Tag: Sam Jones

by Mike Pavlichko

St. Joseph’s Aidan Carter helped lead Falcons to the top of the heap, named GMC boys’ basketball Player of the Year

There are a lot of good boys’ basketball players in Middlesex County. Some, you’ll see at the end of this article.

But one in particular got all the hype in the preseason, and it turns out none of it was hot air.

Injuries hobbled Aidan Carter last year at St. Thomas Aquinas, which had some of its own upheaval going on around the basketball program after the departure of Bob Turco, who moved on to Piscataway and took the Chiefs right to the county finals. He managed to play 13 games, and averaged 12.8 per contest, hitting nine treys on the season.

But he was perhaps the biggest prize Mark Taylor picked up upon his return to St. Joseph-Metuchen during the off-season. Sure, Joel Patrick from Union made a splash, and Andrew Kretkowski – who came from Rutgers Prep – asserted himself as a leader early on.

And with Carter having to sit the first 30 days due to NJSIAA transfer rules, the Falcons were still 7-0 before he could step foot on the floor. Minus an opener against Wesley College (Australia), the St. Joe’s was winning games, but with Carter, they began to dominate.

Wins by ten and 20 points turned into wins by 20, 30 or more. They had height, and would fly all over the court.

But a 6′ 7″ junior guard who could do it all? He turned out to be perhaps the most valuable piece for St. Joseph, and he’s the Central Jersey Sports Radio GMC boys’ basketball Player of the Year.

Carter upped his game, not having to be bothered by an injury. He played in 24 games, only sitting out what he was required to, and finished with an 18.2 point per game average, nine boards per contest, and 23 triples on the year, to go along with 188 assists, 40 blocks and 63 steals.

Click below to hear from St. Joseph-Metuchen’s Aidan Carter, the GMC Boys’ Basketball Player of the Year:

GMC Boys’ Basketball Player of the Year Honorable Mentions:

  • Andrew Kretkowski, St. Joseph-Metuchen: A transfer in who started his first two seasons at Rutgers Prep, Kretkowski was the second-leading scorer for the Falcons at 17.5 points per game, with 8.2 rebounds. Like Carter, he has in infectious energy that helped rejuvenate his teammates in a huge bounce-back year for St. Joe’s
  • Jayce Rodriguez, Colonia: Along with Dylan Chiera, Jayce was one of two returning starters for a Patriot program that lost major pieces in the off-season, including Aiden Derkack and R.J. Wortman. But his steady demeaner – along with his 20/2 points per game and 79 treys – helped lead Colonia to a fifth straight North 2, Group 3 title, and to its first state championship game in school history.
  • Sam Jones, Sayreville: Scoring a personal best 617 points this season (22.1 ppg) with 66 treys, Jones will graduate as the all-time leader in scoring – boys or girls – at Sayreville, first passing 1970s standout Steve Makwinski’s boys’ record, then Rhonda Rompola’s school record, set in 1978. He finished his career 1ith 1,853 points and 233 triples.
  • Donald Nwaigwe, Piscataway: A thousand-point scorer in four varsity seasons for the Chiefs (who only scored three points in nine games his freshman year, making it even more impressive) Nwaigwe is an energetic ballplayer who averaged 15.7 points per game this season and 8.2 rebounds, leading Piscataway in both categories.
  • Matt Mikulka, East Brunswick: The Bears had their best season since the Bo Henning era, winning 21 games, with Mikulka a big reason why. The senior point guard averaged 20.7 points per game this season, and connected on 83 triples.
  • Yandel Susana, Perth Amboy: Susana was the most prolific scorer the Panthers have had in a single season since Josh Cabezudo scored 544 in 2017-18. He scored 484 points for a 17.2 point per game average as Amboy won its first division title since 1993.
  • Cameron Hayes-Durina: Averaging 16.3 points a game for the Bulldogs (he’s also a solid football player) helped Metuchen to a 24-5 season, 7-0 in the GMC’s White National to win the division, its first title since winning the GMC Blue in 2006, a year the Bulldogs went all the way to the GMC Tournament title game, ultimately falling to Colonia.

by Alec Crouthamel

Sayreville comes from behind, grinds out GMC Tournament win over Perth Amboy for Wojcik’s 200th

Midway through the second quarter, it appeared Sayreville basketball coach John Wojcik would be stuck at 199 career wins for at least another couple of days.

The seventh-seeded Bombers (15-9, 4-4 GMC Red National) trailed 25-13 to tenth-seeded Perth Amboy at home, as the Panthers (21-5, 12-0 GMC White American) controlled the physicality on both sides of the floor in the early goings.

But Sayreville rallied on its home floor and had to survive late in the game for a 59-53 victory in the GMC Tournament’s round of 16, giving a relieved Wojcik a milestone victory, and an extremely hard-fought one at that.

Senior guard Sam Jones — the school’s all-time leading scorer — finished the game with 23 points to lead all scorers. He knocked down a trio of three-pointers and hit clutch free throws late as the Bombers nursed a one-score lead in the final minute. Senior forward Chidi Chukwurah battled foul trouble all night long, including three first-half fouls, but scored all but one of his 19 points in the second half, even while dealing with four fouls for much of the half. It was an extremely physical matchup all night long, with both teams combining for 44 personal fouls (22 apiece). Eight players finished the night with at least three fouls.

