GMC State Tourney Roundup–Day One–February 29, 2016

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–The first day of state tournament action is completed, and three GMC teams advanced in two different state tourneys. Colonia advanced to the quarterfinals of the North Jersey Section 2 Group 3 state tournament while South River and Perth Amboy Tech advanced to the Central Jersey Group 1 Elite Eight. The GMC went 2-4 against non-conference schools on the first day of state playoff action. Below are capsules from the seven contests involving GMC schools from the first day of state playoff action:

North Jersey Section 2 Group 3 State Playoffs

#10 Matawan at #7 Colonia–Colonia jumped out to a 21-9 lead over the first 11 minutes of the game, and led 26-17 at the half. Then, in the third quarter, the Patriots outscored the Huskies by a margin of 18-11 to take a 44-28 lead. From there, Colonia coasted to a 59-48 victory, and a date with Somerville in the quarterfinals on Wednesday afternoon. Kolby Chapman led the way for the winners with 20 points while Chase Barneys chipped in with 19. Barneys now has 1,306 points for his career. Mergin Gyjrigi led Matawan in a losing cause with 19 points.

#16 J.F. Kennedy at #1 Chatham–The top seeded Cougars, which fell to Colonia in last year’s final, built up a 68-44 lead with 4:30 remaining in the game before Kennedy put together a 10-3 run to finish the contest. The Mustangs run was highlighted by threes by Kobie Wells and Tamaj Coleman and baskets by Christian Pincon and Kush Patel. Chatham, which got a three pointer from the right wing to close out its scoring, won the game 71-54. Jack Rooney led the way for the Cougars with 26 points including 8 threes while Colin McKenna chipped in with 12. Chatham sank 11 three pointers in the contest, and advance to face Snyder in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.


Central Jersey Group 1 State Playoffs

#12 Middlesex at #5 Perth Amboy Tech–In perhaps the best game of the day on the first day of state tourney action involving GMC teams, Middlesex of the GMC Blue, went toe to toe with Amboy Tech, which reached the semifinal round of this section a year ago. Middlesex trailed 35-27 with 3:15 left in the third quarter, but rallied with a 20-12 surge for the rest of the 2nd half as Chris Hendricks forced overtime by sinking a three pointer with 4.5 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 47-47. In the extra session though, the Patriots got a three from Javon Fisher to take a 50-49 lead, and never trailed again as they outscored the Blue Jays 12-10 for the 59-57 victory. Fisher finished with 14 points to lead five different players in double figures for Amboy Tech while Kyle Gregory added 13, Pedro Gonzalez contributed with 12, and both Kyrie Byers and Erick Negro chipped in with 10. Hendricks led all scorers with a game high 23 points including five three pointers while Ryan Coke added 12, and Tyler Ha chipped in with 11 to lead Middlesex in a losing cause. Both teams combined to connect on 14 threes with each team scoring 21 points from beyond the arc. The Patriots were just 5 of 16 from the foul line through regulation, but made 9 of 12 at the charity stripe in the extra session to finish 14 of 28, and pull away. Middlesex was 12 of 13 from the line. Amboy Tech advances to play Point Pleasant Beach on Wednesday.

#13 Dunellen at #4 Point Pleasant Beach–The Destroyers took on recent CJ Group 1 powerhouse, Point Beach of the Shore Conference in another opening round game involving a GMC school. Alex Mrusek led three different Garnet Gulls in double figures with a team high 15 points while Mike Rice added 12 and Jimmy Panzini chipped in with 11 in a 67-37 victory over the Destroyers. Former Spotswood standout, Chris Pina scored 9 points for Point Beach in the win as well. Tyquan Fowler led all scorers with a game high 17 points for DHS while sophomore point guard, Anthony Buccino added 11 in a losing cause. Only four different players scored for Dunellen as Buccino and Fowler combined to score 28 of the team’s 37 points. Both teams combined for 12 three pointers as the Destroyers actually outscored the Garnet Gulls by a margin of 21-15 from beyond the arc. Point Beach outscored Dunellen by a 10-2 margin from the charity stripe. The Garnet Gulls advanced to take on Perth Amboy Tech in the Quarterfinals on Wednesday in Ocean County.

#15 Academy Charter at #2 South River–The Panthers of Academy Charter, located in Lake Como near Belmar in Southern Monmouth County, had eight different players score including Unknown Fearon, who had a team high 26 points, but nobody else scored higher than 6 points. Meanwhile, South River had only 6 of its 8 players that got into the game, break into the scoring column including freshman Derrick Whitaker, who notched a game high 30 points. Matthew Pietrzyk added 8 points while Angel Pessante chipped in with 7 points to give the Rams a 57-48 victory. Senior Mario Nigro only had 5 points, but was big on the boards with 10 rebounds. As a team, the Rams grabbed 33 rebounds while also collecting 12 assists and 10 steals. South River enjoyed a 12-9 edge in points scored from beyond the arc, and had a 13-7 edge in points scored from the foul line. The Rams advanced to face 10th seeded Henry Hudson, a 53-47 winner over 7th seeded South Amboy in another CJ Group 1 opening round contest, on Wednesday.

#10 Henry Hudson at #7 South Amboy–For the second time this year, the Guvs of South Amboy faced off against the Admirals of Henry Hudson. The last time that these two teams met was over the holidays in the opening round of the 2015 Keansburg Tournament, and the outcome wasn’t good at all for South Amboy, which lost 78-46. This time, the game was much closer with the Guvs falling by only two possessions, 53-47. South Amboy had three different players score in double figures while Henry Hudson only had two, but the Admirals had six different players score while the Guvs had five. Tom Fennell led Henry Hudson with a game high 17 points while Anthony LaRue chipped in with 13. Alan Kazar led the Governors in a losing cause with 13 points while both Keahre Ford and Nick Reagan chipped in with 11. Both teams combined for 11 three pointers with Henry Hudson outscoring South Amboy by a 21-12 margin from beyond the arc. The Admirals also enjoyed a 14-7 edge in points scored from the charity stripe. The Governors, which were 7-5 at the midway point of the season, lost 10 of their last 14 games to finish the season at 11-15. Henry Hudson improved to 12-14, and advanced to the quarterfinals to face South River.

#11 Keyport at #6 Piscataway Tech–Trailing 15-13 after one period, the Red Raiders of Keyport outscored the Raiders of P-Way Tech by a margin of 37-19 over the middle two periods to take a 50-34 lead heading into the fourth period, and went on to win, 63-56. Four different players scored in double figures for Keyport including Brenden O’Brien, who registered a game high 23 points. Branden Barnes led P-Way Tech with a double-double of 18 points and 14 rebounds while Ali Austin chipped in with 16 points. Piscataway Tech had eight different players score while Keyport had only five, but P-Way Tech only had two of those players score in double figures. Both teams had four three pointers, but Keyport had a 17-8 advantage at the foul line to help come away with the win. P-Way Tech collected 41 rebounds, 9 assists, 5 steals, and 4 blocks in the contest. With the victory, Keyport advanced to face third seeded Florence in the Quarterfinal round on Wednesday. Piscataway Tech finished the season at 14-11 after losing its last four games.