Tag: boys’ basketball

by Mike Pavlichko

Early January battle of unbeatens – No. 5 St. Joseph at No. 4 Piscataway Saturday – has big implications in GMC Tournament race

While the Greater Middlesex Conference doesn’t seed its tournament until early February, Saturday’s matinee between fourth-ranked Piscataway and fifth-ranked St. Joseph-Metuchen could have a lot to say in deciding the top part of the bracket.

The Chiefs and Colonia were last year’s finalists. The Patriots lost a ton of talent for various reasons, and while they should improve by the stretch run, they’ve struggled early. St. Joseph hired alum and former coach Mark Taylor, who brought in a slew of transfer talent to go with some solid pieces already in place, and East Brunswick is off and running to its best start since the days of Bo Henning manning the sidelines and players like Amir Bell and Rob Ukuwuba in the early 2010s.

All that said, while it’s still just the first of two meetings between the two, St. Joe’s visit to Piscataway Saturday has all the trappings of a conference tourney game from the round of eight on.

OF course, you can hear tomorrow’s game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with tip-off tentatively set for about 11:45 – shortly after the 10 am JV game ends. Pregame starts 15 minutes prior; Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe will call all the action. Click here to listen.

The Falcons will, for sure, have the height advantage, with Rutgers Prep transfer Andrew Kretkowski now with the Falcons. The 6′ 7″ junior already has asserted himself in a leadership role, and is scoring just under 20 points per game. Senior guard Alijah Murphy is one of the key returnees, and big Ryan Hilongos will get time, too.

Piscataway coach Bob Turco may say “Attitude and Effort” is the team’s mantra, but it might as well be “An ugly win is as good as a pretty one.” That’s not because they play poorly; quite the opposite. They play a stifling defense, dive all over, and get a ton of steals. In fact, of their top eight rotation players who have made 69 total game appearances, 62 have earned at least one steal in a game.

That means it’s not just one or two guys breaking up passes and forcing turnovers. Everyone in the lineup is doing it, night in and night out.

Both teams might need oxygen tanks by the time this one’s through.

Click below to hear pregame interviews with both head coaches:

Piscataway head coach Bob Turco with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko
St. Joseph-Metuchen head coach Mark Taylor with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Justin Sontupe

by Mike Pavlichko

Updated Tuesday Holiday Tournament Schedule for GMC, Somerset County boys’ and girls’ hoops

Here is the updated Tuesday schedule for holiday tournaments and showcases in both girls’ and boys’ high school basketball, where GMC and Somerset County schools are participating.

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

Butch Kowal Tournament at Rahway HS
Scotch Plains-Fanwood vs. Matawan, 1:30 pm
Carteret vs. Westfield, 3 pm
Perth Amboy vs. Roselle, 4:30 pm
Rahway vs. Rumson-Fair-Haven, 6 pm

Battle at the Bomb Shelter at Sayreville HS
Consolation Game: Union vs. New Dorp (NY), 11:30 am
Championship Game: Sayreville vs. Immaculata, 1 pm

Cougar Classic at Montgomery HS
Montgomery vs. North Hunterdon, 11:30 am
Bridgewater-Raritan vs. Princeton, 1 pm

Anthony J. Cotoia Tournament at South Plainfield HS
Championship Game: Edison vs South Plainfield, 3 pm

Freehold Classic at Freehold Boro HS (rescheduled from Saturday)
Spotswood vs. Holmdel, 11 am
Freehold Boro vs. East Brunswick Magnet, 1 pm

Albert E. Martin Buc Holiday Classic at Red Bank Regional HS
7th Place Game: Old Bridge vs. Long Branch, 12:30 pm
5th Place Game: Middletown South vs. Ranney, 2 pm
3rd Place Game: East Brunswick vs. Red Bank Regional, 3:30 pm
Championship: Howell vs. Marlboro, 5 pm

Peter Tierney Holiday Basketball Tournament at Summit HS (rescheduled from Monday)
Consolation: Summit vs. Governor Livingston, 2:30 pm
Championship: Watchung Hills vs, Millburn, 5:30 pm

Roselle Holiday Hoopfest at Roselle Park HS
Consolation Game: Middlesex vs. Keyport, 9:30 am
Championship Game: Piscataway Magnet vs. Roselle Park, 12:30 pm

Winter Showcase at Paul VI, Wayne
St. Joseph-Metuchen vs. Penn Charter

Artie Flaherty Holiday Tournament at Metuchen HS
Brearley vs. Franklin School (Jersey City), 10 am
Metuchen vs, Voorhees, 11:30 am

KSA Events Holiday Tournament at Gaylord Palms Resort, Orlando
Grey Bracket
Pingry vs. Chicago Christian, 10 am on Court 2
Bishop Eustace vs. First Baptist Academy, 10 am on Court 1

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

Holiday Hoopfest at Paterson Kennedy HS
Immaculata vs. Roselle Catholic, 1:10 pm
Franklin vs. Saddle River Day, 2:30 pm
Bayonne vs. Immaculate Heart, 3:50 pm
Gill St. Bernard’s vs. West Orange, 5:10 pm

Holmdel Holiday Invitational at Holmdel HS
Manasquan vs. Hudson Catholic, 10 am
Piscataway vs. Marlboro, 11:45 am
East Brunswick vs. Holmdel, 1:30 pm
Mount St. Mary vs. Ranney, 3:15 pm
Somerville vs. Colts Neck, 5 pm

Gene Haley/Jim Muldowney Memorial Holiday Classic at Edison HS
Edison vs. North Plainfield, 10 am
Woodbridge vs. Spotswood, 11:30 am

Cougar Holiday Classic at Montgomery HS
Belvidere vs. Delaware Valley, 1 pm
Montgomery vs. Watchung Hills, 2:30 pm

Artie Flaherty Holiday Tournament at Metuchen HS
Consolation Game: Brearley vs. Governor Livingston, 12:30 pm
Championship Game: Metuchen vs. Bernards, 2 pm

Sayreville Holiday Showcase at Sayreville HS
Consolation Game: Rahway vs. Monmouth, 10 am
Championship Game: Sayreville vs. Freehold, 11:30 am

Jonathan Dayton Holiday Tournament, Springfield (rescheduled from Saturday)
Championship Game: South Plainfield vs. Dayton, 2:30 pm
No consolation Game

West Windsor-Plainsboro South Holiday Tournament at WWPS HS
West Windsor-Plainsboro North vs. Northern Burlington, 11 am
JFK vs. West Windsor-Plainsboro South, 1:30 pm

Coaches’ Choice Holiday Classic at FDU-Madison (rescheduled from Saturday)
Holy Cross vs. Snyder, 1 pm
Plainfield vs. St. Mary’s-Manhasset (NY), 1:30 pm
St. Thomas Aquinas vs. Westfield, 3p

Millburn Holiday Tournament at Millburn HS
Consolation Game: Old Bridge vs. North Bergen, 10:30 am
Championship Game: Millburn vs. Union, noon

Pete Tierney Holiday Basketball Tournament at Summit HS
Consolation Game: Bridgewater-Raritan vs. Morris Knolls, 10 am
Championship Game: Summit vs. Johnson, 1 pm

Middlesex/Shore Tournament at Henry Hudson HS, Highlands
Consolation Game: South River vs. Henry Hudson, 10 am
Championship Game: South Amboy vs. Keansburg, 11:30 am

Ravens Winter Classic at Robbinsville HS
Consolation Game: North Brunswick vs. Robbinsville, 12 pm
Championship Game: Hamilton West vs. Allentown, 1:30 pm

Charlie Dolan Holiday Tournament at Kearny HS
Consolation Game: Montclair vs. Passaic Tech, 9 am
Championship Game: Colonia vs. Kearny, 1 pm

Roselle Holiday Hoopfest at Roselle Park HS
Consolation Game: Carteret vs. Perth Amboy, 11 am
Championship Game: Roselle Park vs. Linden, 2 pm

KSA Events Holiday Tournament at Gaylord Palms Resort, Orlando
Pink Bracket
Pingry vs. Westminster Christian, 1 pm on Court 4
Mendham vs. Madison Southern, 1 pm on Court 3

by Mike Pavlichko

VOTE! Back for a second year, it’s the Central Jersey Sports Radio Tournament of Champions; You choose your favorite, and we’ll count down the Top 5 title games of 2025 on New Year’s Eve!

With New Jersey no longer holding the Tournament of Champions – which the NJSIAA did away with for the 2022-23 season – we still miss it. And you probably do, too.

Well, we’re bringing it back. Again.

For the second year in a row, we’re holding our own Tournament of Champions. We’re letting you, the fans, vote in our Tournament of Champions poll.

That’s right, you get to pick your favorite from the 13 championship games we broadcast live this season! (These are only games we broadcast and that were won by a team from the CJSR coverage area.) We’ll announce the winners on Wednesday, December 30th, then air the top five in order, back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back on New Year’s Even.

You can vote now through Tuesday, December 30th at noon!

Vote as often as you like – now through noon on Tuesday, December 30th! Just click on the game or games you want to hear below!

Here are the 2025 Championships to choose from!
Click the links to read the game stories, then scroll down to vote!

BASKETBALL

BASEBALL

FOOTBALL

  • NJSIAA North 2, Group 4 Final: Phillipsburg wins its second straight North 2, Group 4 title, beating Montgomery 41-21 to take its tenth NJSIAA sectional title in program history.
2025 CJSR Tournament of Champions

Sorry, voting is closed.

We’ll announce the top 5 championship games later today, and they will air tomorrow – New Year’s Eve – on Central Jersey Sports Radio!

by Mike Pavlichko

Red-hot East Brunswick, now ranked, is off to best start since 2012, with no sign of letting up

It was thirteen years ago, the last time East Brunswick got off to a start like this.

That one got off with a bang, as the Bears won their opener at rival St. Joseph-Metuchen, beating a Falcon squad with a young, spindly freshman named Karl Towns. (There was no “Anthony” yet, at least not publicly.)

That team won its first 15 games of the season, beat St. Joe’s again, lost to them in their third meeting – an epic double-overtime donnybrook in the GMC Tournament final at Rutgers – then went on to win the Central Jersey Group 4 championship, falling to Atlantic City in the state semis.

Current East Brunswick coach Mark Motusesky was an assistant on that team under legend Bo Henning, and he’d sign up for all of that today if he could.

He might not have to, though.

The Bears are off to a wonderful start, 5-0 for the first time since that magical season of 2012-13. And they’re doing it with a senior laden group that took some lumps early last year, then picked up some steam as the season went on. It’s been a steady progression from last March to this December, and they’ll head into the Christmas break perfect.

Matt Mikulka – East Brunswick’s all-time leading scorer with 1,469 points after Tuesday’s 75-70 home win over Franklin – is pacing the Bears with 23.2 points a game, while the Bears are getting serious contributions from several others. Fellow senior Cam Vick is averaging 16.8 per contest, and by the way, he hit a nearly full-court heave at the end of the first half Tuesday night in a play that should end up on SportsCenter. (Watch it below.)

But really, it’s the defense that has impressed Motusesky, and this team’s ability to find ways to win.

The schedule hasn’t been easy. After opening with a win at the Outerbridge Crossing Challenge over New Dorp (NY) and another over Monroe the following Tuesday, they had three big challenges: Sayreville, South Plainfield and Franklin – all at home.

They won the first two by five each – Sayreville was a GMCT semifinalist a year ago – and beat Franklin by four Tuesday behind 2 from Vick – including 7-of-10 at the line – 18 from Andrew Caruso, and 17 from Mikulka.

All in a day’s work.

Motusesky and the Bears hope there are many more like it to come.

Click below to hear East Brunswick boys’ basketball coach Mark Motusesky talk about the Bears’ red-hot start to the season with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko:

East Brunswick will be back in action over the break in the Buc Classic at Red Bank Regional, opening up against Shore Conference opponent Ranney on Saturday at 2 pm. They’ll face the winner of Howell and Old Bridge on Monday afternoon.

Colonia and Piscataway square off in a GMC Red American Division game in Colonia on December 22, 2025. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY – BOYS: No. 4 Piscataway 75, No. 8 Colonia 73 (2 OT)

Behind three players in double figures – led by Donald Nwaigwe tying a career high with 25 points – No. 4 Piscataway got its first win over Colonia in 13 years with a 75-73 double-overtime win against the 8th-ranked Patriots.

Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel call all the play-by-play from Colonia High School on December 22, 2025.

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 4 Piscataway takes down No. 8 Colonia in double OT for first win over Patriots in 13 years

It was almost 13 years to the day – 13 years and two days, to be exact – so it seemed to make some cosmic sense that this would would take an extra eight minutes.

No. 4 Piscataway would need two overtimes, but the Chiefs topped No. 8 Colonia on the road Monday night, 75-73, for their first win over the Patriots since December 20, 2012 – in a contest heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio – ending an eleven-game losing streak in the series.

Of course, the two head coaches – Bob Turco of Piscataway and Jose Rodriguez of Colonia – have coached against each other many times, including some big games over the years when Turco was at St. Thomas Aquinas, before he became head coach of the Chiefs last season, where they lost two regular season games to Colonia, and the GMC Tournament final.

Piscataway looked on its way to a win early on, playing its trademark defense – even if it wasn’t quite in midseason form yet – with Colonia missing on some shots, and looking tentative on offense. Still, they only trailed by five at the half, 33-28. It could have been more, except the Patriots’ Jayce Rodriguez got three gift free throws – and made two – as he got fouled on a prayer three at the buzzer that had no chance.

After the break, Colonia became more aggressive on offense, realizing they might not get many good looks at the basket. They worked harder, took some chancy shots, but started sinking them. They would take just their second lead of the game in the third quarter, and go up by as many as eight late in the period, up 45-37 heading into what many figured would be the last eight minutes of the game.

In the fourth, the lead changed hands a couple of times. In the 90 seconds, Piscataway took a 53-52 lead on a baseline layup by Josh Lima. After two fouls the other way, the Patriots were in the bonus, and sophomore Chris Charles split a pair to tie the game at 53.

Dylan Chiera found Jayden Johnson with 52 seconds to go on a backdoor pass, then Lima found Donald Nwaigwe with 38 seconds left on a layup for the answer, tying it at 55. Then after a rebound and time out, Colonia got called for a five-second violation, Piscataway inbounded with 12 seconds to go but a Lima shot from the top of the key over a double team missed everything to send the game to overtime.

The teams would trade the lead a few more times in the first OT. With 30 seconds left, Lima picked up a steal for the Chiefs, drove to the foul line with 14.5 to go and dropped in a scoop layup, drawing contact, to go up one, 64-63. But he missed the and-one free throw, Colonia got the ball after it went off Piscataway on the rebound.

The Patriots drew a foul on Lima, his fifth, ending his night. Rodriguez hit the first to tie it 64-64, but missed the second with 8.6 seconds remaining. Piscataway got the rebound, and called time out, but with 1.8 seconds left, Nfa Clyne got called for his fifth, to foul out, and Tyler West went to the foul line for two, right in the face of the student section, the “Colonia Crazies.”

West missed both free throws, Colonia got the rebound with 0.1 on the clock, and the officials put two-tenths back on, not enough time for any more than a tip-in. They inbounded to Rodriguez, and his three-quarter court three wasn’t close, sending the game to overtime No. 2.

The lead again went back and fourth in the sixth period. With 1:03 to go, Isaiah Fowler got fouled on a three that he missed, but he made all three from the line to tie the game at 69. Colonia countered with a putback by Chiera to make it 71-69. Rodriguez committed a foul on the other end, putting Fowler back at the line, where he split a pair to make it 71-70.

On the rebound off the second shot, Donald Nwaigwe got a putback to put the Chiefs up by one, but then he committed a foul in the backcourt, sending Rodriguez to the line where he hit both to make it 73-72 Colonia. Nwaigwe got fouled the other way, and tied it up by making both to put the Chiefs up 74-73 with 54.5 left.

Colonia came down the floor, ran some clock, and after a miss, got a rebound from Jayden Johnson with 30.6 on the clock, prompting the Patriots to call their last time out.

Rodriguez drove to the basket and had a shot rim-out, with the Chiefs getting the rebound, and drawing a foul. That’s where Isaiah Fowler hit the first to go up two, then missed the second. A rebound by Jayden Johnson gave Colonia the ball, and a pull-up three for the lead missed, while the rebound went to the Chiefs who hurled the ball down the floor to seal the deal, winning it 75-73.

Watch the game’s final sequence, with play-by-play by Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel!

For Colonia (2-3, 2-2 GMC Red American), Jayce Rodriguez scored a career-high 37 points, eight in overtime, and he hit four treys. The only other player in double figures for the Pats was Chiera, with ten.

Piscataway (5-0, 3-0 GMC Red American) got 25 from Nwaigwe, including seven in OT, and 18 from Isaiah Fowler. Lima added 15 for the Chiefs.

Click below to hear postgame reaction from Piscataway junior Izayah Brown and head coach Bob Turco, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Logo of Sportsplex at Metuchen promoting their open gym sessions, featuring various sports icons.
by Mike Pavlichko

Mid-Week Boys Basketball Update: It’s early, but here are some GMC, Somerset schools getting off on the right foot

The season is not even a week old yet, but many teams have already played two or three games, and some are off to better starts than others.

Sure, division play hasn’t really kicked in yet for some, and the schedule will get more difficult for many, but many teams won their opening games and some are 2-0 already.

JP Stevens grabs a couple wins early…

Three Greater Middlesex Conference White American Division schools already are off to 2-0 starts. One of them, JP Stevens, already is a single win away from equalling last year’s win total under third-year head coach Nick Sardone.

The Hawks were 8-14 his first season, in 2023-24, then dipped to just 3-19 last year, having not won a game until the very last day of January.

This year’s team loses top-scoring center Kerem Ozdemir to graduation, but freshman Nameer Burch (8.3 ppg) is back, and already is averaging 21.5 through the first two games. Their first win came at home on Saturday over a Bernards team that won 16 games last year, 61-60 in overtime. Then, they jumped out to a 24-9 lead after the first eight minutes against North Brunswick in a 68-51 home win Tuesday night.

JP Stevens – which is 2-0 for the first time since a 13-11 campaign in 2021-22 – is back in action Saturday when South Brunswick comes to town.

Perth Amboy also is off to a 2-0 start, with wins over Tottenville (NY) at Carteret Saturday in the Outerbridge Crossing Challenge and Timothy Christian on Tuesday, 54-21. South Brunswick beat West Windsor-Plainsboro South Saturday, 57-32, then was a 60-50 winner Tuesday over Edison.

Carteret is rebounding….

The Ramblers have some good senior talent back, and Jeremiah Arrington has been crashing the boards in a big way. He’s got 29 points through two games, but 34 rebounds – a 17 board-per-game average!

He had 23 against College of Staten Island (NY) Saturday in the Outerbridge Crossing Challenge, a 66-39 victory. The Ramblers also topped JFK, 67-56, in a GMC White National game.

Senior Qorey Carter had 37 points through two games, and sophomore Jerry Moon is averaging 16. The Ramblers visit Spotswood (1-0) Thursday night.

Meanwhile, Metuchen – which won 20 games last year – also is off to a 2-0 start, with wins over Middlesex on Monday, 56-36, and Kennedy Wednesday, 64-40.

Three wins for the Governors…

South Amboy is off to a 3-0 start, the first team in the GMC to do so. They hosted the Friends of South Amboy Charity Games this past weekend, and beat East Brunswick Magnet 76-59. They also picked up a win Monday over New Brunswick, 57-52, and topped Dunellen Wednesday night, 64-29.

Sophomore Darion Joubert is averaging a double-double in the early going: 16.7 points a game, and 11.7 rebounds.

More early GMC success…

Sayreville and East Brunswick in the Red National also are off to 2-0 starts. The Tigers – a 23-5 team and a GMCT semifinalist a year ago – topped Oratory Prep, 75-64, Saturday in the Friends of South Amboy Charity Games, then beat St. John Vianney Tuesday night, 54-42. The Bears beat New Dorp (NY) 54-36 Saturday in the Outerbridge Crossing Challenge, then dropped Monroe, 63-35 Tuesday evening.

Piscataway is 2-0 as well, with Chiefs’ head coach Bob Turco joining the “400 Win Club” Wednesday night in a 94-73 win over West Orange on their brand-new home court. They host St. Thomas Aquinas Thursday and Old Bridge Saturday before a rematch of last year’s GMC Tournament final at Colonia at 6 pm Monday, a game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Highland Park and Piscataway Magnet are both 2-0 on the year out of the Blue American Division, while Perth Amboy Magnet in the Blue National also is 2-0.

In Somerset County, it’s some of the usual suspects…

The three teams many consider to be the favorites to win the Somerset County Tournament this year are a combined 5-1, with Montgomery and Gill St. Bernard’s both 2-0, and Rutgers Prep 1-1.

Montgomery had a huge win over Don Bosco Prep Saturday night, 66-47, in the NJBCA Tip-Off Classic on their home floor. Two sophomores were huge: Mike Simborski, with a team-best 25 points, and Connor Benedict with 21, all on threes. They came back Tuesday and handled Watchung Hills, 81-55, and host Immaculata (1-0) Thursday night with Penn commit Ethan Lin’s 29 points leading the way.

Gill topped Madison Saturday, 60-47, down at Montgomery in the NJBCA Tip-Off Classic, then edged Montgomery Tuesday night, 51-49, up in Peapack. They travel to Phillipsburg (0-1) Thursday afternoon. Senior Prosper Highlander is averaging 18 points a game through the first two, with eight rebounds, while long-distance shooting specialist Connor Junker has hit four of the team’s dozen triples so far.

Rutgers Prep, meanwhile, dropped a tough one in the Tip-Off Classic, 70-61 to Linden on Saturday, then came back and beat Phillipsburg Tuesday at home, 64-51. Will Brunson scored 19 against the Tigers and had nine rebounds – one shy of a double-double – while going 7-of-11 from the foul line. Against the Stateliners, Rocco Loomis led the way with 33, going 8-of-8 from the line, and hitting seven treys.

Rivals off to good starts…

Manville and Bound Brook – which played on Cutoff Weekend in football for a division title – are looking good in the early going, with the Mustangs 2-0, and the Crusaders 2-1, their only loss coming to Manville Tuesday night.

Manville routed Kononia Saturday in its opener, 66-34, then beat Bound Brook 50-43 behind 18 points and eight boards from Josh D’Ambrosio. Dorian Roundtree led the way for The Brook with 23 points and nine rebounds, as well as four treys. It should set up a nice rematch in Manville on January 16th, a game we’ll broadcast live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

The Crusaders’ first two wins came last Tuesday, 83-29 over Great Oaks Charter, and Monday against Newark Vocational, a 65-33 victory.

Panthers putting it together…

Bridgewater-Rartitan, meanwhile, is off to its best start since they won three straight to begin the 2017-18 campaign. Tonight, they’ll look to go 4-0 for the first time in over a decade (2014) when they host Hunterdon Central (0-1).

The Panthers opened last Thursday with an 83-39 “tune-up” win over Central Jersey College Charter, and followed up with a 73-40 win over Newark Central. Tuesday, they didn’t start so well, but put together a big fourth-quarter and beat then 2-0 Franklin on the road, 70-63, erasing a one-point deficit at the end of three.

Richie Gardner scored 23 points and connected three times from beyond the arc, as did Joseph Chien and Brandon Ur.

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY – Outerbridge Crossing Challenge (Boys): Edison 77, Petrides (NY) 62

Junior Vibert Reynolds scored a career-high 26 points – 15 in the first half – while Dheeraj Sampraraboyina added 19 – to give Edison a win in its season opener, 77-62 over Petrides (NY) in the inaugural Outerbridge Crossing Challenge.

Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel call all the play-by-play from Edison High School on December 13, 2025.

by Mike Pavlichko

Piscataway uses first-quarter burst to get up big early, tops McKee/Staten Island Tech in Outerbridge Crossing Challenge at Edison

About the only thing that didn’t go right for Piscataway in what head coach Bob Turco hopes is the first of many Outerbridge Crossing Challenge season-opening showcases is that it wasn’t on his own home court.

