EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ–On Monday, state tournament play began for 25 of the 31 teams in the Greater Middlesex Conference that qualified for the various tourneys categorized by school enrollment. As of the end of play, Wednesday night, the GMC has gone 9-9 against teams outside Middlesex County in state tourney play.

Entering the state tournament season, the 31 teams in the GMC had combined for an 82-76 record during the regular season against teams from other conferences. The conference is now 91-85, and has gone 22-16 since dropping to .500 in the middle of February. It has been an up and down, and streaky season for GMC schools against non-conference foes. The GMC began the year with 8 wins in its first 9 games, and then was clobbered over the holidays.

From that point on, the GMC schools have been on a roller coaster ride against teams outside of Middlesex County. For the most part though, the conference has held its own against many of the conferences in the Central Jersey area. Entering play on Thursday, the GMC is 4-3 against the Colonial Valley Conference, 23-22 versus the Skyland Conference, 10-10 against the Union County Conference, and 16-19 versus the Shore Conference. While the conference has not been dominant against schools from these other conferences, it has been able to hold its own.

A couple conferences that have done fairly well against the GMC this year have been the Burlington County Scholastic League, which has won 5 of 8 games against GMC schools, and the Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic Association, which has won 6 of 9 against the GMC. Breaking down the 91-85 GMC non-conference record by division: The Gold is 32-19. The Red is 27-21. Blue Division is 20-17 while the White has struggled at 12-28. Teams that have done well against non-conference schools this season are: Perth Amboy Tech (8-1), St. Joseph’s (7-2), South River (7-3), East Brunswick Tech (6-2), Dunellen (4-0), Old Bridge (5-2), East Brunswick (5-2), Middlesex (3-0), Piscataway Tech (4-2), and Spotswood (3-1).

Third Quarter

2:00–arrive–TCS up 30-27.
0:30–DUN–score 30-29 TCS leads.
0:00–TCS leads 30-29 after three.

Fourth Quarter

7:30–TCS–scores for a 32-29 lead.

7:00–DUN–basket for a 32-31 TCS lead.

6:04–DUN–timeout–TCS on a 6-0 run for a 38-31 lead

5:48–TCS–basket fo a 40-31 lead.

5:30–DUN–three point play for a 40-34 TCS lead.

5:09–TCS–basket for a 42-34 lead.

3:45–TCS–three pointer from left wing for a 45-36 lead.

3:09–TCS–fouled–makes both FTs for a 47-36 lead.

2:11–TCS–layup for a 49-36 lead.

0:00–DUN finishes the game with a 7-6 run, but TCS wins 55-43.

First Quarter

4:52–arrive–NB on top 5-2.

3:00–after 1 of  2 FTs by NB–TCS ties the game up at 6-6 on baskets by Brandon Summers and Jeff Parker.

1:30–NB–takes a 13-8 lead on baskets by Trejon Wilson and Ahmad Sannoh as well as a three from the left wing by #10.

0:00–TCS gets score for a 14-10 lead after one.

Second Quarter

5:27–TCS–full timeout after a layup underneath by Trejon Wilson and another basket for a 23-14 NB lead.

4:00–TCS–Jarret Locke hit a jumper from left side for a 23-16 NB lead.

2:30–NB–now leads 27-16 after a layup by Trejon Wilson, and a  pair of free throws by #10.

1:51–TCS–calls 30 sec timeout after steal for layup by Brandon Summers closes the gap to 29-18.

Third Quarter

7:09–TCS–Matt DiLeo–fouled–makes both FTs for a 30-20 NB lead.

6:39–TCS–DiLeo–fouled–makes both FTs for a 30-22 NB lead.

6:33–NB–Paul McKenzie fouled–makes 1 of 2 FTs for a 31-22 lead.

6:26–TCS–called for foul after missing shot.

5:40–NB–30 sec timeout after Parker flips in shot for a 31-24 NB lead. TCS ball after NB turnover.

4:32–TCS–Parker fouled–makes both FTs for a 31-28 NB lead.

3:54–TCS–Summers scores on layup from left side for a 33-30 NB lead.

3:19–NB–#15 converts three point play for a 36-30 lead.

2:52–TCS–DiLeo drives through traffic, and flips in layup for a 36-32 NB lead.

2:32–NB–fouled–makes 1 of 2 FTs for a 37-32 lead.

2:07–TCS–30 sec timeout after Summers layup for a 37-34 NB lead.

1:31–TCS–Locke swishes three from left wing for a 37-37 tie.

40.6–NB–McKenzie banks in floater for a 39-37 lead.

29.3–TCS–Summers gets offensive rebound and puts in follow as he is fouled for a three point play and a  40-39 lead.

16.4–NB–turnover.

4.8–TCS–misses jumper from right wing–called for foul on the rebound.

0.0–NB–McKenzie–misses shot at buzzer–TCS leads 40-39.

Fourth Quarter

7:31–TCS–Zach Coyle sinks three from left wing for a 43-39 lead.

7:10–NB–fouled on floor.

6:58–NB–traveling.

6:34–TCS–Parker fouled–makes both FTs for a 45-39 lead.

6:14–NB–McKenzie misses jumper.

5:51–TCS–turnover.

5:33–NB–#33–fouled–makes 1 of 2 FTs for a 45-40 TCS lead.

4:55–NB–turnover.

4:46–NB–deflects pass out of bounds.

4:19–NB–Ahmad Sannoh scores on drive for layup from left side for a 45-42 TCS lead.

3:47–NB–#10–hits floater for a 45-44 TCS lead.

3:13–TCS–Parker fouled after getting rebound–makes both FTs for a 47-44 lead.

2:49–NB–turnover.

2:27–NB–#32–steal.

2:22–NB–timeout after Sannoh misses shot and gets the offensive rebound.

2:05–NB–McKenzie–drives, spins and banks shot off glass from right side of the key for a 47-46 TCS lead.

1:35–TCS–DiLeo steals for a layup and a 49-46 lead.

1:05–TCS–after NB misses shot–Parker is fouled by Sannoh–makes 1 of 2 FTs for a 50-46 lead.

58.3–TCS–DiLeo gets steal.

53.7–NB–McKenzie swipes steal and is fouled by DiLeo–NB in bonus–McKenzie makes 1 of 2 FTs for a 50-47 TCS lead.

39.0–TCS–after Parker fights to get offensive rebound, and battles through NB double team, he passes upcourt to Locke who scores layup as he is fouled–missed bonus FT for a 52-47 lead.

29.8–NB–McKenzie dribbles the ball downcourt, and scores as he is fouled–timeout called–DiLeo fouls out–Coyle in.–McKenzie misses bonus FT.

29.0–TCS–Parker fouled on rebound of McKenzie missed FT–makes both FTs for a 54-49 lead.

17.6–TCS–Parker gets rebound after NB misses by McKenzie and #10–fouled–makes both FTs for a 56-49 lead.

0.0–TCS–runs out the clock after Summers gets rebound off NB miss.  TCS wins 56-49.

TCS had a 19-7 spurt to open the third to tie the game, and outscored NB by a margin of 38-19 in the second half for the win.

Skyland/GMC Challenge

At Bound Brook

Colonia vs. Warren Hills, 5:00 PM

Cardinal McCarrick vs. Bound Brook, 7:00 PM

At East Brunswick

Timothy Christian vs. Voorhees, 2:00 PM

Piscataway vs. Montgomery, 4:00 PM

Bridgewater vs. East Brunswick, 6:00 PM

At Franklin

South Brunswick vs. Hillsborough, 12:45 PM

North Brunswick vs. Franklin, 2:30 PM

At Immaculata

Bishop Ahr vs. Pingry, 3:00 PM

Woodbridge vs. Immaculata, 5:00 PM

At North Plainfield

J.F. Kennedy vs. North Plainfield, 1:00 PM

At Middlesex

South Hunterdon vs. Middlesex, 12:00 PM

At Monroe

Hunterdon Central vs. Monroe, 7:00 PM

At North Hunterdon

Edison vs. North Hunterdon, 1:30 PM

At Perth Amboy

Delaware Valley vs. Perth Amboy, 1:00 PM

At Phillipsburg

Old Bridge vs. Phillipsburg, 2:30 PM

At Somerville

Carteret vs. Somerville, 2:00 PM

At South Amboy

Manville vs. South Amboy, 11:30 AM

At Spotswood

Bernards vs. Spotswood, 1:30 PM

At Ridge

New Brunswick vs. Ridge, 2:30 PM

At Watchung

Sayreville vs. Watchung Hills, 7:00 PM

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–Prior to the season, I had indicated that the Blue and Gold Divisions were going to be tough. With the additions of Piscataway Tech and South Plainfield in the Blue, and the exit of P-Way Tech from the Gold, competitive races were expected this year in these two divisions. So far the season hasn’t disappointed. At the midway point we have a three way tie in the GMC Blue, there are three teams separated by one game.

If there is any parity in the GMC, it lies in these two divisions mostly. For instance, of the seven games that were played on Wednesday, five of them were decided by single digits, and six were determined by 10 points or less. Oh, by the way, the sixth game, the one that was decided by ten points, went to overtime. South River needed an extra session to defeat Timothy Christian, 72-62.

Gold Division Free For All

Speaking of the Rams, they have come back from the dead in divisional play. After losing its first three league games, South River has battled back with victories over Wardlaw (57-36), East Brunswick Tech (78-44), Amboy Tech, and TCS. A big part of that was the play of Tyler Harris, who had a monster week in week four with 89 points in three games.

Besides the rally in the GMC Gold, the Rams also have beaten a very good Group I school from the Shore in Keansburg twice. First time was a come from behind overtime victory in the Genevieve Hawley Tournament Championship (73-71) at Henry Hudson Regional HS over the holidays, and the second time was last Saturday at home (79-77). Matt Martinez has also played very well for the Rams. He pumped in 27 points in the win over Timothy Christian, and had a double-double in the first win over Keansburg with 16 points and 10 assists. Martinez has a great handle, shoots the ball well, and plays with great confidence. He is probably the best point guard at South River since this site was launched in 2000.

Let’s not forget Sean Darrar, who was the hero in the first win over Keansburg. The younger Darrar scored all 11 of his points in the final 5:35 of the contest including three treys. One of the threes tied the game at the buzzer to force overtime, and then another was the game winning with 18.7 seconds remaining. Against East Brunswick Tech, South River opened the game with a 28-6 first quarter rampage that included five threes. Two of those treys were by Harris, who scored the first 9 points of the game for the Rams, and had 14 of the points in the period. He ended up with 22 in the first half, and 30 for the game. Another of the two treys came from Bobby Applegate, who can provide scoring from the perimeter as well as length on defense, and rebounding.

Back to the rest of the Gold Division, there is a lot more competitive balance this year with the departure of Piscataway Tech. For instance, even though Amboy Tech is 2-5 in the league, they have lost a number of close games including a one point loss at home to Dunellen, and overtime losses to Timothy Christian and East Brunswick Tech. They also suffered a loss to South Amboy without two top players in Agnel Etienne and Jonathan Sosa. Jordan Little is a solid player in the middle for the Pats while Kelvin Perez has been the most consistent. Wardlaw is also 2-5, but they have been a strange team.

The Rams have lost twice to Amboy Tech by four and defeated Dunellen. Wardlaw also lost by one in non-conference play to North 13th Street Tech of Newark in the Joe Silver Holiday Tournament. Justen Davis is a solid rebounding and scoring combination, who is closing in on 1,000 points. Noah Ganz gives the Rams some perimeter punch while Ish Menns and John Newman provide athleticism. Matt Rosado gives much needed experience at the point while John Pohopin gives additional scoring from the outside. East Brunswick Tech has struggled since a 2-0 start with six losses in its last 10 games. Mark Alston and Brett Carmen have been solid for the Tigers.

Moving up to the top half of the Gold, Dunellen, South Amboy, and Timothy Christian are all locked in a three way battle for first place at 5-2. The Guvs appeared to have control of the division late last week, but three straight single digit losses including one at the buzzer to Highland Park, have brought them back down to .500. Thankfully, South Amboy only has won loss in the division during this recent tough stretch, a 50-42 defeat at the hands of Dunellen on Wednesday. The Governors are led by a group of juniors that includes Steve Herdman, Joe Fruncillo, Nick Kales, and Dan Murphy. They also have sophomore Tim Kales and senior Matt Lavan in the rotation.

The Guvs could easily be 9-3 at least if it weren’t for tough crossover losses to Cardinal McCarrick (54-51 in OT on December 15th), Sayreville (54-46 on January 12th), and the buzzer beater to Highland Park. In all three games, South Amboy had the held including an 11 point advantage on McCarrick. If this group begins to figure out how to close out close games against these bigger schools from the upper divisions of the GMC, they could make a bit of a rumble in the county tournament. Herdman, who recently had his 37 consecutive game streak with at least one three pointer broken, came back the next game with four in the first period as the Guvs defeated Wardlaw, 60-38. Fruncillo has had game high in each of the last three games.

