GALLOWAY, N.J. – Tony Sagona, the sage coach of Jersey Shore Warriors Gold, is going to miss this group. Friday is the final day his group of burgeoning prospects from Pennsylvania and South Jersey will don the Warriors jersey.

The Warriors are among the best stories on the summer circuit as it grinds to a halt Sunday. Sagona’s 17U boys won this season … they truly have won in a ginormous way: Five tournament championships—most recently the Summer Icebreaker in Philadelphia earlier this month—and counting.

Yes, the meter is running and Friday the Warriors are honing in on a sixth, having rolled through a pool games at Live in AC conducted at Stockton University’s Sports Center.

“We’re playing with confidence; guys on our team like to share the ball,” said Sam Iorio, a 6-foot-8 wing from Parkland (Allentown, Pa.), who hold multiple offers.

The Warriors won for the 24th time in 27 tries on Thursday following a 64-44 defeat of Positive Image (Pa.). It was 36-15 at halftime and 45-20 with 12 minutes remaining.

Sagona, a retired Wall Street trader of foreign currency, has coached for 40 years, including the last 25 with the Warriors. He’s sent five players to the NBA and hundreds more to college. He’s particularly proud of this year’s collection of talent, which is not sponsored by a major shoe company (they once were a few years back but were inexplicably dumped after one summer by Under Armour), but still draws high-major coaches each time they play.

What attracts the coaches is simple: The Joy of Basketball. A motion structured offense with 12 different wrinkles, help defense, selfless players and patient ball movement that features the ball swinging around the perimeter until there’s an open look.

“We run a lot of quick hitters; they players all possess a high basketball IQ and really enjoy playing with one another,” Sagona said.

The Warriors are a bit of an anomaly on the summer circuit—they are a crowd favorite for basketball purists and college coaches who relish the team concept on display. Whereas players are a predictably a vacuum when the ball appears in the frontcourt, the Warriors’ vacuity is them cleaning the court with their opponents.

Iorio isn’t the only one with favorable college options.

At 6-7, rising senior Nick Alikakos of Episcopal Academy (Lower Merion, Pa.) is fielding offers from Ivy and Patriot League programs. “We enjoy playing this style which really resembles the European model with cutting, screening and everyone shooting from the outside,” said Alikakos, who has a nifty 3.2 GPA and 28 on the ACT.

Eli Brooks of Spring Grove (Pa.), who verballed to Michigan, is the quarterback. The 6-1 point guard will drop the three-ball off screens and defend with passion. He’s unflappable with defenders attempting to harass. Colin Daly, a 6-4 wing shooter from Archbishop Carroll (Radnor, Pa.), will sign with Delaware.

Rounding out the Class of 2017 players are combo guard Austin Gilbertson of Trinity (Camp Hill, Pa.) and 6-8 Mark Flagg of Pennsbury (Fairless Hills, Pa.).

Then there’s rising junior guard Andrew Funk of Archbishop Wood (Warminster, Pa.), a good shooter who can score off the dribble, see the entire floor but needs to get physically stronger. Big man Ryan Young of Bethlehem (Pa.) Catholic is an inside-outside 6-7 talent from the Class of 2018.

That’s a loaded roster considering Saint Joseph’s-bound swingman Taylor Funk of Manheim (Pa.) Central (mononucleosis) and 6-5 Kyle McKlosky of Germantown Academy (Fort Washington, Pa.), a Villanova football recruit, did not play here.

The three-day event, run by Elevate Hoops, tipped late Wednesday afternoon with a slew of coaches viewing during the final live period of the summer. Like last weekend’s Summer Hoop Fest in Ardsley, N.Y., this event is gaining momentum and is the premier showcase in the third live period on the East Coast.

Handful

Though Jersey Shore played like a dominant team with dominating players, there was plenty of talent to go around. Here’s a quick look at five 17Us that have started out well at Live in AC:

Ryan Dutton, 6-7, PK Flash Elite (Pa.), 2017: All this power forward did was join the 20/20 Club at Slippery Rock (Pa.) Area last winter, meaning he put up 20 points and 20 rebounds per game. He’s a rim runner with a nose for the ball and rim in the interior. He’s the type of player who can go to a Northeast Conference type school and eventually become a valuable role player to lead them to an NCAA bid. The most underrated player here.

Omar El Sheikh, 6-7, New York Ionians, 2017: He’s one of the most talented players in the gym and had a coming out party, finally according to the Ionian coaches. He finished at the rim, using duck-under and spin move. He was aggressive and has a solid handle. The Egyptian attends Knox School (St. James, N.Y.)—like a chunk of his Ionian teammates.

John Harrar, 6-8, Philly Pride (Pa.), 2017: He’s physically gifted and a bear on the boards with a soft finishing touch at the rim. The Pride had a short bench Thursday meaning Harrar played nearly the entire game in the middle. He attends Strath Haven (Wallingford, Pa.) and is a tight end on the football team. He’s a 4 at the next level on the hardwood and adds muscle. Has good footwork for his size.

Tavon Jones, 6-4, N.J. Playaz Red, 2018: Jones, who attends Linden (N.J.), is a scorer and deep shooter who has serious interest from Saint Joseph’s Rutgers and Seton Hall. When Jones penetrates, he sees the floor, and makes good decisions in transition. He mixes it up on the boards.

Mohammed Kabir, 6-5, DC Blue Devils, 2016: He’s a recent high school graduate, who appears headed for a postgraduate year (unless a late scholarship appears). At 6-5, he’s possessed and attacks the rim with passion. A pure scorer, Kabir is an active rebounder and defender. Originally from Lagos, Nigeria, he attended National Christian (Fort Washington, Md.) and backed out of his commit to The Citadel.

In Case You Missed It …

The 2016 USA Basketball Men’s U18 National Team (3-0) outscored Chile (1-2) 20-10 in the fourth quarter to turn what had been a tightly contested game into a 70-50 win at the 2016 FIBA Americas U18 Championship late Thursday in Valdivia, Chile. Maryland-bund Kevin Huerter tossed in a game-high 14 points, including four 3-pointers.

As Group B’s No. 1 seed, the Americans will take on Brazil (2-1), Group A’s No. 2 seed, at 8: 15 p.m. (EDT) tonight. The other medal semifinal will include Canada (3-0) against Puerto Rico (2-1) at 6 p.m. (EDT). The semifinal winners will meet in the gold medal game on Saturday, while the semifinal losers will play in the bronze medal game.

Elsewhere, the 2017 NBA All-Star Game was yanked from Charlotte on Thursday over North Carolina’s controversial law, HB2, which prevents transgender individuals from using bathrooms that corresponds with their gender, and nullifies existing LGBT protections passed by North Carolina cities.