Tag: St. Joseph Metuchen

February 2, 2026February 2, 2026 by Alec Crouthamel

Metro Classic Whiparound: Somerset & Middlesex Counties shine at Stockton University

The Metro Classic returned for its 13th season, this time down at the Sports Center at Stockton University.

Three different teams from Somerset and Middlesex counties — making up the top three of the latest Bellamy & Son Paving Boys’ Top Ten — participated in the Thursday-to-Saturday showcase, and headed back up the Garden State Parkway with a sparkling 4-0 record. Some former standouts from the area also got to return home for one final time before they head off to their respective high-major college destinations.

Here’s a full look on how each team did over the weekend.

No. 1 Gill St. Bernard’s sweeps competition, extends win streak

The Knights (18-2, 5-0) were the lone CJSR area team to play twice, and made the most of their chances with two victories over out-of-area foes to extend their winning streak to 14 consecutive games.

They started on Friday with a matchup against fellow Non-Public Paramus Catholic, coached by former Paterson Catholic and Villanova star Tim Thomas, without the services of leading scorer Dorsett Mulcahy. He returned in the second game of the weekend.

Gill started hot with a double-digit lead after one quarter, led by eight points from junior forward Chase Wieder, as part of a 17-point day, one off his career high. The Paladins fought back with a much-improved second quarter, though, as the Knights’ offense ground to a halt.

Then the third quarter came around.

Gill found its proper footing with its up-tempo, in-your-face defensive and transition styles, outscoring PC 31-14 in the third quarter to open up a 20-point lead after 24 minutes. With the game mostly in hand, the two teams played relatively even in the fourth quarter, finishing off a 65-46 Knights win. Senior forward Prosper Highlander added 17 points and nine rebounds — after ending the first half with just three points — while junior guard Jahmal Dixon added 14 points and five rebounds of his own.

“It was a tough situation,” head coach Mergin Sina said after the game. “It’s a middle-of-the-day game. Kids just got out of school at 11 o’clock. No excuses, but I was worried about this game. Playing at 3 o’clock, driving down from North Jersey at 11 o’clock, kids get out of school, real flat. The kids were sleeping, but we woke up in the third quarter, and we played a little more aggressive, and obviously got the win.”

They went back in action on Saturday, taking on SPIRE Academy’s International team, with Mulcahy back in the fold. Gill got going right away, taking a commanding lead from the start and never looking back, leading by 14 at halftime and eventually cruising to a 67-53 victory. Mulcahy scored 21 points in his return, one of three Knights in double-figures. Highlander scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while sophomore guard Connor Junker added 17 points and five boards.

“I think we got some mismatch issues on one end, but they had to guard us on the other,” said Sina after the win. “So there’s some big kids out there, but they had a little issue guarding us on the perimeter. I thought we did a good job, especially in the first half, of limiting them to one shot.”

No. 2 St. Joseph (Met.) fends off international foe

The Falcons (19-1, 7-0) shook off their first loss of the season against South Plainfield on Tuesday and have now won three straight games, the second coming on Friday at Stockton.

St. Joseph faced off against Crestwood Prep from Ontario, Canada, in a battle that appeared to be in control, but got tight late.

Crestwood used a hot-shooting first quarter to take an early lead, but neither team gained much of an edge in the first half, as both teams went into the locker room tied at 21 apiece.

Even in the third quarter, the two teams played within two possessions, though the Falcons found their stride and methodically built up a solid lead. Junior wing Andrew Kretkowski scored ten points in the quarter, and got seven from sophomore guard Aidan Carter.

Carter and Kretkowski both executed at a high level early in the fourth quarter, as the lead stretched to eight points, and a talented but young Crestwood team fell into an offensive slump. Saint Joseph looked to be in the driver’s seat, but relentless defensive pressure from Crestwood caused some leaks and eventually it turned back to a one-score game in the final minute.

Sophomore center Joel Patrick proved to be the late-game X-factor, getting switched onto the perimeter twice, but holding Crestwood’s guards to desperation shots that Patrick affected both times. The Falcons came away with a 58-52 victory where they certainly faced some adversity late.

