SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–The third day of state tournament action has completed, and one GMC team advanced while three went home in several different state tourneys. South River advanced to the Central Jersey Group 1 Semifinals for the second time in the past three years while there will be a new champion in North Jersey Section 2 Group 3 as Colonia fell in the quarterfinal round. Perth Amboy Tech also lost in CJ Group 1 while Bishop Ahr lost in its opening round game in Non-Public A South State Tourney. Below are capsules from the four contests involving GMC schools from the third day of state playoff action:
North Jersey Section 2 Group 3 State Playoffs
#7 Colonia at #2 Somerville–Colonia jumped out to an 11-8 first quarter lead as Chase Barneys scored 9 points, but he then picked up his second foul of the game at the very end of the period and sat out the second as Somerville rallied to pull within one at the break. Kolby Chapman give the Patriots some breathing room late in the second with a jumper. However, in the third period, the second seeded Pioneers took control of the game for good with a 15-2 showing in the frame to take a 32-20 lead. Colonia’s only points in the frame came early in the period as the Patriots went scoreless for over eight minutes. The Pats were unable to get any closer than 7 points after that while Somerville went on an 8-0 run midway through the fourth to take a 46-29 lead, and held on to win, 48-35. Randy Walko led all scorers with a game high 25 points while Barneys finished with 19 points to lead Colonia in a losing cause and finish his career in third place on the CHS all time scoring list behind Nick Smith (1,672 points) and Justin Chiera (1,620 points) with 1,325 points. Kolby Chapman chipped in with 8 points as the senior duo combined for 27 of the Pats 35 points in the game. Somerville had 5 different players score while Colonia just had four. Colonia had a 15-12 edge in points scored from beyond the arc, but was just 0 of 2 from the line while Somerville was 8 of 8 and enjoyed a 28-20 edge in points scored from within the arc. The Pioneers, which lost to Gill St. Bernard’s in the Somerset County Tourney final, improved to 24-3 on the season, and advanced to face Warren Hills, a 51-41 winner over Voorhees, in the semifinals on Friday. Colonia finished its season at 16-9 after losing 5 of its last 6 games.
Central Jersey Group 1 State Playoffs
#10 Henry Hudson at #2 South River–In a wild back and forth game played in front of a packed house in Rams Country, the Rams led by double figures for much of the second half including a 57-43 lead after three periods, but Henry Hudson wouldn’t go away. Instead, the Admirals, which defeated South River in the Championship Game of the 2015 Keansburg Holiday Tournament in December, scored 17 of the first 21 points of the fourth quarter to pull within one at 61-60 before freshman Derrick Whitaker came up with two huge free throws at the 2:33 mark for a 63-60 edge. The Admirals managed to get another score with under a minute to play to close within one again at 63-62, but South River got another foul shot from Whitaker with 14.7 seconds left, and withstood a last second scoring attempt by Henry Hudson to hang on for the 64-62 victory. Whitaker finished with a game high 26 points while Mario Nigro added 13 points and fellow freshman, Mike DeSantis chipped in with 12. Tom DeFilippo led all scorers with a game high 31 points for the Admirals while Tom Fennel added 14 points and Anthony LaRue chipped in with 10 in a losing cause. Both teams combined for 13 three pointers with Henry Hudson getting a 21-18 edge in points scored from beyond the arc. The Admirals were also 9 of 12 from the line while the Rams were just 4 of 7. Henry Hudson was 23 of 43 from the field including 7 of 14 from long distance while South River was 27 of 49 from the floor including 6 of 20 from beyond the arc. Henry Hudson finishes its season at 12-15 while South River improves to 18-10 overall, and advances to the semifinals for the 2nd time in three years, where the Rams will face 3rd seeded Florence on Friday afternoon at 5:00 PM.
#5 Perth Amboy Tech at #4 Point Pleasant Beach–For the second straight round, the Garnet Gulls of Point Beach took on a team from the GMC Gold, and won. This time it was the Gold Division Champion, Perth Amboy Tech. Trailing 11-10 after one period, Point Beach put together a 30-8 outburst in the second to take a 40-19 halftime lead, and cruised from there for a 55-32 victory. Jimmy Panzini led the Garnet Gulls with 11 points while Danny Frauenheim chipped in with 10 points. Alex Mrusek chipped in with 8 points while Spotswood’s Chris Pina added 7 for the winners. Perth Amboy Tech was led by Kyle Gregory, who had a game high 12 points while Kyrie Byers scored 8 points to finish his career with 655 points. Point Beach had a 15-9 edge in points scored from beyond the arc while also enjoying a 7-5 edge in points scored at the charity stripe. Nine different players scored for the Garnet Gulls while only five did for Amboy Tech. With the victory, Point Pleasant Beach improved to 16-11 overall on the season, and advances to the semifinal round to face top seeded Bound Brook in Somerset County on Friday. Perth Amboy Tech finished its season at 17-10.
Non-Public A South State Playoffs
#14 Bishop Ahr at #3 St. Augustine’s–The Trojans took a long ride out to Richland in South Jersey to face the third seeded Hermits, which reached the sectional final as the top seed before losing to CBA. BGA, which hasn’t had much success in the state playoffs, especially in recent years, didn’t have much luck in this contest as it lost to St. Auggie’s, 74-35. The Hermits built up a 65-24 lead after three periods thanks to a 20-7 showing in the first quarter, a 26-12 effort in the 2nd, and a 19-5 outburst in the third. Eleven different players scored for the Cape Atlantic League school led by Justyn Mutts, who had a game high 23 points, and Sa’eed Nelson, who chipped in with 16 points. Sean Kudelka and Eric O’Keefe each led BGA in a losing cause with 10 points while sophomore Jordan Wells chipped in with 9. St. Augustine improved to 26-1 overall with the victory, and advanced to the quarterfinals on Friday, when they will host 6th seeded Union Catholic, which defeated 11th seeded Camden Catholic in another opening round game. Bishop Ahr finished its season at 11-10 to make it 13 out of the last 14 years that it finished at or above .500. Long time head coach, Dennis O’Keefe, who completed his 24th year at the school, also recently won his 400th career game in a 56-42 victory over Timothy Christian.