GMC Hoops Blogosphere

GMC Hoops To Begin 2008-09 Hoops Coverage With McCarrick @ South Plainfield On Opening Night

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–In preparation for the upcoming 2008-09 Greater Middlesex Conference Boys Basketball Season, GMC Hoops has been surveying the team schedules for an opening night matchup to cover.  After some searching, the web site was able to find one.  The site will begin its season by covering the defending GMC Tournament Champions, Cardinal McCarrick as the Eagles begin their first season competing in the rugged GMC White Division.  On December 19, 2007, Cardy Mac will travel to South Plainfield High School to play the Tigers in the season opener for both schools.  In step with recent tradition, the web site will have a Freshmen, JV, and Varsity tripleheader to start off the coverage for the year.  The rest of the regular season schedule will appear as we get closer to the start to the 2008-09 campaign.

Tentative GMC Hoops Football Coverage

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–On Friday, GMC Hoops went to work on its schedule for the upcoming 2008 GMC High School Football Season. The site has a day open on its three day weekend from work to check out games on Friday nights. Therefore, if you are a South River fan, or have a team that plays their games primarily on Saturday, we are not going to be able to see a lot of you, but will try to work a way around it.

Our football coverage is subject to change, and will commence on opening weekend, September 12th when the site will head over to South Brunswick High School to take in the first game of the season between Woodbridge and South Brunswick. Below are the list of tentatively scheduled contests. GMC Hoops also plans to cover the state playoffs as well.

• September 12, 2008–Woodbridge @ South Brunswick, 7:00 PM
• September 19, 2008–Colonia @ New Brunswick, 7:00 PM
• Septmeber 26, 2008–Piscataway @ Sayreville, 7:00 PM
• October 3, 2008–Bishop Ahr @ Carteret, 7:00 PM
• October 10, 2008–South Plainfield @ New Brunswick
• October 17, 2008–J.P. Stevens @ East Brunswick
• October 24, 2008–South Plainfield @ Carteret
• October 31, 2008–Middlesex @ Highland Park
• November 7, 2008–Monroe @ South Brunswick
• November 14, 2008–NJSIAA State Playoffs–Quarterfinal Round
• November 21, 2008–NJSIAA State Playoffs–Semifinal Round
• November 27, 2008–Thanksgiving Day Round Robin
• December 5-7, 2008–Championship Weekend

Hope to see you on the Gridiron!

More Classic SPHS Hoops Footage

Back in January, I had posted footage of my greatest moment as a high school basketball player. Originally, I had stated that my four point game against Spotswood my senior year had occurred on January 15, 1988. Well, it actually occurred on the 14th. I checked the date, and remembering that it was on a Thursday, I found that it was actually on January 14, 1988. Anyway, I pulled out the video again, and got all of the footage from the second half up to a minute or two before I scored. I also believe that there is interview footage on this tape as well including one with the then SPHS head coach, and current Plainfield coach, Jeff Lubreski. But for now, here is the rest of the footage from the famous Spotswood Game.

Plainfield And Piscataway To Go Head To Head At 2009 Prime Time Shootout

TRENTON, NJ–On Tuesday, GMC Hoops received word from Prime Time Shootout organizer, Jeff Hewitson, that Plainfield and Piscataway will go at it in the 2009 Prime Time Shootout. The two teams will battle each other on the first night of action tentatively scheduled for January 23, 2009 at the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway. The game will be the nightcap game on that day played at 9:30 PM. Meanwhile, St. Joseph’s will also be in action on that day when they opener things up against Immaculata of Somerville at 5:00 PM. Take a look at the complete schedule.

The game between Piscataway and Plainfield had been talked about for the past few months. Originally proposed by former Plainfield coach, Pete Vasil, the idea got its legs during the Spring. GMC Hoops discussed the proposed idea around the time that Jeff Lubreski took the head coaching job at Plainfield High School on July 15th. Although this is still tentative, it’s nice to see that the game is being set up. It will be really nice for basketball in the Central Jersey area if this game does come to full fruition. The site will try to keep updated on the status of this game, and keep you informed.

It’s Official–No Rebounds Team Camp This Summer

NEPTUNE, NJ–On Tuesday, GMC Hoops received official word from Joe Stein of the Hoop Group that there is no Rebounds Team Camp this summer. Originally scheduled for the week of August 4th, the camp was rescheduled to the following week starting on Monday, August 11th. Up to that point in time there were only eight teams playing including St. Joseph’s of Metuchen. However, the folks at Rebounds decided to postpone the camp due to a lack of teams.

Great Food At The 2008 Summer Prime Time Shootout

ALLENTOWN, NJ–Over the course of the past couple of nights at the 2008 Summer Prime Time Shootout at Allentown High School in the Upper Freehold District of Monmouth County, GMC Hoops has had the chance to sample the cuisine that was offered by the folks running the event. There was quite a bit to choose from with your usual everyday snacks such as potato chips, candy bars, and drinks, but there was also really good sandwiches as well. Besides having hot dogs, the concession stand offered a great Meatball sandwich, Sausage and Peppers, and Nachos with Cheese and Salsa. Now, I would really like to see Gary Lange and the folks, who run the Raritan Bay Summer League try to top that next summer. Food for thought, no pun intended.

13 Games In Three Days For GMC Hoops

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–What a way to finish up the summer league season! In a summer that saw quite an itinerary compiled by GMC Hoops, nothing compared to the way the site closed out the summer league season. Starting on Friday morning at the Kean Ironman Challenge, the site saw a total of 13 games over the past three days. The site saw 6 games up at Kean University on Friday, 2 down at the first night of the Summer Prime Time Shootout in Allentown, 3 games at the Prime Time on Saturday night, and 2 more on Sunday night at Allentown High School. It was the best summer league season ever for the site, which essentially started its coverage back in April with the Rebounds Spring League, and continued in May with the Raritan Bay Summer League.

Summer Prime Time Shootout–August 10th–Some Results

ALLENTOWN, NJ–On Sunday night, GMC Hoops traveled down the New Jersey Turnpike to Allentown High School in the Upper Freehold District of Monmouth County after work to take in the third and final night of action in the 2008 Summer Prime Time Shootout. There were a total of 29 games in two different gyms simultaneously from about 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM. In the East Gym, the two final contests of the night were well played games including one that went down to the wire. Below are the results from the two games in the East Gym.

• Monroe 40–New Egypt 30–The Falcons went on a 17-6 tear over a span of 10:31 to turn an 11-9 deficit into a 26-17 lead, and never trailed after that.
• Trenton 58–Plainfield 54–The Cardinals led 49-43 with 3:44 remaining, but gave way to a 15-5 Tornado tear including a fast break layup for the lead with 51.2 seconds left, and then a fast break dunk with 33.1 remaining to close out the tightly played affair.

GMC Hoops is pretty much done for the summer unless something new comes up in the final few weeks of August. See you in September for the fall league season.

Summer Prime Time Shootout–August 9th–Some Results

ALLENTOWN, NJ–On Friday night, GMC Hoops traveled down the New Jersey Turnpike to Allentown High School in the Upper Freehold District of Monmouth County after work to take in the second night of action in the 2008 Summer Prime Time Shootout. There were a total of 29 games in two different gyms simultaneously from about 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM. In the East Gym, two of the three final contests of the night were well played games that went down to the wire. Below are the results from the three games in the East Gym.

• Plainfield 49–St. Joseph’s 46 OT–St. Joseph’s led 44-40 with a minute to go in regulation.
• New Hyde (CT) 54–Ewing 30–Connecticut team went on a 43-19 surge over the final 24:30 for the convincing win.
• Trenton Catholic Academy 51–Plainfield 46–The Cardinals got great shooting efforts from Isiah Epps, Mike Price, and Anthony Baskerville, but couldn’t overcome an early second 28-15 deficit.

GMC Hoops plans to have an article on these games as well as visit the event for contests on Sunday night.

End Of The Road This Summer For GMC Hoops?

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–Could the Summer Prime Time Shootout be the last stop for the GMC Hoops Summer League Express? It’s possible. On Saturday night over at Allentown High School, the web site learned from several parents of St. Joseph’s players that the 2008 Rebounds Team Camp, which was scheduled to start on Monday this coming week, has been cancelled due to a lack of teams. As of late last week, there were eight teams that signed up for the camp. In addition, the camp, which was originally scheduled to start on August 4th, was pushed back a week in an effort to get more teams to sign up. The site is awaiting official confirmation from Joe Stein of the Hoop Group, and will have more details when it receives word.