The North Brunswick Township High School boys’ basketball team of 1997 that captured the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament championship will be honored this Saturday, Jan. 7, at 12:45 p.m. at the high school.
The ceremony will begin before North Brunswick’s boys’ basketball game against Steinert High School, which is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.
That GMC championship was secured when North Brunswick knocked off St. Joseph High School of Metuchen in the ’97 title game. That St. Joseph team featured All-State guard Jason Williams, who went on to star in college at Duke University and later played in the NBA.
The ’97 North Brunswick team ended the season with a 23-5 record under coach Ed Breheney, who remains as the skipper of this school’s team.
Being honored this Saturday will be Breheney and his assistant coaches,Mark Zielinski, Dan McHarris and Joe Policastro.
The players who will be present this Saturday at the ceremony are:
Mike Lee , who was consummate team player and high energy player; Nick DiPillo, who went on to play and coach at the collegiate level; Earl Jones, the lone sophomore on the ’97 team and a scoring threat off the bench. Steve Bridgemohan, who was the sixth man and who played his best basketball in the GMC Tournament as a shot blocking and rebounding force. He earned spot on 1997 All-GMC Tournament Team and went on to play basketball at Monmouth University.
Also being honored and expected to attend the ceremony Saturday are Raheem Byrom, the starting point guard who will be long remembered for his defense against Jason Williams in the GMC title game and who later played football at Monmouth University; David Stringer, the starting small forward who averaged 12 points that season and connected for 15 points in the GMC final. He later played football at Rutgers University, and John Cipot, the co-captain who led the Raiders in scoring and rebounding that year and collected 18 points and 14 rebounds in the GMC championship game. He gained All-Middlesex County honors that year and ended as the school’s No. 2 all-time scorer. He played football and basketball in college at LIU Post.
The following were also members the ’97 team but are not expected to attend Saturday’s event : Tim Howard, Eric Turner, David McCracken, Steve Senior, Brett Crisp, and Donny Haughton. Also not expected to be at the ceremony is coach Mark Motussesky