North Jersey Teams Set To Make Noise

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Long considered the cradle of High School basketball, New Jersey heads into the 2022-2023 season with a senior class as deep as it has seen in years, with underclass talent to match. While many know the favorites, such as nationally ranked Roselle Catholic, today we look at some teams who could make noise this winter. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Oratory Prep(18-7)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While they lost their starting center Tommy Conniff to graduation and Lehigh University, Oratory is still going to be a team to watch in Union County and North Jersey. They return a backcourt trio of college level players in seniors <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1150546' first='Michael' last='Pirone']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1150291' first='Gregory' last='Jones II']</strong> and sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1466430' first='Asher' last='Bradley']</strong>. Pirone is a big bodied guard who scores in bunches, Jones can facilitate but also finish and Bradley had several nice performances as a freshman and will be asked to step up into a leadership role as a sophomore. While Oratory will be a little smaller without the 6'11" Conniff, they'll be able to play much faster. Oratory is a sleeping giant in Union County basketball....One that is starting to rustle in its slumber. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Roselle High(14-9)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There's a long tradition of success on Chestnut Street at Abraham Clark High School(Raise your hand if you knew that was it's acutal name!) that goes back 60 years or more. The Rams had high hopes last year when point guard <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1430120' first='Isaiah' last='Fuller']</strong> transferred in from Eagle Academy--A major arrival for Roselle, who gained a piece instead of losing one via transfer, as has happened throughout its history--Fuller took a knock and missed a significant portion of the year, but he's shown all summer what he can do and is being recruited by schools at various levels. He'll team up with last year's leading scorer, 6'3" <strong>Tahdir Carson</strong>, a player with an offer and receiving scholarship level interest, to form a fantastic one-two punch for the Rams this winter. There are some other pieces of the puzzle, such as <strong>Shane Jackson</strong>, a 6'7" forward receiving recruiting interest from a host of D2 and D3 schools. Scorer <strong>Zaire Carter</strong>(6'0" G) and <strong>Elijah Harris</strong>(6'0" G) round out a solid returning set. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Elmwood Park(17-8)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Coming off a fine season, Elmwood Park will look to make serious noise in the NJIC and North Jersey postseason tournaments behind their strong backcourt, led by seniors<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='1401553' first='Essam' last='Assaf'] </strong>and<strong> David Forzani. </strong>Assaf is an electric scorer who will pass 1,000 points before New Years Day and Forzani can match Assaf's scoring shot for shot. Fellow senior DeWayne Carter will give them some help, but this is the Assaf and Forzani show this year...Don't miss it because it's going to be high octane, high scoring and very exciting. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Saint Mary's of Rutherford(21-7)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There once was a time when parish high schools owned New Jersey basketball....Saint Pat's, Saint Anthony's, Saint Mary's of Jersey City, Saint Mary's of Elizabeth, Saint Aloysius's of Jersey City...On and on(Over 30 have closed in this author's life in NJ alone)...As one of the only parish affiliated Catholic High Schools left in the entire state, the Gaels hold the keys to a dying tradition of parish Catholic HS basketball and are set to have another impressive year and could overtake Paterson Charter as top team in the NJIC, given Charter's graduation losses. St. Mary's brings back almost everything, including junior guards <strong>L.J. Falconi</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1153981' first='Luke' last='Gaccione'].</strong> Fire and ice type players, the 6'4" Falconi can play on the wing or hit the paint and Gaccione is a good facilitator who can hit it from beyond the arc. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1401560' first='Damir' last='Stone']</strong>, a 5'10" guard who is a scorer, tough defender and a multi-sport athlete, also returns, along with just about everyone else. Watch this team in the NJIC the next two years. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->