Essex County Player of the Year: Anthony Gonzalez, junior, Seton Hall Prep
Already a capable scorer, the Pirates’ floor general blossomed as the consummate playmaker this season as what was essentially the orchestra leader for Essex County’s best team, one which repeated as Essex County Tournament champions with at win over St. Benedict’s in the ECT final. The now 2-time SC Essex POY, Gonzalez averaged 12.5 points, 5.6 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game while emerging as perhaps the state’s top playmaking guard as he fully embraced that role for his head coach Sterling Gibbs, who was an all-time great Pirate backcourt ace. And, the best could yet be coming as the multi-talented 6-1 junior still has a season to go while spearheading what should be one of New Jersey’s best scholastic backcourts in 2026-2027.
Runner-Up Player of the Year: James Roberts, junior, East Orange Campus
The Jaguars relentless 6-2 guard was superb all season long while averaging 17.1 ppg, 7.1 rpg and 3.5 apg for the North 1, Group 4 state sectional champions. He was simply dynamic in some of his team’s bigger games, such as scoring 31 points in back-to-back N1G4 quarterfinal and semifinal victories at Paterson Eastside and Montclair, and then poured in 30 points to go along with 11 rebounds and 7 assists in a hard-fought 82-69 setback to now 2-time defending Group 4 champion Plainfield in the Group 4 semifinals.
Essex County Coach of the Year: Gabe Baltimore, East Orange Campus
The veteran Jaguars head mentor put together as difficult an independent schedule as any North Jersey public school may have had and despite finishing 18-13 overall an undersized EOC was fortified for the season’s stretch run with a superb state tournament performance highlighted by winning the North 1, Group 4 state sectional title and then giving Plainfield all it could handle before finally succumbing in the Group 4 semis. Baltimore simply got the most from his players, which is the ultimate you can ask of a coach, and expertly guided what was a team that kept getting better while being led by top underclassmen who paved the way to a memorable campaign.
Runner-Up Coach of the Year- Nassir Barrino, Shabazz
The youthful (29-year-old) Bulldogs head coach directed his team to a historic 29-win season which was capped by winning a Group 1 state title while reviving some of the great memories of past Shabazz and South Side teams through the years. The team’s 5-guard lineup got the job done vs. all opponents other than one blemish in a decisive loss to Seton Hall Prep in the ECT semifinals. Barrino demonstrated pose and precision in utilizing the best strengths of his 2025-2026 team to help them maximize their potential culminating by knocking off the defending champions Thrive Charter in the overall Group 1 final.
Essex County Team of the Year: Seton Hall Prep
The now 21-time Essex County Tournament champions played very well down the stretch in capturing another ECT crown and also ending on a positive note with a strong performance - albeit ultimately in defeat - in a 67-57 setback at No. 1 ranked Bergen Catholic in a much closer battle than the score indicates as the Pirates took a lead in the fourth quarter. Coach Sterling Gibbs put together a strong independent schedule and his team kept getting better while by its standout guards including juniors Anthony Gonzalez and Avery George, talented sophomore Infinite Sincere-Amen Ra and freshman Bryce McCray, while hard-working senior forwards Alex Ante and Daniel Beazer did much of the dirty work inside many times against taller opponents.
Runner-Up Team of the Year: Shabazz
The Group 1 state champs may have resided in the SEC’s fifth division, the Freedom, but the Bulldogs excelled throughout the 2025-2026 season beginning with a narrow victory over Arts in the Newark Public Schools Holiday Tournament in late December. Shabazz went 4-1 in games against SEC-American Division teams (defeating Arts twice, including in the N2G1 final, along with Newark Tech, also in the state tourney along with a solid East Orange Campus in the Essex County Tournament quarterfinals, while losing to Seton Hall Prep in the ECT semis. They also defeated teams such as Bloomfield and Montclair (from the SEC’s third division, the Colonial). Shabazz maximized its roster which included no starter taller than 6-2 and the team may have set a new school single-season record for victories in the process.
AROUND ESSEX- Newark Collegiate, led by one of the county’s top guards in senior Jayden Solomon, was the class of the SEC’s second division, the Liberty…Millburn, which was led by two terrific guards in junior Chace Redler and Chase Plotkin, won the SEC-Colonial Division title along with amassing 23 victories overall…Bloomfield won 19 games and should be a force in the SEC-Colonial next season the return of its superb junior backcourt including high scorer AJ Cruz and the all-around contributor Sean Perrotta…Caldwell coach Mike Fess continues to do outstanding work with the Chiefs, who were highly competitive in the SEC-Liberty Division and maximized its talents which included senior forward Alex Nienstadt and junior guard Joey Diorio…Columbia (19-11), which won the second annual Essex County Invitational Tournament with a 53-32 victory over an improved West Orange team in the final, was led by talented senior forward Jayvon Rogers and junior guard Matthew Synsmir…A promising Nutley team finished 17-10 led by sophomore Dom Bok and coach Rob Porrino’s Maroon Raiders won the SEC-National Division while giving Millburn all it could handle in their North 2, Group 3 state sectional first-round clash…Payne Tech finished under .500 after being an ECT runner-up the season before; however, the Lions still boasted one of the top 4-year performers in the state in 6-5 Millersville University-bound forward Gerald Edwell, who was a ‘double-double’ machine throughout his scholastic career...Montclair (19-10) had a strong season behind its superb 1-2 punch in the backcourt featuring seniors Mason Determann and La’Mear Singletary…Among the new 1,000-point career scorers in Essex County this past season were Taquan Boyd of Arts, Sean Perrotta of Bloomfield and Frederick Guerrero of Barringer…Montclair Kimberley Academy finished 13-13 but played very well down the stretch with its all-underclassmen lineup guided by longtime coach Tony Jones.
SC’s Final Essex County Top 10:
1- Seton Hall Prep (20-7)
2- Shabazz (29-1)
3- St. Benedict’s (18-8)
4- Arts (19-9)
5- East Orange Campus (18-13)
6- Newark Collegiate (21-8)
7- Payne Tech (9-13)
8- Newark Tech (15-12)
9- Millburn (23-5)
10- Bloomfield (19-9)
2025-2026 Sideline Chatter All-Essex:
First Team:
Anthony Blackmon, sophomore, Shabazz
MJ Postell, freshman, St. Benedict’s
Gerald Edwell, senior, Payne Tech
Anthony Gonzalez, junior, Seton Hall Prep
James Roberts, junior, East Orange Campus
Second Team:
Jayden Solomon, senior, Newark Collegiate
Chace Redler, junior, Millburn
Tyshaun Boyd, senior, Arts
Infinite Sincere-Amen Ra, sophomore, Seton Hall Prep
Elijah Colon, junior, Shabazz
Third Team:
Daniel Hinkov, junior, St. Benedict’s
Mason Determann, senior, Montclair
Jayvon Rogers, senior, Columbia
Ilijah Adams, senior, Newark Tech
AJ Cruz, junior, Bloomfield
Fourth Team:
Chase Plotkin, senior, Millburn
Jack Liz Martinez, junior, St. Benedict’s
Alieu Kellah, senior, Newark Collegiate
Jayden Bermudez, senior, Irvington
Elijah Caldwell, junior, East Orange Campus
Fifth Team:
Va’Shaun Harper, junior, Newark Tech
Sean Perrotta, junior, Bloomfield
Sage Kornreich, senior, Livingston
Zaim Barnes, senior, Shabazz
Jermaine Russell, senior, Cedar Grove
Sixth Team:
La’Mear Singetary, senior, Montclair
Ryan Law, junior, Glen Ridge
Christian Gray, junior, Shabazz
Ayyub Wilson, junior, Arts
Khayere Hurd, senior, Newark Lab
Seventh Team:
Jordan Then, senior, West Orange
Aiden Nienstadt, senior, Caldwell
Ahmad Cook, sophomore, West Side
Dom Bok, sophomore, Nutley
Amari Delacruz, senior, East Side
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