The Rutgers-Newark men’s basketball team is enjoying another successful season under the leadership of head coach Joe Loughran and associate head coach Bill Zasowski, a Bayonne native.
The Scarlet Raiders currently own a 17-7 overall record and are in the thick of the hunt for a possible New Jersey Athletic Conference playoff berth.
One of the major reasons why the Scarlet Raiders are enjoying such success is the contribution the team is getting from Hudson County products.
“At the end of the day, you know what you’re going to get from kids from Hudson County,” Loughran said. “They play hard and they’re well coached. We’re lucky to get guys like that who are willing to play hard every day. It’s nice to have those kids in our program.”
Sophomore forward Hussein Abdelmaksoud has emerged as a premier player in recent weeks, including a 29-point, 18-rebound game against Ramapo. The 6-foot-6 Abdelmaksoud, a native of West New York and a graduate of Memorial, was named the NJAC Player of the Week last week. Abdelmaksoud now averages a team-high 7.1 rebounds per game after seeing limited playing time earlier in the season.
Another key contributor is junior forward Jeremiah Rivers, a product of St. Anthony. Rivers, the nephew of former Friar great and former Notre Dame All-American David Rivers, has been a starter all season for the Scarlet Raiders. Rivers is averaging 10.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game in his breakthrough season.
Noah McCoy is another product from the famed St. Anthony program that has been contributing to the Scarlet Raiders’ cause this season. The 6-4 McCoy is a junior who has improved with his post play.
“Getting kids to come from St. Anthony is always good, because they’re accustomed to what we want to do already,” Loughran said. “Some kids come into college and it’s all a shock to them. But the St. Anthony kids are well schooled and coached and come in ready to adapt to college basketball already.”
Junior sharpshooting guard Greg Moore is a product of Bayonne High School and has been a major player at R-N for three seasons. Moore is averaging 10.1 points per game. Hoboken native Mark Moorman has also seen his playing time increase this season as a sophomore.
“They’re all good kids and they have qualities that go a long way,” Loughran said. “They’re respectful and they do well in the classroom. I have no complaints about them whatsoever.”
And you can be rest assured that Loughran will make his fair share of recruiting visits to Hudson County in the future.
“We always go after the Hudson County kids,” Loughran said. “We’re always in a battle with New Jersey City University and Ramapo with [North Bergen native] Chuck McBreen there. But we definitely go strong after the Hudson County kids.”…
After debating the issue over and over again with his assistant coaches and his players, St. Mary boys’ basketball coach and athletic director Tom Lalicato has changed his mind – albeit reluctantly – and decided to enter the Ramblers in the upcoming NJSIAA Non-Public B North playoffs.
The Ramblers will travel to face Morristown-Beard in the first round. Lalicato realized that it wasn’t fair for the Ramblers’ season to end before the state playoffs and the school can now go out with their collective heads held high. It was announced recently that St. Mary will close after the current school year…
Speaking of the state playoffs, it’s just a tad ridiculous that there are so many sub-.500 teams that earned berths to the post-season, simply because the NJSIAA wants to include more teams to even out the respective sectional brackets, putting 16 teams in each section.
Take for instance, the North Jersey Section 2, Group I bracket. Of the 16 teams in the section, only seven own records of .500 or better, which used to be the criteria needed in order to qualify. Not taking anything away from Hoboken, but the Red Wings have a 9-10 record and yet managed to somehow get a first-round playoff home game against North Arlington.
North Bergen owns a 7-13 record and Union City is 11-12 and both teams earned bids in North 1, Group IV.
It used to be that getting a berth in the state playoffs was a reward for having a successful season. Now, the state will take anyone and everyone as long as the brackets are totally filled and there are no longer byes for the opening rounds. It leads to a bunch of non-competitive first round games, especially in girls’ basketball. But as long as it means more ticket revenue for the NJSIAA, then apparently that’s all that really matters….
Incredibly, Hudson County lost two standout administrators in a span of two days. First, long-time Weehawken athletic director Rich Terpak informed the Weehawken Board of Education that he will retire at the end of the school year, ending a stellar 43-year tenure at the school as a teacher, coach and administrator.
A day later, Secaucus’ long-time AD, Stan Fryczynski, announced that he put in his retirement papers, also leaving his post at the end of the school year, drawing a 32-year career to a close.
The two have been colleagues for ages, working closely in the old BCSL National and the new NJIL. It’s amazing to think that the two men decided to put in their retirement papers a day apart…
It was rumored that Zach Naszimento, the former Secaucus High football standout and son of current Secaucus grid assistant and retired Union City administrator Bruce Naszimento, was hired as the new football coach and athletic director at Weehawken. We’ll have more about that story next week…
Hudson Reporter H.S. Boys’ Basketball Top Five: 1. St. Anthony (20-0). 2. St. Peter’s Prep (16-4). 3. Hudson Catholic (18-4). 4. Memorial (16-4). 5. Marist (16-5).
Hudson Reporter H.S. Girls’ Basketball Top Five: 1. North Bergen (20-2). 2. Bayonne (20-2). 3. Secaucus (17-2). 4. Holy Family Academy (14-5). 5. St. Dominic Academy (12-10)….
The Hudson County Tournament semifinals are set, with St. Peter’s Prep facing Memorial and Hudson Catholic facing Marist in the boys’ bracket and Secaucus facing North Bergen and Holy Family tackling top-seeded Bayonne in the girls’ semis…
Jose Veras had a great meet to lead Dickinson to the boys’ championship at the Hudson County Track Coaches Association, but he wasn’t alone. Edwin Young was second to Veras in the 800, was third to Veras in the hurdles and ran the anchor leg on the winning 4×400-meter relay team. Jose Aguilar also won the 3,200-meter run for the Rams.
Charlie Bates of St. Peter’s Prep won the 1,600-meter run in meet record time of 4:23.7 and teammate Najee Glass defeated Zamir Thomas of Snyder in the 400-meter run in a battle of defending NJSIAA Meet of Champions gold medal winners…
St. Dominic Academy won the girls’ title, thanks to the efforts of Cecelia Sabbers, who won the 400-meter and 800-meter runs, setting a new meet record in the process in 2:16.9, and Taylor Allen, who won both the 55-meter dash and 55-meter hurdles gold medals. Sarah Sisk won the 3,200-meter run, was second in the 1,600-meter run and third in the high jump. Madeline Feeney won the shot put… — Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.