SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–With East Brunswick Tech’s 60-26 victory over Ranney Prep yesterday, the Greater Middlesex Conference improved to 51-32 overall against opponents from other conferences this season. Hard to believe that the league is almost 20 games over .500 against non-conference foes after starting the season at 5-7.
Leading the way has been the GMC Blue, which has gone an incredible 19-3 against teams outside the GMC. As far as individual teams go, Metuchen (4-0), South River (4-1), Middlesex (3-0), and J.F. Kennedy (3-0) are leading the way. Here is how the conference is looking against some of the other conferences:
- 8-3 versus Union County Conference
- 10-5 versus Patriot Conference
- 9-5 versus Independents
- 7-4 versus Shore Conference
- 2-2 versus Colonial Valley Conference
- 7-8 versus Skyland Conference
Believe it or not, the GMC had started the season at 0-4 versus the Skyland, and has been 7-4 since. Same kind of thing happened against the Patriot with a 1-3 start before winning 9 of the last 11. By the way, Timothy Christian and Wardlaw-Hartridge, currently members of the Patriot Conference, will be joining the GMC next year.
There is still a very long way to go in the season, but play against non-conference teams is important, especially when it comes to the state tournaments. Playing foes outside the conference means playing different styles of basketball against different types of players and athletes. Teams that can do well against different styles of play and different kinds of athletes can be successful in state tournament play.