Senior guard Ziyan Jones scored 14 points — including nine in the second half — to help make up nearly all of Sayreville’s scoring. Sophomore guard Trevor Yan knocked down a transition three in the second quarter — just his third basket and 13th point of the entire season — to help the Bombers weather the storm, and was the only Sayreville basket not from the trio of Sam Jones, Chukwurah, and Ziyan Jones.

Perth Amboy put together an impressive opening quarter with a 19-9 lead after eight minutes, led by a balanced scoring effort and hard-nosed play at the basket. Senior guard Bryham Paulino knocked down two of his five three-pointers in the opening stretch, and the Panthers got five and four points from Kasey Abreu and Yandel Susana, respectively. The Bombers struggled to consistently get into their half-court offense to start the game thanks to a hounding perimeter defensive effort from Perth Amboy, and the Panthers were able to get easy baskets early with their ball movement against the opposing zone.

Those trends continued into the second quarter, as the lead continued to grow. Ricardo Reyes scored three times at the rim and it appeared that Perth Amboy had Sayreville rattled on its home floor.

But the Bombers finally got going on defense, and started putting together productive drives at the basket to either score or set up an open shooter. Jones hit a three and a midrange jumper, as Sayreville put together enough momentum to trail 27-20 at the half.

And whatever Wojcik said at halftime worked pretty well.

The Bombers stormed out of the gate with two straight baskets sandwiching a forced turnover to bring it to a one-possession game, and Sayreville controlled the rest of the quarter. Chukwurah made his presence felt amid foul trouble, battling through double- and even triple-teams in the post and avoiding the eliminating fifth foul countless times. He added ten points in the quarter, and the Jones duo scored five apiece as Sayreville matched its first-half point total of 20 in the third quarter alone. It also held Perth Amboy to seven — all from Susana — and took a six-point lead into the final eight minutes.

The Panthers weren’t quite done yet, though.

Both teams turned up the pace as Perth Amboy knocked down big shot after big shot to prevent the Bombers from truly pulling away, led by a trio of threes from Paulino, each more critical than the last. Susana continued his savvy scoring with drives to the basket, and all of a sudden, Perth Amboy found itself back in the lead with under four minutes to play.

But just like the third quarter, both Jones’s hit timely shots as Chukwurah controlled the post, and by the end of the frenzy, Jones knocked down two critical free throws with 30 seconds to play to put the Bombers up by four, a lead they would not relinquish.

Sayreville moves on to the GMC Tournament quarterfinals, where it will travel to Piscataway and face the second-seeded Chiefs on Saturday, February 14th at 1 pm. They defeated 18-seed North Plainfield 95-40 on Thursday. Piscataway defeated the Bombers 73-62 in last year’s GMC Tournament semifinals.

Click below for postgame reaction with Sayreville senior guard Sam Jones and head coach John Wojcik in his 200th victory, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Sayreville’s Sam Jones sets Bombers’ overall scoring record less than a week after breaking boys mark, in 57-49 win over Colonia

Rhonda Rompola set the girls’ basketball scoring record at Sayreville in 1978, finishing with 1,608 points in her senior season, before going on to play at Old Dominion, where she won a pair of AIAW national championships in the pre-NCAA days.

Steve Makwinski set the boys record four years prior in 1974, finishing his stellar career with 1,546 points. He played with current head coach John Wojcik’s father, and still attends every game.

Those records stood for a combined 100 years. But as of Thursday night, both have been surpassed.

Senior Sam Jones broke the boys’ record on a first-quarter three at New Brunswick over the weekend, and Thursday night, he broke the all-time record set by Rompola with a layup following a steal, and a feed by Chidi Chukwura with 4:03 left in a gutty 57-49 home win over Colonia. Jones needed 16 coming into the night to tie, 17 to pass her. He finished with 18, and 1,610 career points. (Scroll down for video of the record-setting basket, and on-court recognition.)

And he’s not done yet.

So, to recap, that’s two records – one boys’, one girls’ – set 52 and 48 years ago – that went down in the span of a week.

And if you think that’s impressive, Chukwura – also a senior – is sure to pass both Makwinski’s and Rompola’s marks as well. He had 1,502 coming into Thursday night’s home game against Colonia, and scored 24 in the game. That leaves him 20 behind Makwinski, which he very well could reach Saturday when the Bombers host St. Thomas Aquinas for a 1 pm tip. He’s also just 82 behind Rompola. And with a scoring average around 20, that may not take long.

He’s still chasing his teammate, though, and Thursday night belonged to Sam Jones.

Click below to hear from Sayreville senior Sam Jones, who’s now the Bombers’ all-time scoring leader – boys or girls – along with head coach John Wojcik:

Watch this video – sent to Central Jersey Sports Radio – of the record-setting layup and recognition by PA announcer Gary Andrewshetsko:

by Mike Pavlichko

WATCH: Here’s the final sequence of No. 7 East Brunswick’s wild win Saturday over Sayreville

Saturday afternoon, No. 7 East Brunswick rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit – 11 at the half – to beat Sayreville on the road, 48-47, in a GMC Red National Division game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Sayreville senior Sam Jones hit a three-pointer with ten seconds left to tie the game at 47-47, but senior Matt Mikulka of East Brunswick drove to the basket on the other end and drew a foul, hitting one of two shots to put his team ahead, 48-47, while a last-ditch shot by Jones from the back court to win it fell short.

FULL GAME STORY: Late rally sends No. 7 East Brunswick past Sayreville, 48-47, on key Mikulka FTs, as Bears sweep season series from Bombers

Watch the full final sequence, with play-by-play by Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko, below: