More than four dozen of the league’s top upperclassmen will be showcased during the Greater Middlesex Conference Basketball Coaches Association’s annual senior charity all-star doubleheader.
All proceeds from the event at Old Bridge High School on March 25 will benefit The Marisa Tufaro Foundation.
The girls game tips off at 6 p.m. The boys game will begin at 7:45 p.m.
NOTE: Complete game rosters can be found at the bottom of this story.
The all-star doubleheader has a decades-long tradition of giving back to the community and generating thousands of dollars for numerous charitable causes including the American Cancer Society, Team LeGrand, the Christopher and Dana Reeves Foundation, the Gene Haley Memorial Scholarship Fund, Fightstrong Foundation, individuals in medical crisis, and others.
The Greater Middlesex Conference Basketball Coaches Association has been among The Marisa Tufaro Foundation’s biggest supporters, generating more than $8,000 from four all-star doubleheaders for the nonprofit. Basketball teams from the conference also turned the league’s pod tournament during the pandemic-shortened 2021 season into a fundraiser for the foundation.
“We are eternally grateful to the Greater Middlesex Conference Basketball Coaches Association for selecting our nonprofit as the beneficiary of this year’s all-star doubleheader,” said Cyndi Tufaro, executive director of The Marisa Tufaro Foundation.
“Our foundation has been blessed beyond words with incredible support from the entire conference, which has helped us make a profound impact on the lives of countless children in need.
“We congratulate the seniors who will represent their schools in the all-star doubleheader and wish them all the best in their future endeavors.”
Since its inception in July 2017, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has donated more than $375,000 to fulfill its mission of assisting pediatric patients and children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area.
The nonprofit has also donated thousands of toys, nonperishable food items, winter jackets, baby supplies, school supplies, and other items upon which it has placed no monetary value.
In addition, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has awarded $33,000 in academic scholarships to 46 high school seniors (basketball players are among those recipients) and sent 27 elementary and middle school students to a weeklong summer art camp at Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Museum.
Marisa Tufaro survived six open-heart surgeries and a heart transplant before succumbing to a rare form of cancer in 2017 following a valiant battle. She was just 13 years old.
Despite being hospitalized for more than two years and maintaining hundreds of doctor’s appointments, Marisa Tufaro was an Edison Township Public Schools honor roll student involved in myriad extracurricular activities who lived a vibrant life that inspired.
Marisa is the daughter of former Home News Tribune and MyCentralJersey.com sportswriter Greg Tufaro and longtime Edison Township Public School educator Cyndi Tufaro.
GIRLS ALL-STAR ROSTERS
GMC EAST
Calvary Christian: Rachel Schafer
Colonia: Isabel Gidado
East Brunswick: Rotem Barda
Monroe: Evangelina Francisco
New Brunswick: Kennadi Johnson
North Plainfield: Taylor Mooney
Old Bridge: Adrianna Miscigna
Piscataway Magnet: Debra Villacorta
Saint Thomas Aquinas: Adrianna Summersett
South Amboy: Emma Kalantsis
South Brunswick: Alexis Lease- Springer
Wardlaw-Hartridge: Italia Penevolpe
Woodbridge Magnet: Dhanashri Balamurugan
Coaches: Brian Hinz (Monroe), Tom Fogarty (Calvary Christian)
GMC WEST
Carteret: Jahayshia Ledesma
East Brunswick Magnet: E’Myah Barte
Edison: Sakaiya Figueroa
Highland Park: Vanessa Kohler
J.P. Stevens: Chloe Chan
Metuchen: Kaitlyn Connors
Middlesex: Jess Devine
Mother Seton: Sasha Smyth
North Brunswick: Jayda Sharp
Perth Amboy: Nicaury Montano
South Plainfield: Stella Sweeney
Spotswood: Lizzie Calandruccio
Timothy Christian: Holly Medina
Coaches: Jordyn Cusick (Carteret), Kathy Glutz (Metuchen), Stewart Lester (Middlesex)
BOYS ALL-STAR ROSTERS
GMC EAST
Colonia: Zach Smith
Timothy Christian: Jalen Fleming
Woodbridge: Bryan Anderson
Monroe: Logan Fotiadis
Carteret: Shane Castor
Edison: Dedrick Harvey
Metuchen: Jason Woods
New Brunswick: Chris Moronta
North Plainfield: Aaron Potts
Saint Joseph: Brayden Danchak
Perth Amboy: Jadiel Manzueta
South Brunswick: Anish Vankadhara
Spotswood: Zeyad Elshazly
East Brunswick Magnet: Ramon Garcia
Somerset Tech: Kenny Ponteras
Wardlaw-Hartridge: Al Bell
Coaches: Jose Rodriguez (Colonia), Dennis McNulty (Timothy Christian)
GMC WEST
Sayreville: Keithan Shuler
Saint Thomas Aquinas: Aiden Ur
South Plainfield: Jordan Jones
Old Bridge: Krish Patel
Dunellen: Ryan Hutchins
East Brunswick: Will Wheeler
J.F. Kennedy: Nasir Borders
Middlesex: Owen Reynolds
North Brunswick: Tommy Koroma
Piscataway: Nate Davis
Piscataway Magnet: Joel Polynice
South Amboy: Alex Gantt
Perth Amboy Magnet: Anthony Vega
J.P. Stevens: Kerem Ozdemir
Highland Park: Jayden Guadalupe
Coaches: John Wojcik (Sayreville), Jared Goldstein (Middlesex)