Tag: Jan Cocoziello

by Dom Savino

St. Joseph still has shot at GMC Red title, but needs statement win against Aquinas

It’s January 17th. The season barely started a month ago. And yet, when No. 10 St. Joseph-Metuchen takes to its home floor against top-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas on Tuesday night, it will play a game with an end-of-year feel.

After all, the Falcons will be hunting for what would be their fourth straight GMC Red crown, and it’ll be their final regular-season home game.

Follow Sportsplex at Metuchen on Instagram for the latest on open gym sessions on their courts and turf!

It’s been a figure-it-out-quickly sort of season for Joe’s (8-3), which rides a two-game winning streak into this marquee battle with Aquinas (14-1).

The game will be broadcast on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with Mike Pavlichko and Dom Savino calling the action. The pre-game show starts at 6:45 p.m., with tip-off at 7:00. Click here to listen to the broadcast.

If Joe’s wins, the Falcons would claim a GMC Red co-championship with both Aquinas and Colonia — with the teams deadlocking at 7-1 in-division and 1-1 head-to-head. If Aquinas wins, it would complete a perfect run through the division and hoist the Red trophy outright. The early conclusion to the race for the Red is thanks to a one-year GMC pilot program, under which only one round of games through the division count towards the championship.

Should there be co-champions, however, just as with any other division ties, all games would be considered toward breaking the tie. Which leaves St. Joe’s very much in play for a top-seed in the GMC Tournament next month, providing they fore a three-way co-championship with a win against Aquinas.

The Falcons are led by the recently-paired backcourt tandem of Josh Ingram and Jeremy Clayville, each averaging nearly 20 points-per-game. Ingram — a senior and 2nd-year starter — has quickly gelled with Clayville, a junior who earned back-to-back First Team All-Division honors at DePaul Catholic.

Click below to hear St. Joe’s head coach Jan Cocozziello discuss Ingram and Clayville’s success, the team’s preparation for a playoff-like game, and Tuesday’s matchup with Aquinas:

by Mike Pavlichko

St. Joseph hands South Plainfield its first loss, as Falcons get New Year off on the right foot

They say winning cures all. And one win may not cure what ails the St. Joseph-Metuchen basketball team, but then again, a journey of a million miles starts with but one step.

The Falcons – out of the Central Jersey Sports Radio/Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten for the first time since it began in 2021 – took out undefeated South Plainfield Monday night, 71-57, behind 24 points from junior Jeremy Clayville, and 16 from senior Josh Ingram.

Follow Sportsplex at Metuchen on Instagram for the latest on open gym sessions on their courts and turf!

It all comes as St. Joe’s deals with some missing pieces head coach Jan Cocoziello thought he would have this year. He’s got a turn-the-page, next-man-up mentality, but his squad may have taken a little bit longer to get there.

They’ve suffered two losses already: in triple overtime to Colonia and in regulation to South River out of the GMC Blue Division, which is 7-0 heading into a home game Wednesday night against Middlesex. So facing another undefeated team – this time, the Tigers out of the White Division – was a good test for the Falcons.

And though they trailed by four after the first eight minutes, they led by four going into the locker room, and took care of business after that.

Test passed.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with St. Joseph head coach Jan Cocoziello about the win over South Plainfield, and getting the 2023 part of the season off on a good note: