SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–The second day of state tournament action is completed, and five GMC teams advanced in two different state tourneys. All four GMC teams advanced to the quarterfinals of the Central Jersey Group 4 state tournament while Spotswood advanced to the Central Jersey Group 2 Elite Eight. The GMC went 5-4 against non-conference schools on the second day of state playoff action. Below are capsules from the nine contests involving GMC schools from the second day of state playoff action:
North Jersey Section 2 Group 4 State Playoffs
#16 J.P. Stevens at #1 Linden–The Hawks of JPS got a tough draw in its opening round game of the 2016 North Jersey Section 2 Group 4 playoffs when it faced off against two-time defending champion, Linden. The Tigers jumped out to a 20-7 first quarter lead, and outscored Stevens in each period to post a 67-41 victory. Both teams combined to connect on 16 three pointers, and the Hawks had a 27-21 edge in points scored from beyond the arc, but Linden had a 10-6 edge in points from the charity stripe and enjoyed a 36-8 advantage in points scored within the arc. Seven different players scored for Linden while six players scored for Stevens. Sophomore Tavon Jones led the way for the Tigers with a game high 26 points including six threes while Marcellus Livingston and William Phelps each added 11 points. Alex Corrigan led the Hawks in defeat with 23 points including seven threes to finish his career with 772 points while Mike Lionikis chipped in with 8 points to end his career with 555 points. Linden improved to 18-5 overall and advanced to the quarterfinal round, where it will take on 8th seeded Union. J.P. Stevens finished its season at 15-9.
#12 East Orange Campus at #5 Woodbridge–The Barrons got off to a flying start in this one as they scored the first 8 points by the 6:13 mark of the first quarter. Hura Blaine and Quassim Glover each scored 4 points during the spurt. However, the Jaguars of East Orange campus eventually settled down and took over the contest. Led by the duo of Jordan Taylor and Zack Williams, the Jags outscored Woodbridge by a 40-10 margin over the course of the rest of the first half including a 29-5 surge over the last 10 minutes of the first half for a 40-18 lead at the intermission. Despite outscoring East Orange by a 16-12 margin in the fourth quarter, Woodbridge was unable to recover as it lost, 71-53. Taylor finished with 21 points all on seven three pointers while Williams added 18 including 12 in the first quarter. Marquise Kindel chipped in with 13 points. Glover was a bright spot in defeat for the Barrons with 20 points to raise his career point total to 722 while Keshaun Henry added 9 points to increase his career total to 558 points. Both return next year for WHS along with many others from a talented junior class. With the victory, East Orange Campus improved to 16-10 overall and advanced to play Ridge in the sectional quarterfinals on Thursday while Woodbridge completed its season at 20-6.
Central Jersey Group 2 State Playoffs
#11 A.L. Johnson at #6 East Brunswick Tech–For the first time since 2009, East Brunswick Tech was able to host a playoff game as it took on A.L. Johnson of Clark in the opening round of the Central Jersey Group 2 playoffs. For a while, the home cooking did some good as the Tigers jumped out to a 14-12 first quarter lead behind the play of Silas Stanley, who scored 8 of his team high 11 points in the frame. However, the Crusaders proved to be too much as they rallied in the second with a 15-8 showing, and then took command with a 21-2 outburst in the third for a 48-24 lead heading into the fourth before cruising to a 60-28 victory. Johnson scored the first 15 points of the third, and EB Tech didn’t get on the board until the 1:34 mark of the period. George Visconti led the Crusaders with a game high 25 points including the 1,000th of his career, which came in the third quarter when he got a bucket that gave A.L. Johnson a 40-22 lead. Mitch Becker added 17 points including three treys for the winners while Connor Stratton added 7 for EB Tech and Noah Westbrook chipped in with 4 to finish with exactly 500 points for his career. Johnson Regional outscored EB Tech by a 12-3 margin from beyond the arc while enjoying an 8-5 edge in points scored at the charity stripe. With the victory, Johnson improved to .500 at 12-12 overall and advanced to the quarterfinals to take on 3rd seeded Rumson-Fair Haven. East Brunswick finished its season at 17-9, the best record at the school in the last 16 years, and also completed the second best two year stretch at the school in that same period with a 28-24 mark. Only the 2008-2010 period was better with a 25-19 mark.
#9 Delran at #8 Spotswood–The Chargers opened the CJ Group 2 tournament at home again with a match-up against Delran of Burlington County. Spotswood broke away from a 10-10 first quarter tie by outscoring Delran in each of the last three periods to come away with a 64-55 victory. Eric Dadika led the way with a game high 40 points on 10 field goals, 3 treys, and 11 foul shots while Marlon Hart added 13 points and J.T. Vento chipped in with 9. Quamir Davis led the visitors with a team high 22 points while Matt Murphy added 18 in defeat. Delran had five different players score while Spotswood only had four, but the duo of Dadika and Hart combined for 53 of the Chargers 64 points. Both teams had four threes in the contest, but the Chargers scored more points from the line (16-11) and from within the arc (36-32) to secure the victory. Spotswood improved to 22-5 overall on the season and advanced to face top seeded and defending sectional champion, Bordentown in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Delran completed its season at 17-9.
Central Jersey Group 4 State Playoffs
#9 Sayreville at #8 Montgomery–In a rematch of last year’s opening round game in the Central Jersey Group 4 playoffs, the Cougars from Somerset County and the Skyland Conference jumped out to a 35-12 lead before the Bombers roared back with a 43-17 explosion in the second half to come away with the GMC’s signature win of the night by a score of 55-52. After outscoring Montgomery by a 16-10 margin in the third, Sayreville completed the remarkable comeback with a 27-7 surge in the fourth quarter. Jahsim Floyd led three different Sayreville players in double figures with 18 points while Elijah Clark chipped in with 13 and Ryan O’Leary added 12. Mitch Chugunov led Montgomery in a losing cause with 22 points while Matt Remsen chipped in with 13. The Cougars outscored the Bombers by a margin of 18-12 from beyond the arc, but Sayreville had a 15-12 edge in points scored from the charity stripe, and a 28-22 advantage in points scored from within the arc. Six different players got into the scorebook for the Bombers while five did for the Cougars. With the victory, Sayreville improved to 18-9 overall and advanced to face top seeded Hunterdon Central in the quarterfinal round while Montgomery finished its season at 14-9.
#12 Trenton at #5 Old Bridge–The Knights jumped all over the Tornadoes in the first period with a 25-10 outburst, and outscored the visitors from Mercer County by a 17-12 mark in the second for a 42-22 lead, and cruised from there to a 70-52 victory. Both teams combined for 15 three pointers with Old Bridge coming away with a 27-18 advantage in points scored from beyond the arc. The Knights also had a 17-14 edge from the line and a 26-20 margin from within the arc. Nine different players got into the scorebook for the Tornadoes while only six did for the Knights, but four of those Old Bridge players scored in double figures. Connor Romano led the Knights with a game high 23 points while Will Osvald added 16 and Stephen Strom and C.J. Santoro chipped in with 13 and 10 points respectively. Derrick Dix led Trenton with 18 points while Jamere Watkins chipped in with 8. With the victory, Old Bridge improved to 18-8 overall on the season and advanced to the quarterfinal round to play fourth seeded and last year’s finalist, Freehold Township on Thursday. Trenton concluded its season at 12-13.
#14 Hillsborough at #3 South Brunswick–In a rematch of the opening contest at the 2016 Coaches vs. Cancer Shootout at Montgomery High School on January 9th, the Vikings of South Brunswick rolled past Hillsborough to advance to the quarterfinals. SBHS opened the game with a 23-4 first quarter outburst and then added a 20-12 showing in the second for a 43-15 halftime lead. After a low scoring third that saw Hillsborough close the gap a little bit, the Vikings finished off the 65-25 victory with a 19-3 tear in the fourth. South Brunswick outscored Hillsborough by a 21-6 margin from long distance while enjoying a 10-7 edge at the foul line. Nine different players got into the scorebook for the Vikings versus just six for the Raiders. Eric Savage led the way for South Brunswick with a game high 24 points along with 9 rebounds and 4 assists while Mike Ugarte chipped in with 9. Matt Moore led Hillsborough in defeat with 7 points while Kelly Jeney and Jackson Parham chipped in with 6 points. With the victory, South Brunswick improved to 21-4 overall on the season and advanced to the quarterfinals to face GMC Red rival East Brunswick for the fourth time this season. Hillsborough ended its season with a record of 8-17.
#11 Middletown North at #6 East Brunswick–For the second straight year, East Brunswick opened the state tournament with a match-up against a Shore Conference Class A North school in Middletown North. EB jumped out to a 19-10 lead after one period, and added a 12-10 showing in the second for a 31-20 advantage at the intermission. Middletown North made things interesting with a 14-9 run in the third that narrowed the deficit to 40-34 heading into the fourth. However, the Bears started the fourth with a key 10-2 spurt over the first 2:40 for a 50-36 lead, and cruised from there to a 60-46 victory. Both teams had 7 different players score, but three EB players scored in double figures while only two did for Middletown North. Matt Ross led the Bears with a game high 17 points while Addis Ralph and Mike Vick chipped in with 13 each. Rob Higgins led Middletown North in a losing cause with 13 while Marc Cerbo chipped in with 12. East Brunswick had a 27-6 edge in points scored from beyond the arc and had a 7-6 edge from the foul line. With the victory, East Brunswick improved to 18-8 overall and advanced to the quarterfinal round to face GMC Red rival, South Brunswick for the fourth time this season. In the previous three meetings, the Bears lost to the Vikings twice by a combined total of six points. Middletown North completed its season at 15-11.
Non-Public B South State Playoffs
#16 Timothy Christian vs #1 Patrick School at Rahway HS–Timothy Christian had the daunting task of taking on the top seeded Celtics of Patrick School, which was coming off a overtime thriller against rival, Roselle Catholic in the Union County Tournament Championship on Saturday night. Playing without the likes of Tyler Mixson and Louis Roche, the Tigers did what they could, but ultimately, the Patrick School proved to be too much. The Celtics jumped out to a 33-2 first quarter lead, and then added an 18-6 showing in the second to lead 51-8 at the half, and cruised from there to an 83-40 victory. All 13 players that got into the game for Patrick School scored including Al-Amir Dawes, who led the way with 13 while Jelani Okantey added 11. Will Clemmons led all scorers with 14 points in a losing cause for TCS while Robert Saydee chipped in with 13. The Patrick School had 11 three pointers and outscored Timothy Christian by a 33-6 margin from beyond the arc. The Celtics improved to 22-5 overall on the season, and advanced to the quarterfinals to take on 9th seeded Holy Spirit, which was a 57-52 winner over 8th seeded Rutgers Prep on Thursday night while Timothy Christian finished the season at 8-19.