GLEN RIDGE, NJ (updated Monday March 19, 5:55 p.m.) – The Glen Ridge High School boys’ basketball team, which posted another outstanding season, boasted four players who earned All-Super Essex Conference-Independence honors.
They are:
FIRST TEAM
- Tyler Liddy, senior guard
- Liam Gunnarsson, junior guard
SECOND TEAM
- George Kinzler, senior forward
HONORABLE MENTION
- David Weissenberger, senior guard
Liddy scored his 1,000th career point during the season. He finished with 1,073 career points.
The Ridgers, under head coach Liam Carr, finished with a 21-8 record, including winning the Super Essex Conference-Independence Division title with a 13-1 division mark. It marked the second straight year that the team had a 20-win season after going 23-6 the previous season. Glen Ridge, seeded second, also finished second in the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group 1 state tournament for the second year in a row, losing to top-seeded Bloomfield Tech, 43-38, in the final on March 6 to end the season.
Carr admitted that the loss in the sectional final will sting for a while, considering the team almost won the title last season, but lost to University at home on a buzzer-beater in the final.
“After almost winning Group 1 North 2 last season, I’m sure our kids were convinced (like me) that we were going to win that game,” said Carr, referring to the loss to Bloomfield Tech. “Unfortunately we didn’t play our most efficient game. But after being down 10 in the second half and clawing back to tie the game twice in the fourth quarter, our kids never panicked.
“Even with less than 30 seconds left, when Liam knocked down a 3 to cut their lead to 2, I still thought we were going to find a way to win. But you have to give Bloomfield Tech credit, they hit their free throws and every time they needed a score or a rebound their best player Chapman stepped up.”
Nevertheless, Carr was proud of his team.
“I’m extremely proud of our kids, especially the senior class,” he said. “They weathered a decent amount of adversity throughout the season and came together to win the SEC Independence Division title and make it to a second consecutive sectional final. The 2018 class are the gold-standard compared to other classes I have coached here. They amassed 72 varsity wins in four years, with back-to-back 20-plus-win seasons and two conference titles (Freedom Division in 2014-15 and Independence Division this season).
“Going into (the sectional final, assistant) Coach (Rich) Kennedy and I had to almost pinch ourselves. There were many seasons where the mere thought of coaching GR to a sectional final seemed impossible, like a dream or figment of our imagination. Looking back, to have coached in two consecutive, it’s something we are very grateful for.”
UPDATED No. 2: Glen Ridge HS boys’ basketball players earn All-SEC honors added by Joe Ragozzino on
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