All you need to know about this week’s All Star Saturday
March 28, 2019
County baseball teams hit the diamond
April 1, 2019

South Jersey Basketball Summit announces award winners

The South Jersey Basketball Summit announced its award winners for the 2018-19 season at the organization’s seventh annual Coaches-Officials (CO) Basketball Summit held Saturday at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City.

Quite a few Cape May County individuals were honored.

The following were the organization’s various award winners:

Dave Troiano Girls Scholarships and Paul Rodio Boys Scholarships: Maddie McCracken of Wildwood and Queijae Canty of Atlantic City each received $1,000 in college scholarship money. The scholarships are named for former longtime Wildwood High School girls basketball coach Dave Troiano. Jake McGonigle of Wildwood Catholic, Tyler Tomlin of Wildwood and Stephan Fredericks of Atlantic City were each awarded $1,000 in college scholarship money. The scholarships are named for St. Augustine Prep boys basketball coach Paul Rodio. The scholarships were awarded to graduating seniors planning to attend college who displayed outstanding character, sportsmanship and leadership.

The Bruce Campbell Cadet of the Year winner was Joe Fussner Jr. The award is given to the top second-year basketball official based on multiple criteria.

The Summit Award, given to the official(s) who advanced furthest in the state playoffs, was presented to Dwight Davis and Ron Bokunewicz.

The CAL Award, given to the person who has made an outstanding contribution to South Jersey basketball, was given to Absegami High School athletic director Steve Fortis.

The Fran Egan Courage Award, given to the individual who has been faced with unfortunate circumstances and has met those challenges with an unparalleled determination to prevail, was presented to Gave Gillespie of Holy Spirit. Gillespie overcame a hearing impairment to contribute for the Spartans this season.

The Lou Grilli Memorial Spirit Award, given to the person who o displays an extreme love, passion and fun for basketball, was presented to Wildwood Catholic’s Erin Connelly. Connelly suffered a season-ending knee injury early in the season but remained an integral part of the Crusader team.

The Jim Mogan/Ken Leary Coach of the Year Award went to Millville’s Mike Jones, who led the Thunderbolts to the South Jersey Group IV title game.

The Jack Boyd Memorial Humanitarian Award, given to the individual who sacrificed for the betterment of others, was presented to Wildwood Crest resident Matt Ulmer, who produces numerous live video stream broadcasts of many of the top games involving CAL teams and others throughout the season.

The John Pierantozzi Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to the individual who works to promote, enhance and better the South Jersey basketball community, was given to longtime area radio broadcaster Tony Blum.

The South Jersey Basketball Summit is led by longtime area high school basketball official John Rodio. Cape May County resident Steve Selby, also a high school basketball official, is the organization’s Director of Basketball Operations. The organization generates funds through the proceeds from the Seagull Classic high school basketball showcase event at Holy Spirit High School in early January each year, as well as a variety of other fund-raising ventures.

Part of the organization’s mission is to also foster good relations between coaches and officials.