Sussex Tech wins tournament

Senior guard Brian Gruber scored a career-high 32 points and Kayden Osterhoudt added 10 points to pace the Sussex County Technical School boys basketball team to a 61-58 victory over Belvidere in the championship game of the Belvidere Holiday Classic on Friday afternoon, Dec. 27.

With the win, the Mustangs evened their record at 3-3.

Sussex Tech also received offense from Jack Cardin (seven points), Jeremiah Fontanez (six points), Cole Young (four points) and Ryan Marks (two points).

Gruber was awarded the tournament’s Most Valuable Player title and Fontanez was named to the All-Tournament team.

In the first game of the tournament, Sussex Tech defeated Thomas Edison Energy Charter, 69-51.

Cardin led the way in that contest with 16 points, three rebounds, two steals, with Fontanez adding 15 points, four assists and two rebounds. Marks totaled 12 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two blocks while Gruber collected 13 points, eight rebounds and three steals.

“It was nice to win a couple of games in the tournament,” said ninth-year head coach Andrew Carbone. “Gruber is a great football player as well, and (today), he really showed up and turned it on.”

Gruber rushed for 1,227 yards and 15 touchdowns this fall and ended his gridiron career with 3,439 yards and 40 touchdowns.

The Mustangs won their season-opener - a 59-45 decision at Somerset Tech - on Dec. 16 before suffering three straight losses. In that victory, Cardin, a junior, had 22 points; Fontanez, a senior, added 12 points, 15 rebounds, six assists and two steals; and freshman Juzziah Sheppard had 11 points, 15 rebounds and two steals.

“Fontanez has good vision and good ball-handling skills,” Carbone said. “And Cardin is a transfer from Lenape Valley who is doing a nice job for us.”

Gruber and Fontanez each are averaging 10.7 points for Sussex Tech this winter, with Cardin averaging 9.7 points.

The Mustangs are scheduled to play host to South Hunterdon at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 4 and Kittatinny at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 6 before playing at Koinonia in Plainfield at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9.

Sussex Tech is in the Colonial Division of the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference along with North Warren, Newton, Kittatinny, Hopatcong and Dover.

“Our division is where we want to be with teams we can compete with on a consistent basis,” the coach said. “We’re coming off our best year in school history (16-7), but we lost a lot of scoring from last season to graduation.

“We have a nice mix of players, and I feel we’ve established ourselves as a formidable team. I’m proud of how the program has progressed.”

Here’s how other Sussex Tech teams have fared recently:

Girls basketball

Mackenzie Reilly had a game-high 16 points and Emily Ursin added 12 points as Sussex Tech defeated Kinnelon, 41-39, in the consolation game of the Butler Classic on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 28.

The Mustangs bowed to Butler, 36-31, in the opening game of the tournament Dec. 27.

Reilly had a game-high 15 points, with Allie Ismail (seven points), Marissa Bouma (six points) and Ursin (two points) rounding out the offense.

The Mustangs will play host to American Christian at 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 3.

Bowling

Sussex Tech improved to 5-1 with a 5-2 victory over Wallkill Valley on Dec. 19 at Sparta Lanes.

The Mustangs were led by Owen Demeter, who had a high series of 628, including a high game of 234. Other catalysts were Ethan Corrado (579 series), Hunter Gieger (535 series), Mike Christensen (472 series), Josias Quinones (399 series) and Gabrial Chase (393 series).

Sussex Tech then placed ninth in the NJAC Championships on Dec. 20 at Rockaway Lanes.

Sussex Tech will compete against Lenape Valley at 3:45 p.m. Jan. 6 at Sparta Lanes.