Tag: St. Thomas Aquinas

Middlesex pitcher Chris Kozak (12) throws a pitch.
by Alec Crouthamel

Two-seed Middlesex shuts down seven-seed St. Thomas Aquinas 3-0, advances to GMC semifinals for second straight year

If you’ve seen Middlesex win one baseball game, you’ve likely seen a hundred of them.

The Blue Jays (20-2, 13-1) have a formula, and execute it well. A gem from one of their “bulldog” aces. Innings where they feed off of each other’s at-bats and stack up runs. Some clutch pinch hitting. And of course, timely defensive plays.

Second-seeded Middlesex got all of that in its 3-0 win over seventh-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas in the Jim Muldowney GMC Championship Tournament quarterfinals, moving onto the semifinals for the second straight year.

While the Blue Jays didn’t pile on as many station-to-station innings as they’re used to, a three-run fourth inning was all they needed with senior pitcher Chris Kozak on the bump.

He went the distance, throwing a complete-game shutout in 89 pitches, allowing just three hits with three strikeouts and two walks.

But the win didn’t come without some adversity. With their backs against the wall, the Trojans (10-13, 6-8) managed to load the bases with a single, walk, and single with one out in the top of the sixth inning, and the go-ahead run at the plate in starting pitcher Nikash Patel. For the second straight at-bat, Patel came out ambush-style and mashed the first pitch, but it sailed foul over the fence, just barely early on the breaking ball.

Two pitches later, Patel took another opportunity at a ball he liked. He grounded it hard towards senior shortstop Marcus Lavornia. Lavornia took a dive to his right, came up with the ball in his glove, and flipped it to second baseman Anthony Melchiorre.

With the echoing “Get rid of it!” from his coaching staff in the home dugout, Melchiorre fired a laser to first baseman Luke Jones, just barely beating Patel to the spot.

Inning over. No runs scored.

Kozak retired the side in order in 11 pitches the very next inning to end it.

The matchup began as a pitcher’s duel with neither side able to gain an offensive edge. The first 12 batters of the game were retired in order through the first two innings, and each team recorded their first hits of the game in the third inning, but nobody scored.

The opening stretch offered some impressive outfield defense as well, with the wind blowing out to left field on a cool, breezy afternoon at Mountainview Park. That included some catches on the run by Blue Jays centerfielder Dominic Long, and a diving grab by St. Thomas Aquinas left fielder Louie Scaff to end the first inning.

After Kozak worked a nifty pickoff move to retire courtesy runner Junior Perez in the top of the fourth, Middlesex’s offense got going in the bottom half.

Jones started it off with a one-out single, advancing to second on a passed ball. Designated hitter Sean Hughes flew out to left field to record the second out, but the Blue Jays worked some two-out magic.

Long drew a six-pitch walk to put runners on first and second, prompting a pitching change, as the Trojans replaced Patel with freshman third baseman Justin Monterosso. He walked Middlesex third baseman Diego Marcano on four pitches to load the bases to start his outing. Then, with Kozak at the plate, Jones scored on a spiked wild pitch that bounced high in the air to score the game’s first run.

Kozak helped his own cause by re-loading the bases with a five-pitch walk. Second-year skipper Blaze Iannetti then went to pinch-hitting extraordinaire Dalton Michael in a crucial spot.

Michael came out first-pitch swinging, and he lined a fastball into the left-center gap to score Long and Marcano.

St. Thomas Aquinas made another pitching change, inserting junior Chris Gutauskas, who induced an inning-ending groundout to get out of the jam.

The three-run frame was all the Blue Jays needed to come away victorious.

The Trojans did put up a fight in the sixth, but Kozak regained his composure with an easy-looking seventh inning. He threw over 15 pitches in just two innings, trusting his defense and inducing soft contact. He earned the win in his shutout performance.

Patel was given the loss in 3.2 innings, allowing two hits and two earned runs, with three strikeouts and two walks. Gutauskas retired all seven batters he faced in relief.

Middlesex advances to the championship tournament semifinals for the second straight year after doing so last year as the ten-seed.

The Blue Jays will face off against third-seeded Old Bridge — who outlasted six-seeded Woodbridge 1-0 in eight innings Wednesday — on Saturday at East Brunswick Magnet High School. Middlesex is looking for its first GMC Championship appearance since it won the title back in 2012.

Click below for postgame reaction from Middlesex head coach Blaze Iannetti and seniors Chris Kozak and Marcus Lavornia, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:


by Mike Pavlichko

GMCT Recap:  Monroe knocks off Colonia in only first round upset, as seven other higher seeds advance

Top-seed Edison and the rest of the top seven seeds advanced Monday in the GMC’s Jim Muldowney Championship Tournament, with only eight-seed Colonia getting upset.

It was a chalk Monday in the tournament, which has been fairly lucky in the first two rounds with weather. Rain had been in the forecast at one point or another for the first three days of the event, including Saturday’s preliminary round.

But all those games got off without a hitch – even if a few raindrops fell, it was nothing major – and Monday turned out to be a gorgeous day, with temps in the low 60s under mostly cloudy skies until about an hour into the 4 pm games, when the sun shone for the rest of the later afternoon.

Here’s a recap of all eight games, followed by the schedule for Wednesday’s quarterfinals, which – as of 11 pm Monday – has a round a 50 percent chance of showers between the hours of 4 and 6 pm. Any games not played Wednesday likely move to Thursday, with temperatures around 67 degrees, showers in the morning, but a mix of sun and clouds by afternoon.

(1) Edison 10, (17) Piscataway Magnet 5: The Eagles (15-5) scored early and often, getting five in the first and five in the second, more than enough runs for senior Connor Murphy, who struck out 13 and allowed just one infield hit and three baserunners in the game.

Read a full recap of the contest here, along with postgame reaction from sophomore Sam Kentos (2 triples, 4 RBI), Murphy, and head coach Vinnie Abene, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen.

Piscataway Magnet took just its second loss of the season to drop to 20-2.

The Eagles – a GMCT finalist last season – will host nine-seed Monroe in Wednesday’s quarterfinals. They split their two-game set in early April, with Edison winning the opener 7-1 on the at home, and Monroe getting a 2-0 shutout in the rematch at home.

(9) Monroe 9, (8) Colonia 2: With ace Colin Kroner sidelined due to injury, the Falcons (9-12) jumped out to a 3-0 lead, then added six more in the middle three innings to take a 9-1 lead, and allowed one sixth-inning run to the Patriots (10-7), who used four pitchers to get through the game. Starter Ryan Totin, who went 3 1/3 innings, took the loss, allowing five earned runs.

Matt Linke, Justin Mangamo and Michael Cinque drove in two runs apiece for the Falcons, who had dropped eight of nine coming in after a 7-4 start. Starting pitcher Ben Fagin was solid, scattering two hits and allowing just one unearned run, striking out 13 in a complete game effort.

Click here to listen to Monroe head coach Sean Field talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko about the Falcons’ win over the Patriots.

In the quarterfinals, Monroe will be at Edison on Wednesday. The teams split this season.

(5) South Plainfield 2, (12) St. Joseph-Metuchen 1: For the Tigers (12-10), they don’t come up bigger than Aiden McCarthy in big spots. The senior pitcher scattered five hits in a complete game effort, allowing one earned run, striking out ten, to improve to 6-1 on the season.

South Plainfield got out to a 1-0 lead in the botom of the first on a sac fly to right by Chris Loniewski. St. Joseph (5-15) – the defending tournament champs – tied it in the top of the fourth with a single by Logan ring, but the Tigers got the lead back in the home half of the inning when Dom Massaro was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring Ed Budzinski.

The win puts the Tigers in Wednesday’s quarterfinals at fourth-seed Metuchen (15-5), a team they have not faced since 2018.

(4) Metuchen 3, (13) Spotswood 0: Starter James Fenton went 6 1/3 innings, allowing just three hits while striking out 15, and Matt Jelleme closed out the final two-thirds for the win. The Bulldogs (15-5) got an RBI from Matt Jelleme in ousting the Chargers (11-2), a GMCT semifinalist a year ago.

Metuchen will host 5th-seed South Plainfield (12-10) in Wednesday’s quarterfinals, the first meeting between the teams since 2018.

(3) Old Bridge 1, (14) Sayreville 0:  In a pitchers’ duel, the Knights (14-8) got a four-hit shutout from Brady Meyer, and got the only run they needed in the bottom of the fourth inning – when Jared Volpe scored on a passed ball with Erich Schikchneit at the plate – in taking the tight victory over the Bombers (9-11).

Both starting pitchers went the distance in this one. Meyer walked four but struck out seven, while Jack Martyn of Sayreville allowed one earned run on five hits in six innings of of work. He threw just 70 pitches; while Meyer threw only 85.

In the quarterfinals on Wednesday, the Knights will host sixth-seed Woodbridge (12-7), a team they beat twice this year, but both by slim margins: 2-1 at home on April 2nd, and 9-7 on the road two days later.

(6) Woodbridge 7, (11) East Brunswick 1: The Bears (6-13) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth, opening the scoring in the game, but it was all Barrons (12-7) from there on out, as they tied it in the bottom of the inning, then blew it open with five in the fifth before adding a seventh run in the sixth.

Jaidon Coello got East Brunswick on the board with a single in the fourth, but the lead was short-lived, as Xavier Diaz hit a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the inning, tying the game at one.

In the fifth, Woodbridge got another homer, this time a leadoff blast from Nate Langon to make it 2-1. Then, after a walk to Hogan Boyd, a single by Kevin Arroyo, and another walk to Jack Kobylakiewicz, a third walk – this time to Gavin Slicner – made it 3-1. Diaz singled to make it 4-1, Nick Lukachyk followed with one of his own to make it 6-1, more than enough to give the Barrons the win.

Arroyo got the win, scattering three hits across seven innings, needing just 98 pitches to finish, also recording seven strikeouts.

Next up, Woodbridge visits Old Bridge in Wednesday’s quarterfinals. The Knights took both games from the Barrons this season, 2-1 and 9-7.

(7) St. Thomas Aquinas 3, (10) South Brunswick 2: After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the first, the Trojans (9-12) got three in the home half to take a 3-1 lead they’d never relinquish in beating the Vikings (9-8).

Louis Rizzolo was masterful, improving to 6-0 on the season thanks to a two-hit complete game in which he struck out 13 and allowed two runs, one earned.

The first came in South Brunswick’s first at bat after Ayden Antigua – who reached on an error – scored with two outs. Starting pitcher Collin Perna drove in the other run with a single in the third.

But Aquinas got all three of its runs in the bottom of the first. Nikash Patel singled to drive in Adrian Sanchez, who had reached on a one-out double, then after a single by Tyler Coello, Justin Brown drove in Patel and Coello with a single.

Perna took the loss for South Brunswick, throwing 5 1/3, striking out six and walking one. All three runs were earned.

St. Thomas will visit second-seed Middlesex (19-2) – a GMC semifinalist last year – in Wednesday’s quarterfinals. The teams haven’t met this year, but split two games last season.

(2) Middlesex 12, (15) South River 2: The Blue Jays (19-2) won their fourth straight – and 15th in their last 16 games dating back exactly one month to April 11 – as they topped the Rams (16-6) in a five-inning, ten-run rule victory.

After getting a run in the first on a Luke Jones sacrifice fly that scored Marcus Lavornia – who’d stolen third after he reached on an error and sac bunt got him to second – Middlesex broke it open with five runs in the second. With the bases loaded and one out, Lavornia singled to make it 2-0, Dylan Ianiero walked to bring in Chris Kozak, Jones flied out to right to bring in Lavornia, and Sean Hughes drove in two with a double to left to make it 6-0.

And after the Rams got on the board in the top of the third on an RBI double by Hunter Krainski and a sac fly by Noah Barrero, Middlesex simply added six more in the bottom of the inning, then held the Rams the rest of the way. Jones, who finished with four runs batted in, was key in that inning with a two-run double.

Dom long got the win for Middlesex, going four innings, striking out six, and allowing two earned runs. Dalton Michael closed it out in the fifth, allowing just a two out single.

The Jays will host St. Thomas Aquinas (9-12) in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 13 – GMC JIM MULDOWNEY CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTERFINALS

  • (9) Monroe at (1) Edison (follow Nick Hart on Twitter for updates and a game recap)
  • (5) South Plainfield at (4) Metuchen
  • (6) Woodbridge at (3) Old Bridge
  • (7) St. Thomas Aquinas at (2) Middlesex (follow Alec Crouthamel on Twitter for updates and a game recap)

SATURDAY, MAY 16 – GMC JIM MULDOWNEY CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS (at East Brunswick Magnet)

  • Semifinal #1: 12 pm
  • Semifinal #2: 2:30 pm (highest remaining seed)

SATURDAY, MAY 23 – GMC JIM MULDOWNEY CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT FINAL (at East Brunswick Magnet)

  • Final: 2 pm
by Mike Pavlichko

Rutgers Prep girls, back on top in Somerset County, are No. 1 team in Final Bellamy & Son Paving rankings

Sure, the Rutgers Prep girls’ basketball team won 20 games last year, but it still wasn’t up to Mary Klinger’s standards. The coach calls the regular season the “preseason.” A division title is nice, but the county and state tournaments are the goals. Win those, and it’s a good year for the Argonauts. In 2025, they won neither.

But this year, with much of the same crew back, the Argonauts returned to their familiar spot as Somerset County Tournament champions, and finish the year No. 1 in the Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball Top Ten.

Led by four-year varsity standout Ava LaMonica – the team’s top scorer, who will be playing collegiately next year at Buffalo – as well as fellow seniors Ava Frith and Sophia Georgiades, as well as super sophomore Hailey Benbow – the Argos’ second-best scorer and top rebounder – Rutgers Prep (25-4) didn’t lose a single conference game this season, its three regular season losses coming to Red Bank Catholic, Cardinal O’Hara (PA), and Blair right before the state tournament. Their fourth came to Gloucester Catholic in the Non-Public South B Final.

Prep beat Franklin – the eventual Central Jersey Group 4 champ – in the Somerset County Final, and won the Skyland Division title with a 6-0 record.

Gill St. Bernard’s checks in at No. 2. With a 22-6 mark, the Knights won the Non-Public North B title with a victory over Saddle River Day, then lout to Gloucester Catholic in the state Non-Public Group B final at Rutgers, the same Rams’ team that beat Rutgers Prep in the semifinals. Gill lost its only meeting with Rutgers Prep this season, 51-44 in late January, in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Finishing third is St. Thomas Aquinas (24-7). The Trojans – with the senior trio of Jordan Barnes, Trista Whitney and Kayla Navarro – blew through the GMC this season, going 11-0 to win the Red American Division, and stormed to their seventh straight GMC Tournament championship, beating resurgent East Brunswick in the final. They would bow out to eventual state champion Red Bank Catholic in the Non-Public South A semifinals.

Checking in at four is Franklin (22-9). A Somerset County Tournament finalist under first-year head coach Jimmy Kreie, the Warriors returned to their former – and fairly recent – glory with a win in the Central Jersey Group 4 title game over neighboring Hillsborough. They were knocked out of the state tournament by Lenape in the state Group 4 finals.

Fifth is Hillsborough (21-7). The Raiders had won two sectional titles in a row – in North 2, Group 4 in 2024 and Central 4 last season – but fell at Franklin in the Central Jersey Group 4 title game.

East Brunswick checks in at No. 6 with a 23-6 record. Ava Catanho and Julianna DelosSantos-Branson led the Bears back to prominence this season, as they got to the GMC Tournament title game, where they lost to now seven-time reigning GMCT champion St. Thomas Aquinas.

Bound Brook (25-4) – re-ignited by freshman sensation Peytan Pugh – finishes at No. 7, thanks to a Mountain Division championship, going 8-0 in divisional play. They nearly knocked off Rutgers Prep in the Somerset County Tournament semifinals, and reached the Central Jersey Group 1 title game, falling on the road to top-seed New Providence.

Finishing eighth is Bernards (24-5), which started the year 10-0, and was the Skyland Conference Valley Division champion at 11-1. They lost to defending champion Madison in the North 2, Group 2 semifinals.

At No. 9, it’s Colonia. After a down season, head coach Jill Bachonski has the Patriots looking solid, finishing 20-4, and going 8-0 to win the GMC Red National Division. They reached the GMC Tournament semifinals, falling to eventual champion St. Thomas Aquinas.

And No. 10 is Piscataway, making its season debut in the final rankings of the year. The Lady Chiefs finished 17-9, and went 6-0 to win the White American Division title, reaching the GMC Tournament semifinals, where they lost to East Brunswick.

Below are the complete final Bellamy & Son Paving Girls’ Basketball Top Ten rankings for 2025-26:

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY – GMC Tournament Girls’ Final: (1) St. Thomas Aquinas 62, (2) East Brunswick 41

Jordan Barnes led all scorers with 20 points, and Leah Kearney was named tournament MVP, as the top-seeded St. Thomas of Aquinas Trojans won their seventh straight GMC Tournament title, beating second-seed East Brunswick 62-41in the 40th girls’ GMC Championship game.

Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe call all the play-by-play from Monroe Township High School on February 20, 2026.

by Mike Pavlichko

Make it seven straight for St. Thomas Aquinas: Trojans top East Brunswick, 62-41, to win yet another GMC Tourney title

It never gets old for St. Thomas Aquinas.

Having won six straight GMC Tournament titles coming in to Friday night’s 40th championship game, second-seed East Brunswick hung around for a while. The Bears were down just six after one, and even had a chance to cut it to nine before the half, but missed a three and ended up down 12.

But the third quarter was the difference. Things opened up – for both teams – but the last thing anyone wants to do is get into a track meet with St. Thomas. They did, and STA extended its lead to 49-29 at the end of three, and by that time, it was well in hand.

In the end, it ended up as a 62-41 win for the top-seed St. Thomas Aquinas (22-5) over second-seed East Brunswick (21-5), as heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio. It was the Trojans’ seventh straight title, extending their GMC-record streak, the longest for either the boys or girls in the 40-year history of the event.

Senior Jordan Barnes was the game’s high scorer, finishing with 20 points. She was MVP as a sophomore, and probably anyone could have been, but it went to Leah Kearney, well-deserved with a 12-point night, averaging 10 per game in the four tournament games.

The win wa also the 80th straight over GMC opponents – regular season and postseason – with their last loss coming in January of 2022, here against Monroe.

That means the senior fore of Barnes, Trista Whitney – who had nine in the final – and Kayla Navarro never lost a single game against a GMC opponent.

Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko with junior and GMC Tournament MVP Leah Kearney, senior Trista Whitney, head coach Tim Corrigan, and senior Jordan Barnes, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY – GMC Tournament Boys’ Semifinals: (1) St. Joseph-Metuchen 63, (5) St. Thomas Aquinas 51

Aidan Carter scored a game-high 24 points while Joel Patrick grabbed 14 rebounds to send No. 1 seed St. Joseph-Metuchen to the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament title game for the first time since 2019, with a 63-51 win in the semifinal round over fifth-seed St. Thomas Aquinas.

Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Vin Ebenau call all the play-by-play from Monroe Township High School on February 18, 2026.

by Mike Pavlichko

GMC Tournament Girls’ Final Preview: Lucky 7? Or a boxcar? St. Thomas Aquinas and East Brunswick to battle Friday night for league title

Win a couple of championships, and people start talking about a dynasty. Win six in a row, and it’s a pretty good bet that’s what you’ve got.

Win seven?

That’s what the St. Thomas Aquinas girls’ basketball program will try and do Friday night down at Monroe Twp. High School when they play in the 40th Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament championship game.

As the top-seeded Trojans seek their ninth GMC title, and 10th county trophy overall, East Brunswick will be looking for its sixth GMC – and seventh overall as the second-seeded Bears return to the title game for the first time since 2016.

That year, the Bears beat Monroe for the title with Keith Lane at the helm, but the team they beat in the semifinals was Bishop Ahr, which now is St. Thomas (again – that was the school’s name originally). That’s also the last time they beat Ahr/Aquinas, with 14 losses in between.

You can hear Friday’s GMC Tournament championship doubleheader exclusively on Central Jersey Sports Radio Friday night, starting with the 6 pm girls’ opener, followed by the boys’ championship at 8:00 between top-seed St. Joseph-Metuchen and second-seed Piscataway. Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe will call all the action, with pregame starting at 5:45 for the girls’ game. Click here to listen.

Until Colonia’s 20-point loss to St. Thomas on Tuesday in the semifinals, East Brunswick had gotten the closest to STA in almost three years back on January 17th, within 21 points in a 76-54 loss. It was their narrowest margin of victory against a GMC opponent since the Patriots got within seven in a 49-42 loss to Aquinas in the 2023 GMC Tournament title game.

MORE ON THE GMC TOURNAMENT GIRLS’ FINAL:

(1) St. Thomas Aquinas (21-5) vs. (2) East Brunswick (21-4)
When: Friday, 6 pm
Where: Monroe Township High School
Broadcast Team: Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe (LISTEN HERE)

COACHES:

St. Thomas Aquinas: Tim Corrigan, 3rd season (66-20)
East Brunswick: Travis Retzlaff. 7th season (102-62)

PREVIEW INTERVIEWS:

St. Thomas Aquinas head coach Tim Corrigan with Justin Sontupe
East Brunswick head coach Travis Retzlaff with Justin Sontupe

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

St. Thomas Aquinas: The difference between the Trojans last year and this year in divisional play – the GMC’s top division, the Red American – is negligible; they won their ten games against East Brunswick, Piscataway, Monroe and North Plainfeld by an average 40.4 points per game. That’s down slightly from an even 45 last season, their highest in the last six seasons where they’ve won the GMC Tournament title. And in their first two games, they were not really tested. Not in an 83-39 win over 16-seed Sayreville in the round of 16, nor in a 79-41 win over 8-seed Middlesex in the quarterfinals. But in the semis, Colonia had some chances, but couldn’t get closer than 17 points in the second half after Aquinas built a sizeable lead, and Aquinas won by 20. That’s the closest anyone has gotten to STA in the GMC since the 2003 final, when the beat Colonia 49-42.

East Brunswick: The Bears cruised in their opening two games as well, 68-30 over 18th-seed North Brunswick in the first round, and 59-31 over seven-seed Monroe at home in the quarterfinals. The semis were a bit closer, but East Brunswick was able to control most of the way en route to a 52-38 win Wednesday night.

TOP SCORERS:

St. Thomas Aquinas: Jordan Barnes (senior, 16.9 ppg, 5 treys), Trista Whitney (senior, 11.8 ppg, 21 treys), Lauryn Downing (junior, 11.7 ppg, team-best 37 treys), Leah Kearney (junior, 10.8 ppg, 4 treys)
East Brunswick: Ava Catanho (sophomore, 18.1 ppg, team-best 50 treys), Zoey Alexio (junior, 10.1 ppg, 46 treys), Julianna DelosSantos-Branson (senior, 9.6 ppg, 15 treys)

TOP REBOUNDERS:

St. Thomas Aquinas: Leah Kearney (9.8), Jordan Barnes (5.5)
East Brunswick: Julianna DelosSantos-Branson (8.4), Sophia Tannura (junior, 4.4)

MISCELLANEOUS:

St. Thomas Aquinas: Lauryn Downing (143 assists), Leah Kearney (37 blocks), Trista Whitney (79 steals)
East Brunswick: Ava Krzywdzinski (133 assists, 59 steals), Ava Catancho (20 blocks)

RECENT MEETINGS: Aquinas has won 14 straight in the series, dating back to 2019 when they were still called Bishop Ahr, winning the first in that stretch under that moniker. Until the last few years, St. Thomas had been in the White Division, so the two didn’t play all that frequently. In fact, they only played four times – three times in the GMC Tournament – from 2014 to 2019. East Brunswick’s last win came in 2016, when they beat Ahr in the GMC Tournament semifinals, 44-0, en route to the title, which they won over Monroe. That was the Bears’ last trip to the title game.

GMC TOURNAMENT HISTORY:

St. Thomas Aquinas (also previously known as Bishop Ahr) (9-5):

  • 1984:  (1) Bishop Ahr 52, (2) St. Peter 49 (MCT)
  • 1985:  (1) St. Peter 40, (2) Bishop Ahr 21 (MCT)
  • 1986:  (1) Hoffman 55, (2) Bishop Ahr 52
  • 1987:  (1) Hoffman 74, (2) Bishop Ahr 46
  • 1994:  (2) Bishop Ahr 51, (1) East Brunswick 36
  • 1996:  (2) East Brunswick 50, (5) Bishop Ahr 43
  • 2001:  (5) Bishop Ahr 55, (2) East Brunswick 43
  • 2014:  (2) Piscataway 50, (12) Bishop Ahr 45
  • 2019:  (1) Bishop Ahr 47, (2) Edison 32
  • 2020:  (1) St. Thomas Aquinas 64, (3) Monroe 41
  • 2021:  (3) Monroe 46, (2) St. Thomas Aquinas 40 (de facto championship: Somogyi Family Pod)
  • 2022:  (1) St. Thomas Aquinas 64, (7) South Brunswick 58
  • 2023:  (1) St. Thomas Aquinas 49, (3) Colonia 42
  • 2024:  (1) St. Thomas Aquinas 71, (2) Colonia 52
  • 2025:  (1) St. Thomas Aquinas 93, (2) Monroe 34

East Brunswick (5-7):

  • 1992:  (2) St. Peter 60, (1) East Brunswick 58 (OT)
  • 1993:  (3) JP Stevens 62, (1) East Brunswick 42
  • 1994:  (2) Bishop Ahr 51, (1) East Brunswick 36
  • 1995:  (1) Piscataway 44, (3) East Brunswick 37
  • 1996:  (2) East Brunswick 50, (5) Bishop Ahr 43
  • 1997:  (1) Piscataway 58, (2) East Brunswick 40
  • 1998:  (2) Piscataway 52, (1) East Brunswick 51
  • 1999:  (1) East Brunswick 62, (3) Piscataway 51
  • 2000:  (1) East Brunswick 68, (2) Edison 43
  • 2001:  (5) Bishop Ahr 55, (2) East Brunswick 43
  • 2002:  (1) East Brunswick 62, (2) Edison 51
  • 2016:  (2) East Brunswick 42, (1) Monroe 31

OTHER NOTES:

Postseason Awards: The GMC coaches unveiled their All-Conference and All-Division picks Tuesday, and two St. Thomas players made the list of ten all-GMC picks: seniors Jordan Barnes and Trista Whitney. Barnes committed to Rider back in July, while Trista Whitney will be heading to Maryland-Eastern Shore. Ava Catanho of East Brunswick was named All-GMC, and she’s just a sophomore. The only other 10th grader to make the list was Alyssa Iduh of Piscataway. Head coach Travis Retzlaff of East Brunswick was named Coach of the Year. As for All-Division, besides Barnes and Whitney, juniors Lauryn Downing and Leah Kearney were honored from St. Thomas, and senior Julianna DelosSantos-Branson also was named from East Brunswick.

Athletic Lineage: Speaking of Catanho, if that name sounds familiar, it is. The young East Brunswick star is the daughter of Kara Motusesky, an assistant under head coach Travis Retzlaff, and former Rutgers football standout and Elizabeth native Alcides Catanho. Motusesky’s brother, Mark, is the boys’ coach at East Brunswick, having succeeded longtime head coach Bo Henning, and she herself was a standout for he Bears (a 1993 alum), scoring 1,614 points in her career. She held the girls’ scoring record until Jess Olszewski topped it in the 1999-2000 season, finishing 42 points ahead with 1,656. The Motuseskys are also cousins of longtime Spotswood baseball coach Glenny Fredricks.

Injuries? Not a problem: Not much to speak of here. Lauryn Downing missed a handful of games heading into the GMC Tournament – including a big clash up at Gill St. Bernard’s, which they lost 67-62 as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio – with a slight ankle sprain. She probably could have played, but even a big game like that isn’t as important as having her healthy for the GMC Tournament run. Downing looked in fine form Tuesday night down in Monroe in the semifinal win over Colonia, draining a career-high six threes.

The names may change… The last four St. Thomas/Bishop Ahr girls’ coaches have all won championships for the Trojans. Current mentor Tim Corrigan has won the last two in his first two seasons as coach, following two titles under Joe Whalen. Before that, Britney Griffin won a pair of titles – in 2020 as Aquinas, and 2019 as Bishop Ahr. Her predecessor, longtime coach Kevin Harper – one of the winningest girls’ coaches in New Jersey history, with 722 victories at Piscataway Tech, Ahr and Middlesex – took them to four finals, winning in 1994 and 2001.

Second Win: Tim Corrigan is one of a dozen GMC girls’ coaches who have won multiple titles (also counting the MCT from 1975 through 1985), including two from his school – Kevin Harper and Brittney Griffin. The others are Reggie Carney of East Brunswick, who has the most titles at seven, followed by Ernie Vajda of now-defunct St. Peter’s-New Brunswick with five. Piscataway’s Pat Mayo won five in the 2000s at Piscataway. Andy Eng of JP Stevens and Bev Hall of Piscataway each won three times, while George Hosea (South Brunswick), Corey Floyd (Piscataway), Pat Daly (New Brunswick) and Paul Kumlin (Piscataway) all have won two. Four different Piscataway coaches have won multiple titles over the years.

Streaking: St. Thomas is third on the list of consecutive finals appearances, making their sixth in a row this year, winning all previous five. They also have won more consecutive games in the GMC Tournament than any other school in history, 27 and counting, four each in the past six tournaments, and three this year.

How the seeds fare: In 48 championship games, the top seed has won 31 times, while the second seed has won nine times. When it’s No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the title game, which has happened only 24 times, the top-seed is 19-5. When the top seed is in the final, it has won seven straight. The last team to knock off a No. 1 seed? East Brunswick in 2016.

1-2, 1-2: Since the dawn of the GMC in 1986, this is the ninth time both the girls’ and boys’ title games have featured the 1 vs. the 2 seeds. It happened last year, with both No. 1 seeds winning: the St. Thomas Aquinas girls and the Colonia boys. They last time both games had the top two seeds before that? Again, 2016 keeps popping up. , when the top-seeded St. Joe’s boys beat South Brunswick, and the 2nd-seeded East Brunswick girls beat top-seed Monroe. It also happened the year before, in 2015, when the second-seeded Colonia boys beat St. Joseph, and top-seed Piscataway topped Monroe on the girls’ side. Other double 1 vs. 2 years include 2010, 1998, 1994, 1992 and 1989.

by Mike Pavlichko

St. Thomas Aquinas had opportunities, but St. Joseph-Metuchen prevails, 63-51, in GMC Tournament semis, as Taylor leads alma mater back to finals

Mark Taylor won two GMC Tournament championships in his first go-round as the head coach at his alma mater. But right now he’s a win away from what may be his masterpiece.

St. Joseph-Metuchen hasn’t been to the league’s championship game since 2019 the last of a ten-year stretch in which they appeared every year, and won nine of ten titles, the first eight under Dave Turco, the second eight under Mike Thompson, a teammate of Taylor’s with the Falcons in their playing days.

But now, they are back, in Taylor’s first year in his second stint at the Metuchen school, after a 63-51 win over St. Thomas Aquinas in the GMC Tournament semifinals, as heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

It wasn’t the most convincing win, but considering they’ve been knocked off once this year, 55-54 by South Plainfield on January 27th, Taylor will take it.

The turning point of the game might actually have been the first six minutes of the ball game. If not, it was certainly the most consequential moment. While top-seeded St. Joe’s built an eleven-point lead, they held the Trojans off the ball until the 2:08 mark of the first. Had they hit just a couple of buckets, the second half – and the final result – might have been different.

Joe’s (25-1) led by 13 at the half, 38-25. But fifth-seed Aquinas (11-14) got it to nine with six minutes left in the third, and 43-25 with 3:25 to go. But the Falcons went on a 10-1 run and led again by 13 heading into the fourth.

And still, St. Thomas was back for more. And and-one opportunity with a missed free-throw by Albion Ahmetaj cut it to eight with 4:38 left in the game. But with Dan Jennings and his brother, Jared, in foul trouble, that was as close as they would get.

Meanwhile, Aquinas transfer Aidan Carter had another monster game with 22 points, going 11-of-13 from the foul line. He led all scorers in the game, as he did at the half when he had 17 points. Big man Andrew Kretkwoski, the transfer in from Rutgers Prep, scored 18.