Flood damage from a fall rainstorm led to the floor and bleachers needing to be replaced, and the work still has another week to go before it’s finished.

But the Chiefs already looked in mid- and late-season form, like the team that went all the way to the GMC Tournament final in 2025, beating McKee/Staten Island Tech (NY) 76-20 in their season-opener Saturday afternoon at Edison High School, one of three alternate locations for the event’s debut.

Losing Nate Davis and Vaughn Turner is significant for the Piscataway, but if Game One is any indication, the Chiefs have plenty of athletes who have bought in to Turco’s defense first mentality.

He believes defense leads to offense, and that’s exactly what happened against MSIT. Isaiah Fowler and Donald Nwaigwe scored eleven and ten points in the first quarter, respectively, en route to a 28-2 lead.

Turco made wholesale changes in the second quarter, and there was little drop-off. While that group didn’t score as much, they didn’t let McKee get into double figures in the quarter, holding them to just nine points en route to a 51-11 lead at the break which would kick in a running clock in the second half.

Four Piscataway players scored in double figures in the win, led by 14 from the senior Fowler, including two treys; those 14 were a career best that Turco will love to see as the team works to develop depth.

The Chiefs hit seven times from beyond the arc, with Nwaigwe hitting twice, Landon Pernell and Josh Lime once each, with all three scoring ten,

Najay Best and Elijah Foster also hit triples.

Click below for postgame reaction from Piscataway and head coach Bob Turco with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Chiefs turned it around in 2024-45, now Turco looks for Piscataway boys to take the next step

It won’t be easy, it never is. But if it were, would it be as fun?

Bob Turco has made multiple coaching stops in his career, three of which have come in the Greater Middlesex Conference, where he’s the only coach to bring that many different schools to a GMC Tournament final.

But last year, when he brought the third of those teams to the championship game, may have been the most fun he’s had.

Going from St. Thomas Aquinas to a public school in Piscataway meant he’d no longer have to “build” a team; he would mostly get the kids he had, the ones who wanted to be there, and coach them up, then coach them up some more.

So, he took an 11-14 team in 2023-24 to 24-6, finishing second in the Red Division, along with a trip to the GMC finals, where they lost to Colonia. Not too shabby for Year One.

Year two starts Saturday in Edison in Game Two of the Outerbridge Crossing Challenge, an opening weekend showcase Turco wanted to host at Piscataway, but has been moved to various locations as their new gym floor awaits completion after heavy rains caused flooding this fall that damaged several athletic spaces.

The Chiefs will “host” McKee/Staten Island Tech out of New York City, which already has begin its season (they start earlier in New York) and is 3-2 on the year in the PSAL, the New York City Public School Athletic League. They were 11-15 last season.

You can hear the game on Central Jersey Sports Radio at approximately 2:30 pm, following the 1 pm opener between Edison and Petrides. Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel will call both games; click here to listen.

Head coach Charles Donohue is looking forward to the challenge, and looking at last year’s GMC finals against Colonia, he was impressed most with their poise under pressure, as well as their pressure and defense.

They return senior Nizayah Jordan, the Seagull’s top scorer last season, averaging 17.4 points per game, while hitting 53 times from beyond the arc. They’ll also be looking to get more scoring out of senior point guard Terrence Legrand.

For Piscataway, it’ll be dealing with graduation losses of Nate Davis (14.5 ppg, 53 treys, 49 steals) and Vaughn Turner (9.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg), but has plenty of talent back, including long-distance shooter Josh Lima (10.3 ppg), football starting QB Landon Pernell (7.9 pppg, 28 treys, team-best 116 assists) and swing Donald Nwaigwe (11.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg), the team’s top returning scorer from last year’s GMCT runner-up team.

Click below to hear a preview of the Piscatway/McKee-Staten Island Tech game from both head coaches

Piscataway head coach Bob Turco with Mike Pavlichko
McKee/Staten Island Tech head coach Charlie Donohue with Alec Crouthamel