Tag: Jeff Warner

by Mike Pavlichko

Career highs from Fotiadis, Singh, help Monroe boys take sixth straight from Spotswood

In his pregame interview, Monroe coach Jeff Warner said his team was having trouble scoring the basketball all year. They’d been averaging a shade under 40 points a game in their first nine, with only two wins to show for it.

So much for a lack of offense.

After a low-scoring first-half in which Monroe led 24-15 at the half, the points came in bunches in the second, and the Falcons came away with a 57-49 win at Spotswood in a GMC crossover Monday night, as heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

And it was the scoring that did it for Monroe. Senior Logan Fotiadis set a new career high with 20 points, all on two-pointers, while senior Taran Singh set a career high as well, finishing with 15, and he took a couple of big charges in the game, too.

Monroe got out to a 16-point lead – its biggest of the game – with three minutes to go in the third quarter, but the Chargers closed to within nine at the end of three, and got as close as seven on a few occasions, but could never quite get over the hump.

Monroe improves to 3-7 on the year, while Spotswood drops to 5-7.

Click below for postgame reaction from Monroe’s Logan Fotiadis and head coach Jeff Warner, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Border rivalry takes center stage Monday as Monroe visits Spotswood in boys’ hoops

One of the great things about high school sports is when two rivals get together.

Of course, Spotswood is big rivals with South River, since students from the first of those used to attend high school in the second, up until 1976.

But a close second is the Chargers’ rivalry with the Monroe Falcons. The communities not only border each other, but many play youth sports with and against each other, and even have families in both communities.

Monday night, the two boys’ basketball teams face off in a Greater Middlesex Conference crossover game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with pregame at 6:15 and tipoff at 6:30. Mike Pavlichko has the call; click here to listen.

The two appear to come in on opposite sides of the spectrum, at least on paper. Monroe has struggled to a 2-7 record through nine games, 0-5 in the GMC Red Division. They’re scoring just under 40 points a game, while Spotswood is averaging over 60 through eleven.

And while the Chargers struggled early, dropping their first three, and five of their first six, they have now won five straight since returning to GMC play and find themselves 5-6, 2-2 in the GMC Gold.

Spotswood has four players scoring in double figures, and head coach Steve Mate says it can be a different guy every night. Friday, in an 85-51 road win at North Plainfield, Joseph Nardino scored a career high 33, including four treys, while the team hit eleven. They also nailed ten in a win over South Hunterdon in their opener at the West Windsor-Plainsboro Holiday Tournament.

Monroe’s top scorer is Logan Fotiadis, an outstanding football player for the Falcons, averaging eight per game, with a team-high five blocks. Braeden Hoiberg has connected on a team-best 20 triples to provide a threat from beyond the arc.

Click below to hear audio previews of Monday night’s game from both head coaches:

Spotswood head coach Steve Mate
Monroe head coach Jeff Warner

by Mike Pavlichko

It’s been a while, but it’s Montgomery and Monroe squaring off tonight for CJ4 title

One way or another, at least one team from the Central Jersey Sports Radio coverage area is guaranteed to win a state sectional title this season.

No matter what anyone else does in any other game, we’ll have a champion from either the Greater Middlesex Conference or Somerset County, as top-seed Montgomery hosts second-seed Monroe Friday evening for the Central Jersey Group 4 championship.

It’s a game you can hear live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with Justin Sontupe and Chris Tsakonas joining you for the pregame show at 5:40 pm, and tip-off at 6:00. Click here to listen.

The Cougars are 23-4 on the season, their best year since 2014, which is also the last time they made a sectional final. They fell in the title game at home to Trenton Central before a packed house and raucous crowd in Skillman. Montgomery is ranked tenth in the state, and the third-highest-ranked public school in New Jersey at the moment.

But while Monty has been handling its opponents fairly well, Monroe (19-7) has been challenged in the state tourney, and been able to survive and advance. They beat North Brunswick in the quarterfinals on a near-buzzer-beater – a trey by Brody Piscitelli with three seconds left – then won by three again two nights later in the semifinals at home against Manalapan.

Montgomery is led by Franklin & Marshall-bound Steve Donahue, averaging 16 points a game. Bohdan Biekietov is averaging 11.8 points a game, and had another double-double Wednesday night – 12 points and 10 boards – against Marlboro in the semifinals. And others like Jack Fromelt and Josh Moore have picked up their games in the absence of sophomore guard Ethan Lin, whose season ended prematurely about a month ago when he broke his ankle in a game.

Picture a lot of threes Friday night, as these two teams have combined for 370 through 53 games, an average of almost seven per. Monty has hit 170 times from beyond the arc, with Monroe connecting on 180, with senior Myles Marabuto – the team’s leading scorer at 17.2 points per game – hitting 63 of them. Mark Laughery is right behind with 50, averaging 10.6 points a game, while Piscitelli has hit 38 triples on the season, including the winner Monday night against North Brunswick.

North Brunswick and Monroe players battle for a rebound in the Central Jersey Group 4 quarterfinals in Monroe on February 26, 2024. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

While the Cougars’ last trip to a sectional final was ten years ago, it’s been even longer for Monroe. Their last appearance was in 2006.

One of those teams will rewrite their own history with a win, and pick up some nice hardware, to boot.

Click below to hear both head coaches talk about their matchup in the Central Jersey Group 4 title game Friday night:

Montgomery head coach Kris Grundy
Monroe head coach Jeff Warner
by Mike Pavlichko

One out of two ain’t bad: Monroe boys salvage state tourney double-header on Piscitelli’s buzzer-beater against North Brunswick

The Monroe girls’ basketball team lost a heartbreaker at the buzzer to South Brunswick to open the Falcons’ home NJSIAA state tournament doubleheader Monday night.

Call the Falcons “Even Steven,” because the boys’ team followed it up with a win in much the same fashion.

The difference here was the Monroe boys led most of the way in this Central Jersey Group 4 quarterfinal before Tommy Koroma of North Brunswick nailed a three with 9.4 seconds left to tie the game at 45.

Monroe coach Jeff Warner called a time out, knowing if they could get the last shot, they could win, but at worst head to overtime.

Instead, Myles Marabuto found Brody Piscitelli in the left corner for a three that hit nothing but net with three seconds left. With no timeouts, all North Brunswick could do was inbound and heave a prayer that didn’t even leave Koroma’s hands until the clock had already reached zero.

Final score: second-seed Monroe 48, 7th-seed North Brunswick 45.

Brody Piscitelli of Monroe hits the game-winning three with two seconds left to beat North Brunswick in the Central Jersey Group 4 quarterfinals on February 26, 2024. (Video: Mike Pavlichko)

The Falcons will host third-seed Manalapan Wednesday in the sectional semifinals, after the Braves topped 11-seed Jackson Memorial, 58-42 Monday night.

Piscitelli finished with 11 for the Monroe (18-7), which was led by Marabuto’s 17 points, while Mark Laughery chipped in 10.

Brandon McCain led North Brunswick (15-13) with 13, while Tommy Koroma finished with 12.

Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Monroe tops No. 1 Aquinas to throw a wrench in GMC Red race, and make its own case

Every year, they talk about St. Joseph, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Colonia in the GMC Red Division. Many assume those will be the teams at the top, in some kind of order.

They didn’t count on Monroe this year.

That is until the Falcons upset of No. 1 Aquinas Thursday night, a 58-43 win that was their seventh in a row since a season-opening loss to Old Bridge. It’s also a victory that puts them directly into the GMC Red Division race, and in contention for a top seed in the GMC Tournament.

More on that in a bit.

First, it was how Monroe won. The goal was to make the game ugly, says head coach Jeff Warner, and they succeeded. The second was to hit some threes, and they did, knocking down ten buckets from beyond the arc, led by 18 points – including six treys – from Myles Marabuto, while Mark Laughery (11 points) and Brody Piscitelli (9 points) also knocked down three triples apiece.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with Monroe head coach Jeff Warner about the win, and next week’s matchup at St. Joseph:

 

Back to the Red race and the quest for the GMCT’s top seed: St. Joe’s sits atop the division at the moment, the only team unbeaten in Red Division play thus far, at 4-0. But then there’s Aquinas at 4-1, and Monroe and Colonia at 3-1.

And the thing to remember is that the GMC Red is in the second year of a pilot program where teams are only required to play each other once. Others play twice each. 

Generally, most publics opted out of playing St. Joseph and St. Thomas twice. Monroe is one of them, so they beat Aquinas in their only meeting. They’ll play St. Joe’s in Metuchen next Thursday, their only meeting as well.

Colonia will play both twice, including Aquinas at home next Thursday, a game you can hear on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Still a lot of basketball to be played, but now the GMC seeding meeting could have a little extra intrigue when the committee gets together on February 2.

by Mike Pavlichko

Monroe’s Okocha triplets lead Falcons into GMCT semifinal clash with state power Aquinas

Yes, you read that right, the Monroe Falcons have triplets on their team.

Josh, Jon and Eli Okocha – who wear numbers 1, 2 and 3 (and yes, in case you were wondering, that’s their actual birth order) – average a combined 40 points a game for the fourth-seeded Falcons. And the trouble is, you never know which Okocha it’s going to be who has the big night.

If you can even figure out which Okocha has the ball.

That will be the task for top-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas (24-1) tonight when they Monroe (21-3) takes aim at the Trojans in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament semifinals, in the second game of a doubleheader slated for 7 pm at Monroe high school.

You read that right, too: Monroe gets to play this neutral court game on their home floor, where it’s only lost once this season. They beat St. Joseph-Metuchen there on a buzzer beater back in January. Those Falcons play the first semifinal at 5 pm against third-seed Colonia.

You can hear all the action on Central Jersey Sports Radio beginning at 4:45 pm with Mike Pavlichko and the pregame for the night’s first matchup, which features 2nd-seed St. Joseph-Metuchen and 3rd-seed Colonia. Click here to listen.

Monroe will be seeking its first trip to a GMC Final since 2010, and to do it, they will have to beat Aquinas head coach Bob Turco, who was the head coach of Monroe that year. They lost that final to St. Joe’s, the first in their string of a league-best five straight titles, and a stretch where they won nine out of ten dating from 2010 to 2019. Joe’s head coach was none other than Dave Turco, Bob’s younger brother, the first time two brothers had ever coached against each other in a GMC title game.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with Monroe head coach Jeff Warner about his team’s season, the Okocha triplets, and the matchup with St. Thomas Aquinas:

by Mike Pavlichko

Big night for Monroe’s girls’ and boys’ basketball teams, knocking off Aquinas and Joe’s in historic Thursday night twin bill

Two parochial powerhouses took separate bus rides all the way down to the deepest recess of Middlesex County, and both headed back up North with losses.

And it was a happy night for Monroe fans.

In a doubleheader at Monroe High School, the unranked girls’ team – which started the season second in the Bellamy & Son Paving rankings after winning the GMC’s top pod last year – knocked off current No. 2 and previously-unbeaten St. Thomas Aquinas, 55-41.

The Falcons (6-2) never trailed after jumping out to an early lead, and avenged a season-opening loss to the Trojans by 38 points. That loss, and another to East Brunswick after a COVID stoppage, had the Falcons starting 0-2, and dropping out of the Bellamy rankings. Aquinas fell to 7-1.

Click below to hear head coach Leigh Vogtman talk about Thursday night’s win over St. Thomas Aquinas:

Not to be outdone, the 8th-ranked Monroe boys were next up against No. 4 St. Joe’s of Metuchen, and pulled out a buzzer-beater of a win, as Eli Okocha – one of a set of triplets on the Monroe team, along with Jon and Josh – corralled a long inbound from underneath the basket with 2.4 seconds left, and chucked it up from 30-feet with 1.2 to play. It went in, giving the purple Falcons a 52-49 win, their first-ever victory over their namesakes from Metuchen.

Monroe improved to 7-2, while St. Joe’s fell to 11-3.

Like the girls, the win also avenged a season-opening loss for Monroe, which fell 60-49 to St. Joe’s in Metuchen on December 17th.

Click below to hear head coach Jeff Warner talk about Thursday night’s win over St. Joseph: