Tag: John Greco

by Mike Pavlichko

And just like that, down goes unbeaten, No. 2 St. Joseph-Metuchen, edged by late South Plainfield FTs, 55-54

They would have liked to have both of them, they only got one, but as the Rolling Stones once said, South Plainfield got what it needed.

Andrew Bena stepped to the free throw line with five seconds and change left in the game, missed his first, but made the second, and the defense held to power the Tigers past No. 2 St. Joseph of Metuchen, 55-54, Tuesday night, handing the Falcons their first loss of the season.

St. Joe’s was the last undefeated boys’ basketball team left in the GMC. Colonia is the lone remaining girls unbeaten, with a 14-0 mark.

Now, the question is, what kind of wrinkle does that throw, if any, into the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament seeding, which takes place next Friday, February 6th.

South Plainfield was ahead by none with just under six minutes to go, but the Falcons went on a late 7-0 run to tie it. The Tigers’ lone basket to stop the run was Bena’s free throw.

But head coach John Greco had no timeouts, so it was up to his defense and Aiden Noblecilla, who the coach said had been playing lights out defense all game on St. Joe’s Aidan Carter. He did it on the final play, without committing a foul, and the rest as they say is history.

Bena finished with 16 on the night to lead all scorers in the game, and was five-of-six from the foul line. Boresa Jawula finished with 13, while Noblecilla added 12 for the Tigers (11-7, 6-2 GMC Red National).

Joel Patrick led the Falcons (16-1, 7-0 GMC Red American) with 12 while Elijah Carter added 11 in defeat.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with South Plainfield head coach John Greco about the win over St. Joseph-Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 8 South Plainfield gets outstanding D, scoring from Vaca, Bena in first win over Colonia since 2005, snapping 23-game skid

It was mid-fourth quarter. South Plainfield’s Justin Vaca was looking to make a pass, and he lobbed the ball with his right hand toward the basket.

Was it an alley-op? A pass to someone cutting in the back door?

It ended up going through the basket, a three-pointer to boot. That wasn’t the intent, but that’s kind of the way things went for the 8th-ranked Tigers Tuesday night, in a 56-42 win over visiting Colonia in a GMC crossover game heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio..

It had been a long time since South Plainfield had beaten Colonia. In fact, it had been 21 years, it’s last victory coming in the 2005 GMC Tournament semifinals. Since then, they had played 23 times, with the Patriots winning every single matchup.

Until Tuesday night that is.

The Tigers (7-1) played tenacious defense, forcing uncharacteristic Colonia turnovers, and directly or indirectly, turned them into points on the other end. Vaca, the junior, finished with 17 points, including three that wasn’t meant to be, and had another right after it, helping extending a lead that was once eleven and had shrunk down to five all the way up to 12, before coming out with a 14 point win in the end.

Sophomore Andrew Bena finished with 16.

Colonia (2-6) got 17 out of Jayce Rodriguez, a sophomore who has seen an increased role with the departure of a lot of offensive firepower, but little other offense. Senior Dylan Chiera was next up with eight, but the Patriots were in foul trouble much of the night, including in the decisive fourth when they had fouls to give to try and get back in the game, just no one to commit them without fouling out.

Chiera did, and Desmond Rudanovic, Teagan Amponsah, Tyler Herman and Jayden Johnson all finished the game with four fouls.

Click below to hear postgame reaction from South Plainfield’s Justin Vaca, Andrew Bena and head coach John Greco, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Graphic displaying the logo of Sportsplex at Metuchen, featuring various sports icons and promoting their Instagram for gym session updates.
by Mike Pavlichko

Talented Colonia in need of wins as Patriots travel to No. 8 South Plainfield Tuesday night

They say “You are what your record is.” 

But this is one of those cases where that statement both does and doesn’t apply.

The South Plainfield boys’ basketball team is 6-1, and the old adage fits there.  But Colonia is 2-5, and, well, not quite so much there.

Sure, the wins haven’t come, but to say they are “struggling ” wouldn’t quite be accurate.  

They’ve played an immensely difficult schedule, including their opener against St. Peter’s Prep in the NJBCA Tip-Off Classic in Montgomery.  They took Piscataway to double overtime, but lost by two just before Christmas.

And a trip to Maryland over the break for some national competition also ended with a pair of losses.

But there is still plenty of talent that will be on display Thursday night when Colonia makes the much shorter trip to No. 8 South Plainfield for a GMC crossover game at 7 pm that can be heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio as part of a doubleheader. It will immediately follow the Tiger girls’ game against JP Stevens at 5:30.  Mike Pavlichko and Dylan Allen will be on the call for both games; click here to listen.

Meanwhile, things have gone quite swimmingly so far for South Plainfield, whose only loss has come to East Brunswick (7-1), which sits in first place in the new GMC Red American Division.  (Colonia is in the Red National.)  And the Tigers just beat their next best divisional competitor, Sayreville, on Saturday, knocking the Bombers from the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten, then taking their spot.

Historically, however, South hasn’t had much recent success against Colonia.  They haven’t played every year, and some years they’ve played three times, but the Patriots have won the last 23 in the series, going all the way back to 2005.  That includes the last four, which have all been in postseason play, either in the GMCT or the state tournament, with a 2022 matchup coming in the North 2, Group 3 championship game.

Last year, Colonia ended South Plainfield’s GMCT run in the semifinals, en route to a second straight county championship.

Click below to hear pregame interview from both head coaches:

South Plainfield head coach John Greco with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Dylan Allen
Colonia head coach Jose Rodriguez with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko

by Mike Pavlichko

Patience a virtue for South Plainfield’s Greco, now it’s paying off for 8th-ranked Tigers

Coming into his seventh season as head coach, John Greco knew he would need a little bit of patience. Losing two big scorers like Brandon Dean and Tareak Williams – combining for almost 34 points a game – would not be easy.

But the Tigers pushed through, and were even briefly ranked in the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten. 

They fell out, and are back in now, at No. 8, and things are starting to come together. 

It took the team a while to jell – they lost to last place Edison in the opener of their own Anthony J. Cotoia Holiday Tournament – and even longer to get two transfers eligible: Dante Dupiche and Naim Mouzon. 

Both came over from Piscataway, and both are among the top three in scoring on the team, with Dupiche averaging 17.2 points per game (tied with Abdul Adebule) and Mouzon chipping in 13.6 per contest. To no one’s surprise, they’ve flourished. In just five games played, they’ve combined for 154 points and 21 triples.

The Tigers are 4-1 since their debut, their lone loss coming out-of-conference to Westfield, and now 12-4 overall, 10-1 in their division.

Thursday night, they can clinch the GMC White with a second win this season over the Barrons (10-5, 8-2). The first meeting was a 76-64 road win back in late December.

You can hear Thursday night’s game here on Central Jersey Sports Radio, as Mike Pavlichko and Vin Ebenau call all the action beginning with pregame at 6:45 pm, and tip-off at 7. Click here to listen.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with South Plainfield head coach John Greco about the season so far, and the matchup with Woodbridge:

by Mike Pavlichko

South Plainfield, Colonia earn all-GMC semifinal matchup in North 2 Group 3 Friday night

The Greater Middlesex Conference is guaranteed to have at least one team playing for a sectional title this year in the NJSIAA State Tournament.

Top-seed South Plainfield and fourth-seed Colonia won their North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 quarterfinal games on Wednesday night, with both teams rallying for wins.

The Tigers beat 8-seeed Summit 55-51 in overtime behind a monster game from Brandon Dean’s 34 points, who has now scored 34 twice in his team’s last three games. South got off to a slow start, trailing 14-9 after one, but came back to take a 28-24 lead into halftime, before again falling behind in the third quarter. Down 36-32 heading into the fourth, Dean helped his team send the game to OT at 46-all, then win in the end.

Click below to hear South Plainfield coach John Greco talk about the game:

Fourth-seed Colonia came up with a 60-51 win over fifth-seed Chatham, and – like the Tigers – also got out to a slow start, trailing 19-9 after one, and they made no progress before halftime, going into the break still down ten. But a refocus on the Patriots’ game plan and an emphasis on rebounding helped Colonia to go on an 18-9 run, doubling up Chatham, to get to within one going into the game’s final eight minutes, before pulling it out in the fourth. Noah Taylor had a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds, while James Curet added 11 boards.

Click below to hear Colonia head coach Jose Rodriguez talk about the win:

The wins set up an all-GMC semifinal game Friday night, with Colonia visiting the South Plainfield for a 5:30 pm tip-off. Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Chris Tsakonas will have live updates on Twitter (follow him at @tsakonas_chris for updates) and postgame reaction after the game on our site, cjsportsradio.com.

The winner will move on to the North 2, Group 3 finals next Monday, time TBD, but will be guaranteed to host. That’s because of two seed upsets on the other side of the bracket, as 6th-seed Snyder of Jersey City knocked off 3-seed Mendham 56-53, while 7th-seed Payne Tech out of Newark toppled 2-seed West Morris 69-59. Whoever wins the South Plainfield-Colonia game will be the higher seed, earning the sectional final at home.

by Mike Pavlichko

South Plainfield looking to close out strong, win first division title since 2005

Sure, the South Plainfield Tigers have won two straight division titles in Greater Middlesex Conference play, and are just three wins away from locking down a third all on their own.

But those came in the Blue Division.

When No. 7 South Plainfield (14-2, 10-1 GMC White) travels to Woodbridge (9-7, 7-4) Thursday night – in a game that can be heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio – the Tigers can take one more step toward clinching their first outright White Division title in 17 years, since the days of Jeff Lubreski as head coach, and standouts on the floor like Marquis Jones and Darren Smith.

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

And the Barrons are likely their biggest hurdle.

South Plainfield won the White in the winters of 2003 and 2004, and took the GMC Tournament title in ’04 and ’05, sharing the White crown in 2005 with Colonia.

A win would would leave two remaining division games – North Plainfield and New Brunswick. A split clinches a share of the division for the Tigers, and a sweep wins it outright, as they lead North Brunswick – which is 8-2 in the White – by a half-game. The Tigers split with the Raiders this season.

You can hear all Thursday night’s action live from Woodbridge High School with Mike Pavlichko calling the play-by-play. Pregame begins at 5:15 pm with tipoff at 5:30 pm. Click here to listen.

South Plainfield is lead by Brandon Dean, a senior guard averaging 21.4 points per game, one of the tops in the GMC. He also hit the game-winning shot against Woodbridge at home to beat the Barrons 48-46 on December 22nd.

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with South Plainfield head coach John Greco:

by Mike Pavlichko

No. 7 South Plainfield guts one out against Franklin in GMC-Skyland Challenge

It wasn’t the best defensive effort they’ve had all season – coach and his star player agree – but a win is a win.

No. 7 South Plainfield got by Franklin Saturday evening in the fourth game of the five-contest GMC-Skyland Challenge at Bound Brook High School, with a 76-65 win. Senior guard Brandon Dean, the GMC’s leading scorer at nearly 26 points a game, finished with 23, including eight three-pointers.

The win improves South Plainfield to 8-1, winners of two straight since suffering its first loss of the season earlier this week to St. Joseeph-Metuchen. Franklin drops to 4-5.

Click below to hear postgame comments from Tigers’ head coach John Greco and senior guard Brandon Dean:

by Mike Pavlichko

Out of the (GMC) Blue, South Plainfield lets its play stand for itself as Tigers ready for sectional semis

Overshadowed by the GMC Red Division and the Colonias of the world, don’t look now, but here’s South Plainfield, one of the last six teams standing from the Greater Middlesex Conference in the state tournament.

Can a team that’s won 22 games really be under the radar? It’s kind of happened that way for the Tigers.

Granted, they’re not in the middle of the pack in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 bracket. They are, in fact, a No. 2 seed.

That might have raised a few eyebrows, but really, it shouldn’t have for anyone following the GMC this season. They didn’t make the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten, but they played well against their division foes in the regular season, and even beat a few Group 4 opponents along the way, like East Brunswick, Old Bridge and Bridgewater-Raritan. They also played up – and lost to – schools like St. Joe’s, South Brunswick and Watchung Hills.

Now, led by Brandon Dean and his nearly 23 points-per-game (he had 28 in a quarterfinal win Thursday night against 10-seed Mount Olive, while Anthony Nigro and Tareak Williams each chipped in a bakers’ dozen), the Tigers are a win away from a sectional final, and it could be an all-GMC final, too, with top-seed Colonia facing 5th-seed Mendham in the other semi.

But first things first, South Plainfield has to get through 3rd-seed West Morris (16-11), in a noon game at home Saturday.

Click below for a preview with South Plainfield head coach John Greco: