SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–The sixth day of state tournament action has completed, and lone GMC team in action on Saturday was eliminated while another game involving former players from the conference turned into a donnybrook that was decided in the final minute. In the Central Jersey Group 4 semifinals, third seeded South Brunswick led for much of the first half and took a 24-23 lead into the locker room at halftime, but gave way to an 11-4 third quarter run by Colts Neck, and never recovered in a 67-47 loss. Then, in an entertaining Non-Public B South semifinal, Gill St. Bernard’s came from behind late for a 54-51 victory over Mater Dei. Below are capsules from the two contests involving GMC schools from the sixth day of state playoff action:
Central Jersey Group 4 State Playoffs
#3 South Brunswick at #2 Colts Neck–For the second straight year, Colts Neck advanced to the semifinals, and hosted South Brunswick. In a very tightly played first half, South Brunswick broke away from a 9-9 first quarter tie with threes by Mike Ugarte and Eric Savage to take a 15-10 lead, but Colts Neck rallied with a 9-2 spurt over a span of 4:47 to take a 19-17 lead with just under two minutes to go in the second period. South Brunswick wrestled the lead back with 5 of the next 8 points including a transition layup by Sean Nally for a 24-20 lead before Lloyd Daniels Jr., the son of former UNLV and NBA standout, Lloyd Daniels, connected on a three late in the first half for a 24-23 SBHS lead at the intermission. Then, in the third quarter, Colts Neck took control of the game for good by scoring 11 of the first 15 points before Savage converted a traditional three point play to close the gap to 34-31 with 2:47 remaining in the third. The Cougars scored 5 of the last 7 points of the period for a 39-33 lead, and then scored 7 of the first 9 points of the fourth for a 46-35 advantage with 5:18 to go in the contest. South Brunswick was unable to recover as Colts Neck continued to pull away for a 67-47 victory, and a date with Shore Conference rival, Freehold Township in a rematch of last year’s CJ Group 4 semifinal, for the title on Monday night at 6:30 in Colts Neck. Three different players scorers in double figures for the Cougars including Daniels, who finished with a game high 23 points while Kyle Gordon added 17 points and Brendan Clarke chipped in with 14. Meanwhile, the Vikings were led by Eric Savage, who scored 22 points to finish his career with 953. Mike Ugarte chipped in with 11 in a losing cause. South Brunswick outscored Colts Neck by a 21-12 margin from beyond the arc, but Colts Neck had a 23-6 advantage from the foul line, and a 32-20 margin from within the arc. The Cougars improved to 22-4 on the season while South Brunswick concluded its year at 22-5. The 2015-16 season was the best season the Vikings had since winning CJ Group 4 and reaching the state championship in 2007.
Non-Public B South State Playoffs
#6 Mater Dei at #2 Gill St. Bernard’s–In a game that matched-up teams with former players in the Greater Middlesex Conference, sixth seeded Mater Dei of Middletown, which knocked off third seeded Trenton Catholic in the quarterfinal round, visited second seeded Gill in Northern Somerset County on Saturday night. Mater Dei consisted of players such as Nyquan McCombs, Elijah Mitchell, Josh Green, and Bryan Harris, which played at the now closed Cardinal McCarrick last season for the current coach at Mater Dei, Ben Gamble. Meanwhile, Connor Klementowicz, a former player at St. Joseph’s, is now in the roster at Gill. Mater Dei jumped out to a 9-0 lead after hitting three treys. However, the Knights responded by ending the period on a 9-3 run capped by a three from Klementowicz to trail 12-9 entering the second. Klementowicz then added a layup to give Gill a 20-19 lead midway through the second, but Mater Dei retook the lead at 23-20 on a four point play by Harris, who was fouled on a made three pointer at the 2:44 mark. Gill scored 6 of the next 7 points to reclaim the lead at 26-24 late in the second, but Mitchell sank a three from the left side to give the Seraphs a 27-26 advantage at the intermission. The game continued to go back and forth with Gill wrestling the lead back at 37-35 in a trey at the 3:44 mark. The Knights then scored 8 of the last 13 points of the period including another trey by Jake Betlow for a 45-40 lead heading into the fourth. However, Mater Dei rallied back to retake the lead at 51-49 with a an 11-4 tear capped by a three pointer from Central Regional transfer, Elijah Barnes off a kickout by McCombs at the 3:42 mark. Betlow was later fouled on a three point play and made one of three from the foul line to narrow the deficit to 51-50 with about two minutes to play. Mater Dei held on to that lead until Gill scored twice in the final 1:13 including two free throws by Paul Mulcahy and a layup by Julius Stoma off a dish by Adam Mitola with 17.5 seconds remaining for a 54-51 lead. Mater Dei had a chance to score in the closing seconds, but a three pointer from the right side was off the mark, and GIll got the rebound and hung on for the 54-51 victory. Seven of the eight players that got into the game for Gill scored including Betlow with 14 points. Stoma added 9 points while Klementowicz and Mulchay each chipped in with 8. Kyle Elliot led Mater Dei in a losing cause with 12 points while Elijah Mitchell and Kenneth Jones added 8 and Bryan Harris chipped in with 7. Gill, which defeated Somerville for the Somerset County Tournament title, improved to 25-4 on the season and advanced to the Non-Public B South Championship to face Roselle Catholic on Tuesday night at 7:00 PM at Jackson LIberty High School. Mater Dei, which defeated CBA for the Shore Conference Tournament Championship, concluded its season at 26-2.