seasons.

That would leave gaps between seasons, ostensibly for multi-sport athletes to recover and take some time off. But Melesurgo says that gives some kids nothing to do, and that they would be better off around their sports.

The NJSIAA says the changes would increase the opportunities for multi-sport athletes who don’t need to worry about missing the first few weeks of practice for their next sport while finishing up another.

For a complete look at the original proposal, click here to download a PDF document.

The proposal – which the NJSIAA’s Executive Committee passed Wednesday on a first reading with only one vote in opposition – will come up for a final vote next month. If approved, it would go into effect for three years, starting with the 2022-23 school year.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko’s interview with Bound Brook boys’ basketball coach Anthony Melesurgo:

SPONSORED: Now is the time to start planning fall fundraisers; John Tuohy of Fundraising U. explains how to raise the most money in the least amount of time

As the world keeps working to get back to a “pre-pandemic normal,” high school sports teams hopefully will be getting back to normal this fall, too.

But that also means they’re going to have to raise as much cash as they did before – if not more – to keep things going.

That’s why John Tuohy of Fundraising University – one of Central Jersey Sports Radio’s founding sponsors – says now is the time to start thinking about fundraisers.

What’s your fundraising goal? What would you like to sell? Who can be involved? Who are you selling to? How can you do it in the least amount of time, while raising the most amount of money?

All questions John Tuohy can answer.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with John Tuohy about the type of money-raising events Fundraising University can offer:

COVID in Monroe program leads to cancellation of opener at St. Joe’s

by Mike Pavlichko

The Greater Middlesex Conference has its first COVID-related cancellation of the 2021 high school basketball season, and the season hasn’t even tipped off yet.

Monroe’s game at St. Joseph of Metuchen next Tuesday – opening day for high school basketball in New Jersey – has been cancelled due to COVID in the Monroe program, its Athletic Department confirmed Thursday afternoon to Central Jersey Sports Radio.

It’s the first known cancellation in the GMC due to actual COVID cases. However, a number of games were scrapped after Carteret and Perth Amboy opted not to play basketball and most other winter sports this year. And some districts, like Middlesex and Old Bridge, have decided to begin play the first week of February, rather than the NJSIAA first date of competition, which is Tuesday, January 26th.

READ MORE: “Like a kid in a candy store,” HS coaches and players welcome the start of practice

There was no immediate word on whether the game would be rescheduled, nor on a replacement game for St. Joe’s, which otherwise would open on Thursday night against Roselle Catholic at 5:30 pm at Maglio Gymnasium.

The “Battle of the Falcons” was to be the debut of high school basketball play-by-play on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Instead, we’ll have live coverage of East Brunswick at Dunellen (time TBA).

The Bears and Destroyers – two divisions apart in the GMC – are meeting because the Bears’ opening night game against Old Bridge was nixed when the Knights delayed the start of preseason practice by a week. They won’t start games until week two of the season, which starts February 1.

The opening week of games also includes girls’ basketball Thursday night, as Manville visits Bound Brook.

Click here for the full broadcast schedule of high school basketball on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Perth Amboy is second Middlesex County school to bow out of Winter Sports

by Mike Pavlichko

On the heels of Carteret’s decision last week to cancel all early Winter season sports – with the exception of wrestling, slated to start practicing in March – Perth Amboy has become the second Middlesex County district in less than a week to do so, cancelling all sports in the NJSIAA’s “Season 2.”

In a letter to the community posted on the Perth Amboy district website Monday, Superintendent David Roman announced that due to an increase in COVID cases in the community, the district would extend is remote learning until the end of the third marking period, which ends on Tuesday, April 20th.

As part of that announcement, Roman wrote that “due to the uncertainty of this pandemic, and the health risk it may case to our students and staff at this time, all winter sports will be cancelled.”

He added, “We will re-assess the status of spring sports as we get closer to that time.”

Carteret and Piscataway had cancelled fall sports this school year, but while Carteret will remain on the sidelines in the winter – with the exception, so far, of wrestling – Piscataway is set to play.

Perth Amboy played sports in the fall.

Some districts, like Old Bridge and North Brunswick, have been holding outdoor basketball practices to lessen time spend indoors and attempt to mitigate the risks of COVID transmission in such settings.

Middlesex has delayed practice by a week to January 19th, meaning their basketball programs would miss the first week of the season, which starts January 26th, in order to continue their preseasons.

Maguire recaps football, looks ahead to Spring, and weighs in on NJSIAA finances heading into 2021

by Mike Pavlichko

In a wide-ranging exclusive interview with Central Jersey Sports Radio, NJSIAA Executive Director Colleen Maguire says “every game played was a major success” this football season, a year that was unlike any other, played in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

She also looks ahead to the winter season for boys’ and girls’ basketball – which start in January – as well as wrestling, which won’t begin until March.

Maguire’s expertise is in the financial arena, and she says “we’re a bare bones operation” in characterizing the NJSIAA heading into 2021. She says she’s grateful for the one-time stipend from the state, which will help offset some of this year’s losses.

Hear NJSIAA Executive Director Colleen Maguire’s full interview below: