SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–On Wednesday, GMC Hoops resumes its schedule with a trip up to Sayreville War Memorial High School to see the Bombers take on Cardinal McCarrick in what should be an entertaining game to say the least. The contest between the Eagles and Bombers is one of eight games on the docket today including seven divisional games. East Brunswick, which gets a bye from Red Division play, is playing in an interesting non-conference game against Freehold Boro of the Shore Conference. North Brunswick and Colonia have byes.
Both Cardinal McCarrick and Sayreville entered this week in the GMC Hoops Top Ten with the Eagles dropping a couple notches while the Bombers maintained their spot. Both teams have lost on the road to Carteret and have beaten New Brunswick at home by double digits. However, McCarrick has won four straight including three victories at the Joe Silver Holiday Tournament in Hillside during the week after Christmas while Sayreville has lost two in a row. The Bombers have been competitive though with two double overtime losses at Monroe (66-62) and Carteret (50-47) as well as a three point defeat to Hillsborough (48-45) in the Championship Game of the Hillsborough Holiday Tournament.
Sayreville has been getting solid production from senior guard, Tarif Jackson, who scored 16 against Hillsborough and 25 versus Carteret. The Bombers can also get scoring on the perimeter from Jarrell Smith while Dave Milewski, Darryl Stephenson, and Syd Holt provide a lot of size down low. Meanwhile, McCarrick has St. Patrick’s transfer, Dana Raysor, who made 6 of 10 shots in the fourth quarter, and scored a game high 30 points against Orange over the holidays. He also picked up a game high 21 points against New Brunswick on December 23rd. The Eagles also have senior guard Craig Thomas, and much improved senior forward, Mo Isaac along with solid juniors Charlie Gorman and Jeremy Cruz. Add to all of this that this game is between neighborhood rivals (McCarrick is located in nearby South Amboy), and you have a game that’s quite intriguing.
With New Brunswick defeating Monroe and Colonia, the GMC White looks pretty wide open. North Brunswick is off to a solid start while Carteret has come up with two upset wins at home. Speaking of the Ramblers, they will travel to NBHS to take on the Zebras in another key matchup from the GMC White. It seemed like a long time ago that New Brunswick was 0-3, but the Zebras have turned things around with three wins in their last four games. The only defeat during this stretch is a 68-62 loss to second ranked East Brunswick in the Championship Game of the Brunswick Classic. The Ramblers have been up and down with upset wins over top ten teams, but then puzzling losses like the one to North Hunterdon in the opening round of the Gene Haley Tournament.
Jaquan Cook has led the way for the Zebras while Simuel Williams, sophomore Milton Pittman, and junior Fuquan Rogers have contributed. Defense is solid for New Brunswick. If it can get consistent offense, it will be tough to beat this year. Same goes for Carteret. The Ramblers limited McCarrick to just two points over the first twleve minutes of its game on December 21st. They also kept Sayreville down to just 47 points on Monday night. D.J. Hamlet leads the Ramblers, which will need consistent scoring from the perimeter and better foul shooting to be a contender in this tough division. Xavier Fuller provides a low post presence for Carteret along with Shaquille Jackson while Avery Carter and Nasheed Hamlet provide additional scoring punch.
In the only other White Division game, the Falcons of Monroe will look to get back to their winning ways when they host South Plainfield. The Tigers are 2-3 this season with their only two wins coming against J.P. Stevens. The Purple Birds, which were pre-season ranked, number two by this site, were knocked off over the holidays in the WOBM Classic by Brick Memorial (56-53) and then right after the new year at home to New Brunswick (52-50). SPHS has a squad that can rebound well with the likes of Owolo Benjamin while Bryant Rosario can knock down the three. Monroe counters with a squad that returns a lot from last year’s GMCT Final Four team.
Moving up to the Red, East Brunswick travels down to Freehold for a late afternoon/early evening game against the Colonials of Freehold Boro. Last year, the Colonials were 20-6 overall, and reached the semifinals of the 2009 Central Jersey Group III state tournament before losing to T of C quarterfinalist and Group III State Champion, Neptune (62-51). So far this season, the Colonials are 4-1 this season including a 54-45 victory over Maplewood in the Jack Kuhnert Tournament, and are ranked third in Monmouth County according to the Star-Ledger.
On the other side of the ledger, East Brunswick is off to a solid start with five straight wins including a 63-61 victory over North Brunswick along with its win over New Brunswick. The thing about this Bears team is that they can play a lot of players. In the victory over Woodbridge on Monday, 13 different players got into the scoring column. Against North Brunswick and New Brunswick, long time EB head coach, Bo Henning, played 10 to 12 players. In other words, this year’s Bears team is very deep. They have good sophomore and junior classes along with a talented freshman like Robert Ukawuba. Sophomore Joe Ross hit the game winning shot against the Raiders while senior Mike Weber came up with a clutch steal off an inbounds play to set up teammate Mauro Tucci to put the Bears in front for a while.
So far this season, the GMC is 5-2 in games versus the Shore Conference. However, this game is a step up for the league, and a win by EB here could really get them noticed beyond the borders of Middlesex County. The other big matchup on this Wednesday in the Red is between top ranked St. Joseph’s and Perth Amboy in Amboy tonight. The Falcons were a bit lackluster in their 56-51 victory over Old Bridge on Monday night, but have yet to lose in the state of New Jersey this season, and are 4-2 overall. Meanwhile, Amboy, which defeated Piscataway on opening night, has lost three of its last five since then. It will be interesting to see how the Panthers come out for this one. One player to watch will be Amboy junior forward Yoelbin Sanchez, who struggled against the Chiefs in the opener, and in the Championship of the Anthony J. Cotoia Tournament against Hamilton.
In the other two games in the Red Division, Woodbridge, which is still looking for its first win, travels to Piscataway while Edison heads over to J.P. Stevens. The Chiefs of P-Way are 2-2 on the season, and have competed well despite having a great deal of youngsters on its roster. The Barrons, on the other hand, are coming off a 52-47 loss to Princeton Day of the Patriot Conference over the holidays in the Hillsborough Holiday Tournament, and returned to Red Division play with a 63-36 loss at home to East Brunswick on Monday night. Piscataway is playing in its first game of 2010. Finally, we have the Eagles and the Hawks in a battle for bragging rights in the town of Edison. Not only will there be keys to the city on the line in this one, but also the winner breaks through for first time this season as both Edison schools are a combined 0-12 including 0-11 in conference play.