NJAC Review

The dominance of the Morris Catholic Crusaders. The major story of the season in northwestern New Jersey.

David Grande's team played fast, entertaining and punched above its weight, playing a statewide schedule and coming away with numerous marquee wins. They most notably dominated Saint Peter's Prep, handed Immaculate Conception its final loss as the school is closing and put a scare into Roselle Catholic in the Parochial B North semis. They finished 25-5 and won the county behind electric 6'5" junior wing Austin Workman. He had help from guards Donnie Gregory, Cristian Nicholson and Kyle Dixon as major contributors, while Jacopo Liamin and Mattia Bacchelli provided a spark when called upon and played their roles as the "glue guys" well.

Traffic on 24, high taxes and Mendham winning basketball games. Three guarantees if you live in Morris County. Bill Connolly's teams, much like Kevin Schmid and Jim Baglin before him, just know how to win. It's just what they do in Mendham. Bags laid a foundation that has been unbreakable and it continues to this day. 5'11" senior Kevin King put the team on his shoulders this season, averaging nearly 20ppg as Mendham finished 24-6. They defeated Morris Catholic once and also scored a season defining win in the state tournament over Payne Tech.

Chatham very quietly put together a 20 win season and improved markedly as the season went on, scoring wins over Union City, Mendham and Delbarton along the way.

Finally, Joe Reel's Madison squad finished 24-8 and lost in the Group II State final. Junior Gavin Randall had a big season and will be one of the top returnees in Morris County this coming winter. Senior Michael Liddy also was a key contributor on the state finalist team.

NJAC Player Of The Year

Gavin Randall, Madison

You could make a strong case for any of the Morris Catholic big guns, Kevin King has a greater shout than any of the MC crew as he single handledly shouldered a big scoring load for Mendham...but Gavin Randall got it done at both ends of the floor and led his team to a state final appearance.

The 6'1" junior guard averaged just under 20ppg and played his best ball down the stretch during the state tournament. He also had a number of big performances throughout the season. His leadership was an irreplaceable piece of the puzzle for Madison in their run. His top game was 34&15 vs Millburn.

All-NJAC First Team Sensational Seven

Kevin King, Mendham

Austin Workman, Morris Catholic

Cristian Nicholson, Morris Catholic

Patrick Mahoney, Delbarton

Quinn Burke, Chatham

Alex Fessel, Vernon

MJ Jarrell, Morristown Beard

All-NJAC Second Team Sensational Seven

Kyle Dixon, Morris Catholic

Donnie Gregory, Morris Catholic

Austin Kolakowski, Delbarton

Michael Liddy, Madison

Nick Rotundo, West Morris

Chris Ferrare, Montville

Ryan Geene, Walkill Valley

All-NJAC Third Team Sensational Seven

Luke Azzinaro, Delbarton

Brody Hallik, Morris Knolls

Cal Regan, Madison

Troy Strelec, Hackettstown

Dylan Tomaskovic, Pequannock

Gavin Solano, Walkill Valley

George Gabriel Ventura, Morristown Beard

NJAC Final Rankings

1. Morris Catholic(25-5)

2. Madison(24-8)

3. Chatham(20-8)

4. Mendham(24-6)

5. Delbarton(18-11)

6. Montville(21-6)

7. West Morris(18-11)

8. Morristown Beard(21-5)

9. Walkill Valley(20-8)

10. Vernon(18-11)