Despite losing two 1,000 point scorers in Dan “Triple” Decker and Kristian Svendsen to graduation, and another key player from last year’s team in Devon Johnson, who transferred to Edison this year, the Tigers of Timothy Christian are still a factor in the GMC Gold. Led by senior Jeff Parker and junior Brandon Summers, this edition of the Tigers are a solid shooting bunch that still play solid defense and great team ball. Trailing by four near the end of regulaton and in overtme at Amboy Tech last week, TCS found a way to win (54-51) as Summers came up with two scores to tie the game with a minute to go in overtime and Parker won it with a three from the left wing with 31.8 seconds to go.

Jarret Locke is a nice little playmaker, who was just a split second shy from winning the contest in regulation with a heave just inside halfcourt. He also had a runner that tied the contest. Mike DiLeo provides some additional scoring punch while reserve Zach Coyle helped the Tigers stay in front for a while in the third against the Patriots with a trey from the left wing. Evan Waldron clogs up the middle, and gives TCS some much needed size down low. Head coach Chris Hobbs has some help on the bench this year with an assistant, and that has helped him find ways to keep the Tigers in the hunt despite the turnover from last year.

Finally, we get to Dunellen, which could be the most intriguing team of all in this division. The Destroyers did take some hits to graduation by losing the likes of Sean Gibney and Jeff Puckett, but they still had a lot back this year with Deon Brown, Dylan Hoski, Matt Heidinger, Tony McGuane, and Orville Thompson. However, DHS has had some struggles that included losses to Wardlaw, Middlesex, and more recently, Timothy Christian. Keep in mind though that Dunellen has always gotten off to tough starts under head coach Bernie Buniak only to come on strong and either win or challenge for the division crown in late January and February.

Three Way Horse Race In GMC Blue

While four teams are in the hun in the Gold Division of the Greater Middlesex Conference, three teams are battling for first place in the Blue. Carteret moved into sole possession of first at 8-1 with a come from behind, 75-72 win over Spotswood on the road on Wednesday night. The Chargers, which came into the week undefeated in both division and conference play suffered two straight conference losses including a 74-59 defeat to North Brunswick at home on Monday night.

Tied with Spotswood, and only a half game back of Carteret in the standings is Piscataway Tech at 7-1. The Raiders rolled over Bishop Ahr, and have a tie breaker over Carteret thanks to a thrilling, 54-52 win on the road at CHS on January 4th. Spotswood defeated the Raiders at P-Way Tech to start the new year. Despite moving up a division, and losing the likes of Galen Smith, Khairi Mosely, and Mo Pierre to graduation and the likes of Will Joyce and Jalen Jackson to transfer, Piscataway Tech has managed to not only stay in contention, but get some early season quality wins on the road at Carteret and over Group IV schools, Passaic and Paterson Kennedy in the Jingle Bells Jubilee over the holidays.

Turell McClendon, Jordan Lackey, and Aziz Austin carry much of the load for PVT, but role players Robby Pierre, Inderpaul Pingahila, and Willie Patterson have contributed nicely as well. Head coach Karl Towns has also made some defensive adjustments, and now he is looking like a strong GMC Hoops Coach of the Year candidate. He may have mellowed a bit on the sideline as well, but he was very close to top form in the win over Carteret two weeks ago. Carteret also took some heavy losses to graduation by losing the likes of Avery Carter, Tanveer Dosanjh, Joe Nigro, and Kevin Van Dyke among others, but still had the likes of sophomores Jaquan Robertson and Brandon Gilder back along with senior Elijah Torres.

Younger brother Zach Torres has also contribued off the bench while newcomers Tyrell Lockley and Joe McRae provide athleticism and versatility. Forward Andrew Stam gives CHS some length and scoring ability from the perimeter. The team in the Blue with the most experience back is Spotswood. Even though the Chargers lost 1,000 point scorer, Tommy Soulias, who is now playing well at Kean, they had the likes of Jake Dadika, Dalonte Grant, Jamal Lewis, Corey Brown and Kevin Fox all back this year. In addition they have some solid newcomers such as freshmen Marlon Hart and Eric Dadika coming off the bench. Jake Dadika is one of the top scorers in the GMC this year whle Grant provides additional scoring punch to make this one of the best backcourts in the conference.

Lewis may be undersized, but his athletic ability and tenacity help him compensate for that as he has put up a number of double-digit scoring games recently including 18 in a victory over Bishop Ahr. Corey Brown brings his football toughness on the boards while scoring from either the perimeter or by going to the basket. Kevin Fox demonstrated a nice knack of perimeter shooting to help the Chargers put the game out of reach against BGA. Hart and the younger Dadika also find ways to contribute any way they can.

For a while, Bishop Ahr appeared to be a contender with five wins in six games after an opening night loss to Carteret, but since then, the Trojans have come back down to earth with three straight losses including an overtime defeat at Metuchen, and double digit setbacks to division frontrunners Spotswood and Piscataway Tech. The BGA was hit hard by graduation with all but two players graduating last June. However, head coach Dennis O’Keefe has a solid sophomore class headed by Tom Weiler, and a couple transfers from St. Joseph’s including Owen McLeod. Mike Jensen, one of the two holdovers from last year, has a knack for getting to the basket while Greg Patuto provides some scoring from the perimeter. Senior guard, Tom Duffy has the ability to make plays and score.

Like Ahr, Middlesex had also been playing well for a stretch before suffering several setbacks. Although the Blue Jays are presently hovering around the .500 mark, they look to be more improved this year, especially with Rutgers Prep transfer, Austin Bardaji in the lineup. Prior to Bardaji getting into the rotation, the Jays had won 5 of its first seven games with the only two losses to division contenders Bishop Ahr and Piscataway Tech. Middlesex also defeated Dunellen in a crossover for the 2012 Shello/Santy Christmas Tournament Championship. However, the Jays have stumbled as of late with losses to divsion heavyweights Spotswood and P-Way Tech before falling at home to JFK.

Speaking of the Mustangs, Kennedy is starting to play better. After a 1-4 start the Stangs have split their last six with wins over Metuchen, South Plainfield, and Middlesex while losing to Spotswood, Piscataway Tech, and Point Pleasant Boro. JFK suffered close defeats to Warren Hills (54-47) and Mater Dei (51-47) over the holidays at the Gene Haley Tournament in Edison. Head coach, Chris Banos was hit hard by graduation as he lost his entire starting lineup from last year, but he is not making excuses and hopes his young bunch that includes Kyle Alvarez, Darrin Perez, Mike Weinstein, and Joe Duffy will continue to grow.

Metuchen has struggled in the early going this season, but second year head coach, Jon Korellis pretty much had figured that. He felt his team would start playing better come January. The Bulldogs have only won three games this season, but two of them included the overtime win over Bishop Ahr and a solid win over Group IV Howell of the Shore Conference. Metuchen also gave Piscataway Tech some trouble before falling in overtime (57-51) in the first full week of the season. Artie Flaherty Jr. is playing much like his dad did when he scored over 2,000 points to become the all time leading scorer at the school in the early to mid-1980s. Tom Chalker continues to grow at the point while Brian Eustace, Hunter Clarke, Frank McGuire, and Evan Collier have contributed well.

South Plainfield, which looked to be one of the favorite’s in the division entering the season, conntinues to go through some growing pains under second year head coach, Justin Chiera. The Tigers have lost a ton of close games including to Perth Amboy (48-39 OT), Middlesex (60-53), J.F. Kennedy (57-52), Bishop Ahr (64-57), and Carteret (55-50). Claude Payne has been the bright spot for the Tigers with a solid consistent effort in the paint this season. Justin Glover has also had some solid games while youngsters Jordan Hankerson and Jason Lee have come up from the JV to make key contributions. SPHS has come up with some wins over Metuchen and Highland Park over the last week. Hopefully, they can use the recent successes to turn things around.

Finally, we have Highland Park, which has talent with the likes of football standouts, Nadre Hepburn, Jordan Long, and David Webb, but the Owls have not been able to get it to translate into more victories. HPHS does have a couple recent wins over neighborhood rival Metuchen and South Amboy to hang its hat on.

In the extra session, Kelvin Perez fired in a three, and Jordan Little got four points including two free throws with 1:42 left for a 51-47 lead. However, Summers struck again with a couple scores including a layup to tie the game at 51-51 with a minute left, and then Jeff Parker sank a three pointer from the left wing with 31.8 seconds to go for a 54-51 victory. Summers ended up with a game high 21 while Parker chipped in with 16 for TCS while Little led Amboy Tech with 16 while Sosa added 14, and Perez chipped in with 12.