Montville Broncos Boys basketball teams recently competed in a few tournaments, with the 6th grade team winning its championship.
Grades 5-8 participated in the Thanksgiving Shootout at Wayne PAL and the 4th grade team in the CJ Paladins Bball Shootout at Drew University.
“The record of the entire program was 11-11 over the weekend highlighted by our 7th Grade team finishing second and our 6th Grade team winning the Championship,” said Coach Chris Arena.
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Teams were selected in Late October and the program now includes 52 kids from grades 4 - 8. Teams will be playing in various tournaments throughout the season and in leagues at the Wayne PAL, Hoop Heaven and NJJBL
In the Wayne PAL Thanksgiving Shootout, “the 7th Grade team made an incredible run to the Championship,” said Arena. “Their opening pool play game was a disappointing 71-48 loss to West Milford, a team they would face later in the Championship. After victories over Verona and Newton. They faced the top seeded Wayne PAL and scored an upset. After being down by 15 points in the first half, they stormed back with a full court press that flustered the PAL team. The pressure led to easy baskets and, eventually, to a victory 58-54. Kurt Heim locked down the leading player for the PAL while Alex Khalaf, Dante Zicarelli and Grang Shine controlled the middle. Jaedon Khubani had the hot hand form the outside hitting key 3 pointers in the come back win. In the Championship they again met up with West Milford. The Broncos kept it close and were down by only 2 at the half but West Milford proved the better team and pulled away for a 66-52 victory.”
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“The 6th Grade successfully defended their Championship title in exciting fashion. After double digit blow out wins in the first two pool play games, they faced Mahwah in a game that would determine the number one seed in their pool. With the game tied with seven seconds to play, Colin Regan dribbled the ball the length of the floor getting off a desperation shot from beyond the three point line. The shot missed off the backboard but Mario Bollo grabbed the rebound and put it back as the time expired for the 2-point victory. Tournament MVP Mike Sesko dominated the semi final game versus Nutley with 25 points as the team won by 13 to advance to the Championship. Sesko led the team on a game ending 13-5 run after being down five with four minutes to play. Sesko finished the tournament second on the team in scoring and posted a field goal percentage of over 50 percent from the field and over 70 percent from the free throw line including clutch free throws to seal the victory in the championship game. Mike Burke had a hot hand from the outside the entire tournament going 12-27 from 3-point range (44 percent). CJ Arena, Max Metz and Zack Sylvester spot started throughout the tournament contributing with timely scoring, rebounding and ball handling. Colin Mahan and Brett Freeman were stalwarts off the bench sparking the teams signature pressure defense that ignited the championship run.”
Director Geoff Bray and Assistant Director Arena took over the program from Rob Sauertig this past summer. Sauertig ran the program for more than seven years.
“The directors have been hard at work with tryouts, fundraising and development of new uniforms. The program is accepting sponsors; Contact Christopher Arena at 201-920-4699 for more information.
For more information on the Montville Broncos Boys Travel program, go to montvillebroncos.org
4th - Lazar class of 18, Coach Geoff Bray
- Arena, Daniel
- Bray, Max
- Bueno, Martin
- Carus, Sam
- George, Robert
- Lang, Ethan
- Nieskens, Ryan
- Picinich, Jonathan
- Ravenelle, Zachary
- Sanzone, Andrew
5th - Lazar class of 17, Coach Ken Ferrare
- Berliner, Jake
- Boyer, Zach
- Carus, Spencer
- Ferrare, Anthony
- Hennigan, Colin
- Hickler, Garrett
- Khubani, Dylan
- Lieberman, Jacob
- Mahan, Conor
- Mulligan, Chris
- Spielberger, Reece
6th - Lazar class of 16, Coach Christopher Arena
- Arena, Cj
- Bollo, Mario
- Burke, Michael
- Freeman, Brett
- Mahan, Colin
- Metz, Max
- Nazmiyal, Ian
- Regan, Colin
- Sesko, Michael
- Sylvester, Zack
7th - Lazar class of 15, Coach John O'Reilly
- Garb, Jake
- Heim, Kurt
- Khalaf, Alexander
- Khubani, Jaedon
- Mulligan, Will
- O'reilly, John
- Ravenelle, Tyler
- Shine, Grant
- Tan, Matthew
- Zicarelli, Dante
8th - Lazar class of 14, Coach Gary Warech
- Bio, Nicholas
- Cassidy, Liam
- Cerbo, Giordan
- Coan, Tyler
- Dellostritto, Joseph
- Manna, Anthony
- Marabondo, William
- Sesko, Stephen
- Sia, Tyler
- Tsukroff, Marc
- Warech, Zach
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