2016 GMCT Play-In Round Preview

February 13, 2016 Greg Machos Dunellen Hoops, East Brunswick Tech Hoops, Edison Hoops, Highland Park Hoops, Metuchen Hoops, Middlesex Hoops, New Brunswick Hoops, South Amboy Hoops, South Plainfield Hoops, South River Hoops, Timothy Christian Hoops, Wardlaw Hoops 0

Six Games Set for Saturday

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–Let the madness begin. On Saturday morning, the first games of the 2016 Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament will get underway when 24th seeded Timothy Christian hosts 25th seeded South Plainfield in the play-in round at TCS in Piscataway. Three other games begin at 12 noon followed by another at 1:00 PM and the sixth and final one commences at 2:00 PM. Below is the schedule of games for Saturday’s Play-In round:

To view the 2016 GMCT Play-In Round bracket, visit: http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=462073.

2016 GMCT Play-In Round–Schedule

  • #25 South Plainfield @ #24 TImothy Christian, 11:00 AM
  • #28 Highland Park @ #21 Edison, 12:00 PM
  • #30 New Brunswick @ #19 Middlesex, 12:00 PM
  • #29 Dunellen @ #20 South River, 12:00 PM
  • #27 Metuchen @ #22 East Brunswick Tech, 1:00 PM
  • #26 Wardlaw @ #23 South Amboy, 2:00 PM

Two of the six match-ups involve teams that are playing each other for the third time this season. Dunellen and South River played twice during the Gold Division’s regular season with the Rams winning both times. Wardlaw and South Amboy also played each other twice during the course of the GMC Gold schedule and split with Wardlaw winning the most recent match-up in South Amboy.

Looking at the rest of the match-ups, you have three of the second tier White Division teams and a team from the Blue taking on three Gold Division squads and one team from the GMC Blue. During the course of the season, the Gold teams struggled in the limited number of crossover games that they played. Timothy Christian got the only win against a GMC team outside the division with its win over Middlesex at TCS on the second day of the season. The division as a whole was just 1-8 in crossovers.

Meanwhile, the GMC White fared better although it was below .500 at 7-10. Unfortunately, none of those GMC White teams with wins are playing in Saturday’s play-in round. Edison was 0-5 including two losses to Carteret while New Brunswick just had its lone crossover loss at the hands of 7th ranked Old Bridge, and South Plainfield hasn’t played a crossover yet this season. Meanwhile, the GMC Blue is 10-7 in games against teams in the other three GMC divisions.

Middlesex is 2-1 in crossovers while Metuchen has yet to play a crossover this season. The Blue Jays defeated two of the teams in Saturday”s play-in round with victories over Highland Park and neighborhood rival, Dunellen in the Shello-Santy Holiday Tournament. The lone crossover loss came at the hands of Timothy Christian, another team participating in one of the six play-in round games. A number of these teams are riding some sort of streak entering into Saturday’s action. Below are the streaks that some of the 12 play-in round teams have coming in:

2016 GMCT Play-In Round Preview–Streaks

  • East Brunswick Tech–won 7 of last 8 games.
  • Middlesex has won 5 of its last 8 games.
  • South Amboy has lost 6 of last 9 games.
  • South Plainfield has lost 15 of its last 17 games.
  • South River–lost 5 of last 8 games.
  • Timothy Christian–lost 5 straight.

Let’s take a look at each of Saturday’s GMCT Boys Play-In Round Games:

#25 South Plainfield (5-15) at #24 Timothy Christian (7-13)–It will be a battle of Tigers as SPHS visits TCS on Saturday morning. After enduring a difficult campaign last season with a 3-21 record, TCS has doubled its win total despite its recent losing streak. The Tigers have also been much more competitive in its losses, which include a five point loss to Amboy Tech in Perth Amboy, an overtime loss to Piscataway Tech by three at TCS, and a one point loss to South River at TCS.

Timothy Christian also has a crossover win over Middlesex on the first weekend of the season as well as wins against EB Tech and South Amboy in the Gold. The future looks bright for TCS with the likes of sophomores Robert Saydee, Tyler Mixson, and Pierce Kokosinski while junior Will Clemmons along with another newcomer A.J. Mhya have also been solid contributors. Point guard Josh Alocriza has come into his own this season, and brings quickness and playmaking ability. Forward Lucas Page has also shown some improvement.

Can the Tigers get another crossover win? If they can get big games from Saydee and Mixson as well as solid productivity off the bench from Kokosinski along with contributions from Clemmons, Page, and Mhya. TCS will also have to find a way to stop South Plainfield’s Lamont Williams, who has been a bright spot this season. SPHS began the season with three straight wins over New Brunswick, Monroe, and the Academy of Urban Leadership from Perth Amboy in the opening round of the Anthony J. Cotoia holiday tournament. Since then, the Tigers have lost 15 of 17 with the only wins coming against New Brunswick for a second time and Friendship Collegiate.

Williams has scored a total of 853 career points, and he is South Plainfield’s top scorer. He can fill it up from the outside as well as drive and slash to the basket and attack the rim. Jason Lee, a football standout at SPHS, brings athleticism, toughness, and additional scoring punch. Isaiah Norman provides the inside presence. Against AUL, he scored 10 points in the second quarter when the Tigers turned an early deficit into a double digit halftime lead en route to an 81-57 victory. Jalil Palms looks to be a solid playmaker down the road at point guard while baseball standouts, Jake Alba and Nick Polizzano can provide pop from the perimeter and depth along with Nathan Mensah.

The Tigers have lost a ton of games, but many of them were close including single digit losses to Colonia and Sayreville (in overtime). They have been competitive for the most part, and with Williams, they will be tough to beat in this contest. Prediction: South Plainfield defeats Timothy Christian, 60-50.

#28 Highland Park (4-16) at #21 Edison (4-18)–The Owls had brought back a number of players from last season including Noah Pointer, Nasir Boykins,and Will Chen, but still struggled. Meanwhile, Edison lost two of its top scorers as well as its top rebounder from last season, but have still managed to be competitive in just about every game with exception of the both losses to co-division winners, Sayreville and Colonia. The Eagles lost both times to 8th ranked J.P. Stevens by three points.

In one of the games covered by GMC Hoops in the Matawan Huskies Classic, the Eagles went down to the wire with the host Matawan before losing 44-41. More recently, EHS lost to Monroe on Senior Night, 63-58. In that game, the Eagles jumped out to a 32-19 halftime lead before the Falcons surged in the second half for the win. Edison’s top players are point guard Brandon Radd, shooting guard, Justin Turner, forward John Zanfordino, who scored 19 in the loss at Monroe earlier this week, and can score from the outside as well as in the paint.

Alpha Tarawally also played well in the loss to Monroe with 15 points. Football standout, Haaziq Daniels, who scored 12 points against Monroe, and guard, Joe Cudakiewicz, also provide scoring punch. Edison is a much better team than its record indicates, and should win here. Prediction: Edison wins 60-38.

#29 Dunellen (4-16) at #20 South River (14-7)–About three weeks ago, the Rams were flying high as the No. 10 team in the GMC Hoops Top Ten. After defeating Keansburg to improve to 11-2 on January 22nd, the day before the monster blizzard, South River has lost 5 of 8 games. One of those games though was to neighborhood rival, and No. 9 Spotswood, which sports the best overall record of any GMC team at 19-3. Another one of those defeats was a 69-53 loss at the hands of Highland Park, which Dunellen split with about a week to 10 days ago.

The Rams recently suffered a tough blow when one of its top returning players from last year, who had shown improvement over a season ago, quit the team. South River’s starting five includes three freshmen: Derrick Whitaker, Mike DeSantis, and Zac Rafano. Mario Nigro, who recently joined the GMC Top Active Scorers list with over 500 points for his career, is a senior, who has done his part to lead the way for the youngster, much like he did during football season. Matt Pietrzyk has emerged as an inside presence for the Rams, who has a knack to force turnovers and score in the open court.

During the course of the regular season, the Rams defeated Dunellen twice easily. However, the Destroyers showed some fight in a recent loss at Piscataway Tech. Led by guard, Tyquan Fowler (21 points) and Nazire Jordan (18 points), DHS rallied from a 48-31 third quarter deficit to pull within three with under two minutes to play before losing 61-52 to the GMC Gold’s second place Raiders. Dunellen also has the likes of Yianni Garris, who made several threes in the team’s first win of the year over Hopatcong of Morris County in the opening round of the Shello-Santy Tournament over the holidays, point guard Anthony Buccino, and guard Bowen Grasso.

Expect there to be more of a struggle for the Rams this time, but they should be able to advance. Prediction: South River wins, 65-52.

#30 New Brunswick (0-17) at #19 Middlesex (7-13)–This is an intriguing match-up not only because it is a Group 4 vs. Group I game, but also it features a coach going up against his former team. Prior to taking the helm at New Brunswick, Art Tooles had coached at Middlesex for several seasons, and brought the Blue Jays back to respectability in his final season before moving on to NBHS.

In 2013-14, Middlesex qualified for the CJ Group I playoffs, and reached the quarterfinal round before losing to eventual champion, Point Pleasant Beach. Jared Goldstein, who served as an assistant to Tooles, is now the head man. After enduring a tough 3-19 season a year ago, and a 2-10 start to the season this year, Middlesex has won 5 of its last 8 including quality wins over Carteret and Bishop Ahr.

Despite losing the likes of Stew Lester and Marcus Evans-Little to graduation as well as losing two top returning players from last season, the Blue Jays have tripled their division win total from a year ago, and more than doubled its overall win total. Things have been more difficult for New Brunswick. After losing all but one game a year ago, NBHS has yet to win this season.

Both teams sport solid big men. Emmanuel Osei is the Zebras top returning player while Jake Robel moved up to the varsity this season. During the recent solid stretch for Middlesex, Robel has come into his own including a 11 point performance in the win over Bishop Ahr. Similarly, Osei turned in a solid effort in a losing cause to Edison at NBHS on January 21st.

The key could be the guard play. Chris Hendicks and Tyler Ha, also newcomers to the Jays varsity roster, look as though they are starting to gel. Hendricks scored 13 points including a perfect 7 of 7 from the line in the win over Ahr while Tyler Ha added 12. Ha has a nice perimeter shot, and a good handle. Not to be left out are Chris Spencer, baseball standout Mike Lavenia, and Darien Noel as well as football standout Ryan Coke, who can attack the rim as well as spot up for the three.

New Brunswick’s basketball team is made up of a number of talented football players from this year’s successful season that culminated with an appearance in the CJ Group 5 semifinals. Pitt bound Maurice Ffrench as well as backfield mate, Samad Davila make up a solid backcourt combo while other football players such as C.J. Hernandez, Mohammed Bangura, Curtis Revan, and Jahbree Jeffery also contribute. Wendell Dunlap is another player to watch out for.

Middlesex has its work cut out for them, but appear to be further along in the rebuilding process than New Brunswick, and should be able to pull out a close, hard fought win at home. Prediction: Middlesex wins 56-53.

#27 Metuchen (3-17) at #22 East Brunswick Tech (14-5)–Coming into Saturday’s match-up, neither one of these teams played a crossover game in the GMC this season. Both teams have shown signs of improvement recently, but EB Tech is further along.

After being anointed the pre-season favorite to win the Gold Division by GMC Hoops, the Tigers stumbled out of the gate with a 7-4 record including two defeats to Piscataway Tech, which effectively, knocked them out of the running for the division title. However, since the last loss to P-Way Tech towards the end of January, EB Tech has won 7 of 8 including victories over top tier GMC Gold teams Perth Amboy Tech and South River.

Meanwhile, Metuchen only has one conference win over Blue Division rival, Middlesex back in the first week of the season. The Bulldogs have taken on a tough non-conference schedule that has included the likes of Bound Brook, Cranford, Mount Olive, Watchung Hills, Immaculata, Newark Collegiate, and Rahway. Recently, the Bulldogs defeated Academy of Urban Leadership for the 2nd time this season on February 6th (57-46) and then followed that up with a 45-39 loss at Carteret.

East Brunswick Tech is more experienced with 8 players returning from last year including top standout, Connor Stratton, who is healthy, and playing well. Noah Westbrook is on the cusp of scoring 500 points for his career. Enudy Jimenez has potential down low while veterans such as Mason Settembre, Josh Brody, Silas Stanley, and Lanier Smith. By contrast, Metuchen is much younger with a freshman, two sophomores, and two juniors.

However, this young group of Bulldogs has a lot of potential. Danny Flaherty, is the veteran of the group after returning from a solid sophomore campaign. The younger brother of 1,000 point scorer, Artie Flaherty Jr., and the son of all time leading scorer at Metuchen, Art Flaherty, Danny Flaherty, scored 14 points including three treys in the win over AUL while Thomas Christine led the way with 17 including 10 in the second half. Danny Russell had 9 points in a recent loss at Bishop Ahr while Riley Watkins, Ethan Leibovits and Danny Petto also contribute and have potential to be very good. David Weiss and Justin Briggs also are in the rotation.

In past years, you would probably think that no matter what the records were, Metuchen would be the favorite to advance. Not here. Prediction: East Brunswick Tech wins, 45-40.

#26 Wardlaw (9-12) at #23 South Amboy (10-11)–This is a rematch of a game played earlier in the week, and won by Wardlaw in South Amboy as well. The contest will also follow the GMCT Girls Play-in round game that features the same two schools in the exact same seeds.

The Guvs enter this game with 6 losses in their last 9 games. South Amboy was picked in the pre-season by GMC Hoops to finish 2nd in the GMC Gold, and showed flashes of great potential in a buzzer beating loss to Sayreville in the nightcap game of the Friends of South Amboy benefit showcase on opening weekend.

Instead, the Guvs have been up and down including some head scratching losses. Meanwhile, Wardlaw, which lost four top players from last year’s squad, and have a freshman in the starting lineup, have exceeded even last year’s record. The Rams have even reached the semifinal round of the NJSIAA Prep B Tourney, which they haven’t done since joining the GMC in the 2010-11 season.

The Guvs are led by the likes of the backcourt tandem of senior Keahre Ford and junior Julian Munoz. Senior Nick Reagan, who has rebounded from a knee injury earlier in the season is another key cog in the lineup. Alan Kazar and Justin Lewis round out the starting lineup while Isaiah Munoz and Alonzo Green provide some punch off the bench.

The Rams have a solid backcourt trio in juniors Scott Hargrove and Jordan Rose along with freshman, Ryan Patela. Brothers Garrett and Alden Racz as well as Raphael Genty lead the frontcourt. Wardlaw split with South Amboy, Timothy Christian, and Highland Park while sweeping Dunellen. On the other hand, South Amboy split with three of the top four teams in the Gold including division winner, Amboy Tech, 2nd place finisher, P-Way Tech, and third place South River.

South Amboy will be looking for revenge in this contest. The winner of this game will have a tough test in the Preliminary Round on Tuesday, where 10th seeded J.P. Stevens awaits. If the Guvs can find that magic that they had that night against Sayreville on opening weekend, they will be tough to beat. Wardlaw will be playing both days this weekend with its Prep B semifinal scheduled for Sunday at 2:00 PM at Princeton Day School, a team the Rams lost to in the Ernie Vajda Tourney over the holidays.

South Amboy is at home, and if they can get solid efforts from Ford and Munoz, they will be tough to beat. Prediction: South Amboy wins, 52-47.

GMC Hoops will be doing a bit of a round robin on Saturday as it plans to see portions of three games before finishing the day at South Amboy.