SP-F Boys Basketball Team Earns 15th Seed

Two-time defending champion St. Patrick is the top seed for the 74^th annual Frank J. Cicarell boys' basketball Union County Tournament, which is the oldest in the state.

No mystery there.

Scotch Plains-Fanwood is the 15^th seed and will play 18^th-seeded New Providence Sunday at 4:30 p.m. at Rahway in a preliminary round game.

Union Catholic of Scotch Plains, which begins the week 10-8 and on a three-game winning streak, is the 10^th seed and will face seventh-seeded Roselle Catholic Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Rahway in a first round game.

Coaches happy to crack the top eight seeds are Cranford's Ryan Huber – his Cougars are the sixth seed – and Roselle Catholic's Dave Boff – his Lions are the seventh seed.

The seeding meeting took place Tuesday morning at the Rahway Library. Head coaches on the committee were Steve Petruzzelli of Governor Livingston, Phil Colicchio of Linden, Dan Doherty of Scotch Plains, Eugene Maxwell of Summit and James Reagan Jr. of Union Catholic. Former Elizabeth head coach Ben Candelino served as the chairman. Candelino guided Elizabeth to four straight UCT titles twice – first from 1984-1987 and second from 1989-1992. Linden, behind head coach Wilbur Aikens, won the year in between in 1988.

For the first time the final will be contested at Kean University's Harwood Arena in Union at 3 p.m. on Feb. 27, with the junior varsity final to tip off first there at 1 p.m.

"The opportunity to move the boys' final to Kean University is a tremendous one and continues our goal of giving the student-athletes of Union County a chance to compete in the finest facilities," Union County Interscholastic Athletic Conference Executive Director Tom Lewis said. "We hope to move more of our championship events to college and premier facilities. It's important and noteworthy that the Dunn Center in Elizabeth will host a boys' semifinal doubleheader. The tournament for many, many years took place in Elizabeth because of the tireless efforts of Mr. (Frank) Cicarell and the generosity of the Elizabeth school system."

Junior varsity games will be played at the higher seeds until the semifinals on Feb. 22 at Rahway at 5:30 and 7 p.m.

The first round must be completed by Feb. 17 and the quarterfinals by Feb. 19.

St. Patrick has reached the final 17 years in a row, beginning in 1993, with the Celtics 12-5 in those championship games. St. Patrick captured six championships in the 1990s and six in the 2000s.

Roselle Catholic begins the week 12-4, has the county's longest winning streak at 11 games and leads the UCC's Valley Division with a 9-1 mark.

After losing at home to Dayton 49-42 in conference play on Jan. 5, the Lions were 1-4. They have not lost since, with a big win coming at Dayton 35-20 last week when both teams were tied for first in the Valley Division with 6-1 records.

Here are the seeds and their records including Monday, Feb. 8 results:

      1-St. Patrick (18-2, 6 in a row)

      2-Plainfield (15-2)

      3-Linden (14-3)

      4-Union (11-8, 3 in a row)

      5-Westfield (7-9)

      6-Cranford (11-5)

      7-Roselle Catholic (12-4, 11 in a row)

      8-Elizabeth (5-11)

      9-Gov. Livingston (10-6)

      10-Union Catholic (10-8, 3 in a row)

      11-Rahway (8-8, 3 in a row)

      12-Dayton (12-4)

      13-St. Mary's of Elizabeth (10-7)

      14-Summit (7-8)

      15-Scotch Plains (5-13)

      16-Roselle (6-13, 3 in a row)

      17-Hillside (7-11)

      18-New Providence (6-11)

      19-Johnson (4-13)

      20-Roselle Park (7-11)

      21-Oratory Prep (7-10)

      UCC-Valley Division squad Brearley is not in the UCT.

      PRELIMINARY ROUND:

      (the higher seeded teams wear home uniforms)

      Sunday, Feb. 14

      At Rahway

      21-Oratory Prep vs. 12-Dayton, noon

      20-Roselle Park vs. 13-St. Mary's, 1:30 p.m.

      17-Hillside vs. 16-Roselle, 3 p.m.

      18-New Providence vs. 15-Scotch Plains, 4:30 p.m.

      19-Johnson vs. 14-Summit, 6 p.m.

      FIRST ROUND:

      (the higher seeded teams wear home uniforms)

      Tuesday, Feb. 16

      At Johnson

      9-Gov. Livingston vs. 8-Elizabeth, 6 p.m.

      Roselle/Hillside vs. 1-St. Patrick, 7:30 p.m.

      At Roselle Catholic

      Dayton/Oratory Prep vs. 5-Westfield, 6 p.m.

      St. Mary's/Roselle Park vs. 4-Union, 7:30 p.m.

      Wednesday, Feb. 17

      At Roselle Catholic

      11-Rahway vs. 6-Cranford, 6 p.m.

      Summit/Johnson vs. 3-Linden, 7:30 p.m.

      At Rahway

      10-Union Catholic vs. 7-Roselle Catholic, 6 p.m.

      Scotch Plains/New Providence vs. 2-Plainfield, 7: 30 p.m.

      QUARTERFINALS:

      (the higher seeded teams wear home uniforms)

      Super Saturday at Roselle Catholic, Feb. 20.

      There will be two separate admissions.

      If Linden advances, Tigers will be the home team at noon.

      If Plainfield advances, Cardinals will be the home team at 1:30 p.m.

      If Union advances, Farmers will be the home team at 6 p.m.

      If St. Patrick advances, Celtics will be the home team at 7:30 p.m.

      SEMIFINALS:

      (the higher seeded teams wear home uniforms)

      Wednesday, Feb. 24

      At the Dunn Sport Center in Elizabeth

      Bottom side of the bracket (3 and 2 seeds side), 6 p.m.

      Top side of the bracket (4 and 1 seeds side), 7:30 p.m.

      FINALS:

      (the higher seeded teams wear home uniforms)

      Saturday, Feb. 27

      At Kean University's Harwood Arena in Union

      Junior varsity: 1 p.m.

      Varsity: 3 p.m.

VARSITY UCT CHAMPIONS

GOING BACK TO 1990:

2009 – St. Patrick

2008 – St. Patrick

2007 – Linden

2006 – St. Patrick

2005 – St. Patrick

2004 – Elizabeth

2003 – St. Patrick

2002 – Elizabeth

2001 – Linden

2000 – St. Patrick

1999 – St. Patrick

1998 – St. Patrick

1997 – St. Patrick

1996 – St. Patrick

1995 – Elizabeth

1994 – St. Patrick

1993 – St. Patrick

1992 – Elizabeth

1991 – Elizabeth

1990 -- Elizabeth