“I thought our D was really good the entire night for the most part,” head coach Mark Taylor said after the game. “Made a couple bad rotations, but overall really shut down Isaiah Hamilton. Wasn’t that much of an effect. The other kid surprised us. Number 10 [Sami Uraz] made some shots, so he kept them in it early, but then we kind of cleaned that up. Second half, I thought we did a pretty good job.”

Kretkowski led the way with 22 points and ten rebounds, while also helping limit Hamilton, a top-ten prospect in the 2028 class, on the defensive side. Carter added 21 points — including 17 in the second half and ten in the fourth quarter — and comfortably knocked down some crunchtime free throws. Junior guard Imaad Johnson added ten points while recording four steals.

“Aidan’s special. He can get where he needs to get, which is important. And Andrew’s got a motor and good size,” Taylor added on his star duo. “Those two both played good. They’re our motor, so when they go well, we go well. And let’s hope they keep rolling.”

Kretkowski finished the game with 998 career points and quickly reached 1,000 on Sunday in a win over New York Military Academy.

No. 3 Rutgers Prep pulls away late from last-second opponent

The Argonauts (13-6, 3-1) notched their second straight victory with a big week ahead, including a Thursday matchup against Gill St. Bernard’s and a showdown with Bridgewater-Raritan in the Somerset County Tournament. They faced off against a team that didn’t even know they’d be participating in the showcase 48 hours beforehand in the Metro Classic, and handled business.

Rutgers Prep was originally slated to face off against Seton Hall Prep, but a late schedule change pitted the Argonauts against Salem, coached by former Rutgers guard Anthony Farmer.

After a bit of a slow start offensively, the Argonauts got going quickly and often, turning an eight-point first-quarter lead into a 36-14 advantage at the half.

The Rams were able to battle back and play even in the third quarter, led by the heroics of guard Tymear Lecator — who finished with a game-high 31 points and six three-pointers — but by that point, Rutgers Prep had controlled the tempo and had the game mostly in hand.

“I think it was honestly energy,” head coach Matt Bloom said of the third-quarter swing. “It’s a big gym, a little bit more quiet than we expected, and I think they kind of swung the energy in their favor, and we handled it. And again, we just have to get better. We’ve got to learn from it and get better.”

Sophomore wing Will Brunson and junior guard Rocco Loomis led the way with 18 points apiece — the duo scored all 16 fourth-quarter points for the Argonauts — as Brunson added five rebounds, six assists, and three steals. Senior guard Nicolas Nsenkyire stuffed the stat sheet as well, with six points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and four steals.

“Honestly, I like that we’re frustrated when we don’t play the way that we think that we can play,” added Bloom. “We have a standard now. The kids are about winning. They want to get better. Any win’s a good win obviously. This is a 12-win team from South Jersey that’s playing us on 24 hours’ notice. So we appreciate that. We love the effort they gave us. They made us better today. But again, coming to the Metro Classic, figuring out a way to win in a game that didn’t completely go our way, especially in the second half, it’s a big deal for our young group.”

Middlesex County natives show out in the Garden State one last time

Not only did three teams from the area have their own respective success, but a few players out of state returned towards the end of their senior campaigns.

Former Colonia star Aiden Derkack played in his home state for the second and final time this season with Ohio’s SPIRE Academy — led by Elizabeth native and high-school coaching legend Kevin Boyle — facing a three-game gauntlet that saw SPIRE go 3-0 on the weekend.

On the first night, SPIRE faced a test from North Jersey power Bergen Catholic, and came away with a hard-fought 69-59 victory. Derkack finished with 18 points and ten rebounds — both team-highs — along with three assists, while also helping contain Crusaders forward Julius Avent — currently committed to Tom Izzo and Michigan State — to nine points on the night.

Friday saw SPIRE battle against College Achieve Public Charter School from Asbury Park, and found easier success with a cruising 78-49 win. Derkack scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds, while also recording four steals in the process.

SPIRE closed out its Metro Classic slate on Saturday with a battle against Mike Rice and Linden, in a battle of former Patrick School head coaches. That game turned into a grind-it-out battle, as the Tigers slowed the game down and played with physicality on both ends of the floor, led by its fiery coach.

The visitors from Ohio eventually pulled away with a 59-43 victory, as SPIRE’s top-end talent eventually took over. Derkack scored six points on the night but played a big part in helping SPIRE pull away late. The 6-foot-7 guard will head to Providence to play Big East basketball for the Friars after his season at SPIRE.

On the girls’ side, Edison native and former Rutgers Prep star GiGi Battle made her return to New Jersey, as well. Now at DME Academy in Florida, Battle played in one game, a 52-44 loss to St. James of Virginia for DME’s first loss of the year after starting 18-0. Battle scored nine points in the game. DME was originally set to play two games, with the first coming in a nationally-ranked showdown against Pennsylvania’s Westtown School, but that game was canceled.

Battle will head to Indiana to play for Teri Moren in the Big Ten after her season comes to a close, and joins Red Bank Catholic’s Addy Nyemchek as incoming Hoosiers from the Garden State.

May 21, 2022May 23, 2022 by Mike Pavlichko

St. Joseph pecks away at Woodbridge to earn second straight trip to GMC title tilt

There was one big inning, when St. Joe’s batted around, sending nine men to the plate in the fourth.

And still, they could have had more, but only came away with three runs.

There were a lot of small crooked numbers on the scoreboard when all was said and done, as the top-seeded Falcons scored in all but one of the six innings in which they batted, in a 10-1 victory over 5th-sedd Woodbridge in the GMC Tournament semifinals Saturday, as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Now, the defending champions will get to try to make it two titles in a row, something no other team in the league has done since 2008 and 2009, which also happens to be the last time the Falcons did it.

The top-seeded Falcons will face 6th-seed South Brunswick in the GMC Tournament championship game next Saturday at 2 pm at Ray Cipperly Field on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

The guns were out Saturday afternoon at Cipperly Field – radar guns, that is – as MLB prospect Donovan Zsak took the mound to start the game. But it was only his fifth appearance of the year, as he eases back into things following Tommy John surgery that forced him to miss all of last year.

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And though he only allowed a single run – in the third inning – and he had his velocity, he struggled and labored in the heat – 93 degrees with a heat index of 97 at first pitch.

In his four innings of work, Zsak struck out five, walked three, and allowed just five hits, but he was going deep into counts, going full count on five batters. Woodbridge also wasted several two-strike pitches with a plethora of foul balls, making Zsak work even harder.

Normally, chasing him from a game would be a good thing. But not when the opponent is St. Joe’s, and when head coach Mike Murray has Rutgers-bound senior Andrew Goldan waiting in the wings.

Maybe the scouts, who cleared out like someone had yelled “fire” in a crowded theater once Zsak was in the dugout for good, should have stuck around to see what Goldan could do. In four innings of work, he blanked the Barrons, allowing just three hits – all singles, one of them an infield hit. He struck out seven and walked none.

All the while St. Joe’s was adding to a 3-1 lead. After picking up two in the first, and getting back the run Woodbridge got in the top of the third on a sac fly by Christian Azcona, the Falcons got scored three times in the fourth, three more times in the fifth, and one more time in the sixth, for good measure, teasing the ten-run rule, leaving six runners on base in their final three at bats.

And St. Joe’s didn’t exactly crush the ball, nor did they play small ball. They only had four extra base hits among their 11 in the game, plus a two-base error on Woodbridge left fielder Tim Deignan.

With Eddie Nunez and Josh Vazquez entirely unavailable – spent in the first round and quarterfinals to get here, Matt Troche started the game for Woodbridge (19-5) and took the loss, allowing six runs in three and one-third innings of work.

Zsak got the win for Joe’s (20-6).

Click below for postgame reaction from St. Joseph’s win over Woodbridge in the GMC Tournament Semifinals:

St. Joseph senior Andrew Goldan

St. Joseph head coach Mike Murray

Notes and Nuggets:

Among the best: The win by St. Joseph puts the Falcons in their ninth GMC Tournament final, all since 2004. And that ties Edison for the most appearances ever in the GMC title game, with nine, although the Eagles did it all from 1990 to 2001, and haven’t been back since.

Gunning for the best: St. Joe’s is also one title shy of Edison’s record eight GMCT crowns. They’re 7-1 all-time in the finals, while Edison is 8-1.

Back-to-back: If the Falcons can win the title, it will be the second time they won it back-to-back, having also turned the trick in 2008 and 2009, the last GMC team to do so. Only one other team has won at least consecutive titles. Edison won in back-to-back years in 1998 and 1999, and before that won four in a row from 1992 to 1995.

Nice game: Thomas Zammitti had a good day at the plate for the Falcons, with three singles, a run batted in, two runs scored and a walk. Josiah Brown knocked in two runs on a 2-for-2 day. He scored in the first, had a walk in the third, drove in a run in the fourth, and had another run score when he reached on a two-base error in the fifth.

Spreading the love: Six different Falcons scored in five of St. Joe’s six at bats. Will Ramsay and Zammitti scored twice. Mark Gialluisi had three runs scored.

January 5, 2022 by Mike Pavlichko

St. Joseph-Metuchen taps former Ridge mentor Bill Tracy to lead Falcons

Two years removed from a highly successful run as the head football coach at Ridge – and after spending those two years as the offensive coordinator at Governor Livingston, coaching his son at quarterback – Bill Tracy is headed to the Brainy Boro.

Tracy – who won a state championship for the Red Devils with a perfect 12-0 season in 2013 – has been named St. Joseph’s head football coach. The school announced the hiring in a press release Wednesday.

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Having begun his head coaching career at Livingston, Tracy owns a career record of 127-101, including a 71-44 mark in eleven seasons at Ridge. He left after the 2019 season to coach his youngest son, Connor, at Governor Livingston, which went 4-2 in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, but struggled with a vast amount of youth in 2021.

Tracy is highly-regarded in New Jersey high school coaching circles. He’s known as a class individual, and a tactician, with a deeply-analytical mind for the game.

Ridge won at least seven games five times during Tracy’s tenure there, and went to two state finals, winning one of them. The Red Devils lost to Phillipsburg 34-7 in the North 2, Group 4 finals in his debut season in Basking Ridge, but beat Union in a “nearly-perfect” game in 2013, 48-13 at Rutgers to win the North 2, Group 5 crown. In that game, Ridge scored on all but one possession, when a field goal attempt hit one of the uprights.

Ironically, his best team at Livingston was knocked out of the playoffs by Ridge in 2003, as the Red Devils – then coached by Tom Falato – won their first-ever playoff championship. (Ridge was declared a state champion in Central Jersey Group 2 in 1987.)

Only the fourth head coach in St. Joe’s brief gridiron history, Tracy replaces Rich Hilliard, who stepped down this year after a five-season run with a 30-17 mark. Bob Molarz began the program in 2009, with the first varsity team taking the field in 2011; he was 8-11 in two seasons. Casey Ransone took the helm for the next four years, and went 26-13, running the table in the GMC to a pair of division titles in 2013 and 2016, his first and final seasons.

In a press release, school President John Nolan thanked Hilliard for his contributions to the “Falcon family,” and went on to welcome Tracy: “Beyond proving himself as a winner, Coach Tracy has demonstrated his dedication to student-athletes with exemplary character. This will remain a program committed to excellence both in the classroom and on the field.”

Athletic Director Mike Murray added, “His teaching goes beyond the X’s and O’s of the game,” referring to Tracy. “He also strives to instill integrity in the young men he coaches. In our search process, Coach Tracy showed that he’s a great fir for the Saint Joe’s community. I can’t wait to see out student-athletes mature and flourish under his tutelage.”

Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with Bill Tracy about becoming St. Joseph’s new head coach: