SOUTH AMBOY, NJ–On Thursday night, the first week of action concluded at the 2009 Raritan Bay Summer League. After a full night of three games on opening day, May 26th, the league was only able to get two games each in on Wednesday and Thursday. However, according to league co-directors, Gary Lange and Tom Reilly, more games have been added to the schedule for next week, and there will be some nights with as many as four games on the schedule. This is the sixth year that GMC Hoops has been covering the league, and it has seen many players from it that have gone on to do better things in the Greater Middlesex Conference.
So far, there has been only one high school game on the schedule that has been played. On Thursday night, the Parlin Pride and Sayreville Stars squared off in that division’s first contest of the summer, and while it was a good one, there still remains a dearth of high school activity in the league. One reason for that is the fact that the Spring Sports season hasn’t ended yet, and many of the high school teams in the league want their coaches, which are not allowed to coach yet, to coach the teams. The Sayreville Stars and Parlin Pride have been the exceptions to the rule. While the number of teams that have been confirmed is slightly down from last year, there are still 26 teams competing in the league including 3 in the 3rd and 4th Grade Division, 6 in the 5th and 6th Grade Division, 11 in the 7th and 8th Grade Division, and 6 in the High School Division.
The bulk of the action this week involved teams from the 7th and 8th Grade Division. Of the seven games that were played, four involved squads from this division while two involved teams from the 5th and 6th Grade Division, and one each from the High School and 3rd and 4th Grade Divisions. The majority of the seven games played so far have been competitive with only one game being decided by more than 13 points to date. Of the games played, one has gone to double overtime (South Amboy vs. Metuchen) and another went down to the wire in regulation (Parlin Pride vs. Sayreville Stars). Tom Reilly has worked really hard over the past several years to create schedules with matchups that are competitive.
So far this season, 14 of the 26 teams in the league have played including seven from the 7th and 8th Grade Division. CJEOTO, Metuchen, Monroe, and St. Stan’s of Sayreville are all tied for the lead after one game at 1-0 while East Brunswick, Parlin Pride, and South Amboy are all tied for last at 0-1. St. Ambrose, Sayreville Knights, Old Bridge, and Freehold have yet to play. The Parlin Pride are atop the High School Division at 1-0 while the Sayreville Stars are last at 0-1, and four other teams have yet to play at 0-0. The two teams will rematch each other next Thursday night at 8:30 PM. In the 5th and 6th Grade Division, Monroe and Colts Neck share the lead at 1-0 while the Jersey Shoreshots and South Amboy are 0-1. Both Franklin and Roselle are yet to play.
The league, which started later this year (2008 league started on May 20th) is set to play through June and July, and into early August before calling it a season. GMC Hoops plans to cover a lot of the action down here especially on Monday and Tuesday nights after coming off work if the schedule allows. However, while there are no other leagues going on, the site will be down covering as much of the league as possible.