St. Thomas was led by Dan Jennings’ 15, including two triples, the first of which got Aquinas on the board late in the first quarter.

St. Joseph will go for its 13th GMC title Friday night at 8 pm when the Falcons take on second-seed Piscataway, which is back in the final for a second year in a row after a 64-59 win over third-seed Colonia Wednesday night. That will follow the girls’ final at 6 pm at Monroe Twp. High School, which features top-seed and six-time defending champion St. Thomas Aquinas taking on second-seed East Brunswick. Central Jersey Sports Radio will have live coverage of both games.

Click below for postgame reaction with St. Joseph of Metuchen junior Aidan Carter and head coach Mark Taylor, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

INSTANT REPLAY – GMC Tournament Girls’ Semifinals: (1) St. Thomas Aquinas 76, (4) Colonia 56

Junior Lauryn Downing scored 22 points – including six triples – to lead top-seed St. Thomas Aquinas to a 76-56 win over fourth-seed Colonia in the GMC Tournament semifinals, bringing the Trojans back to the title game for a chance to win their seventh straight championship.

Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko and Dylan Allen call all the play-by-play from Monroe Township High School on February 17, 2026.

by Mike Pavlichko

Nearly-perfect St. Joseph-Metuchen seeks first trip back to GMCT finals since 2010s run as Falcons face rejuvenated St. Thomas Aquinas in all-parochial semifinal Wednesday

The St. Joseph-Metuchen boys’ basketball program hit its peak in the 2010s, making every GMC Tournament final in that decade, and wining nine of them, with just one loss – to Colonia in 2015.

Wednesday night down at Monroe Township High School, the top-seeded Falcons (24-1) will seek to get back to that game for the first time since 2019 when they take on fifth-seed St. Thomas Aquinas (11-3) in an all parochial school semifinal, immediately following an all-public matchup between Piscataway and two-time defending champion Colonia.

You can hear that game live on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with tip-off at 7 pm and pregame at 6:45 as Mike Pavlichko and Vin Ebenau call the action, immediately following the Chiefs and Patriots in their 5 pm opener. Click here to listen.

Both teams are intriguing stories this year. In the off-season, St. Joseph parted ways with Karl Towns, Sr., the father of Karl-Anthony Towns of the NBA’s Knicks. That reunion lasted one season, as Towns frequently missed Falcons’ games to watch his son play.

Enter Mark Taylor: a St. Joe’s alum, who later coached them and future NBA players like Jay Williams and Andrew Bynum. Following stops at Ridge and St. Benedict’s, he’s back in Metuchen, and with an influx of transfer talent like Aidan Carter (from St. Thomas Aquinas) and Andrew Kretkowski (from Rutgers Prep), the Falcons have had a nearly-perfect season. Their lone loss came to South Plainfield in a road stunner, 55-54. Still, they were the GMC Red American Division champions, going 8-0 in divisional play.

On the other side, Tom Weiler is the first-year head coach of the Trojans, and worked briefly as an assistant under Bob Turco during the COVID-season, when STA lost to Colonia in the league’s top postseason pod – there was no full GMC Tournament that year. Turco left for Piscataway after the 2023-24 season, and Weiler came on board following an awkward season where Austin Whitehurst was let go mid-year due to off-the-court issues, and Victor Verdecia finished out the year.

Weiler’s first job was changing the culture around the program, and it’s been a grind this year, to be sure. They’re two games below .500 and finished 2-6 in the Red American Division – fourth place out of five – with their divisional wins coming over Old Bridge.

They also have a transfer from the other school, Dan Jennings, who headed south down Plainfield Avenue last season. He and Albion Ahmetaj are the team’s top two scorers, at 14.1 and 14.2 points per game, respectively. Ahmetaj is a big with 53 blocks, and is thee team’s top rebounder at 10.7 per game. Then, there’s Zymere Weaver, a sophomore who’s also the starting quarterback on the football team, and has a team-best 70 assists and 33 steals.

St. Joe’s is led by Carter, the STA transfer, who had to sit out the first 30 days of the season. That’s one reason the Falcons opened the season as early as they could – and earlier than everyone else – with a 103-36 blowout of Wesley College from Australia, to start that 30-day clock as soon as possible. Once he stepped on the floor, the winning margins (minus that season-opening blowout) got larger and larger. Carter is averaging a double-double – 17.8 points and 10.2 rebounds per game – while Kretkowski is scoring 17 a game and has 22 treys. Junior Imaad Johnson has 33 to lead the Falcons, who are scoring about 12 more points per game on the whole than Aquinas.

Click below for preview interviews with both head coaches:

St. Joseph-Metuchen head coach Mark Taylor with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Vin Ebenau
St. Thomas Aquinas head coach Tom Weiler with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko